Castles in the mind

Give me a castle and I'm away with the fairies (and Princesses, Knights, Wizards and other motley members of such a fortification). They are clearly on the mind this week - if I'm not watching Camelot or Game of Thrones, then I'm writing metaphorical stories and knocking down walls with sheer determination.

This is my favourite castle. Interestingly I dreamt about Warwick last night. I had bought my dream house there. It was incredible (though I got lost on the way back after a little exploration around town). I have a feeling about this dream - it's not the first time I've had it. If we take the literal interpretation, maybe it really is my dream house and one day I'll find myself living there. Symbolically it's about new beginnings. At least there weren't any zombies in it, which frankly makes a change. I seem to have the (paranormal) lion's share of undead in my night time imaginings.

I've been writing articles all day and creating all night (with a little bit of monster-bashing on an MMO in between!). Painting with my just received delivery of new Golden acrylics (sigh - those colours just blow me away). Then I took myself off into romantic-fantasy-land for the Inspiration Avenue weekly challenge.

I took the photo when I used to work an arrow's flight from these battlements. A bit of layering, some playing with brushes, textures and applying a little trickery and we have Warwick Castle - with a couple of twists in the telling. Can you spot them?

How could romantic intrigue not but happen in a place such as this - forsooth?!