Once upon a time, on the night of a full moon, in a small country town in Australia in 1981 a girl was born with a vast imagination. She was given the name Selina, meaning Moon, named after the moon that shone that night.
As a child Selina loved to read. Her favourite stories were those of myth and magic, princesses and fairies. She soon learned she had a greater love than reading when she would spend countless hours staring at the illustrations in these books, ignoring the stories told in words in preference of the stories shown by the artworks. She would study each brush stroke, marvelling that any human hand could create such beauty. The images enchanted her, bewitched her, and filled her head with magic and romance.
Having always enjoyed drawing, Selina began to create artworks of her own ideas of fantasy inspired by the illustrations in her fairytale books, with goddesses, fairies and enchanted creatures. She grew up continually trying to improve her art and create that same magical feel and sense of adventure she knew as a child.
Many years later, Selina’s artwork has been warmly received by lovers of fantasy all over the world. Selina still resides in Australia, being self employed in painting her ideas of fantasy and selling her own artwork and handcrafted gift designs through her website www.selinafenech.com.
Her art has been published in books and magazines worldwide, and is available on licensed products ranging from t-shirts to stationery, figurines to jewelry. Her art has been purchased by customers and collectors in over 35 countries around the world, and she has lived off her art since she was 23 years old.
Selina’s artwork is mostly mixed medium, as she always tries to choose the best medium to match her painting concept, and is always experimenting. Normally her paintings are based in either watercolor or acrylics on paper, to which she also adds inks, pencil, pastels, and even digital elements to create whatever effect she desires.
“I want to live my life like it’s a fairy tale, and I want my artwork to make other people feel the same. I love that for a person of any age my fairies can bring back the magical memories and feelings of adventure from their childhood. I hope that they also create new memories and dreams of magic!”
But all fairytales have a villain, a curse, a conflict to overcome. Not long after her 26th birthday, Selina was diagnosed with cancer. Luckily her prognosis was good. The cancer was caught early and is believed to have been completely removed. But the treatment and healing process of this life changing event was indeed a hardship and challenge Her body, her mind, and her art underwent great changes and growth during this time, and it is her hope that some of that journey, strength and magic can be passed on to everyone who shares her art and magical dreams with her.
As an artist, I paint because of a true, driving need to create beauty and magic. It is an inner need which I fulfill by putting brush to paper. But there is no magic there until it is shared, no joy to be found in the forms and colors until it is seen by another. So I want to thank you, for looking upon my artwork and allowing its magic to become real, for making the image I have captured in paint and pencil come to life in your eyes and mind. I hope that my artwork can be an inspiration to you.
Thank you for being a believer and lover of all that is beautiful and magical. Love and Magic,
Selina Fenech