Different than my usual? Yes, indeed. This was one of those pieces that evolved from an accident, and then I saw something in the accident, and then I had to follow it through.
Back in August when my son left for college, I decided that I needed to move our empty aquarium tank into my studio and fill it with plants and fish. Whether the two are related, I’m not sure. But I really love having fish swimming in my studio while I work. It’s also made me realize though that i leave things on the floor a lot. When I was doing one of the routine water changes, I spilled water on a print of a river on rice paper that I had left on the floor, below the tank. After it dried, I notived how the water ran, since it was an inkjet print and I thought it was beautiful. So I got my srpay bottle and sprayed the entire image.
After that dried, what had been a river looked like a female figure, like a spirit. I grabbed a pencil and traced the figure and even put in wings, as it seemed like a spirit. At that point, I decided that when I had sometime in the studio I had to make a painting with this. At first I thought I would do an acrylic mixed media painting, but then decided that it had to be encaustic to have that translucent watery feeling that one an create with layers of wax.
The night sky above the river woman is very textured, as the base layer I put down was a botanical eco print on cloth.I had originally thought of having the plant shapes there, but it tranformed into a night sky, a reference to the cosmos.
I have been thinking a lot about water lately. I find it fascinating that in so many religions and belief systems around the world and throughout history, humans have instinctively viewed and treated water as holy and sacred. And it was often tied to a female entity. Water is needed for life, much like a womb is needed for life. Even in the very patriarchal structure of the Christianity I grew up in, which was Roman Catholic, we still hold on to the idea of holy water. However, now in western thought, water is no longer considered holy and sacred. It is owned, it is bottled up, it is wasted for the use of AI, and it is a place to deposit debris and toxins from industrial and agricultural waste.
I wonder, what would happen to our environment if we remember that water is sacred? What new ways of thinking and living would emerge if we remember what our ancestors knew instinctively?
I love that this female figure emerged from me accidentally spilling water. When I finished the painting and took a long look at it, I realized that it reminded me of the work of one of my favorite painters, Jeanie Tomanek. I wonder if subliminally her work helped my eye see the figure that emerged from the water spillage. I sent her a message about it and we had a nice conversation about the creative process. She was so gracious. I have always loved the mythical and mystical aspects of her work. It’s like there’s a string in my spirit and when I see her work, the string vibrates. Like a cello note, or maybe a double bass. I love the double bass. So deep and soulful. I also feel that way about a Baltimore artist, Pamela Phillips. I went to her artist talk recently, and you can see some of the photos I took of her and her work on my Instagram. I told her that her work strums a chord inside my spirit too. I hope she didn’t think I was crazy. Maybe a little.That’s ok, I feel things deeply and sometimes I overshare. Ha!