Yay! I’ve hit twenty patrons! And that means that it’s time to give away a print!
Tomorrow afternoon (Friday August 11th) I’ll put the names of all my patrons in a hat (or possibly a bowl) and pick one at random to receive a print of their choosing. There’s still time to get in on it if you want to be in the running!
My Patreon features new and experimental art, my artistic process and thoughts on Goddesses, as well as various rewards depending on the monthly pledge chosen.
New art of Kostroma, one of the Russian earth Goddesses, done as the Goddess by Request for March over on my Patreon. She can be both a young maiden and an old witch; She’s said to fall asleep beneath a birch tree over the winter to be awakened in the spring. I’ve put Her in front of birches as She wakes up with the awakening of the Earth, with winter to the left and spring to the right; the Sun of the spring equinox shines over head. The style is after traditional Russian embroideries.
I’ve also put this art up on cards through zazzle and prints through deviantArt if you’ve a hankering.
New art of Anuket, the ancient Egyptian Goddess of the Nile River in the area of the First Cataract, where the Nile flows over a rocky stretch that makes navigation difficult. The First Cataract traditionally marked the border with Nubia, so I’ve given Her Nubian features.
Her name means ‘the Clasper’, referring to the high narrow banks that constrain the Nile there. She represents the bounty and fertility of the Nile and its Inundation.
The original is digital, to look like an old lithographed poster in the Art Deco style, since that style was heavily influenced by ancient Egyptian art. It sort of goes with that Bat (the pre-dynastic Cow Goddess) I did a while back.
I’ve put Her up on both cards through Zazzle and prints through deviantArt, if anyone’s interested.
This is a little Diana I did recently; She’s in pen and ink with watercolor, to look like a woodcut (sort of). The original’s only an inch and a half square!
Diana is the Roman Goddess of women, the Moon, and the wild places; Her festival was on August 13th.
I’ve put this art up on cards at zazzle; they’re blank inside, and you get a discount if you buy multiples!
MyPatreon is a year old! Look at all the Goddesses I’ve painted in the past year. To my patrons: thank you so much; your encouragement and support really mean a lot to me!
New art of Medb, the Irish Goddess of sovereignty, vitality, fertility, wealth, and sexuality. She represents the power of the land; without Her approval Kings may not rule. She is the antecedant of Queen Medb of Connacht, famous from the Tain Bo CuailngeorCattle Raid of Cooley. The mound of Rathcroghan is behind Her; it is associated with Queen Medb as Her royal seat.
Acrylic on paper, done as a Goddess by Request over on my Patreon.
New art of Bat, a very ancient Egyptian Goddess of cows and the starry sky. That’s probably Her on the Narmer Palette, and that may also be Her on the Gerzeh Palette, which shows a stylized cow’s head with stars at the tips of the ears and horns, with another on the forehead. The ancient Egyptians linked cows with the night sky, perhaps either because the spotted coats reminded them of the stars (leopards were associated with the starry sky as well in Egyptian thought), or because cows have a star-like whorl of hair on their foreheads.
She was the Goddess of the sixth nome (administrative district) of Upper Egypt; in time Her worship was absorbed into Hathor’s (Who was the Goddess of the neighboring seventh nome). She looks to have been patterned after a different type of cow, though, as Bat’s horns curve inward, unlike Hathor’s.
Her name comes from one of the types of soul in Egyptian thought, the ba, with the feminine ending -t.
Digital art, made to look like an old Art Deco lithographed poster; as that art movement was heavily influenced by ancient Egyptian art in the first place (Tutankhamun’s tomb causing quite a sensation when it was discovered in 1922) it seemed appropriate. The color scheme is a version of the familiar one of ancient Egyptian jewelry: dark blue (lapis lazuli), red (carnelian) and gold. I looked at both the Narmer Palette and Hathor columns for the shape of the face.
I’ve put it up on both prints (through deviantArt) and cards (through Zazzle).
And new art of Achvizr, an Etruscan Goddess or spirit Who may be the personification of health or vigor. The first part of Her name may be related to an Etruscan word for ‘doctor’, so I put Her in colors that we associate with the medical profession in modern times.
The original is in colored india inks and used white gouache as a resist (meaning I painted it where the outlines weren’t) which was then all washed off, leaving the inks and the outlines which are consequently the negative space, like in a wood cut. It gives a certain quality to the lines that I just love, personally. Though the technique definitely had a very steep learning curve!
I’ve got prints of this one, too, if anyone’s interested, here.
Okay, here are some little paintings I’ve done recently, all dumped into one post, ha. They’re all Greek Goddesses; the originals are in ink, using the a brush for the linework, and are quite small, like only an inch and a half wide. Top to bottom they are Selene, the Moon Goddess; Amphitrite, the Goddess of the Sea; Gorgyra, an Underworld nymph; Psykhe, the Goddess of the soul; Elpis, Goddess of hope; Lethe, Goddess of Oblivion; Khione, the Goddess of snow; and Metis, the Goddess of wisdom and cunning, mother of Athena.
And some more of my art: these are in reality quite tiny, just an inch and a half square, in ink and watercolor. They’re supposed to look sort of like Art Deco woodcuts in style, though I don’t know how successful I was with that. They are, top to bottom, the Roman Goddesses Ceres, Venus, and Juno.
Mokosh, the Russian earth Goddess, done as the Goddess by Request for July over on my Patreon.
She is known from the old Kievan pantheon; She is likely a form of the ancient Mati Syra Zemlya or ‘Moist Mother Earth’, and like Her associated with water, Her name coming from a root meaning 'moisture’ or 'wetness’. She is also a Goddess of weaving and spinning. There is a traditional Russian embroidery pattern showing a stylized woman standing between two horsemen that is thought to be Her; on such She is often shown with arms upraised holding a pair of birds.
Okay, here are some little paintings I’ve done recently, all dumped into one post, ha. They’re all Greek Goddesses; the originals are in ink, using the a brush for the linework, and are quite small, like only an inch and a half wide. Top to bottom they are Selene, the Moon Goddess; Amphitrite, the Goddess of the Sea; Gorgyra, an Underworld nymph; Psykhe, the Goddess of the soul; Elpis, Goddess of hope; Lethe, Goddess of Oblivion; Khione, the Goddess of snow; and Metis, the Goddess of wisdom and cunning, mother of Athena.
