Fairy • Gelfling • Fashion Angel • Umbrella Girl & Katoy

Fairy • Gelfling • Fashion Angel • Umbrella Girl & Katoy

 © by Richard D. Fisher

sunracer2@hotmail.com

In my quest for the most beautiful canyons and natural cultural setting I have had many ethereal experiences with mystical creatures that are best described as Fairies, Gelflings, Umbrella Girls & Katoys  as well as Fashion Angels. These beings are for me a form of a spirit that is light, airy, delicate, refined and from the upper reaches of space or celestial existence in

my poetic imagination expressed in visual forms of supernatural beings with exotic powers. I have experienced these creatures in temples, canyons and waterfalls in as far flung places as Cambodia, Ukraine, Ethiopia, Australia, Venezuela,
Europe, China, Laos, Vietnam and the southwestern USA.

Fairy Spirits exist in canyon fantasy landscapes worldwide

The Little Colorado River near the confluence in the Grand Canyon. The travertine blue water of May is offset by the
 red cliffs of the Red Wall Limestone which contrasts to the “Maxfield Parrish Blue” sky.

This is my concept of the Ethiopia Fairy set into a painting by someone named Rossetti who we have not been able to find out who this painter was. I found this painting hanging in an ancient colonial era hotel in Addis Abba. The painting may actually be by Dante Gabriele Rossetti whose father was Gabriele P. G. Rossetti who was an Italian poet and scholar in exile in England 1783-1854. The Italians have a long standing and deep relationship with Ethiopia so perhaps Dante Rossetti actually made it to Ethiopia or took this imaginative scene from other Italian painters of that time. The original painting that I photographed is a romantic treatment of the Simian Mountains of north central Ethiopia and the Gelada Baboons are quite recognizable as realistic. I added the waterfall which is from the Tara River in Montenegro Europe.The fairy model is my daughter Mariah and her image was taken on the beach in Thailand at Christmas 2012. 

Fairy Cambodia Temple and Kunlun Canyon Waterfalls Ouk Rany.

Fairy spirits throughout history have be closely associated with nature

In our artistic fantasy world, these fairies spirits are always associated with some of the

most spectacular canyons of the earth

Here they are the quintessential mother earth presence

Fairies resemble various beings of other mythologies, though even folklore that uses the term fairy offers many definitions. Sometimes the term describes any magical creature, including goblins or gnomes: at other times, the term only describes a specific type of more ethereal creature. A fairy or also faery, faerie, fay, fae; euphemistically wee folk, good folk, people of peace, fair folk is a type of mythical being or legendary creature, a form of spirit, often described as metaphysical, supernatural or preternatural. The word fairy derives from Middle English faierie (also fayerye, feirie, fairie), a direct borrowing from Old French faerie (Modern French féerie) meaning the land, realm, or characteristic activity (i.e. enchantment) of the legendary people of folklore and romance called (in Old French) faie or fee (Modern French fée). This derived ultimately from Late Latinfata (one of the personified Fates, hence a guardian or tutelary spirit. (edited in part from Wikipedia)

Antelope Canyon Fairy

Was she really there in Antelope Canyon? Yes she was! In the low lighting she only held that pose absolutely still for
that fortunate one or two seconds. In April 2013 we added the wings that were made for us by our good friend Martin Mancha.

Shira Fairy Tara Canyon Bosnia – Montenegro
Design and concept by Martin Mancha
Photography by Richard D. Fisher

This place is called Cherry Canyon Hot Springs, I am not kidding you.

It is far southwestern China, near Tengchong Yunnan close to the Burma border.

After this photo shoot, the model told me I had to pay extra because there were a lot of stairs.

“Faeries dwell in the Twilight, between day and night, between spirit and matter, between the conscious and unconscious…where all things are possible, where the past and the future meet, where we meet ourselves coming back. When we dance with the faeries, we dance with the reflections of our true selves and the true inner self of the world.”  Brian Froud

Brian Froud is an English fantasy illustrator. He lives and works in Devon with his wife, Wendy Froud, who is also a fantasy artist.

The landscapes in his paintings are frequently inspired by Dartmoor.

Victoria Secret bikini modeled for the first and perhaps last time in southwestern China.

Hot Springs Valley Tengchong China rice terraces fairy.

Kukenan Tepui Venezuela Fairyland 2005

The Venezuela Tepui are lands of wonderment that have perhaps many mystical spirit creatures.

My Gelflings are inspired by Jim Henson and this work is in tribute to his creative genius.

For years I was also deeply inspired by the paintings of Brian Froud but had no idea, until recently,

that Henson and Froud worked as collaborators on the fantasy movie Dark Crystal.

his strange mystical creature girl is just casually walking home from school late in the afternoon in the autumn of 2010. She stopped just for a moment to have her photograph taken and then she disappeared into the forest. Tengchong Yunnan China

   Gelfling Princess Cherry Canyon Hot Springs Tengchong Yunnan China

The Gelfling Tattoo Queen of Dulong China on the Tibetan border 2009

Gelfling Outdoor School in the Yarlung Tsangpo Gorge eastern Tibet, September 1992

Real Gelfling Grandmother southeastern Yunnan China 2010

My original photography and choice of models, as well as the photoshop wings and colors continue to be much inspired by the creativity and vision Froud and Henson. Gelflings are a race of elf-like creatures native to the planet of Thra. The term Gelfling derives from the term "Ghel-lflainngk" roughly translates to "those who live without knowledge of the future", according to The World of the Dark Crystal. They love music, dancing and creating joy in their lives. Ages ago, Gelflings could fly. However, the female Gelflings have developed wings that allow them to glide and flutter. Males do not have wings and free flight is not possible.

The female's wings retract and can be concealed under the clothing.

On the west Baray in Siem Reap Cambodia a beautiful young and mysterious Gelfling takes a ride in a sky skiff.

The Dark Crystal

The Dark Crystal is a 1982 American-British fantasy film directed by Jim Henson and Frank Oz.

It tells the story of Jen, an elflike 'Gelfling' on a quest to restore balance to his alien world by

returning a lost shard to a powerful but broken gem. Although marketed as a family film, it was notably darker than the creators' previous material. The animatronics used in the film were considered groundbreaking. The primary concept artist was the fantasy illustrator Brian Froud, famous for his distinctive faerie and dwarf designs. Froud also collaborated with Henson and Oz for their next project, the 1986 film Labyrinth, which was notably more light-hearted than The Dark Crystal. (in part from Wikipedia)

© all photography and text by Richard D. Fisher

April 14, 2014