Facebook Group member Brian Gomien devised a cunning plan to get FHR members sketching. He set up the Folk Horror Revival Sketch Challenge, a weekly competition for members to show off their artistic skills. We were so thrilled to see the competition take off that we asked Brian if he would continue to curate the competition in conjunction with the group. Thankfully he said yes and it seems to grow in popularity week on week.

Anyway, what we’ve decided to do is put together a blog post once a month highlighting the amazing work of each week’s competition winner. Folk Horror Revival was always intended to promote the work of the amazingly creative people in the group so this feels like a natural thing for us to be doing. So without further ado, here are the first batch of sketch challenge winners.

Jesseca Trainham

Week 1. Black Philip

 

Week 2. John Barleycorn

Two time winner Jesseca Trainham graduated in 2001 with a BA in Studio Art from SUNY Potsdam. In 2005 she began selling Norse Myth and Viking-inspired woodworking on eBay, later moving to Etsy under the seller name Lady Buckthorn. She has produced illustrations for author Robin Artisson, as well as heathen poet and scholar Eirik Westcoat, among others. Jesseca resides in rural central NY, where she is currently taking a sabbatical to reinvent her style.

https://www.etsy.com/people/ladybuckthorn

 

Naama Mimis

Week 3. Cabinet of Curiosities

Naama Mimis is a concept art and digital illustration student from Israel, with a love of all things vintage and retro. Naama has been fascinated with folk horror since the age of five.

https://www.instagram.com/naamamimis/?hl=en

 

Andrew Foley

Week 4. A Wyrd Celebration

Week 5. A Plague Year

Andrew Foley was born in St Andrews in Scotland in the 1970’s. Raised in an ex-mining village, Blantyre, in South Lanarkshire, Andrew went on to study illustration and design at the Glasgow School of Art graduating in 1992. He has worked in the arts ever since, as a freelance illustrator but also in the field of community arts, education and in collaboration with his wife, artist Fiona Foley, working in the medium of stained glass. Andrew now lives in the Southern Uplands of Scotland in a small ex-mining village, where from his home studio, he continues to explore a number of creative avenues, whilst raising his three children alongside Fiona.

http://www.leafywonder.com/biography.html

 

Thank you to all of the talented artists, firstly for taking part and most importantly for allowing us to reproduce their incredible artwork. I would also like to thank Brian for bringing the whole thing together and making it such a roaring success. It gives me great pleasure to see such strong competition among Revivalists and I very much look forward to seeing future entries. That’s pretty much it for now, other than to ask the question, which is your favourite?