While Starlight Maiden was definitely not my the first professional pastel piece I had ever done, it’s the first I offered for sale as prints. Here she is in her full glory:
Here’s the description from the FineArtAmerica page: “The Starlight Maiden is the dream-keeper and the storyteller, holding every story in the cosmos that touches upon our archetypal centers. Every star in the night sky is a page in her sacred book, every constellation like a book-cover hinting at what’s inside. She forms the bridge between the subconscious dreamworld and our waking, conscious world, enabling us to understand the image-laden messages of our inner depths.
The Starlight Maiden is from a personal mythological landscape and related tales.”
The inspiration for this piece came from some spiritual journey-work I was doing. First of all, her image kept appearing to me randomly at first and then much more frequently when I was star-gazing. I had been working with story, mythology, and archetype as a healing method, and it was about this time all those random images gathered and she presented herself as the Starlight Maiden.
In my spiritual path, the stars hold the wisdom of stories yet untold, and now Starlight Maiden had come to relay those tales to those worthy and ready to hear them. She is related to the Moon Goddess and Sky God in my mythology. In olden times, the sacred stories were told around the fire beneath the starry skies. Perhaps Starlight Maiden spoke through the revered storytellers.
Story, archetype, mythology, symbols, and the dream world all fall under her domain.
This piece is done on pale blue pastel paper. I wanted to capture the soft lighting of a moonlit night sky, the subdued tones and the deep, dark silhouettes. I used the Colour Shaper tools to really drive the black into the paper to give the hair that silhouette look while keeping the pastel on the top layer of the paper to create the Milky Way background. The effect was the star-sprayed look you see above.
The gemstone tiara was probably the most harrying part of this piece. Getting the tones and highlights just right with soft pastel was no easy task. If you look closely to the largest gemstone at her forehead, you’ll see some multi-colored, prismatic highlights. The second-harrying part was trying to get the facial tones just right, to capture that moonlight-goddess look without looking too inhuman. There are varying balances of yellow, orange, violet, and white, all smoothed and blended with the Colour Shapers.
The hair strands are one of my favorite parts about this piece. Again, the Colour Shapers come in, this time a very tiny, thin one to pull the pastel into the soft, random lines.
Her expression is purposely rather blank, mysteriously so. Her eyes are alight to something slightly above her. Perhaps she is reading a stream of starlight and catching the latest story to relay to her listeners. Her eyes were meant to be light and crystal blue like her father’s, the Sky God.
There is some iridescent pastel used in this piece, mostly in the hair, and capturing it just right with the camera was no easy task. Too much light and you have giant silver streaks. Too little and you miss out on the glittering effect. This result is just right, capturing some sparkle without overpowering the silhouette.
Some may wonder why I went with the elf ears. Long story short: I have a thing for elf ears. This is especially true when it comes to depictions of Gods and Goddesses. My mythological landscape is often fantastical — dragons, unicorns, fairies, etc. The images appeal to me, strike a special chord within me, and so the ears are a touch of the fantastical in the mythological.
The Starlight Maiden holds a special place in my heart and soul, and I hope she calls to you, too, perhaps with a tale made for your ears only.