Denise Nestor

Artist & Illustrator

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A print collection inspired by Medieval Bestiaries. Prints available through Hen’s Teeth Prints.  The Bestiary is a compendium of real and imaginary beasts which were described and illustrated in Medieval manuscripts. The natural history and illustration of each beast was accompanied by a moral lesson. The result is a sometimes surreal representation of natural history, with fantastical beasts like dragons and unicorns being described alongside real animals, whose traits and behaviours were either misunderstood or invented for the purpose of conveying a moral tale. Each print in this series is inspired by specific illustrations from the bestiaries.

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A series of illustrations for Irish Design Shop based on the theme of Irish folklore & mythology. A limited edition print calendar is available from www.irishdesignshop.com

Faery Birds The arrival of the barn swallow in April is commonly believed to mark the beginning of spring. For centuries, before people understood that certain birds migrated for winter, there were strange theories as to why they magically disappeared and then reappeared each year. Many people believed that these were enchanted birds, associated with the faeries, and that they spent the winter months in the Otherworld. It was even thought that they shape-shifted into other birds. 

Because swallows were often seen flying low over lakes, some people believed that they disappeared under the water and stayed hidden there, only to emerge again the following April.

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A series of illustrations for Irish Design Shop based on the theme of Irish folklore & mythology. A limited edition print calendar is available from www.irishdesignshop.com

The Sons of Tuireann In Celtic mythology, Tuireann’s three sons, Brian, Iuchar and Iucharba kill their father's enemy, Cian. Cian’s son Lugh, a great warrior of the Tuatha Dé Danann, avenges his father’s death by tasking the three sons with gathering magical weapons, which Lugh plans to use at the Second Battle of Magh Tuireadh. In return for succeeding in these perilous quests, they will be granted mercy. For one of these tasks, Tuireann turns his three sons into hawks so they can steal golden healing apples from an orchard. The king who owns the orchard orders his men to attack them with spears but they manage to escape. In the end they succeed in obtaining all that Lugh demanded, but return badly wounded. They plead for Lugh to heal them but he refuses. The three sons die and Tuireann dies of grief on their graves.

[denisenestor]

A series of illustrations for Irish Design Shop based on the theme of Irish folklore & mythology. A limited edition print calendar is available from www.irishdesignshop.com

Aengus Óg Aengus Óg was a member of the Tuatha Dé Danann, an ancient tribe of gods and goddesses from Irish mythology. In time they became known as the Aos Sí (people of the sidhe), and in later folklore were known more familiarly as ‘the faeries’. Aengus Óg was the god of love and poetic inspiration and it was said that everywhere he went, four little birds hovered above his head. They were said to have been formed from his kisses and carried messages of love.

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A series of illustrations for Irish Design Shop based on the theme of Irish folklore & mythology. A limited edition print calendar is available from www.irishdesignshop.com

Foxgloves The foxglove has a long association with both foxes and faeries. A potion made from the foxglove plant was said to be able to break a faery spell and restore changelings to true children. There are various theories about where the name ‘foxglove’ originated. One theory is that it is derived from the Anglo-Saxon name ‘foxes-gleow’, ‘gleow’ meaning a ‘ring of bells’. It was believed that the faeries taught foxes to ring the foxglove bells, so that both would be warned of approaching hunters. Another theory is that the faeries taught foxes to wear the foxglove bells on their feet, so as to soften their steps while hunting.

[denisenestor]

A series of illustrations for Irish Design Shop based on the theme of Irish folklore & mythology. A limited edition print calendar is available from www.irishdesignshop.com

The Púca The Púca is a malevolent faery that can shape-shift into different forms. It often appears as a black horse and is sometimes seen as a dark animal that resembles a hare or a rabbit with glowing eyes and long black hair. It is most often seen at night, sitting silently on the branch of a tree. It is said that you shouldn’t eat blackberries after the 31st of October because the Púca covers them in spit on Hallowe’en Night.

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A series of illustrations for Irish Design Shop based on the theme of Irish folklore & mythology. A limited edition print calendar is available from www.irishdesignshop.com

The Horned God In Celtic terms, the stag represented the renewal of nature and the fertility of the forest. Understood more generally as a symbol of the natural world, the stag was dangerous but also benign and beneficial. Cernunnos was the Celtic god of fertility, animals, wealth and the underworld. Sometimes depicted as a man with antlers, he was referred to as ‘The Horned God’.

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A series of illustrations for Irish Design Shop based on the theme of Irish folklore & mythology. A limited edition print calendar is available from www.irishdesignshop.com

Dealán Dé The old Irish name for the butterfly was ‘Dealán Dé’, meaning ‘light of the Gods’, but the origins of this name are unknown. It was believed that butterflies were connected to the Otherworld and that they could pass freely between this world and the next. Butterflies were thought to carry the souls of the dead to the Otherworld, while white butterflies carried the souls of children. For this reason they were treated with respect and reverence and it was seen as bad luck to harm them.

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A series of illustrations for Irish Design Shop based on the theme of Irish folklore & mythology. A limited edition print calendar is available from www.irishdesignshop.com

‘The Werewolves of Ossory’ Ossory was an old kingdom of Ireland, now comprised of Kilkenny and Laois. There have long been stories about werewolves associated with this region. 'Cóir Anmann', a 12th century manuscript, offers an account of a man named Laignech Fáelad, said to be an ancestor of a tribe of werewolves who were related to the kings of Ossory. According to the 'Cóir Anmann', ‘he was a man that used to go wolfing, into shapes of wolves he used to go, and his offspring used to go after him and they used to kill the herds after the fashion of wolves, so that it is for that that he used to be called Laignech Fáelad, for he was the first of them who went into a wolf-shape’. Legend has it that when St Patrick preached to groups about Christianity, Laignech and his followers howled like wolves in protest in order to drown out his voice.

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‘Apollo’  Pencil and gold ink (29.5 x 29.5cm)

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‘Untitled’ (little red wreath) 9x9 inches Limited edition giclee print Available to buy here.

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Shirley Jackson, for ‘The Atlantic' magazine.

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You can now purchase my prints through my website www.denisenestorillustration.com  Some special editions are also available through Tough Love Gallery. For any further queries you can email me at [email protected]

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‘Opalia’, on show at the RHA Annual Exhibition. 

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This piece is part of the 'Freedom' exhibition, celebrating Hang Tough Framing's 5 year anniversary, as well as commemorating the 1916 Rising on which the theme is based. 

My piece is inspired by WB Yeats' poem 'Easter 1916'.  A limited edition of just 20 of these prints are available exclusively through Tough Love Gallery.

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Limited edition gold screen print in collaboration with Gillian Henderson. The print is in a limited edition of 10, printed on A2 300gsm fabriano stock. You can email me at [email protected] for more info.

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‘Opalia’ Graphite on paper, 594 x 841 mm