The Owl Service

This is an original sketch made by me. The sketch was made on paper and then scanned the image and used adobe photoshop manipulations to create the final art piece. Part of an original sketch Series.

The Owl with Butterfly Wings

The Owl Service is a fantasy novel by Alan Garner, published by Collins in 1967.

This is a definite case of the owls not being quite what they seem. When Alison finds a dinner service in the house she has recently inherited, she is captivated by the image of the owl which she sees within the pattern. So much so that she has to draw it out, again and again, making an owl for each plate. The next day, the plates are blank. The rustlings of the owls begin to be heard throughout the house and Alison, her stepbrother Roger and the housekeeper’s son Gwyn realize that they are being caught up by the legend of Blodeuwedd, which plays out every generation in the valley. I always remember how one of the characters overhears a conversation between the locals as they observe in a detached way that it is happening again, taking as little notice as one might do of a spell of bad weather. Do you see owls in the pattern or do you see flowers?