Mahalia Mae Art, Glastonbury (2026)

15/10/2025

𝐂𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐝𝐰𝐞𝐧’𝐬 𝐂𝐚𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐫𝐨𝐧 𝐀𝐰𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐩𝐢𝐞𝐜𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 🪶

An altarpiece for the tipi adorned with creatures from the Welsh legend of Ceridwen and Taliesin, a Celtic myth that tells the tale of the cauldron of Awen. After Gwïon Bach accidentally tastes three drops of the powerful Awen brew, a magical shapeshifting chase ensues, of hare and hound, fish and otter, hawk and wren, ending with Gwïon becoming a grain of corn that is eaten by Ceridwen who becomes a hen. From this she births a baby boy, who later becomes the great Welsh bard Taliesin.

Poppy painted these animals oh so exquisitely, arching above the Awen symbol and celtic knotwork cornerpieces. A joy as always to vision and create with a sweet sister 🫶🏻

Excerpt from The Battle of the Trees, a poem from the 14th-century Book of Taliesin:

“I have been in a multitude of shapes,
Before I assumed a consistent form.
I have been a sword, narrow, variegated,
I will believe when it is apparent.
I have been a tear in the air,
I have been the dullest of stars.
I have been a word among letters,
I have been a book in the origin.
I have been the light of lanterns,
A year and a half.
I have been a continuing bridge,
Over three score river mouths.
I have been a course,
I have been an eagle.
I have been a coracle in the seas:
I have been compliant in the banquet.
I have been a drop in a shower;
I have been a sword in the grasp of the hand
I have been a shield in battle.
I have been a string in a harp,
Disguised for nine years,
in water, in foam.
I have been sponge in the fire,
I have been wood in the covert.
Calan Gaeaf hapus i chi!”

The rest of the tipi was draped in symbolic paintings of snakes, unalomes and the peace symbol created by my lovely team ✨

✷ ✧ ✷

19/09/2025

🐉 𝐂𝐞𝐥𝐭𝐢𝐜 𝐝𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 🐉

Dragon boards designed and painted for the sacred fire space, incorporating the Celtic triquetra, Elder fukhart fire rune and Ouroboros symbol. Visualising the dance between light and dark, infinite continuity and cycles, as well as being an ode to the strength of these W.I.S.E isles and our own indigenous use of ancient symbology.

⌘ The Triquetra, meaning ‘three cornered’ spins an intertwined threefold knot representing unity and eternity; bringing together earth, sea & sky, maiden, mother & crone, birth, death & rebirth. A symbol found carved into ancient Celtic stonework and illuminated in the Book of Kells.

< The fire rune is from the oldest runic script, Elder Fukhart, which was used across Northern Europe and found carved on amulets, weapons, stones, and tools. These runes held magical, symbolic and ritual significance, used for protection, divination and invoking elemental forces. Kenaz, the fire rune represented as a flame or torch, is a symbol of divine inspiration and creativity, transformation and the destruction and renewal that are both essential parts of life’s flow.

𓆙 The Ouroboros, a serpent or dragon swallowing its own tail, is an ancient symbol representing the eternal and infinite cycle. It also became an alchemical symbol expressing the interconnectedness nature of all things, material and spiritual. Celtic dragons are often depicted in this way, and they coil through the land and ley lines as the guardians of sacred sites, forces of elemental power, dancing the dance between light and dark, earth and cosmos.

This pair was a joy to create, displayed next to an Awen flag and overlooking a fire altar made up of three huge burning logs, witness to many beautiful songs, dance and ceremony held at this space over the weekend 🪶

Thank you to my wonderful paint team that helped me colour in, offered advice, brought me cups of tea and stayed up till the early hours to get it finished amongst a whole load of other work. And to and for being the dream creative team ✸

03/09/2025

A pleasure to paint again for the circus that is festival this summer 🎪 Live stage sign to go with my sun and moon boards from a few years ago 🌞🌙 Many a twirl in this velvet draped gypsy playground full of wonderful folk and deliciously eclectic sights and sounds, through the fireplace we go ✨

23/05/2025

Wagon painting with Sarah Paint Your Wagon last Autumn… a beautiful few days in North Devon learning how to construct and paint traditional vardo scrollwork. These patterns echo the curves of acanthus leaves, wooden carved fairground rides and life on the road, and it is a beautiful but slowly disappearing craft. I painted an old carpenter’s box from Wales, which is now my paint box for storing enamels and supplies. Still a few details to add ꩜

I’ve just been travelling Scotland, on the road around the Isle of Skye, sleeping in my car & reading Vashti Bunyan’s memoir of a road trip by horse and wagon all the way from London to the Outer Hebrides and Donavan’s commune on the island. An evocative account of nomadic life, days by the wayside, cooking over fire, music, and the making of her 1970’s album Just Another Diamond Day. ✨ Have a few painting projects in the works putting these skills into practice, hit me up if you have any more! 🎪

$/|\ ꩜ ๛Painted ancient symbols on cloth for the tipi space at festival, created with my love ✨Awen :: Druidic symbol ...$

21/05/2025

/|\ ꩜ ๛

Painted ancient symbols on cloth for the tipi space at festival, created with my love ✨

Awen :: Druidic symbol of divine inspiration, the flowing spirit of all creation. A word of Welsh origin meaning ‘flowing’ or ‘breezing’, combining aw, ‘fluid, flowing’, and en, ‘a living principle, being, spirit, essential’. Awen appears in Welsh mythology in the tale of Cerridwen’s cauldron, where the three drops of awen fall onto Gwïon Bach’s finger and imbue him with sacred wisdom, all knowledge and inspiration.

Cho Ku Rei :: Reiki power symbol, calling in the flow of universal energy. Place all the power of the universe here, now. An invocation to draw universal life force energy into a specific point or intention. The spiral or coil in the symbol represents energy moving inwards or outwards (depending on the way it is drawn).

The Fire Serpent, or Mae Loong :: The Tibetan Fire Serpent, coiled symbol of kundalini energy rising, the power of transformation. It is said to connect earth and sky within the body, and can be seen as a protector and guardian of sacred space and ceremony.

Sei He Ki :: Another Reiki symbol which represents harmony, union, integration. God and man become one. It can link to the subconscious, to emotional release and mental clarity, restoring balance and wholeness

Weaving magic into the space that unfolded in abundance over the following days. Getting round to sharing past creations here ✹

Last 3 photos by 📷

06/01/2025

𝐂𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐮𝐥𝐚, 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐛 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐧 𝐦𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐥 🌞

Painted mural for at the end of summer inspired by calendula, celtic knotwork and the sun, ironically created during one of the rainiest festival builds ever.

Calendula, Solis Sponsa, Bride of the Sun, closes and expands its petals in rhythm with the cycles of day and night, a photonastic plant which responds to the light. In Greek myth, Calendula was known as Caltha, a young girl who was in love with the solar divinity Apollo. The tale goes that she waited for him every morning at dawn, not leaving the meadow where she could always be in his light, only to eventually waste away and be transformed into a calendula flower facing the sun 🌼

In folklore, infusions of calendula were believed to help you see spirits and fairies. A herb steeped in magic, medicine and history across cultures, it become a symbol for renewal and the eternal cycle of life. The name calendula is derived from the Latin meaning ‘little calendar’ or ‘little clock’, a plant that blooms continually throughout the season 𖦹

Depicted with its interweaving stems above a celtic triquetra and knotwork, I wanted to visualise interconnectedness, continuity and the fluidity of the natural world, rootedness and flow within the cosmos.

Was a joy, and challenge, to paint this in heavy rain alongside a wonderful team 🧡 Despite varnishing, I didn’t manage to get any photos before the downpours damaged the paint, but perhaps a lesson from this solar spirit ✨

Lots of love + thanks to & .ninarose._ .haro 🫶🏻

(More pieces coming as I haven’t updated here in a whileee!)

01/10/2024

✸ 𝐒𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫 ✸

What a beautiful season of painting, creating, building & dancing with the best bunch of humans. Magic from May - September. So much love in these fields 🧡

Some snippets~
✧ Children’s fire sign for the Wider Horizons family at Medicine Festival - the children’s fire is an ancestral ‘story, symbol, a fragment of ancient wisdom’ says .macartney, a transformative reminder to hold future generations in mind when making decisions.
✢ Craft sign painted with Michaela Piper at Noisily Festival of Music and Arts ✨
ꕤ Collabs with tash_creates_ for sign & celtic knotwork detailing for Tash’s tree of life creation for the sacred glade 🌿

Big appreciation to Gingerwork Productions & all the build + decor family 🧡

Mahalia Curtis-Lundberg

31/05/2024

❈ 𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐝𝐠𝐞 𝐅𝐚𝐫𝐦 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 ❈

Sign designed and painted last year for Bridge Farm Bristol, a beautiful project bringing people together to connect with nature, land, food, folklore & tradition. A site for sustainable agriculture, growing, community-led housing and seasonal celebrations held around the wheel of the year, the farm is an urban oasis tucked down a cobbled street in the heart of Bristol.

🍓🌽🥬 We wanted the sign to convey the magic, energy and vibrancy of the land, using a cornucopia-style abundance of intertwined fruits, flowers and vegetables - which also speak to the cultivation of communal harmony, with nature and with each other, that the place inspires.

I’ve been involved with Bridge Farm for some years and it is a place that holds a big place in my heart. They are currently crowdfunding to keep the farm in community ownership and away from private developers - please donate if you can, as every name makes a difference. Not only do we need to preserve it as a heritage site and hub for sustainability, education and learning, but places like Bridge Farm, that enable us to gather and connect with innate and ancestral forms of community, are truly precious and need to be kept alive & accessible to all 🕯

Link to crowdfunder is in bio 🧡

19/04/2024

✧ 𝐔𝐧𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐅𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐚𝐥 𝐂𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 ✧

New merch designed for as their competition winner! A wonderful small festival in West Wales celebrating the expansion of consciousness
from the material to the ethereal ✨

This illustration was inspired by the Tylwyth Teg (Welsh fairy folk), fire spirits, flora, fauna, mycelium, ritual & Celtic knotwork 🌿

Many thanks to the team & very excited for people to be wearing these designs + dancing round fires soon 🧡 Sustainably made hoodies and tees available now on the shop, have a loooook 🌜

Mahalia Mae Art

15/10/2025

19/09/2025

03/09/2025

23/05/2025

21/05/2025

06/01/2025

01/10/2024

31/05/2024

19/04/2024

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