Roberta Writes – ART SERIES: An art adventure with Freya Pickard #art #watercolour #pastels

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Today, I am delighted to introduce you to the artwork of Freya Pickard. Many readers will know Freya as a poet and the host of the bi-annual haiku challenges on https://purehaiku.wordpress.com/ and for her fantasy series, The Kaerling, which you can read more about here: https://nirunen.wordpress.com/.

Artwork of Freya Pickard

Tell us a bit about your art journey? Did you do art at school? Study art? or is it something you started as an adult?

I am a self-taught artist with no formal training. I always enjoyed painting and sketching as a child and in my teenage years. I was never very good at it, but I found it soothing to do and it was a way of escaping from school stuff when I wasn’t allowed to read. I drew a lot of dragons and unicorns and wizards, inspired by the fantasy books I read at the time: The Lord of the Rings, The Dragonlance Chronicles and Dragons of Pern.

It wasn’t until I was enduring chemotherapy, after having had major operations to remove cancer in my bowel, that I took up drawing again. The chemo was every 2 weeks, and, on top of my physical weakness from the operations, I couldn’t do much at all. When I couldn’t concentrate on reading, I started drawing images with crayons! 

In 2016, Elisa Ang invited me to take part in one of her online painting workshops. I tried everything she suggested throughout the course and from then on I painted, nearly every day, until I started work as a Bed & Breakfast owner. After that, I could only paint/draw in the winter months, when we were closed. I started making small pencil sketches of the faces of the characters in The Kaerling series.

From there, I moved on to watercolour and pastel, often mixing the two mediums. Once the Bed & Breakfast was sold, we moved into a house full of light and suddenly my paintings became large and filled the pages of my sketch book. In the last 4 years I’ve tried out many different styles, just by experimentation. I still can’t draw exactly what I see before me, but I can use what I see around me as templates for what I want to portray.

What is your favourite medium to work in or do you work in multiple mediums?

Up until now I have only worked in watercolour and pastels. Oh, and pencil too. I have tried charcoal but didn’t get on with it. I would love to try acrylics, but my budget doesn’t yet allow me to move in that direction. Eventually, (budget permitting) I would love to work in oil on canvas…

I love watercolour because it is so fluid and the way it blends with itself and water is quite magical!

I also enjoy pastels, both pencils and sticks. I use sticks to fill in colour and create shading and then use the pencils for fine work.

When I’m creating portraits, I tend to use a watercolour wash (often creating my own blends) and, once it’s dry, I use a black pastel pencil to give definition to the face.

If I’m creating a landscape, I usually use colour washes to give each section of the picture a faint, base colour. Then I use deeper colours to give the impression of distance and only use pastel sticks or pencils right at the end to finish the painting off.

Who is your favourite artist and why?

There are a number of artists who I admire greatly. I can’t decide on my favourite, but they include:

Elisa Ang, for her evocative imagery which has a pure quality to it that always lifts my heart.

Janet Weight Reed –  I discovered this amazing artist whilst struggling with the last 3 months of chemotherapy. At a time when I felt and looked grey and dreary, Janet’s brightly coloured paintings burst into my consciousness and made me feel alive!

Kerfe Roig is a poet, photographer and artist who creates incredible collages as well as painting amazing images. You can discover Kerfe’s poetry and art here: https://kblog.blog/2025/08/30/drowning/

Jennifer S Lange – I discovered this artist recently who creates fantastical artworks of imaginary realms.

John Waterhouse –  I discovered I loved his paintings when I was at college, mainly because his pre-Raphaelite images contain characters from myth and legend which really struck a chord with me.

What is your favourite artwork and what do you like about it?

I have 2 favourite artworks by Elisa Ang who collaborated with me in 2024 and created two incredible paintings to showcase two completely different scenes in The Kaerling series. 

The first was of a desert that had red-pink sand. I love the way she captured the harshness of the dunes with the swirling dust devil watched by the Chandarin warriors mounted on bactrians.

The second was of Nenyar’s Valley; a scene of tranquility and light. She portrayed the mountains and the river with the abundant vegetation absolutely perfectly. 

(Both of these pictures are available to view at https://nirunen.wordpress.com/2024/12/25/an-extract-from-lotari/ and https://nirunen.wordpress.com/2025/03/28/spiralling-thermals/ )

What is your favourite of your own artworks. Share a few of your artworks with us and any related stories and/or poems.

Oh dear, that’s a hard one to answer! Right now, my favourite artwork is the one of the Ghost Maker. I had a very clear idea of how I wanted her to look and studied a lot of photos and drawings of robed, hooded figures wearing silken material. I didn’t want to show her face as I think the darkness of a deep hood is more threatening than seeing specific features.

When I was ready to sketch, I simply drew the outline of the hood and then worked out how the material would ripple around her. I only drew a few lines. So, when I came to paint it, I used a dark purple for the shaded bits and simply added more white to create the light parts.

I am really pleased with the way I captured the swirling silk robes whilst keeping the threatening appearance of this very evil female!

The Ghost Maker has already appeared a few times in The Kaerling series and is present again in Earthson which will be released in January 2026.

A selection of artworks by Freya Pickard

Picture caption: The Ghostmaker
Picture caption: Orosturbe
Picture caption: Monster
Picture caption: Karah
Picture caption: Stonehenge Dawn
Picture caption: Rat
Picture caption: Three Trees
Picture caption: Stonehenge Gateway
Picture caption: Stonehenge Sunset
Picture caption: Bactrian
Picture caption: Nenyar

About Freya Pickard

Picture caption: Freya Pickard author picture

Pushcart Prize nominee (2022), Freya Pickard, is the author of both Vampirical Verse and The Kaerling series. Vampirical Verse is her expression of life after cancer and chemotherapy using vampires and other dark monsters to speak her dark thoughts. The Kaerling is an epic fantasy set in the strange, uncompromising world of Nirunen. Her aim in life is to enchant, entertain and engage with readers through her writing. She finds her inspiration in the ocean, the moors, beautifully written books and vinyl music (particularly heavy metal and rock). She enjoys Tai Chi, Hatha Yoga, Bhangra and Yogalates and in her spare time creates water colours and pastel drawings of the worlds in her head.

Freya currently blogs at https://nirunen.wordpress.com and https://purehaiku.wordpress.com 

Her Amazon profile can found at https://www.amazon.com/stores/Freya-Pickard/author/B086XFHF9L?ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1&qid=1754906686&sr=8-1&isDramIntegrated=true&shoppingPortalEnabled=true 

You can also find Freya on Blueksy at https://bsky.app/profile/freyapickard.bsky.social and on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/@freyapickard1096 

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Published by robertawrites235681907

I am a writer of young adult fiction and poetry

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140 thoughts on “Roberta Writes – ART SERIES: An art adventure with Freya Pickard #art #watercolour #pastels”

  2. What beautiful paintings. I’m surprised how many writers are also artists. Although, in some ways it isn’t surprising as both are creative. Writers paint pictures with words, after all, and artists create stories with paint and drawing. Two sides of the same coin, really.

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    1. Hi Dave, I am really enjoying this new art series. I am astonished at the talent for creative outlets in addition to writing that I’m finding within our community. It certainly supports my view that most creative people have more than one talent be it photography, art, poetry, writing, handcrafts, and many other things.

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  6. Hi, this is a wonderful post.

    WP gives me a bit of a problem with its edit fields so I was unable for some reason to subscribe to Frey’s blog.

    Freya, could you subscribe me?

    I enjoyed this interview much

    Patty L. Fletcher

    About Patty L. Fletcher

    Updated November 2024

    Patty L. Fletcher is a woman of passion and exploration.

    She studies the art of manifestation and is a seeker of knowledge and the wisdom to know what to do with it when it’s learned.

    To learn more visit: https://pattysworlds.com/about/ https://pattysworlds.com/about/

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  18. Thank you, Robbie! This is a lovely look at Freya and her work.

    I’m especially drawn to her painting  Karah. The ability to draw animals is fantastic.

    Freya, I understand about acrylics & $.

    I have an old canvas with a painting started and some tubes of acrylics that are about 25 years old.(an inheritance) I’m going to paint over it & see what I can do.

    I really enjoyed this conversation. Thank you Freya and Robbie!

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    1. Hi Resa, I also particularly like Karah. It would be an obvious choice for me though – smile. I haven’t found acrylic paint to be more expensive than other paint, in fact, I buy it in large tubes so I’m finding it cheaper. I love working with acrylic paint, it is my go-to medium. Thanks for your lovely comment, Resa, always appreciated.

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  19. I enjoyed learning about Freya’s art journey and seeing some of her work. It’s interesting to me how someone falls into art, discovers they enjoy it, and then how it evolves into a particular look and style. Freya offered a glimpse into all that, and I’m glad she found what works for her. It’s also interesting to me how many creative people aren’t limited to one form of creativity. You’re also an example of that, Robbie. A fascinating post, thanks to you both.

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  21. Thanks Robbie for showcasing Freya’s artwork.
    I really like that ghostmaker too Freya. I like that you create in a variety of styles as well. You’ve put a bit of magic in each one.
    And thanks for the mention! I’m honored. (K)

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