Deep in some arid desert is a cool cave, an abundance of life within finding refuge from the brutal noontime heat beyond. Small luminescent creatures dwell on the walls of the black interior, making unintentional constellations to delight the eye.

Size: 6″ x 6″
Mixed media: oil, paper, ink, and varnish on canvas.

The lion is called the king of the beast, and the eagle was equally regarded as king of all the birds. As the griffin embodies characteristics of both lion and eagle, he is the monarch of both the heavens and the earth. Although most often seen and associated with mediaeval heraldry, representations of griffins date back thousands of years, as early as ancient Sumeria.

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Size: 2.75″ x 2.75″
Mixed media: oil, paper, ink, varnish, resin on canvas.

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The phoenix is an eagle-like bird that is said to be nearly immortal. Some variant of the phoenix appears in the mythologies of many of the world’s ancient cultures. In classical Greek myth the phoenix undergoes a death-and-rebirth cycle approximately every 1,000 years, by building itself a pyre of myrrh branches in which it is burned to ashes. From the ashes a new phoenix is born.

In modern times the phoenix is a symbol of the Lebanese people, who are descended from the Phoenicians, and of Beirut in particular, a city eternally reborn from its own ashes. In alchemy the phoenix represents the element of fire and the fiery aspect of sulphur. It also symbolizes the perfection of unified opposites, in that it reproduces from itself without need of an “other.”

Size: 3.5″ x 2.5″
Mixed media: oil, paper, ink, varnish, gold pigment on canvas.

Taurus, the bull, is an earth sign associated with Venus. Tauruses are earthy, pragmatic, seekers of comfort. They have a sensual side, and a powerful desire for both security and appreciation from others. Tauruses also have a strong sense of fairness and a love of animals. The constellation of Taurus is in the Northern hemisphere between Aries and Gemini.

Size: 2″ x 2″
Mixed media: oil, paper, ink, varnish, and gold pigment on canvas.

And there the lion’s ruddy eyes
Shall flow with tears of gold:
And pitying the tender cries,
And walking round the fold:
Saying: “Wrath by His meekness,
And, by His health, sickness,
Are driven away
From our immortal day.

“And now beside thee, bleating lamb,
I can lie down and sleep,
Or think on Him who bore thy name,
Graze after thee, and weep.
For, washed in life’s river,
My bright mane for ever
Shall shine like the gold,
As I guard o’er the fold.”

- William Blake, from “Night”

Size: 2.5″ x 3.75″
Mixed media: oil, paper, ink, and varnish on canvas.

An allegorical emblem which connects the symbolic attributes of the planet Mars with the red lion of alchemy. Such attributes being strength, potency, fire, aggression.

Size: 2″ x 2″
Mixed media: oil, paper, ink, varnish, and gold pigment on canvas.

In all fables we are told that the Salamander is born in fire. It dwells in a great mountain which is encompassed by many flames.  And as one of these is ever smaller than another, herein the Salamander bathes. The third is greater, the fourth brighter than the rest. In all these the Salamander washes, and is purified. Then he ties him to his cave, but on the way is caught and pierced so that it dies, and yields up its life with its blood. But this, too, happens for its good: For from its blood it wins immortal life, and then death has no more power over it.  Its blood is the most precious Medicine upon earth, the same has not its like in the world.  For this blood drives away all disease.  From it the Sages derive their science, and through it they attain the Heavenly Gift, which is called the Philosopher’s Stone . – The Book of Lambspring

Size: 2.5″ x 3.5″
Mixed media: oil, paper, ink, varnish, and gold pigment on canvas.

Radha accompanies Krishna on a stroll through the countryside. He serenades her with his enchanting flute. At Radha’s feet there is a peacock, which is symbolic of courtship.

Size: 2.5″ x 3.5″
Mixed media: oil, paper, ink, varnish, and gold pigment on canvas.

In mediaeval times, the scholars who wrote books on Natural History were typically sequestered in monasteries, and usually relied upon the tales of travelers for the “facts” of which they wrote. Many of the fanciful animals found in bestiaries were based upon such oral accounts, and as a result the monk-scholar patched together a representation of creatures taking characteristics from known animals. Such a patchwork is what we call a “chimera” and in this picture we have what was probably thought to be a whale or porpoise, or possibly a manatee, having a fishlike body but a head somewhat more like a cow.

This enigmatic sea monster is from an old astronomical illustration, and in the context of this work, is thus fixed in the heavens and fixed in an ocean of amber, peeking out from behind a wall of gold and text fragments, some kind of ancient relic waiting to be deciphered by some future monk-scholar perhaps.

Size: 2″ x 2″
Mixed media: pigment, oil, ink, varnish, paper, gold dust, gold leaf on canvas.

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