What do you think are the elements of life? In classical thought, the four elements earth, water, air, and fire as proposed by Empedocles. Aristotle added a fifth element, aether; it has been called Akasha in India and Quintessence in Europe. Feng Shui works with five elements and I planned to draw all of them. But first I had to interpreted them artistically.
The result is 5 large drawings of Wood, Earth, Water, Metal, and Fire. I have tried to make the elements engaging.
For Water, I have drawn a cut through that shows water in a pond. As water is so minimal visible, it is the lotus growing in the lotus pond that shows indirectly the element of water.
For expressing Wood element, I have drawn a cut through, showing the growth rings.
For Earth, I have drawn a layered cut-through showing soil and dirt (and burrowing bunnies). But as I have a great interest in prehistory, so I have incorporated how we use earth element, as dirt, since prehistoric times, for making ceramics and building stone walls.
Expressing Fire wasn’t that easy. The best and most effective way to express fire was to set my art paper on fire. However, effective that expression would have been, it would be short lived and showing the most destructive quality of fire, and not leaving me with a drawing! Thus, I have drawn flames and fiery petals of red tulips presenting the element’s passion and dominant red colour.
Metal was a delight to work on, artistically, because I wanted to feel like a blacksmith. I drew a metal and shiny teapot with white-washed and golden decorated tea cups. I worked with Derwent metallic coloured pencils using Bronze, Gold, and Silver. It works! Even the small prints show a metallic shine that communicated the metallic element.
After having drawn Metal, Wood, Water, Fire and Earth, I mused long and hard over how to to draw Air, or Aristotle’s’ Aether or Quintessence. Maybe one day I will try but for now, these are my Feng Shui elements and they seem to be in perfect harmony.
Paula Kuitenbrouwer at Etsy
At Esty these 5 element drawings are for sale as originals. They are perfect for decorating a Feng Shui Consultant Office. I have them available as little art prints too for helping Feng Shui teachers to educate the Five Elements. Contact me in case you need bigger art prints.
The same counts for a book made by my art friend 
My Celtic inspired Illusion-Fusion ‘Horses, Hares & Swans’ art card is now available at 
This is a handmade card showing the illusion of an antique golden-silver disk with Lapis Lazuli inlays. There are four boars, many swans, and 4 hidden faces to discover. Inside the card there is a full colour inlay and an extra inlay with the following text: My Celtic Art Project. This is my contribution to my ‘Who are the Celts?’ course at Oxford Department for Continuing Education, week 5 ‘Make your Own Celtic Art’ (2017). At the end of a demanding week of studying participants were challenged to make their own Celtic art. I used Golden/Silver ink-pens, an ordinary Bic blue pen, art paper, a protector, and many rulers to create an illusion of a golden plate decorated with silver and Lapis Lazuli boars. Notice the boars, hidden faces, and many swans.
