For the love of Leonora Carrington

Such inspiration I found as a young woman when I discovered the spirited and wonderful painter Leonora Carrington. Who recently died on May 25th age 94.

"During her coming-out ball, she plotted a short story (later published) in which she dressed a hyena in her trailing robes and sent the animal to the party in her place.

Soon after her coming-out ball at the Ritz hotel in London, Leonora Carrington, aged 20, went to see her father with some shocking news. She had fallen in love with the 46-year-old, married, surrealist painterMax Ernst. She intended to move to Paris with him and pursue a career as an artist. Her horrified father said two things to her: an injunction never again to darken his door, and a prediction that she would die penniless in a garret, as artists (in his opinion) inevitably did. "(from The Gaurdian Obituary)

I first came across her work by chance when I was living in London in 1991 and saw a retrospective of her work at the Serpentine Gallery and fell instantly in love with the work of this amazing woman.

This is one of my favourites, 'The House Opposite', this is just a small corner pictured here.

I love the creatures who inhabit her world, and ever since have often featured them in my dreams.

"Who art thou? White face'

Here she is with one of her beings...

And the awesomely beautiful Butterfly man sculpture

And this exqiusite creature with such delicate feet,tail and hands.

I think a pilgrimage to Mexico is very much in my plans now, to see all these amazing sculptures and who knows, maybe her house will become a museum!