Original Oil Painting on Green Man Corbel made of Jesmonite in a special limited edition of 13 each hand painted by the artist Ben Edge.

‘In, My Nature, Self Portrait as the Green Man’ Ben Edge 2023, Oil on Green Man Corbel made of Jesmonite in a special limited edition of Thirteen (The number thirteen was originally a lucky number associated with the divine feminine that was later demonised and made unlucky in Christian superstitions)

Each are hand painted by myself, and therefore an original work of art in its own right. The original White limestone carving that was used to make the moulds for the edition was carved by ‘Cats Eye Carving’ of the Worshipful Company of Masons (an ancient livery company that was first granted arms during the reign of king Edward IV in 1472)

Please note that these are currently being painted and will not be ready for immediate dispatch, however if needed before Christmas this can be arranged for UK based buyers.

This is based on a self portrait that I made titled ‘In My Nature, Self Portrait as the Green Man’, In which I depict myself as the Green Man. Who’s origins, like most characters of folklore, are lost in the midst of time and widely speculated over, with some tracing the origins back to ancient cultures, where similar foliate head figures can be found, such as in Nepal, Greece, India and and Egypt. whilst others believe it to have originated in Celtic Britain, where at the birth of Christianity cult pagan deities such as the Green man were incorporated in to the symbolism of the church, to help convince worshipers of the old gods to convert to christianity. Today the Green Man is most commonly found in Norman and Medieval church carvings.

As a child my grandfather would tell me stories about the Green Man and how on a rare occasion you can catch glimpses of him walking through the woods. Iv been intrigued by the Green Man ever since. Like at the crossover point of Christianity from Pagan times the Green Man took on new meanings, and now in contemporary times as we find ourself at a similar moment when our belief systems is at a transitional point, for me the Green man is as relevant as ever, to me he is kind of eco warrior, a deity that reminds us that we are part of nature, not above it and to stop abusing it. He is figure that re-wild’s us and inspires us to live in harmony with the natural world. He is from the future, past and present, he is religious and non religious, christian and pagan, British and Universal, he is whoever you want him to be, and in that sense a perfect figure for the contemporary multi-cultural scientific age in which we find ourselves.

As an artist I see the act of art making and creativity itself is an extension of nature and through channelling our own individual personalities, we create unique works of art that are both specific to ourselves and unique to the world, and the symbol of leaves coming out my mouth represents me being at one with my own nature, and I wish for the sculpture/painting to act as reminded to the owner to do the same.