People of Spirit – A Tribute to Taryn Shrigley-Wightman

Taryn Shrigley-Wightman was a Druid of the Anglesey Druid Order, an Awenydd, a drummer, a gardener and a visionary artist amongst many other aspects of her life. A druid for over 20 years and an artist for over 30 years, she was an award-winning illustrator and multi-media artist who held a Masters degree in Visual Communication. Her art was inspired by Celtic mythology, fairy tales and the natural world. The attention to detail that she gave to every piece of work that she produced was extraordinary.

Labels for Derventio Brewery, a microbrewery that was based in Derbyshire
Taryn in her studio

Taryn was a multi-skilled and versatile artist. As well as creating hand-drawn and also digital illustrations – and seamlessly combining the two, she produced computer animations, painted drums, crafted jewelry and shamanic rattles, and created signs and altar pieces in wood.

A still from one of Taryn’s computer animations
Earth Sea
Butterfly Drum
Detail from Taryn’s Crow Drum
Shamanic rattles
House name and Tree of Life wood etching
Sterling silver Awen pendants
Casting Cloth created for the Anglesey Druid Order

A tarot reader and an avid tarot collector since she was 13 years old, in 2015 Taryn started to create her own Druid Bird Tarot:

The ancient Celts were said to use birds as Auguries and a form of divination depending on the bird and its behaviour. So combining this inspiration with tales from the Mabinogi and other Celtic stories the idea for the Druid Bird Tarot was conceived.

Despite everything that life threw at her, Taryn was such a fighter and such a creative, kind and compassionate person. I’d like to end with a lovely memory that Taryn shared on her Facebook page a couple of years ago:

“One solstice night we decided to go off to Sherwood forest to celebrate the season. We walked on frosted leaves for over an hour ice crystals hung in the air. We eventually stopped at a small clearing which seemed suitable for our Druid ritual we lit a fire in our portable brazier we placed a Kettle on the fire full of spiced mulled wine and let it warm gently on the fire. As the evening progressed we realised one of our members was becoming hypothermic she was handed a mug of warm wine and quickly responded. And we continued our ritual was joined by Owls and the footfall of deer around the edge of our circle. How beautiful….. Awen, Awen, Awen………”

More of Taryn’s artwork can be found here.

by Liz

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