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Thursday, December 6, 2018

Huginn & Muninn, Odin's Ravens

Huginn and Muninn (“Thought” and “Memory” respectively) are pet ravens of the Norse god, Odin. Odin’s ravens fly all over Midgard (Earth) collecting all of the information they can in order to report it back to Odin. In my interpretation, Huginn and Munnin are surrounding a magical stave named Ægishjálmr (Helm of Awe or Helm of Terror). It’s one of the most mysterious and powerful symbols in Norse mythology.



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Wednesday, August 29, 2018

Thor Odinson, God of Thunder

Thor, son of Odin, god of Thunder, protector of Midgard. Thor was a popular Norse god among the common farmers of Scandinavia and other Germanic speaking cultures as he was a protector of the people. Thor’s magical war hammer, Mjölnir, is the centerpiece of my artwork here. Mjölnir pendants were worn by many including the Vikings in the Middle Ages as a symbol of Thor’s protection and strength. Thor continues to be a popular figure in modern culture.


Thursday, August 16, 2018

Fenrir Viking Shield

This Viking shield design builds on my most popular artwork of the wolf Fenrir. Fenrir is an enormous, monster wolf from Norse mythology, and is the father of all wolves. You’ll see Fenrir painted on the circular Viking shield. The shield is accented with two heavy-duty Viking axes that are decorated with wolves and Viking-style knot work. The shield is also accented by knot work and Elder Futhark runes.

Full Color Version:

Grayscale Version:



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Tuesday, July 3, 2018

Odin the Wanderer

One of the personas of Odin is when he disguises himself and travels Midgard in search of knowledge and wisdom. As this persona, he is often portrayed as a wizard-like character. In fact, J.R.R. Tolkien used Odin the Wanderer as the foundation for the Gandalf the Wizard character in Lord of the Rings. This is my portrait of Odin as his Wanderer persona riding his horse, Sleipnir, who has eight legs in the mythology. Odin carries a magical spear named Gungnir. 





Friday, May 11, 2018

Banshee (bean sí)

The banshee (bean sí in Irish) is a ghoulish figure from ancient Celtic fairy lore. She is said to appear as an omen of death, wailing and crying outside of the home for a loved one in the house who is soon to die. She is a pretty terrifying figure. Legend has it that the banshee only wails for five different Irish families. I am a descendant of one of those five families, so I felt compelled to portray this wailing wench in all her spooky glory!

I used the Celtic knots and spirals to represent both the banshee's hair and ghostly, whispy lower limbs. Her body is meant to look kind of androgynous. I'm a fan of engraving style artwork, so I used lots of lines on her body to create some depth, but they also look like they could be scars or tattoos of some kind. Basically, I tried to make her look creepy. Hopefully, I achieved that through mixing the engraving style into this.

Initial sketch


Sketch continued

Tuesday, April 17, 2018

Robin Hood

This is my take on the legendary Robin Hood! The Prince of Thieves done up in a Neo-Celtic style!  I like the image of Robin as a Native Briton (either Saxon or Celtic) fighting the invading Normans.  I used the leaves on him not just to represent camouflage in the forest, but also to draw connections to the Greenman whose archetype has often been associated with Robin.


Full Color Version
Green Copper Version

Women's Racerback Tank


Friday, February 23, 2018

Celtic Elk Rampant

I did this bull elk in what could be called a Neo-Celtic or Neo-Nordic style. The stippling and knots are more traditional, but the image has a modern edginess to it. Elk and other antlered species have been a popular archetype representing strength, power, and virility going back to ancient times.





Wednesday, January 31, 2018

Don't Get My Irish Up!


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 The Irish immigrants made quite the impression when they landed on American shores. Their penchant for fighting and rowdiness has been immortalized with ideas of the "fighting Irish," the "Irish temper," and another famous phrase which has become mainstream. "Don't Get My Irish Up" means "don't provoke me, or my Irish temper will come out, and you'll know why we are known as the 'fighting Irish'!"
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