Sylvara - The Woodland Portal

A wilder forest world of twisting branches and curious creatures. Hidden pathways wind between ancient trees.

Discover the artists that have brought these watery creatures to life!

Over many weeks, these artists have dedicated hours towards creating imaginative, otherworldly creatures, all with their own personality and stories. 

Read on to discover more…

 

The Faerie Grove

Wendy Hall | www.manymoonsart.co.uk |Instagram: @ManyMoonsArt

Welcome to the Faerie Grove.
Population – 1000’s of little creatures, mini-beasts, birds, maybe faeries… & bigger creatures.
Speed limit – take a nice stroll, and stop to look at all the lovely plants here…
Top-tip – big plants are a good place to hide behind if the creatures are scary!
Artwork (mostly) featuring the magical moon.
My artwork is inspired by a sense of belonging, the natural world, land & sea, plants & animals, twilight skies.
Currently most of my paintings are in acrylics and acrylic inks, I also draw with pencil & ink, and create digital artwork from my drawings.
A long held love of history & folklore, plus various jobs in archaeology, museums & theatre have contributed to the imagery I create and stories I tell in my work.
I live in Hampshire, & the New Forest is a wonderful source of inspiration on my doorstep, but a piece of my heart belongs to the moorland, granite & sea of the far west of Cornwall. One day I hope to live there, but for now I’ll paint & dream about it.

'Oogle Boo' Watcher from planet Zog

Angie – AjrArt | www.ajrart.co.uk

‘Oogle Boo’ is one of the many Watchers from planet Zog
They gather together to watch over & protect all the beings of Zo, keeping their eye wide open so they don’t miss anything!
Planet Zog is a vibrant, colourful planet & full of giggling sparkle’s which pop around your head whenever you smile.

My passion for art has been with me from a very young age & I’ve always felt the Elementals around me, Fae, Gnomes, Elves, Merfolk, naming a few, then we also have the Galactic’s so when I collected the shape to paint I knew exactly who it was ‘Oogle Boo’.

The ‘Elementals’ would like us to work together helping to take care of our beautiful planet as she takes care of all living creatures who dwell & grow upon her, we are all connected just like the roots of a tree, stretching out our branches far & wide as we grow.
Visit my website www.ajrart.co.uk to view many of my paintings, prints, workshops, handmade wooden elemental houses & doors, plus so much more also Instagram @angie_ajrart & facebook.com/ajrartuk
Thank you
Angie

Rooting for Nature

Jon Church

By day I work in an office, by night I am a hobby artist, enjoying creating artwork for my home & the enjoyment of my wife & three children. “Rooting for Nature” is inspired by our love of seeing diverse ecosystems and life thrive when given the opportunity.
Last year I took part in “Jurassic Furzey” and absolutely loved it. When I saw this years theme I couldn’t help but get involved again. My children have loved seeing our alien come to life, day by day, and it even inspired my son to request I cut him his own wooden board so he could create his own alien, which the other two children promptly requested as well!

Our alien, affectionately named “Claude”, was a joy to create, drawing on inspiration of all the weird and wonderful things you’ll find if you go for a walk in the woods.

Insightful Ivy Monster

Eliza 

Hi there, I’m Eliza. I’m a young artist and student. I adore all things strange and mythical, so as soon as I heard about this project, I immediately signed up.

I’m a young artist who absolutely loves everything weird and strange. Making and designing mythical creatures/monsters is probably my favourite as they can be a mash-up or look however you want. I love the creativity and freedom you get when designing them. Thank you Furzey for the opportunity

It has been such a pleasure to paint and design these creatures. Thank you Furzey for giving me this amazing opportunity to display my art. Thank you for viewing my pieces and I hope you enjoyed them.

SEN Mum

Jane Westmore

his work centres a SEN mother. A woman whose daily life demands extraordinary resilience, finding stillness and belonging in the woodland. The forest is not backdrop here, it is sanctuary.

The alien figure at the heart of the piece is not strange or threatening. She is of the earth. Her form echoes the textures of sweet chestnut casings
spined, protective, holding something tender within, and the slow, patient spread of lichen across bark and stone. These are organisms that endure. They ask nothing of the world but space and time. The woods offer that. No appointments, no assessments, no systems to navigate. Just the soft weight of leaf litter underfoot and the particular silence that comes when trees are close.

The alien quality is intentional, a nod to how mothers of SEN children can feel outside the ordinary rhythm of the world, moving through spaces that were not quite designed for them or their children. And yet here, in this work, that otherness becomes a kind of belonging. The lichen does not apologise for growing slowly. The chestnut does not hide its spines.
She stands centred. Earthed. Present.
The palette and texture draw from the woodland floor in autumn
ochre, moss green, deep brown, the pale silver-grey of old lichen. The materials echo the organic, the imperfect, the quietly extraordinary.
This piece is an offering to every mother who has stood among trees and felt, briefly, entirely herself.

Mr.Mushroom

Entertaining Bread – Jasmine Howard | Instagram: @entertainingbread

I am Entertaining Bread I’m an illustrator from Portsmouth.

I love anything Flora and Fauna so getting to be apart of this trail has been a lovely experience. Mr Mushroom a creation of love and whimsy.

It has been so much fun experimenting on the 3D elements of his spots and his eye. I hope everyone enjoys him as much as I have had making him come to life.

The Happy Hydra

Wendy Hall | www.manymoonsart.co.uk |Instagram: @ManyMoonsArt

Artwork (mostly) featuring the magical moon.
My artwork is inspired by a sense of belonging, the natural world, land & sea, plants & animals, twilight skies.
Currently most of my paintings are in acrylics and acrylic inks, I also draw with pencil & ink, and create digital artwork from my drawings.
A long held love of history & folklore, plus various jobs in archaeology, museums & theatre have contributed to the imagery I create and stories I tell in my work.

I live in Hampshire, & the New Forest is a wonderful source of inspiration on my doorstep, but a piece of my heart belongs to the moorland, granite & sea of the far west of Cornwall. One day I hope to live there, but for now I’ll paint & dream about it.

My creature – The Happy Hydra are also visitors to Galactic Furzey.
Just a few weeks ago they were space-travelling back to their home planet Beryllium, in the Amethyst Amphibious galaxy far, far away.
Something went clonk and fell off their spaceship and they realised they were headed for a crash landing here.
The Happy Hydra are a peaceful and friendly species and they didn’t want to scare anyone, so they did some hurried research into how to blend in with the local inhabitants.
As if having three heads was not enough of a giveaway, they became a bit confused about what looks normal here, and ended up with three rather mixed up personalities.
Princess Beryl might’ve seen a duck-billed-platypus first, and then a rather glamorous and bejewelled princess…
Jasper wanted to keep warm and looked for tips on winter fashions…
Sir Topas wasn’t sure what century they’d arrive in and was very taken with the appearance of a writer called Shakespeare with his fancy Elizabethan ruff…

Jumping Jim

3rd Christchurch Scout Group – Jumpers

Jumping Jim is the joint creation of the 3rd Christchurch Scout group – Jumpers.
The Scouts took great pride in each designing individual aliens, which they then chose the best bits of to make Jumping Jim. Each Scout took turns to paint him and they all think he looks amazing!
Based in West Christchurch the Jumpers Scout group took to the task of designing a forest creature with great enthusiasm.

Each Scout designed their own creations and then the group chose the best bits to make Jumping Jim.
Supported by local artist (and Scout mum) Julie Fellows, each Scout contributed to painting Jim, learning new skills in painting and team work… All of which were totally badge worthy!
Well done to all the Scouts!

Sprout Merryfoot

Julie Fellows | Facebook: @Dinky Pinkie Designs

Sprout Merryfoot loves to prance around the forest collecting berries and generally causing mischief.
He is not quite ready to join the faun high council, having received his hat last year as you can see he is not quite big enough for it!
Sprout Merryfoot was inspired by my love of nature, Fae and magic. I knew I would have to create a creature that would reside happily in my own fantasy world and here he is.

I wanted to make Sprout bold, silly and full of movement. I enjoyed slightly dramatic pieces that you might see dancing across a stage, having trained in costume design I think I will forever want my characters to be real.
Sprout is the largest character piece I’ve painted and I had such fun doing so.
When not at my day job in social care I can unusually can be found painting hand made jewellery or designing headresses for my business Dinky Pinkie Designs and eating chocolate.
I have also had the joy of painting the rocket for this years centre piece.

Wild Green Man

New Forest Day Opportunities | Instagram: @MinsteadTrust

This creature comes from supported artists in New Forest Day Opportunities, just down the road in Minstead.
NFDO supports over 110 people each week to enrich their lives through meaningful craft and work. Camilla leads the art workshop, where many of these wonderful creatures orignated from!