Natalsa of the Brim — Cover Artwork

This artwork was created through a collaborative painting process with Jeremiah (formerly active on DeviantArt under the handle jerry8448). The piece emerged from a shared exploration of atmosphere, story, and visual world-building, with both artists taking turns to develop and refine the image. The collaboration was fluid and intuitive, marked by mutual curiosity and the joy of seeing how another artist approaches form, light, and narrative.

The image itself was not originally commissioned as a book cover. It was created independently as a visual interpretation of a short story I had written — a moment of wandering, threshold, and enchantment. The scene depicts a solitary figure entering a faery circle, where unseen worlds reveal themselves through light, movement, and presence rather than explanation. The composition invites the viewer to complete the story inwardly, allowing imagination to bridge what is shown and what is sensed.

The artwork was created entirely using Photoshop 7, a deliberate choice that emphasized layered atmosphere, painterly texture, and collaborative exchange within a shared digital space. Working together in this way offered insight into another artist’s rhythm and process, and renewed my own sense of play and openness within digital painting.

After the artwork was completed, author Chad McClendon later contacted us to request permission to use the image as the cover for his novel Natalsa of the Brim (Order of Terima Chronicles). The artwork was selected for its alignment with the story’s tone and world — a meeting of magic, loss, transformation, and inner strength. The cover remains in use for the published book.

This piece stands as both a collaborative artwork and a bridge between independent creation and applied literary use — a reminder that images, once released into the world, may find their own paths and purposes.