The Person Behind Pixie Page Crafts

I'm Steve, the person behind Pixie Page Crafts. I live in rural Herefordshire, close to the Welsh border, in a landscape of wooded valleys, old churches, rivers, farms and hills that makes it very easy to become curious about the stories attached to particular places.

My interest in folklore grew alongside my love of wildlife, history and the countryside. The more I began looking into individual stories, the more I discovered connections between animals, landscapes, place names, seasonal traditions and beliefs that have survived in written records and local memory.

I am not an academic folklorist, and Pixie Page Crafts is not intended to pretend otherwise. I'm an independent researcher and artist who enjoys following these stories back towards reliable sources, comparing different versions and then presenting what I find in a way that is accessible to anyone else who shares that curiosity.

The site has grown considerably from its beginnings as a home for my artwork. Researching the stories behind individual pieces gradually became just as interesting as creating the images themselves, and Pixie Page Crafts has developed into an ongoing exploration of the folklore and landscapes of Britain and Ireland.

Where Folklore Inspires the Artwork

The artwork on Pixie Page Crafts grows directly from the stories explored throughout the site. A raven is more interesting when you understand the traditions surrounding it, an ancient well becomes more atmospheric when you know why generations of people visited places like it, and a lonely path through the hills can take on an entirely different character after reading stories of the Otherworld.

Many of my images begin with a particular animal, landscape or piece of folklore and develop from there. Celtic-inspired patterns, old stones, woodland, rivers, mountains and changing seasonal light all help create the atmosphere, while the folklore provides the story behind the image.

The artwork is not intended as a historical reconstruction of exactly how people or places looked centuries ago. It is an artistic interpretation inspired by folklore, combining traditional stories with imagination to create the visual world of Pixie Page Crafts.

Some of these designs are also available as prints, cards and digital artwork, but the art found throughout the website has another purpose too: to make the stories memorable and to help capture the atmosphere of the landscapes from which so much British and Irish folklore emerged.

Researching the Folklore

Folklore can be difficult to untangle. Stories change as they are retold, different regions preserve different versions, and modern interpretations can sometimes become mixed with traditions that are hundreds of years older. Part of the purpose of Pixie Page Crafts is to explore those differences rather than presenting every version of a story as equally ancient.

Wherever possible, I work back towards reliable sources. These include folklore archives such as the National Folklore Collection of Ireland, museum collections, historical records, medieval literature, archaeological research and books by recognised folklorists and historians. Sources and suggestions for further reading are included on many of the individual folklore pages so readers can continue exploring the subject for themselves.

That does not mean folklore always provides a simple answer. Sometimes several versions of a story survive, the historical evidence is uncertain or a popular modern interpretation cannot be traced as far back as people might expect. When that happens, I would rather acknowledge the uncertainty than turn speculation into fact.

This distinction is particularly important when discussing Celtic and Pagan traditions. Modern Paganism has developed its own meaningful practices and interpretations, but these should not automatically be described as unchanged survivals from the ancient world. Pixie Page Crafts therefore tries to make it clear when something comes from historical or recorded folklore, when the evidence is uncertain and when an interpretation belongs primarily to modern tradition.

Folklore does not become less magical when we ask where a story came from. Very often, discovering how that story travelled through generations makes it more interesting.

Why Britain & Ireland?

Pixie Page Crafts concentrates primarily on the folklore of England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland, including the stories, beliefs and traditions associated with their animals, plants, waterways, ancient landscapes and changing seasons. These islands contain an extraordinary mixture of Celtic traditions, later folklore, regional customs and stories that have developed over many centuries.

One of the things I find most interesting is how different traditions overlap without being identical. A supernatural creature known in Scotland may have relatives in Irish or Welsh tradition, while beliefs surrounding particular animals, trees or bodies of water can change considerably from one region to another. Exploring those differences is often more interesting than trying to combine everything beneath a single label such as “Celtic folklore.”

The landscape itself is equally important. Mountains, rivers, islands, forests, ancient monuments and old routes frequently form part of the stories rather than simply providing a backdrop for them. Whenever possible, Pixie Page Crafts explores the places as well as the legends, connecting folklore with the real landscapes in which those stories were remembered.

There will occasionally be journeys beyond Britain and Ireland where a tradition has a meaningful connection with the subjects explored here, but the heart of Pixie Page Crafts will remain the folklore, wildlife and old landscapes of these islands.

Come and Explore

Whether you arrived here while searching for an old legend, researching an animal from Celtic mythology, exploring Pagan traditions or simply wondering why a particular tree, river or ruined place has a story attached to it, I hope Pixie Page Crafts gives you somewhere interesting to continue that journey.

There are always more stories to investigate, more landscapes to explore and more connections waiting to be discovered between folklore, wildlife and the places around us.

There's always another tale hiding in the woods. 🌿