Rain has fallen recently, out west in the drought-stricken places, and the early weeks of autumn in the mountains have been cool and damp.
From thoughts of rain has come my latest work of art: Rainmaker.
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| Rainmaker, watercolours on gesso prepared paper (2019) |
As I slowly read The Language of the Goddess by Marija Gimbutas recently, two images of Neolithic figurines stood out and combined to form a vision of blue and watery life-giving. The first is a masked figure—I love her face!—from southern Italy (c. 5300 BC); the second is a figure with streams flowing down her body, from north-east Hungary (c. 5000 BC).
In my own way, I united these figures, and included: meanders, which symbolise water and the Bird Goddess; Snake, as life force (amongst a host of other meanings); tri-lines/the number three, which represent totality, abundance, triple sources and triple springs, along with being associated with the birth/life-giving functions of the Goddess; and the open mouth as the Divine Source.
As Gimbutas writes, ‘the realm of the Goddess is the mythic watery sphere’ (p. 25) and ‘The Bird Goddess was the Source and Dispenser of life-giving moisture’ (p. 29).
This work did present some challenges. I had to discover how she wanted to be depicted, which meant some exploratory drawings; and then I needed to work out how to paint her, which was something of an adventure in itself. In the end, I’m so happy with how she has turned out.
May rain continue to fall where it is needed, and the wellspring never run dry.
she is lovely. and i am glad that rain has come to the drought-troubled areas.
ReplyDeleteThank you.
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