Tree of Life: Mayan

Another day another tree of life...my heart wasn't quite in it today....long story short I need to make money in order to live in this society however the current Walmart society has decided my talent and hard work are worth absolutely nothing and I should give everything away for free and just be flattered that they would deign to use my things.  If that sounds angry and bitter it is...I wish people would stop would the fake offers, all it ever does is hurt my self esteem.  If anyone is out there actually reading this can you please comment? I really, really, really could use some positive reinforcement today.

Dryad in Watercolor...

Today could be classified as a "rough" art day....I'm really not too happy with what I made but I made it....oh well, tomorrow is a new day.  This is a dryad, the watercolor skill I'm actually pleased with the subject just isn't working...maybe I need a new model or something...

Tree of Life: Turkish

Today's tree of life is inspired by the tree motifs found in Turkish rugs, which are meant to represent the Tree of Life, at this point there isn't much to say that hasn't been said. The concept of the tree of life and means essentially the same thing in all cultures.

Tree of Life: Yggdrasil

In Norse mythology, Yggdrasil is an immense tree that is central in Norse cosmology; the world tree, and around the tree existed nine worlds.

The Weight of the World...

Atlas was one of the three Titans who attempted to overthrow the Gods of Olympus and failed, his punishment was too bear the weight of the world on his shoulders for eternity...keep this in mind next time you feel life is unfair and difficult...it could be worse, at least the weight of the world isn't literally on your shoulders.

In other news I'm going to the Metropolitan Museum of Art tomorrow, it's been awhile and I can't wait to see the new exhibits as well as some of my old favorites like the Grecian statues which this drawing reminded me of...maybe I should bring my sketch pad and pencils.

Spell it Out

Tree of Life: Ancient Eygpt

Ancient Egyptians considered the Acacia Tree ‘the tree of life’ in which both life and death are enclosed. Isis & Osiris were said to have emerged from the Acacia tree of Saosis. The birds represent the various stages of human life; with the orange bird on the left side (West side of death) symbolising old age and the awaiting of death. Notice how all the other birds are staring to the opposite side for they represent the lively phase of life from birth (bottom bird) to adulthood (flying bird).

Tree of Life: The Bodhi Tree

The Bodhi Tree, was a large and very old Sacred Fig tree located in Bodh Gaya, under which Siddhartha Gautama, the spiritual teacher and founder of Buddhism later known as Gautama Buddha, is said to have achieved enlightenment, or Bodhi.  So, perhaps we could more accurately call this the Tree of Enlightenment, however if you dedicate your life to enlightenment and freedom of spirit I think it is appropriate to consider the Bodhi Tree a tree of life.

Tree of Life: China

According to Wikipedia "In Chinese mythology, a carving of a Tree of Life depicts a phoenix and a dragon; the dragon often represents immortality." Wikipedia said it depicts a phoenix, the chinese version of a phoenix is called Fenghuang , they are used as symbols of high virtue, grace and unity, especially when depicted with a dragon. This pairing is used as a show of a balance between the feminine (Fenghuang) and the masculine (dragon) and is a version of yin yang.

Tree of Life: Kabbalah

Yesterday I did a Celtic Tree of Life, today I am doing a Kabbalah Tree of Life.  Their tree of life is inside their flower of life which may look familiar because it's seen in many Turkish designs.

Tree of Life: Book of Kells

In May of 2001 I was in Ireland for 10 days as part of a landscape photography course, while there I purchased a book called Celtic Art: The methods of construction by George Bain (My father in law bought the same book, here in the US).  However, until today I never really used it...today it helped me make a Celtic Tree of Life similar to the ones depicted in the Book of Kells. The concept of a tree of life as a many-branched tree illustrating the idea that all life on earth is related has been used in science, religion,philosophy, mythology, and other areas. My name is Teresa and one of my many nicknames is Tree, I love trees and have long been fascinated by the tree of life...this may be a new project, to experiment with the different trees in different cultures.  How appropriate to start on St. Patrick's day with the Celtic Tree of Life:

Fin MacCumhail

Why do  witches, mystics and druids always mess things up? I'll explain myself...why do these seers and prophets tell their ignorant rulers the so called future and fulfill the prophesies...my guess is they made it all up and were just using these stories to manipulate their rulers and the outcomes, which is as smart as it is diabolical. I just hate when innocents get dragged into it...which brings me to the story of the birth of Fin MacCumhail (by the way, Cumhail loosely translates to "son of cool"). Alright Macart Cumhail is a Champion from the West of Erin who receives a prophesy that if he marries it will lead to his death, sure many men believe this, but in his case it's said he will die in battle the next day. So, he does his best to stay away from the fairer sex, but of course he can't do this and falls in love with a Princess (her name is not given) whose father the King receives a prophecy that her daughters son will takeover the Kingdom one day (not sure why that's bad) so he keeps her away from all men.  Macart and the King's daughter are married in secret and Macart confesses to his mother what happened and warns her he will be killed tomorrow and if the Princess has a son by him the King will have him killed.  Of course this all happens and the King throws the young Prince into the loch to drown. Macart's mom watched as the boy sank but then resurfaced near shore holding a salmon in his hand, upon seeing this she said "He is my grandson, the true son of my own child" grabbed him and ran, named him Fin and he grew up to take over the kingdom. The end...here's my interpretation of little Fin MacCool surviving his dip in the lake:

Brigid

With St. Patrick's day coming up soon I wanted to put some focus on Irish legends and deities...the logical place to start was with the classic Celtic triple goddess Brigid who was later adopted by the Catholic Church as St. Brigid.  Some of her symbols such as her cross and the eternal flames survived that transition (not a shock, everyone knows how the Catholics feel about crosses and fire) Her hammer and the baby symbolizing fertility are symbols of the "sisters" and they have not been adopted.

Susanoo

Susanoo is the Shinto god of sea and storms.  Here I have him getting ready to battle a wave that was inspired by Hokusai's The Great Wave off Kanagawa.  This of course is another homage to the Japanese and their current natural disaster, they are very much on my mind and I feel pretty helpless because I have no money to donate and nothing I can really do to help...so I draw. 

For Japan...

On March 11th Japan was hit by it's largest earthquake in it's written history (let me remind you, they were among the first in the world to record the written word...so that's a long time).  They are still feeling the effects of this earthquake in the form of tremors, tsunamis and the death toll is steadily rising.

With all this in mind I wanted to make something to send positive thoughts to Japan.  So,  I went searching on Wikipedia and discovered the Kirin (Qilin) a mythical hooved chimeric creature found throughout many East Asian cultures.  It is thought to bring luck and fortune.  I had a small goof up, I meant to make this a more Japanese Kirin, but due to my headache (had a long island iced tea last night that was more "long island" than "iced tea") I misread and didn't realize the Japanese depict the Kirin more goat like than giraffe like.  Not sure how the Japanese made that leap. So, let's just call this a fusion and well intentioned.

Dragon Hatchling, Another Animation

Another simple animation done with adobe image ready, this time drawn on the computer instead of on post it notes, quick and dirty drawing, nothing too fancy...took about two hours, I plan on getting better...and faster.

Never Wake a Sleeping Dragon...

Today I made not just one but eighteen images.  I made a small flip book on post it notes...but then I couldn't find the cable for my video camera so I scanned the post it notes and put them together using adobe image ready.  This animation is not terribly fancy, but it is animation and I think I may want to do more of it...hopefully it'll get better as I go.

Selkie

In honor of St. Patrick's day coming up I wanted to create an image of one of my favorite Irish myths, the selkie. Selkies are seals that can shed their skin to become humans.  I created a photomanipulation of a selkie that I think came out beautifully, however I cannot share it here.  Unfortunately one of the stocks I used in this image has pretty restrictive rules and I cannot post it out of deviantart without written permission, I have asked for this permission but who knows when or if I'll be allowed to share it on my blog, so here is the link to the image, please visit and I apologize that I can't post an image today...I'm beginning to think making photo manipulations for this blog will have to stop; I do not like this feeling that I do not own or only co own the image I spent hours working on.

Back to Basics...

I'm reminded today of the feeling I had after I came back from my honeymoon, a week after my wedding was over and a year's worth of planing had come to fruition and was just...over...it's a very "now what?" feeling.  I'm proud of my alphabet and it was very fun and challenging to do...but now what?  I may do another themed alphabet eventually but for now I've decided to go back to basics and do some simple sketching with pencil, today I drew an elven maiden I call her Indilwen, named after the model I based this drawing on  whose name is Lilly; Indilwen is elvish for lily.

"Z" is for Zombie

Last day of the alphabet! Wow, not sure how to go back to the "just do whatever" format, but I don't have to worry about that till Monday.  Anyway, Z is for Zombie which according to Wikipedia can be either a fictional undead monster or a person in an entranced state believed to be controlled by abokor or wizard.  In popular culture we usually lose the idea of a wizard controlling the zombies and being in a entranced state, the popular version is more of a permanent transformation.  I find both ideas very interesting as well as the cultures these ideas have come from.

"Y" is for Yeti

The Yeti or Abominable Snowman is an ape-like cryptid said to inhabit the Himalayan region of Nepal, India and Tibet. The Yeti mythology is very new to the West as it first appeared in the 19th century.

"X" is for Xana

Wikipedia tells me "the xana is a character found in Asturian mythology. Always female, she is a fairy nymph of extraordinary beauty believed to live in fountains, rivers, waterfalls or forested regions with pure water. She is usually described as small or slender with long blonde or light brown hair (most often curly), which she tends to with gold or silver combs woven from sun or moonbeams." There are theories that Xana is a derivative of the Latin Goddess Diana,  deities crossing cultures...have they been talking to Daniel Jackson? (yes, that was a SG1 reference) 

"W" is for Werewolf

So far this last week of the alphabet is getting pretty heavy on the monsters, but I like it. According to Wikipedia "a werewolf, also known as a lycanthrope  is amythological or folkloric human with the ability to shapeshift into a wolf or an anthropomorphic wolf-like creature, either purposely, by being bitten by another werewolf, or after being placed under a curse."