Megalithic art exhibition 2012

The Megalithomania art exhibition is now in its fifth year, and runs in conjunction with the conference. The curator of the exhibition, Kate Masters, had previously attended and spoken at the event and felt the experience could be enhanced by the presence of art because there is no better way to let your mind wander in the footsteps of the ancients than by pondering beautiful artwork whilst listening to the revelations of the speakers. What ties all the artists involved together is their interest in the mystery of the stones. Each artist here strives within their medium to express something of the awesome atmosphere of spiritual places and are all true megalithomaniacs at heart. In the Megalitho-Market there is a stall selling the artists pieces. If you would like to exhibit at future events please contact Kate through the conference at: megalithomania@live.co.uk

Stephen E. Meakin

Stephen E. Meakin, Geometer, Architect, Artist, Antiquarian and Megalithomanic leads the field in Sacred Geometry as Mandala painting through the shear depth and breadth of his research. His passion for painting and his architectonic genius en-fuse seamlessly across the canvas, resulting in beautifully crafted works of a standard rarely seen in the contemporary art world. They are inspired by his knowledge of a diverse range of subjects such as philosophy, sacred architecture, art history, comparative religion, cosmology and astronomy. Echoing the technical perfection of Islamic ornamental design and the mystical directive of the sacred mandala, Stephen's paintings celebrate the universal oneness of all things using geometry as the architypal language of creation. This is a non-sectarian , global and inclusive art with luminescent and transcendent intimations of an ancient Celtic craft. He last exhibited at Megalithomania 2010. www.stephenmeakin.com

MARIANNA LINES

"I have been a 'stone artist' for many moons now ... perhaps ever since I was born, if not before! I first painted Stonehenge after an early visit in the 70's, and have gone on to work with Pictish Stones in Scotland quite intensively since coming to live here in Scotland since 1977. My work has been an archaeo-artistic investigation process, working with natural dyes and a new form of printmaking to decipher and recover lost images, which result in soft colour wall hangings of the original size of these beautiful sculptured stones from the 5th century AD onwards through the Medieval period in Scotland. I was an original member of the Ley Hunter Society, attended many moots when I lived at Findhorn Foundation, and worked with the wonderful John Michell during those happy days, meeting up in such locations as Papa Westray on Orkney for stone art and conferences we were both part of. I am the author of Sacred Stones, Sacred Places, published by Saint Andrew Press in Edinburgh in 1992, now out of print, and am the co- founder of The Pictish Arts Society, an academic/ arts society in Scotland that has been active since 1989. I live and work in Collessie, with a vernacular thatched old washhouse as my converted restored studio. I paint, design greeting cards, and do workshops on natural dyes besides giving talks on the Picts and travel worldwide to see and record and study Rock Art on a world scale." www.stoneline.co.uk

Philip Tonkyn

Philip Tonkyn, a regular exhibitor at Megalithomania, has been an artist, illustrator and art teacher for over forty years. He has an MA in Art and Design and is a member of the Society of Industrial Artists and Designers (MSIAD). His work has been widely published, and five of his works have recently been selected for the Royal West Academy's Open Exhibitions 156 and 158 and the Open Photography 2 Exhibition.

Brought up in (and now returned to) Glastonbury and after initially studying sculpture at Somerset College of Art, Philip Tonkyn later became well known as an air-brush artist and illustrator of numerous book, magazine and record covers. He now specialises in photography, which he uses to create numinous glimpses of a magical Otherworld, where matter and spirit meld in the marriage of landscape and light. Merging up to twenty-one photographs into large composite views, he recreates magical moments of beauty and stillness. In the Simulacra Series, sections of photographs are reflected, creating the appearance of ‘spirit’ forms, originating both from their natural being and from the projected psyche of the viewer. The pictures are portraits of the Earth Spirit. It is notable that symmetry is characteristic of sacred art and iconography throughout the world, and that there is indeed much magic in mirrors. www.philiptonkyn.com

Maria Silmon

Maria has been a clothes designer and artist for many years, and now works in the mediums of digital art, photography and video. Previous exhibitions include: the Chalice Well and Goddess Conference in Glastonbury, Sunrise Festival, and the British Society of Dowsers Conference. She has recently created video installations for the Ryedale Folk Museum and Coastival Festival, Scarborough. She regularly exhibits her work in North Yorkshire where she lives, and opens her studio to the public in the summer for ‘North Yorkshire Open Studios’.

Maria grew up listening to stories of her Great Grandfather, a spiritual healer and herbalist who had visitations from an American Indian guide, who he conversed with in fluent native tongue. These stories she believes, account for an awareness of her own spiritual development, and fascination with the natural world.

Her journey has taken her to foreign lands to visit the Mayan architecture of the pyramid temples in the Yucatan, where she joined the first ‘Solar Initiation Tour’ with Hunbatz Men, a Mayan priest; to the Native American Indian dwellings of Mesa Verde and to the Hopi settlements of Arizona, where she felt blessed to be invited to a weekend of Kachina Dances in a Hopi village. On her last travel, a 6-month journey through India, she was inspired by the temple art of the Hindu, Buddhist and Jain faiths.

Maria is currently working on a project relating to the Solar Festivals as well as one regarding the extensive rock art on the North York Moors. www.mariasilmon.co.uk

Kate Masters

Kate Masters is an artist with a life-long obsession with sacred sites, and she has worked on these themes in her art for many years. This led her recently to renovate a sixteenth century barn in the Mayenne in France, which has prompted a particular interest in this unexplored region. There are literally hundreds of megalithic monuments within a twenty mile radius of her home. Her ancestors hail from the Glastonbury area, and she has co-led tour groups along the ridgeway with her father. Kate coordinates the Art exhibition at Megalithomania every year.