There exists another world, a breath away from our own - a world glimpsed only between dusk and twilight, on lonely roads and on ancient moors. It is the world of faery, inhabited by countless denizens of the supernatural: the famous elves, demons, dwarves and wood sprites of myth and legend along with myriad lesser known species such as the Biobhan Sith, the dancing vampires of the Scottish Highlands, the aristocratic fairies of the Tuatha De Danaan, the troublesome Urisk, and the spiteful Vadleany of Hungarian folklore. These are the hidden peoples, these are the Shadow Tribes...

On this site I hope to share some of the things I have learned and seen in my pursuit of them and show how I have re-created them in my art. In the course of my research I have visited the wild mountains of Wales, the deserts of Tunisia and the deep, dark forests of Sweden... wherever I go I meet people who tell me their stories - from the woodsman in the cabin to the stockbroker in the city, everybody has a tale to tell.

These stories are a part of all of us, they underpin our busy modern lives and reflect our own hopes and fears, our longings and lovings and, in telling our stories the old legends of the Shadow Tribes stay alive through people like you and I.

Here on this site we will see and learn about the art these myths inspire... we will see how the world of fable overlaps into our every day lives and in doing so we will capture and experience the deep, powerful magic that lies within these words and pictures.

So lets leave the mortal world behind and begin to explore the infinite and seductive Labyrynth of Stories.

Finlay Cowan
Monti Sibilini, Italia
January 2007

Finlay Cowan's Fantasy Art

The official website of Finlay Cowan. Graphic artist, interior designer, storyteller and author of four books on fantasy art, album sleeve designer for Storm Thorgerson (Pink Floyd, Audioslave, Muse and others), co-founder of Endless Design Ltd and collector of myths, ancient and modern.

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