Gallery
of Friends and Family
Gallery
of Friends and Family| STEPHANIE PUI-MUN LAW |
About the Artist:  By day she is a computer programmer, by night she scribbles away at her desk to conjure creatures and mythical lands from her imagination. Stephanie Pui-Mun Law currently lives in California, and has been doing freelance illustration and graphics since 1996. She graduated from the University of California at Berkeley in 1998 with a double BA degree in Fine Arts and Computer Science. Her portfolio of published work and list of recent clients includes Wizards of the Coast (Magic: the Gathering CCG, Forgotten Realms), Precedence Entertainment (Wheel of Time CCG, Rifts CCG), HarperCollins (covers for "The Demon Child Trilogy" by Jennifer Fallon), Elemental Designer Games (ChessMage CCG), Skotos (Castle Marrach RPG), Alderac Entertainment Group (Warlord CCG), Talislanta, and Black Knight Games. Most of her inspiration comes from mythology and legend, ranging through various cultures -- Roma (Gypsy), Celtic, Greek, Roman, Indian, and Chinese. It began with an early interest in Greek and Roman mythology, and as she grew older, she began to explore tales of other cultures, beginning with a desire to know more about the culture of her own background, the Chinese. She has also been greatly influenced by the art of the Impressionists, Pre-Raphaelites, and Surrealists, along with current popular fantasy artists. What she tries to convey with her art is not simply fantasy, but the fantastic, the sense of wonder, and that which is sacred. As far as technique goes, her usual media include pencil, pen & ink, intaglio printing, watercolor, acrylic, and digital (Photoshop). Her preferred medium at this time is watercolor. In addition to painting into the wee hours of the night, Stephanie dances Flamenco at any spare moment, plays piano, and burrows through her books like a true bookworm. Influences from her music and dance are also scattered through her art, for she finds inspiration for art and images in everything around her. |
| About the Art: So where does my art come from? Much of my art derives its inspiration from mythology, legends, and folklore. I draw from many cultures, from my own Chinese background, through that of Roma, Celtic, Greek, Roman, and Indian to name a few. I have been interested in fantasy since I was eight when a friend introduced me to the world of Narnia by C.S. Lewis, and for a long time, my art was just about creatures and figures from fantasy novels. Even now, much of it still comes from these sources, because I still enjoy it. But I slowly found myself moving away from strict fantasy in both literature and my art, and into the realms before and beyond "fantasy", which is mythology and folklore. Tales in mythology and folklore stem from emotions, needs, desires, hopes, and beliefs that have survived through time, for thousands of years, across hundreds of cultures. These things are part of the essence of being alive, and of being human. There is something in these tales that makes people hold on to them, even without need of words on paper, but simple word of mouth. And so it is these images that I try to capture with my paintings. In addition to mythology though, the other aspect of my art is the concept of "sacredness". I remember in an art class I once took, the lecturer was telling of a trip of his to Africa. He had stayed among tribes. One day, one of the men took him out and pointed to a lake, far in the distance. "That is a sacred lake," he was told. And he spoke to us in that lecture hall about how little in our world today is truly sacred any longer. The reverence that African held for the lake, the wonder, and absolute belief he held. It is that sense which I try the most to convey with my work, a sense of wonder for things within the human experience that somehow sit upon the edges of our consciousness. Things that are hoped for, or perhaps only half remembered. Things that could be, if one were to look on the world and think and live with a different mindset that could see all the possibilities and wonders in this life. I suppose that is why I also get asked quite often whether I am a pagan. The answer to that is no, but there is something on a spiritual level in my mind when I paint. It is something that is independant of religion however. Aside from all that though...there is the part of me that just loves to draw and paint for its own sake. Forget meanings and high-minded interpretations...when it comes down to it, I just have a need to draw and create. To contact the artist, email her at:
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 (aka: Donovan) |
