Gallery - Original Masterworks from Webstrand, the Tooth Gatherer of Paul Taggart's Elphen Chronicles

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“Welcome to this gallery featuring the twenty original Masterworks Oil Paintings created for my illustrated book, Webstrand, the Tooth Gatherer. Appearing as full-plates in the book, each of the thirteen large Masterworks paints a specific scene-setting picture. From the arrival of Webstrand’s Elphen Swarm through the Starway, to the Guardian of The Silence, I take you along the significant journey that Fizz experiences as she accompanies the Elphen on their Tooth Gathering quest.

Full-figure portraits of Webstrand and the Elphen seer, Starfire,

are accompanied by one depicting a putrescent Shade and another of the mighty Bowstring, an Elphen warrior. Two small miniatures book-end the story; with the largest vista, Starway to Shimmistra, created specifically for the book jacket (as you will see in the Bonus Feature video below).

From the smallest miniature, to the largest panoramic vista, these paintings required the same meticulous attention to detail and the same traditional painting techniques that would bring them to life and draw the viewer in to the scene.” Paul Taggart

Paul Taggart's Elphen Chronicles. Fairies. Fantasy. Fairy stories. Fairy tales. Fantasy art. Weftwing. Lacewing. Starfire. Webstrand, the Tooth Gatherer. Paintbox Tales.

Illustrated Fantastical Stories for the Child within Everyone

Original artwork and print galleries from Paul Taggart’s Elphen Chronicles. Fairies. Fantasy. Fairy stories. Fairy tales. Fantasy art. Weftwing. Lacewing. Starfire. Webstrand, the Tooth Gatherer. Paintbox Tales.

Click on the image to take a magnified walk around the painting.

Click on the book-spreads icon beneath to discover more about any painting.

Click on the Discover the Video-StoryBook scroll to find out more about 'Webstrand, the Tooth Gatherer'

Starway to Shimmistra

Book Jacket (Webstrand, the Tooth Gatherer), various Elphen Video Titles and More

Large Panoramic Vista Masterworks Oil Painting

Outer Frame Size 167cm[w] x 77cm[h]

Webstrand Entering the Starway

Frontispiece

Webstrand, the Tooth Gatherer

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Masterworks Original Oil Painting

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If the skin, ever-changing and patterned, appeared out of the ordinary, then the creature’s clothing was doubly fascinating. Draping from its neck, a diaphanous material, which floated and clung, falling from a necklace of large glowing gems. Smaller stones had been fashioned into a shimmering skull cap. These crystals had also been worked through the rest of her costume, so that it was gently irradiated with light. At the waist hung two oval, bejewelled adornments of unknown purpose.

Webstrand, the Tooth Gatherer

from Chapter 2

Webstrand, the Tooth Gatherer

Masterworks Original Oil Painting

For Fizz it was like being caught within the mirrors of a kaleidoscope. Colours swirled all around her, turning the whole world into a dazzle. Dizzying hues began to marshal themselves into patterns. These coalesced even further, becoming rank upon rank of flying Elphen. Multi-coloured wings became iridescent as they passed through the moonbeams falling through her bedroom window.

Webstrand's 'Gathering' Swarm

from Chapter 3

Webstrand, the Tooth Gatherer

Masterworks Original Oil Painting

A gigantic cavern opened up before them. Here loomed myriad crystals of infinite variety, all pulsating with the same deep blue light. Enormous pillars dissolved into misty expansive distance. She could easily have believed they were in the bowels of a glacier, had the temperature not been so temperate. Proportions here were so vast that their sense of progress seemed to diminish even more. They appeared to hang suspended, infinitely small against these echoing caverns of blue.

The Crystal Galleries

from Chapter 3

Webstrand, the Tooth Gatherer

Masterworks Original Oil Painting

At the far end of the meadow, tree tops were shivering. There was unmistakably a crackling and a crunching, as if something was forcing itself through the undergrowth.
When it broke through the branches into the full light of day, Fizz recognised it at once. It was HER lizard. But it just couldn’t be. The one she brought to mind from her Grandfather’s garden had been imagined. She had created it from the moving branches of a tree. This one was moving with liquid fluidity. This one looked predatory and ravenous

Challenging the Sycamosaur

from Chapter 3

Webstrand, the Tooth Gatherer

Masterworks Original Oil Painting

Now she could see that they were leaves. Each leaf of the tree canopy was being painted with the pulsating pink of the sky. Billions of silvered leaves rippled and shimmered, as waves across an ocean, playing games with the ever growing warm light. A wake of disturbance, caused by the Swarm’s flight, flowed and spread outward behind them. Just like a boat trail on a silvery pink sea, they were leaving bright evidence of their passage.

The Silver Forest

from Chapter 3

Webstrand, the Tooth Gatherer

Masterworks Original Oil Painting

These roots became hawser-like cables as they spiralled upward, growing into the structure, criss-crossing and intertwining. Embedded within this tightly woven mould were a multitude of smooth, egg-shaped cells, from which the gentle light radiated. The initial impression Fizz had of its size soon had to be recalculated, for as it began to tower against the night sky she realised it was the size of a skyscraper. Fizz realised that they had at last reached a most important destination. This was, without doubt, an Elphen nest.

The Elphen Nest

from Chapter 3

Webstrand, the Tooth Gatherer

Masterworks Original Oil Painting

The colourful Swarm poured through the door, winging her out into the central core of the Nest. Luckily Fizz didn’t suffer from vertigo and instead, revelled in the gulf of space and the vast pit below them. However, as they rose at speed toward the crown of the Nest she made the mistake of watching the walls go past. This did make her feel a little dizzy. Being mid-day, the Nest was full of light. It flooded in between and through, its fibrous silken structure.

Spiralling up the Nest Interior

from Chapter 4

Webstrand, the Tooth Gatherer

Masterworks Original Oil Painting

With all these distractions Fizz realised she had lost sight of Starfire in the melee. Her eyes darted about until she spied him hovering in a distant niche that oozed green light. The main source of this illumination came from a surface glowing with intricate symbols, which to Fizz were totally indecipherable. Wielding a large pair of glowing dividers, Starfire seemed to be taking measurements across its face. Each time the divider points touched the runes they reacted by glowing ominously, the tracery of tracks spread, making a series of seemingly senseless links.

Starfire's Alchemary

from Chapter 5

Webstrand, the Tooth Gatherer

Masterworks Original Oil Painting

Could these things really be Elphen? Closer and Fizz could see part of the reason for their spectre-like appearance. They were partially or wholly covered in a transparent green slime. It moved across their bodies, as if it had a mind of its own. On some it hung from their wings, whilst on others if moved across their faces. Thick tendrils of this slime gathered around the diminished glow of the creatures’ Star Gem Crystals, as if feeding from their substance.

A Deadly Putrescent Shade

from Chapter 6

Webstrand, the Tooth Gatherer

Masterworks Original Oil Painting

They hung, only faintly moving, suspended against the darkness. It became apparent that the light came from strange transparent creatures hardly any bigger than Fizz’s hat. Thousands upon thousands of them were drifting past, glowing lanterns of luminosity. A delicate array of filaments or tentacles hung below these bubble-like creatures. They reminded Fizz of jelly fish, not floating on any ocean, but on the currents of this dark fog. These fine threads glistened with rainbow hues as they swayed in the currents of the inky blackness all around.

Denizens of The Silence

from Chapter 6

Webstrand, the Tooth Gatherer

Masterworks Original Oil Painting

The slight confusion that she had experienced was the result of a metamorphosis that had considerably altered the Nest’s appearance. Its whole colour had changed. Dull ivory hues had been replaced by a bright, almost metallic silver sheen. All exterior portals had been sealed, other than the one through which they were entering. Once all were inside and safely home, it too closed tight, like the enormous iris of a giant’s eye. The outside world was now sealed off. Would she ever be able to get home?

The Defensive Silvered Nest

from Chapter 6

Webstrand, the Tooth Gatherer

Masterworks Original Oil Painting

Ahead lay a scene from Hell. A vast plain of solid rock was being devoured pitilessly by a spreading red tongue of moving, grinding lava. Fizz had to squint her eyes against the searing light. Its heat prickled her cheeks, turning them a very warm pink. She had no doubt that any closer an approach would result in a fiery death. Turning her head to see how her companions were faring against this onslaught was colourful; for they too were painted pink by the fierce light and their wings shimmered in the updraft of hot air.

Magma Fields of Arktura

from Chapter 7

Webstrand, the Tooth Gatherer

Masterworks Original Oil Painting

Below, the turmoil beneath the surface re-ignited as the volatile material began to surge and pulsate. Something was ‘tickling’ at her mind. Something was calling. Fizz could hear her heart pounding in her chest. But it wasn’t just in her chest; it was in the air all around her. Unmistakeably it was emanating from the Jade Lake below. Was the beat an amplification of her own heart or was the rhythm being imposed on her? Whatever it was, it could not be denied as it rose in volume; soon challenging even the sound of the eruptions above them.

The Jade Lake of Cornucapacia

from Chapter 7

Webstrand, the Tooth Gatherer

Masterworks Original Oil Painting

They hurled themselves, powered with the venom of the Armulets in their veins, against the enemy with incredible ferocity. Fizz’s senses became overwhelmed. The battle was raging all around her and that included above and below. She was too close to the centre to judge who was winning. But the fight was desperate and being carried out without mercy on both sides. For their part, despite heavy losses, the Swarm began to rally. Once over the initial surprise they began to take advantage of their diverse weaponry.

Bowstring, an Elphen Warrior

from Chapter 7

Webstrand, the Tooth Gatherer

Masterworks Original Oil Painting

Webstrand’s Swarm, swollen by reinforcements from the Nest, rose into the sky and headed back toward the Starway. Quite a change for Fizz, as she was no longer being pushed and pulled, instead, she was trying out her new wings and loving every minute of it. She was keen to have a go at flying between the treetops, but Starfire sternly advised her against such frivolity. “You need a little more experience and expertise, before you are ready for stunt-flying. Hitting a tree is a lot more painful than hitting an Elphen.”

Navigating the Snatchthorn Forest

from Chapter 9

Webstrand, the Tooth Gatherer

Masterworks Original Oil Painting

Sadly, time came for the Swarm to divide; for Starfire needed to lead a contingent back to the Nest. There was simply no telling whether it might be attacked again. Fizz was really touched when she saw a fireball ignite; although it had only appeared for a split-second, she knew that he had done it for her. Then she felt a pang of sadness. Would she ever see Starfire again? Zand had also left with Starfire’s company of Elphen and this left Fizz feeling even more forlorn, to lose her fellow changeling so soon.

Starfire's Plasma Flame

from Chapter 9

Webstrand, the Tooth Gatherer

Masterworks Original Oil Painting

Out of the mist loomed a mighty silhouette of daunting scale. Menacingly, it took on the appearance of a gargantuan cloaked figure. Closer still and she could now identify it as a carved totem. Possibly hewn from the mountain walls themselves by some colossal force, it glowered before them. Something odd, even alien, about its posture made her flesh creep. Through the enveloping darkness and mist Fizz was unable to make out many of its surface features. One thing that did focus her attention however, was a glowing golden triangle in the centre of its dark mass. They had arrived at the Starway.

Guardian of the Silence

from Chapter 9

Webstrand, the Tooth Gatherer

Masterworks Original Oil Painting

Gently Fizz undid the drawstring, as if too heavy a hand might make the whole thing disintegrate. It opened. She turned it upside down, so that its contents dropped with a gentle tinkle onto her bed. It was an Elphen bracelet, at its centre the Elphen Eye Gem with its central golden-black iris. For just a moment the iris shone; a brilliant miniature sun. Fizz held her breath for quite some while, so that when she finally gasped, it actually hurt. Perhaps she was still in a dream.

Fizz's Changeling Pouch & Bracelet

Endpiece

Webstrand, the Tooth Gatherer

Masterworks Original Oil Painting

Master

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Elphen Treasure Chest from Paul Taggart's Elphen Chronicles. Fairies. Fantasy. Fairy stories. Fairy tales. Fantasy art. Weftwing. Lacewing. Starfire. Webstrand, the Tooth Gatherer. Paintbox Tales.

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Join the Elphen Treasure Chest to lift the lid on a magical trove filling with myriad gems of all things Elphen.

Delve in to discover the Video-StoryBooks - ‘Webstrand, the Tooth Gatherer’ and ‘Starway Sapphires’, the first of the Paintbox Tales.
Rummage through the hoard to reveal a cache of Behind-The-Scenes Videos.
Search out Bonus Features and Painting Reveals.
Root out a wealth of How-to Tutorial Videos and Craft-it-Yourself to release your inner creativity.
Join the Elphen Treasure Chest on Patreon for access to digital online content released from Paul Taggart’s Elphen Chronicles, plus offers and exclusives.

The Three Quills studio - publishers of Paul Taggart's Elphen Chronicles

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 2026 – Paul Taggart has asserted his Rights as the Sole Artist & Author of Paul Taggart’s Elphen Chronicles. ALL RIGHTS (including Music) owned by Paul W. Taggart, Eileen M. Tunnell, Sunita J. Gahir [The Three Quills]

The Three Quills studio, symbolising the trio of creative strands that are art & design, writings and music.

Eileen Tunnell – Project Director, Producer, Video Auteur ‘Paul Taggart’s Elphen Chronicles’
Sunita Gahir – Design Director/Producer ‘Paul Taggart’s Elphen Chronicles’
Liza Mulholland – Music Director/Producer ‘Paul Taggart’s Elphen Chronicles’