I had a job as an illustrator, and I wanted to change the direction of my work. I moved to the country, and immediately I started to paint fairies and trolls.
BRIAN FROUDI had a job as an illustrator, and I wanted to change the direction of my work. I moved to the country, and immediately I started to paint fairies and trolls.
BRIAN FROUDI always believed that the picture itself should tell the story.
BRIAN FROUDArt always used to involve spirit. Painters painted spirit. They painted by commission things to go into churches, and that was painting spirit. Or they would paint people of wealth, and they would try to show how they had power, and again, this is sort of spirit.
BRIAN FROUDThe myths and legends about Faerie are many and diverse, and often contradictory. Only one thing is certain – that nothing is certain. All things are possible in the land of Faerie.
BRIAN FROUDWe almost need another word for fairy, that’s the thing. Once people get to see what fairies’ real power is, then they understand.
BRIAN FROUDAnytime that is ‘betwixt and between’ or transitional is the faeries’ favorite time. They inhabit transitional spaces: the bottom of the garden, existing in a space between manmade cultivation and wilderness.
BRIAN FROUDRemember, as each man and woman is a microcosm reflecting the larger natural world, so healing of the self is also a healing for the world. As above, so below.
BRIAN FROUDMy art’s not safe, I don’t want it to be safe, it’s not meant to be safe, its controversial, it takes you into deep areas, it’s a journey, its starts off in safe areas but it gets into deep waters.
BRIAN FROUDIt was hard for me to move forward, because I take responsibility for what I introduce into the world through my paintings. So to actually introduce something evil or bad was quite hard for me.
BRIAN FROUDThey come when we are half-asleep. They come at moments when we least expect them; when our rational mind balances with the fluid irrational.
BRIAN FROUDIt seems to me that art has lost its connection to spirit.
BRIAN FROUDFaeries are seen through the heart, not through the eyes. Remember that faeries inhabit the interior of the earth and the interior of all things, so look, in the first place, in the interior of yourself.
BRIAN FROUDOnce you step onto the fairy path, it’s almost like there’s no way off. You have to keep going.
BRIAN FROUDIn the 20th century, artists did a great disservice to fairies. They painted fairies in a way that was shallow and trite. So when people see my stuff, they suddenly realize the depth of fairies.
BRIAN FROUDI live in a house that’s incredibly old, and it’s typical that part of it is slightly in the ground. It’s very earthed. It’s almost like living in a hobbit house.
BRIAN FROUDFor me drawing is an attempt to understand what I feel about the world I live in.
BRIAN FROUD