Marly Youmans
Child and Ancient Mask
The contours of the delicate
Face are eloquent
Of mystery, of things unknown
To passing flesh and bone…
And for the girl who lingers here,
Feeling a kind of fear
Entwined with love for all that’s lost
In time’s long holocaust,
The oval of thin-beaten gold
Is a shining threshold,
An icon of invisibles,
Wordless syllables
To wake in her angelic ache
And wild desire to make.
A Painter of the Eleventh Century
I’ve been with child for nearly ninety years,
My little Sophie who will sleep and stir
And run to bring me dreams of all I’ll make—
She is my art, the spirit child in me,
Beholder of the living images:
Sophia, she who let me know my brush
Had never a need to tell about my days,
That it’s not me who must be fixed in paint
But some deep-set, uncurling, precious thing
That wants my kindness no less than my skill.
And all my faithfulness to her demands
Has meant the constancy of sacrifice
And yielding to the patterns of the high
Divinity who gilds my fingertips
And seeks to change my essence into gold.
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| Avila Gray is a self-taught illustrator, specialising in fine ink pen and watercolour paintings. Avi is based in Sydney, Australia, where she operates a stationery business called Erlenmeyer, selling art prints, greeting cards, playing cards, stickers and colouring books. Erlenmeyer is also the name of Avi's storytelling animal kingdom; a futuristic utopia where sentient creatures live in harmony across 12 cities on Earth. All of the compositions from her illustrative range depict snapshots from this story; her body of work shows the animal characters that colour the Erlenmeyer world, as well as their culture, values and how they live. Avi has been selling her illustrations and products since 2014 and became a resident at Australia’s iconic Rocks Market for many years, developing a loyal customer base and social media following. After several years of trade shows in Sydney and London, her designs can now be found in more than 80 shops worldwide. Many of Avi's designs are licensed by the international greeting card company, Moonpig.
For additional information, please visit www.erlenmeyer.com.au.
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