WaterHorse Artistry - Merry Hawkyard

11/06/2026

Well friends, sadly these little bees didn’t find their forever homes at North Wales Paganfest this weekend. But on the flip side, that means they are now up in my site sh🌞p instead!

Just these three available, and I’m sorry to say there won’t be any more quite like this as I can no longer get hold of these sweet little frames. I’m tempted to keep one myself, but I have to remember that’s not what I made them for 😂

I hope one of them calls to you 🥰🐝🐝🐝

Sh🌞p 🔗 in the usual place!

10/06/2026

Now that I’ve had a chance to recover and catch up on a few bits, I wanted to say a mahoosive thank you to Kate, Mel and the rest of the North Wales Paganfest team for another outstanding gathering this year. So much heart and dedication goes into putting on a event of this scale, and I think I speak for many of us there when I say how precious it is to be able to come together with likeminded souls, connect with the spirits of our beautiful and wild land, and escape from the modern world for a few days.

Thank you so much to everyone who visited me at my stall, purchased artwork, booked an astrology reading, and especially came to my talk on the Sunday morning! It was my first time speaking in YEARS, and my first time ever offering up my new Rewilding the Zodiac project as a workshop. So to host such a lovely group of folks and receive such kind compliments on the work I’m doing afterwards was incredibly encouraging and heartwarming.

It was a shorter session than I would have liked, but the success of it has sparked the idea of trialling it as a longer online workshop - so if that sounds like something you might be interested in, please watch this space and sign up to my newsletter so you don’t miss it! Oh, and shameless plug alert: you can also read more about Rewilding the Zodiac on my new Substack, Wild Stars & Wellsprings (🔗 in the usual place!).I

I took a grand total of two not-very-good photos throughout the whole weekend which was a shame, but I think that’s the sign of a wonderful time had, because I didn’t even think about it until afterwards. So instead here’s an old favourite, Midwinter Moon, who received quite a lot of love this weekend. It’s always nice when an older artwork gets some recognition.

Thanks again to everyone who made North Wales Paganfest 2026 so magical. See you same time, same place next year!

💖🧙🏻‍♀️🌿🧚‍♀️✨

01/06/2026

I’m back at North Wales Paganfest this coming weekend 💚🧙🏻‍♀️🌿 And this year I’m doing a talk for the first time (eeek!) about working with animal symbolism in divination, with an astrological twist!
🐏🐂🦋🦀🦁🦊🕊️🦂🐎🐐💃🏼🐟
If you’re at a loose end this weekend, come and join us! ✨

You have met Merry Charis Hawkyard in our marketplace with her lovely artwork, this year she is back with her stall and readings as well as a talk at the fabulous cherry fire circle.

29/05/2026

Yesterday’s work 🐝🐝🐝

Several years ago, I was inspired to create a collection of 15 little bumblebee artworks. The framed bee in the first picture is one of that original batch and lives in my partner’s studio. They seemed to really capture folks’ imaginations, so much so that I ended up making a second collection (which also included some colourful little toadstools), and I always thought at some point I’d do a third batch, maybe more - until I discovered that sadly I could no longer get hold of the lovely little frames I’d chosen for them. And I never found replacements that I liked. So that was that…

Until now. Sort of.

Bees have been on my mind a lot this Spring. They keep coming up for me in divination, and I wrote about pollinators quite a bit in my new article about Gemini animals for my Wild Stars & Wellsprings blog and Substack (🔗’s in the usual place if you fancy reading that - I’m working on a series called Rewilding the Zodiac, about working with animal spirits and symbolism in astrology, which I’ve been sharing about on my Pegasus Astrology - Merry Hawkyard account).

Anyway, all this is to say that bees have been buzzing around my mind. Incessantly. And I guess they needed an outlet!

In perfect synchronicity, I found three left over frames in one of my boxes of art supplies last week, and I decided it was about time they had residents. 🐝

So I give you three new little bees!

I’m hoping to do any finishing touches and frame them this morning, and they’ll be for sale at North Wales Paganfest next weekend 💖🌿

01/05/2026

Wishing you bright blessings of Beltane and a happy Scorpio Full Moon, dear friends. I hope you have a beautiful day, whether you celebrate or not. I think I’ll be decorating my altar, doing a little ritual, perhaps pulling some tarot cards and spending time with the hawthorns and the bluebells before settling in with my sketchbook. What about you? 💜🧚‍♀️🌸🌿✨

🎨: Flower Moon - original sold but prints, cards, canvases and coasters all available 🌝

31/03/2026

Hello friends 💖 I’ve been meaning to let you know that I have now joined Bluesky! 🦋✨

You might have seen my recent musings about wanting to connect with people and find community outside of Meta-owned platforms. After seeing a well-known, well-respected artist I’ve followed for years get booted from Facebook for no apparent reason (courtesy of Meta’s automated/AI system, it would seem), it doesn’t feel so good keeping all of my social media eggs in Meta’s metaphorical basket.

Bluesky, so far, feels like a pretty nice place to hang out (although it has to be said that fellow astrologers seem to be a little thin on the ground!). If you’re over there already please come find me, I’d love to connect 🤗 And if you’re not, well, I can definitely recommend it.

🔗 in the usual place - hope to see you there! 🧚🏼‍♀️✨

🎨 Luna Etheria, original colour pencil and iridescent watercolour illustration by myself, Merry Hawkyard (original is long sold but prints are available!)

15/03/2026

Wishing a happy Mother’s Day to all the mums out there - whether your babies are one or many, teeny tiny or all grown up, snuggled in your arms or held in your heart 💗🌷

🎨: Hart of Hearts 🦌

06/03/2026

Delighted to be joining the Moonlight Magic community of stall holders at Venue Cymru again on Sunday for the Spring Holistic Wellbeing Fayre 🌸 I’ll be selling my artwork and offering astrology readings as usual. Hope to see some of you there! ✨

05/03/2026

Hello friends! I wanted to say a heartfelt thank you to all of you who signed up to my newsletter following my post last week. With the Facebook and Instagram algorithms being as hopeless as they so often are these days, I really didn’t expect so many folks to see it, let alone that you would actually jump on board with me. To have so many of you sign up was such a boost for me in so many ways. 💖

The automation of everything by Meta has caused so many small businesses owners I know to lose their platform here, or to struggle to connect with their community. As I said before, our presence here is sadly not guaranteed forever, and I’m so thankful that I have this other means of reaching you, should I ever not be able to do so from here. (🔗 in the usual place if you haven’t joined my newsletter yet but would like to!)

I’m still looking at alternatives to Meta, not because I’m planning to leave these platforms (not yet anyway!), but because I want to start building a community outside of them - it doesn’t feel safe to have all my social media eggs in one basket anymore. 🪺

So if you have accounts on other platforms, suggestions please! 💬 Where’s your favourite non-Meta place to hang out online, and why? (Not X please - I deactivated my account there sometime ago and I’m sure I don’t need to explain why I have no interest in returning!)

With love, magic, and a grateful heart,

Merry 🧚🏼‍♀️ x

📷 is a throwback to Summer 2024 - yesterday was glorious here in North Wales and I’m getting summer fever already! Bring on the sunshine, wild swims, beach days and BBQs! 🌞

25/02/2026

I hate writing posts like this; begging is really not my style. But I’ve seen a few things recently that have put the fear of the Meta gods into me just a little bit. And I feel like we’re at a point where saying nothing and hoping for the best is no longer a risk worth taking.

Let me explain.

A couple of weeks ago, a successful artist I’ve followed for years announced on Instagram that Meta was permanently disabling their Facebook account, with no explanation other than it ‘didn’t follow Community Standards’. The artist tried to appeal, but without success, and they have now lost their business page and the whole community they had built there. They still have no idea why this happened to them.

Sadly, this sort of thing seems to be happening more and more here, with the push of automated processes and artificial intelligence running the show. This is just one of several similar instances that I’ve stumbled across in recent months, but this one hit hard because the artist in question is well-established, well-respected and pretty well-known.

It’s been a stark reminder that it is a HUGE mistake for any of us to rely on these platforms as our primary means of connecting with our people.

So I’m feeling the need to ask you a favour of sorts…

If you want to still be able to find me and my work, should something similar ever happen to me (gods forbid), then please please please 🙏🏼 sign up to receive my newsletters. My newsletter belongs to me and only me, so it isn’t at the mercy of the overlords of any other platform. I will always be able to reach you from there, but I might not always be able to reach you from here.

(In case you’re wondering: it is free to join, I usually only email once approximately every six weeks, and you’ll get a couple of little discount codes as a thank you for signing up. You can find the 🔗 in the usual place.)

It has genuinely pained me to write this. But it’s time to be realistic about the fact that our presence on Meta-owned platforms and the communities we’ve gathered here are not safe, nor guaranteed. I have no reason to think that something like this will happen to me, but then, neither did the artist I mentioned above. At a rough guesstimate, only about 10% of you are subscribed to my newsletter so far, and the thought of suddenly losing you all makes me feel a bit sick.

So please let’s make sure we have somewhere else to stay in touch. 💖

With love, thanks and magic,

Merry x

PS. I intend to delete my Threads accounts for both WaterHorse Artistry anPegasus Astrology - Merry Hawkyardrd very shortly. I like Threads, but I can only juggle so many socials, and of course Threads is also owned by Meta. I’m seeking an alternative online place where I can put down some roots and start rebuilding a community that does not reside under the Meta roof, because that roof feels less safe and reliable now than it ever has.

So, if you have any thoughts, recommendations will be gratefully received! I think Substack and BSky are both looking pretty good right now, but I’ve not made any decisions yet, and would appreciate any input you can offer.