Julie VanAlstine Artist-Collected Works

ADVENTURES IN ART

Drought

This work was inspired by the dry season of 1988. That year, in Ontario, we could smell the smoke from the fires in the prairies.

Lady Wind

Circle of Flowers

Ultimate Game

Unicorn

The perfect unicorn body is composed of a horse, a goat and a cat.

Owl Seeing

The owl is able to see in the dark and is revered for this ability. Darkness can also be of the heart and mind, and the owl totem allows us to enter these dangerous places and to come back unharmed.

Twenty four hour take out

The Firefighters designed Twenty four hour takeout and the Ladies Auxiliary did the Twenty four hour backup. I donated these works to the Fire Department for fundraising and personal use.

Virginia Woolf

This author suffered from depression and eventually committed suicide. I drew her in sepia tones to reflect this. The colour in the background represents the vibrancy I felt in her writing.

She was caught in her tent with a Polyphemus Moth, which had been been attracted by her lamplight. The shadows formed during the moth's frantic attempts to get to the light caused Virginia a panic attack. She describes how her heart felt as if it were beating with the wings of the moth, increasing the sense of madness she felt descending upon her

She would later (through a sucide note) attribute this descending madness as the cause for her untimely death..

Portrait of a Friend

I don't usually do well with portraits, but in this case, because I was able to work her into my impressions of her life, it came out just fine.

Blessed Friend

This picture was done for a lovely woman who wanted a relaxing and charming piece. Since she is a Christian I used the dove and the pelican, both symbols of Christ. The child is the symbol of innocence and purity and though I don't do well with "cute", I'd say this one is better than cute.