New Moon in Cancer July 11, 2010 12:40 pm pdt

"With the Moon in Cancer our feelings take the lead. Cancer encourages the wisdom rising out of our oceanic unconscious through moods and feelings. Ground in the magic of our home as a temple. Ask what needs protecting and feeding. Plant, fertilize and water your garden." ~ Excerpted from the We'Moon Datebook

Spotlight on Cancerian Artist - Gillian Guelph, Ontario, Canada Shop: Miss Quite Contrary

I am a self taught photographer and art history student from Guelph, Ontario, Canada. Since I first held a toy camera in my little toddler hands, I've been taking photographs, but it has only been in the past couple of years that I thought I might be able to pursue this love professionally.

Since those very early years with a little baby camera, it was my Cancer sensitivity and emotion that were my main drive to take photos - to try to capture my feelings about a time or place and preserve them and express them to others in a way I couldn't otherwise - to help others see the world the way I see it.

This is an altered version of my 'Rochester's Window' photograph. This photo was inspired by Bertha Mason, the 'madwoman in the attic' of Charlotte Bronte's Victorian Gothic novel, Jane Eyre. It was created with a vintage camera and found antique photographs.

I think my work is instantly recognizable as the work of a Cancer. My shyness and tendency to remain 'in my shell' come through in my chosen locations - often abandoned, isolated or forgotten corners of the world, and in the dusk like lighting I love so much - the approach of evening and rise of the moon are my favourite time of day. I'm inspired by ideas of things hidden, decaying, dusty and ethereal, and am particularly interested in nature, animals, fairy and folk tales and Gothic novels.

I think my attraction to the past, and interest in history, is the Cancerian trait most visible in my work. I attempt to capture a glimpse of otherworldly beauty in the everyday, as well as incorporate elements of the past by using antique, vintage and toy cameras, printing photographs onto the dusty pages of old books and tattered ephemera, and occasionally integrating hand embroidery, scraps of antique textiles, found antique photographs and other found objects into mixed media and wearable pieces.

Gillian comments on her post: Thank you so much for featuring me - it was a fun thing to do and I like how it made me think about my work in a really different way!

You can find more New Moon Artist features here.