Sometimes things just will not lie down. It’s been a while since I created any artwork, but this idea would not leave me alone.
A world of myth and legend, nestled in the woodland between rivers—where quiet creatures stand watch over the fading edges of wonder. While humans busy themselves and bustle through life, these guardians keep the balance. They move through shadow and leaf, ripple and mist, whispering through the branches and reeds, walking paths older than memory.
I dreamed it first in fragments—a fox standing sentinel at twilight, an owl circling above as if marking time, a badger emerging from the hollow like a keeper of forgotten truths. Then came the river voices—a kingfisher darting like a spark of prophecy, a cormorant rising from the depths, a swan gliding like a living sigil.
It felt like folklore, but not one I’d read. More like something passed down in silence, through instinct and moss and bone. Echoes of the Woodland Realm came from that place. Not a story I wrote, but one I remembered. A quiet kingdom where fur, feather, and scale carry the weight of ancient vows. Where the wild ones don’t speak—but they know. They know what we’ve lost, what we’ve forgotten, and what still needs protecting.
This series is my way of honouring them—those unseen guardians who walk beside us, even when we’re too busy to notice.
You’re invited to walk beside me as they emerge. Join me in the shaping of this sacred realm between rivers. Each portrait is a step deeper into the myth. Together, we’ll uncover who these guardians are, what they protect, and why they’ve chosen to reveal themselves now. As the guardians emerge, so too do the elemental currents shaping their world:
🌲 The Hollowing in the woodlands.
🌿 The Fraying in the brambled hedgerows.
🌫️ The Dimming of the Skies above.
🌊 The Stillness Creeps along the river.
Each one carries a truth, a tension, a memory.

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