This event is the opening night and meet and greet of the artists of Wyrms and Other Beasties Art Exhibiton of FHR Winter Ghosts 2021 Symposium. The date is SATURDAY, 30 OCTOBER 2021 FROM 19:00-23:45. It is being held at Flowergate Hall, Whitby, United Kingdom. The exhibition runs up until November 28th.

In search of Wyrms and other Beasties! This the opening night and meet and greet the artists of the selling art exhibition associated with our FHR Winter Ghosts 2021 Symposium We Have Wyrms! There also maybe the odd admin lurking about too!We would love to see you.

Please may I introduce Cobweb Mehers, artist and FHR admin. Cobweb lives in a little house at the edge of the world with his wife Kt and their cats Tiamat and Baal. He claims to have been sculpting and painting for as long as he can remember, but it’s been longer than that. For many years he concentrated on creating artifacts based around mythical and historical themes for @eolithdesigns. His sculptures inspired by prehistoric art were sold in conjunction with the British Museum’s Ice Age art exhibition in 2013 and included a recreation of The Swimming Reindeer especially created for the event. His work has also appeared in the Severin Films horror anthology, The Theatre Bizarre, and he continues to work with Finnish director Lauri Löytökoski. Cobweb’s involvement with the Folk Horror Revival movement over the past few years has taken his more recent work down a different path. He returned to painting and started work on a new collection called Beyond the fields we know, which is inspired by the history, folklore, and landscape of the North Pennines. In 2019 these 13 paintings made up his first solo exhibition. He likes to immerse himself in the strange and beautiful world on his doorstep, spending cold nights and sunny days wandering the North Pennines in the company of fairies, witches, and lost gods. Many of his pieces begin life using the technique of automatic drawing to bypass the rational and form a more instinctive relationship with the landscape. These initial raw responses to the places visited are then expanded upon with a mixture of traditional and digital painting. He hopes to capture and recreate those rare glimpses of the world at the edges of our vision and beyond the fields we know.

Next we have our 3D artist, have you seen her Witch Hares? Jane Barnett was taught to embroider by her grandmother, and has been stitching and making art since she was a little girl. Her interest in mythology, magic and folklore led to her taking a degree in anthropology and art, and ever since she has combined all of these interests together. After a career working as an education officer in museums and galleries, Jane became a tattoo studio owner and artist. Ill health unfortunately meant she could not continue on this path, but gave her instead, the time and opportunity to concentrate on her own art practice. Jane has sold her work in galleries in Brittany and Wales (were she formally lived), and internationally, but is now back in her home territory of Yorkshire working under the title of Brigante Textile Arts. Jane hopes that textiles and fibre arts will eventually be recognized as a valid medium for artistic expression. She is also passionate about recycling, and tries to make art from second hand or found materials, including floorboards. For this reason, she can often be found hanging around charity shops, skips, beaches, in woods or abandoned buildings. Her favourite place to be however, is on the moors…..usually accompanied by her partner and dogs. Her favourite things include a good full moon, storms and the smell of wood smoke.

Next we have for your delectation the scarily talented Laura Jeacock! Laura Jeacock is a trained scientist, but left academia in 2018 to focus her energies on creating art. Her work to date includes devotional paintings of Deity, as well as witchcraft and nature inspired pieces of artwork. She likes to work with pencil, pen and ink, watercolours and acrylics – from illustrative to realistic, and usually incorporates some magical, pagan or spiritual element. Nature is her muse! Her art has been published in academic journals dedicated to Goddess studies, as well as in Nature journal. She has previously exhibited her work at the Season’s of the Witch exhibition, alongside fellow witch artists, in Edinburgh and Alloa. She is one of the founding members of the art collective Oak and Ash and Thorn, who create art from a shared deep feeling for the themes of nature and magic, and are working towards their second online exhibition. She currently lives in Edinburgh, with her partner and menagerie of familiars. When she not creating she can be found out in the wilds of Scotland, practicing yoga, or buried in an esoteric book. You can find her lurking in various corners of the internet – here is a good place to start: https://linktr.ee/laura.jeacock

We now would like to introduce you to the amazing Valerie Herron, who is contributing all the way from the USA!!! Valerie Herron is a Pacific Northwest-based illustrator of the mythological, the macabre, and the absurd. She received her BFA in Illustration at Pacific Northwest College of Art in Portland, OR. Valerie has created art for numerous publications, including The Steel Clan Saga by T. Thorn Coyle, Night Walk by Aeryn Rudel, as well as two Lovecraft anthologies – The Book of Starry Wisdom and The Book of the Three Gates – by Strix Publishing. Valerie has created art and content for multiple entertainment media enterprises such as RiffTrax, Faerieworlds, Privateer Press, and Pacific NorthWEIRD. Outside of her creative practice she spends her time listening to music and podcasts, being out in nature, playing with her animals, writing, reading, gaming, and exploring a myriad of sorcerous activities. Please go and give her art page some FHR love – The Art of Valerie Herron.

Skulls and Sheets (Kelda Sproston) is a teacher by day and hobby artist at night. She has been entranced by the Welsh festive mumming tradition of the Mari Lwyd. The mari lwyd (grey mare) is a symbol of transition and has a huge impact in her life. Through using inspirations from nature, artwork or patterns the mari lwyd is able to display a message of hope all year now. Kelda creates her pictures using either watercolours or digitally.

https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/skullsandsheets

(My apologies for missing Kelda in the first submission of this post- Paul.)

Lastly we have Debra Snow. In her own words. I am primarily a landscape oil painter based in Whitby, North Yorkshire, although I also produce drawings in metalpoint, charcoal and pen and ink. My paintings are usually intricate or decorative, are sensitive to mood and light, reflecting my feelings towards what I am painting.​I love nature and ecology and have a keen interest in preserving species and environment, this interest leads me to other areas; the science of the natural world, folklore, poetry and literature. I like the human element in these interests, the stories and knowledge that people share. I do not profess to be any kind of expert in these fields, more that they spark my interest and allow me to imagine stories and feelings surrounding the subject. I like my imagination to go off on its own, without worrying too much about specific details, I want my paintings to go on and tell their own story.

https://www.debrasnow.co.uk/shop

(Again, my apologies for missing Debra in the original post. – Paul.)

–KT Mehers.