I have another unique artist for you today. Peter Mohrbacher is an independent illustrator and concept artist living in the Chicago area. He works primarily on self-owned projects in addition to some freelance work. Peter previously worked in the gaming industry for years before he decided to devote all his time to a personal project called, Angelarium. For Peter, his passion stems from creating and owning what he creates.

The subject of this project is something I am greatly interested in as you probably know by now from reading The Seals of Abgal. Peter says it was the names that got him inspired. Once he’d read the names of the Angels, he wanted to do the project. This was back in 2005. Angelarium has been a part of his life every single day, but something wonderful happened along the way. Angelarium somehow obtained a life of its own. A life force driving the project across the Internet and the support it garnered organically spawned new designs as a result.

As for why Peter chose the name Angelarium: it defines the idea of surreal angelic figures. In his own words: “Angelarium is a world of divine creatures. They are physical personifications of the experiences we all share. Many of them are described in the ancient text ‘The Book of Enoch’ or borrowed from the tradition of Kabbalah.”

Peter has an active Patreon campaign to support the building of Angelarium in all its forms. Now that more people are involved Patreon hopes to support them in their endeavours. If you’re interested, Peter releases one new illustration every two weeks along with tutorials to help people learn how he create the paintings.

Below is a small sampling of these wonderful paintings. I wanted so much to include his other work, but in the end, I thought it best to keep the post focussed on the Angelarium project. Well, mostly. Each image links to the artist’s gallery. Enjoy!

I have always been fascinated by humanity’s origins, by an antediluvian earth filled with magic, about the stories of giants and monsters of old, and the angels and Watchers and things we pretty much know nothing about except for the stuff we conjure from the dark recesses of our desperate minds.

Peter’s work, although creative and original, is a product of yet another rich imagination. Still, our ideas must come from somewhere, right? Prompted by more than just the hope of  another journey after death of the physical self. As science gets better at pinpointing things humanity will grow even more cynical and nihilistic and that makes me sad. I sometimes wonder how strong a link our imaginations have with hope.

Anyway, let me know your thoughts in the comments and remember to visit my Art of Science Fiction post over at Kōsa Press. I’m showcasing another eye-feast over there.

Cheers mates!

Woelf