Welsh Monsters & Mythical Beasts - New Book by C.C.J Ellis

Packed with lore, history, and beautiful illustrations, Welsh Monsters & Mythical Beasts is an indispensable registry of everything that lurks in the shadows, glides just beneath the surface, or goes bump in the night. I love it!

— Todd Lockwood

Upon the dramatic landscape of Wales there have been born many creatures and beings of legend.

This lushly illustrated guide delves into the dragons, beasts, fair folk, and spirits of Wales. Tales become blended and one with history, and this history meets illustration with C.C.J. Ellis’ rich renderings of these creatures.

This new edition includes a Welsh language guide so that each of the creatures might be known by their original Welsh names. Ellis aims to re-introduce the beasts of Welsh myth and legend to the world and bring a touch of Wales to your shelves.

Part of the Wool of Bat series focused on the preservation and promotion of folklore and oral history from around the world.

Pre order Welsh Monsters and Mythical Beasts from my website - www.ccjellis.com

Elysia Gilman's Savoy painting on show in Times Square

I created some oil paintings of The Savoy a little over a year ago, and I am delighted to say that one of them has been selected to be part of a Digital Exhibition in Broadway Plaza, New York.

My painting will be exhibited alongside other artists’ work on a spectacular LED screen covering 1,674 square feet of digital display, located above one of Times Square’s main pedestrian plazas. This is installed just outside H&M’s Times Square flagship location, and neighbouring Nasdaq, and will be shown on the 23rd June from 6AM - 2AM the following day.

The exhibition has been curated by Artist Talk Magazine which is a magazine for everyone written by artists, and past issues have included articles from the likes of Porsche, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars and the Courtauld Institute to name a few. In August 2020, Artist Talk showcased a similar digital exhibition on Piccadilly Lights, London saying ‘Thank You NHS Heroes’ with a range of artists’ portraits.

I am really pleased that my painting has been selected to be part of this exciting new exhibition and that one of my favourite pieces will be on display.

The digital exhibition will be displayed just outside H&M’s flagship location and neighbouring Nasdaq in Broadway Plaza. My painting is third from the left on the bottom row.

Andrew Jenkin appears on BBC 1

I’d like to thank Art North Wales for a fantastic lead, which led to a really exciting opportunity… to appear on BBC1’s The Apprentice!

I was contacted by the TV production company last year and asked if I could teach watercolour painting to some of the candidates on one of their tasks. This would involve the contestants running a highland railway tour through Snowdonia, stopping to paint the mountainous local scenery.

We filmed at Pont Croesor Osprey Centre (near Porthmadog) last summer. The day before the paying customers arrived, I met three of the contestants to give them their crash course in watercolours.

There are panoramic views of Snowdon and its surrounding mountains from there, so we had plenty to paint!

I crammed as much ‘Watercolour Landscapes’ information as I could into such a short time (we were only there for a couple of hours).

The contestants also asked for information about the local area, but I probably confused them with my ‘Welsh’ pronunciation of the mountain names, mangled by my Yorkshire accent!

On the actual day-trip, the contestants and their customers travelled by steam train to several locations, including Pont Croesor Osprey Centre, where the three contestants (now experts in watercolour landscapes!) guided their group of holiday-makers through their paintings.

It all seemed idyllic… until the Welsh rain suddenly arrived, and everyone had to run back to the train!

It was really good fun to be part of the show, and the production company have been great to work with throughout this experience.

I won’t give any spoilers away, you’ll have to watch the episode to find out how my team fared, and see who was fired…