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Scotfestival News Updates |
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Edinburgh Internet Festival 2008 - This year's event is
now open and will be online from
the 1st July to the 31st October! As part of this year's festival we
are launching a new interactive networking community called
'Festival2008' where - Visual Artists, Musicians, Comedians, Theatrical
Performers & Street Entertainers participating in this year's Edinburgh
Festival - can come together to promote their visit to Edinburgh!
Participation is now open -
Click Here
To Join Up!
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scotfestival 2008 |
PoL Steele:-
Illustration & Artwork |
I have suffered from short periods of disability
throughout my adult life. However, during the early 90’s I faced the worst
period of my illness to date and became almost totally housebound for a
number of years. Having been forced to give up my career as a community
worker, I turned to my art both as an outlet for my boredom and as a
potential method of creating a living for myself.
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©Copyright
PoL Steele |
| Edinburgh Castle |
Face Down |
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Gathering together any and
all available materials, I began a series of illustrations, which have since
been well received at an international level and are often favourably compared to pictures found in Victorian fairy tales and
children’s books. Combining coloured pencil, watercolour and even
fluorescent marker pen in a single piece of work, I would as my health
allowed, work for anything between six weeks and a year on any given image.
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| Calton Hill |
Fairy Circle |
Whittler's Wood |
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Over the years that followed,
my artwork became not just a means of creative expression but also a
lifeline to sanity as I faced periods of deepest depression relating to the
various highs and lows of my physical state. However, despite my poor health
I had found something I could still do well and which helped me deal with
the physical and emotional pain I was undergoing.
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| Madness O' Mages |
Mermaiden |
Terra Lumnus |
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| Rather than depict the bleakness of my situation
through my work, I decided that I would try to channel what remained of the
positive side of my nature into my images. I concentrated on bright,
colourful visions of an Edinburgh where satyrs played on Calton Hill and
fairies reclined in the grass at the foot of the Castle.
Towards the end of the 90’s
a slow but general improvement in my health was accompanied by a worsening
of the condition of my hands. This quickly grew to a level where I was
unable to maintain the standard of work I had previously achieved. However,
by this point I had already become interested in the opportunities computers
offered to disabled artists.
By 1999 I was unable to continue to produce
‘physical’ artwork but I had managed by this time to obtain access to my
first computer. After a few months self-tuition I realised that I could at
least continue to work under a digital format. Aside from the ability to
produce computer graphics I discovered I also a fascination for web design
and digital photography. Despite this my original artwork has become increasingly precious to me
as a source of continued inspiration |
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