These four designs were a pleasure to create.

I love painting people, designing clothes, hairstyles etc. Giving a character life through a picture has become an exciting process. Having the choice of deciding which way their hair will fall, with curls, braids, chestnut in colour or raven, pale skinned or dark, dressed in rich cloth or simple, is as enjoyable as the painting itself. The possibilities are endless. I wanted each of these four couples to have a faylike quality about them, human, yet with an aura of Otherworldliness. The spell which weaves it's way round us when we feel or imagine the romance found in legend is an enchantment we can almost, yet not quite touch. The trials endured by these brave heroes in order to win the hand of their lady, the secret liaisons of courtly love, all are at the source of each tale of valour and chivalry. Love and the idea of love are what give life its purpose.

The idea behind these pictures was to design a range of cards that could be given to acknowledge and celebrate love in its many forms. In their most basic role, they are traditional engagement, anniversary or wedding cards. In a more imaginative sense, they can be given to celebrate a hand-fasting ceremony, a Valentine, or as a pure declaration of love. They are equally suitable to be given as a greeting "to" a couple or more intimately as a token sent between each other. We all have our own ideas about how love should make us feel and I wanted that feeling to be evident in the faces and actions of this set of lovers. The bliss of being in each other's company is the true expression of loves enchantment.