Art Critique of One of Stephanie Pui-Mun Law's Works
"In Cathedrals of the Forest"

For those not familiar with the online mega-multi-artist/writer gallery, Elfwood, suffice to say that it contains the works of many thousands of talented artists, writers, etc., all working under one Internet-based roof. There is, undoubtedly, a lot of talent in Elfwood, and it shows. But even among this group of fantasy and science fiction artists, there is one figure who stands pretty much unequaled, a master of watercolors and digital art alike. Her name is Stephanie Pui-Mun Law.
But this is not meant to be a pretentious eulogy or a pompous panegyric of the artist... this is meant to be a critique of the artist's art. Thus, to accomplish this task, I will review one of her (in my opinion) finest pieces, offering whatever comments I have when appropriate. It is entitled "In Cathedrals of the Forest", after the lyrics to one of Loreena McKennitt's songs.
The picture itself is a stunning watercolor, showing a white-robed woman (the Mist Queen) standing in the forest, surrounded by butterflies and surreal light. A strange, Celtic emblem (one of Miss Law's specialties) stands behind her, leading up to the soft but brilliant light that radiates from the top of the picture. Its subtleties and details, however, would take far too long to describe here. If there is one thing that I constantly see in Ms. Law's work, it's her depths of painstaking detail... not an easy thing to achieve with watercolors.
But perhaps the most stunning thing in this particular work is the lighting. The light shining down through the trees lends a certain ambiance to the painting, radiating from its lofty source down into the clearing below. Miss Law apparently took great care placing the delicate butterflies, as they flock around the Mist Queen and through the shafts of light. While the painting is, of course, only a painting, it carries a sense of living time that makes me feel as though it is in itself a split-second piece of reality... butterflies paused in mid-flight, the Mist Queen pausing for a brief instant to cast a glance backwards whence she has come, early morning mist hanging in mid-air as it moves between the trees... in short, it's deep and I like it.
What can be said about such a (in my opinion) masterpiece as this? Not much. It is difficult, if not impossible, to translate the splendor of her watercolor paintings into writing, and so I will not attempt to do so at this point in time. Suffice to say that she is a fine artist, and I would recommend her work to anyone with a taste for fine art.
(http://elfwood.lysator.liu.se/loth/p/u/puimun/puimun.html)