Heyas!

Finally had time to do a watercolor tutorial. I know the sound is a bit messed up on the first one. I'm still learning how to use (and not use!) the video camera.

There's a lot of parts to this thing, and they aren't all finished. I hope to upload more tonight and tomorrow!






http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xzw6Q8_Ynxs (Part Three)

Author Elizabeth Gilbert discusses the nature of creativity and advocates a more ancient mode of understanding which does not place the individual's ego at the center and acknowledges an Otherworldly source for inspiration:



Thanks to Asharah and her blog Bellydance Paladin for exposing me to this wonderful video!

Lots of new creatures this month! :)

Hello, I hope everyone enjoyed a pleasant holiday season!

Firstly, I have two book recommendations to make. I think the following books are especially useful in understanding the principles of this community and serve as great introductions to the study of mythology and its importance in human life:

• A Short History of Myth by Karen Armstrong
• The Power of Myth by Joseph Campbell and Bill Moyers

There are, of course, many other wonderful books which touch upon the subject, but these two are fairly accessible and provide a good starting point.

I also have a few artist recommendations:
Vania Zouravliov | Julie Heffernan | Shaun Tan | Agata Kawa | Duy Huynh | Nadia Turner |

We do not appreciate things that come easy to us…
Moreover, we do not feel sorry for the snow in spring…
And it is already to late when we start realizing…
That there is no time left to live…
That the life is gone…
We start to think of the time…
When there is a little of it left…
We are waiting for the happiness…
When it is gone…
I want you to be full of everything!
Today!
Tomorrow!
In a hundred years!

I recently had the pleasure of visiting the Mayan Riviera region of Mexico for some sorely-needed respite from my busy schedule (I'm actually going back to that same area in a few days for business too). When browsing the shops lining 5th Avenue in Playa del Carmen, my boyfriend and I took notice of some wonderful artwork created by a local artist. While there is certainly no shortage of shops offering hand-crafted folk art, crafts, jewelry, etc. I was really taken by this artist's unique melding of traditional imagery with her own vision and style. Luckily, she has a website so her work can be shared more readily than having to take a plane or cruise ship to Playa del Carmen (seeing some of her work in person is a lovely excuse to escape to the Mayan Riviera though, not that one really needs an excuse to visit!):

Her work is an interesting combination of playfulness and eroticism populated by scarlet-horned women, dual-tailed sirens, bird- and insect-winged folk, and numerous hybrid creatures. Much of it is embellished with Mendoza's own scrawled handwriting (en Español, of course) as well as with found materials. From Alejandra's artist statement:

My work is a primitive struggle between sweet nightmares and grotesque dreams, of people with tame bull horns and bitter bird wings, fish tails, forgotten insects, impossible bodies dancing with unnatural positions to music that never happened...

I have learned that art has a life on its own and how I play with it is my endless task. I could say my work is often aggressively-whimsical, much like my own country México.

Although not native to the region of Mexico I visited, the Yucatan peninsula, there were numerous pieces of art available for sale created by the indigenous Wixárika (Huichol) people of western Mexico. Upon entering one particular shop, I was immediately drawn to a yarn painting of a deerwoman with a resonant voice singing beneath a midnight sun (or at least that is my interpretation). I knew that piece was going to have to come home with me. I also purchased another beautiful painting of a multi-hued deer sigil so she would not be too lonely ;) Deer play a very important part in Wixárika mythology not only because they is a major, sacred food source, but also because the God Kauyumarie in the form of a deer enables shamans to communicate with the rest of the Wixárika pantheon. Deer are also said to have the ability to transform themselves into the greatest sacrament of the Wixárika, the peyote cactus Lophophora williamsii, which is ingested to inspire divine visions and for medicinal purposes. (You can click on the image at left to view a larger version.)

last night the snow was better packing so i could add details like the cobra forehead piece. it was hell to keep the candles lit for these pics. it was a real comedy actually.

Case in point: the ever-marvelous Endicott Studio of Mythic Arts. While they do seem to be a bit behind in updating the site with seasonal journal issues (I can certainly relate to that though!) they have a new outlet which is updated on a nearly daily basis, the Endicott Redux. It's the perfect place to visit to feed your inner craving for mythic art.

The left column features a series of miniature book reviews and summaries, the center column is devoted to highlighting specific artists and their work in a blog-style format, while the right column is a compendium of links.

So I live in the countryish area where I'm surrounded by trees and streams and all pretty things like that and I sort of had this weird vision of when I saw the leaves move and I looked up in the canopy I imagined that all the leaves moving in the sunlight were actually little creatures holding on for dear life haha. I also tried to make in like how each flower has a fairy, I wanted to do a tree one like that (I'm not sure if each tree Could have a fairy or if that's what those tree protectors are for)...annnnyyyyway....

Thats what inspired this sort of fairy thing.

That and those bugs that look like leaves and sticks!

It's watercolor and probably about half done I'd say, but I"m liking how the leaves are turning out so far.

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y267/IKillDeadThings/fairywooodunfinished.jpg

That's the link to the picture.

When you mention mythology, people immediately think of Campbell . . . Joseph Campbell, whose The Power of Myth PBS series with Bill Moyers made Campbell's wit and wisdom as a storyteller and scholar of mythology a household name. On the show, Campbell stated, “The function of the artist is the mythologization of the environment and the world . . . The artist is the one who communicates myth for today.”

The Minds Eye Gallery, participating in the Boogie On The Bayou, the weekend of May 20th, brought myth back to Campbell. Featuring art through The Minds Eye Gallery, Dave Alber showed art lovers his fine art prints and new book, Myth & Medium. Joseph Campbell's biographer Phil Cousineau says of the book, “Dave Alber's book Myth & Medium is a courageous work that combines prose poetry and painting, two of the timeless forms that tap the numinous roots of art. I hope his work inspires artists everywhere to stretch their own mythic imagination.” Myth & Medium: The Art of Dave Alber is a lavishly illustrated art book focusing on mythological themes. The 72-page, 8 1/2 x 11 book displays over fifty pieces of art in a variety of medium.

Link to Publication*: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1411661265/sr=1-1/qid=1138924009/ref=sr_1_1/002-0242590-2616871?%5Fencoding=UTF8

“As people dropped by the booth, enjoying their beer, corn on the cob, and crawfish, it was great to share mythological art that celebrates the unity within diversity of this beautiful city in the midst of a technological adventure,” Dave Alber said. “There is more to Campbell than meets the eye.”

Please contact The Minds Eye Gallery for more information: 395 E. Campbell Ave., Campbell, CA 95008. Ph: 408-370-7682. Email: themindseyegallery@sbcglobal.net.

new painting I'm working on ..

dW Studio is comprised of a husband and wife team, Denise and Samuel Wallace. While Denise is responsible for the design and metalworking aspects, Samuel is involved with the lapidary, or stone-setting in their pieces. Denise and Samuel are known for their storytelling jewelry which depicts figures and events from the mythology of native Arctic peoples. Denise herself is of Chugach (Eskimo) Aleut descent and spent much time in Alaska, where some of her relatives reside. The imagery in their broaches, belt buckles, and well-known belts is "inspired by the people, animals and folk-tales of Alaska and the Bering Sea" (from their website). Their jewelry is often moveable and interactive, for instance a scrimshawed walrus mask may be hinged so as to reveal a tattooed human face beneath it.

Carolyn Morris Bach creates stunning works from various precious metals, stones, bone, and petrified wood. Her works often incorperate elemental imagery as well as mythological animal spirits. Sterling silver twigs may shelter a human-headed deer or provide a perch for a human-headed bird. The mask-like face of the moon is framed by small birds of ebony. From her website:

    CAROLYN MORRIS BACH lives on a remote seventy acres in the woodlands of Southern Rhode Island. Her studio is surrounded by pastures and forests and impacted directly by the cycles of seasons which connect her to the natural environment and its visual expression in figurative imagery.
    For 25 years, her work has developed along themes which are keyed to visual metaphors – often found in older iconographies – representing the powers of sun, moon, wind, rain, stones, plants and a selection of animals residents that determine the rural, non-industrial landscape.

hello! I'm rather new to the community :)  I'm thrilled to find you!  I also work with mythic themes and am so happy to find some like minded folk! 
not sure what to include in my intro here .... I'm an artist and art teacher (I teach junior high art)  I've done quite a bit of Tolkien inspired art and have displayed at several conventions as an amatuer ... but I'm not into 'sexy" fantasy you know the pin up warrior girls.  My work is more ethereal or spiritual in nature, so I often feel I don't quite fit in anywhere!  I do love the Endicott studio and Interstitial arts (did I spell that right? LOL) because I often feel I'm outside of the borders as well. 

I'm currently finishing up a watercolor called Morgana's Gate  

It's mythic art because mermaids are mythical, SphinxMuse?

Hi everyone,

I'm new here and I have a question I'm hoping you can help me answer. In Joseph Campbell's documentary series, The Power of Myth, he talks about a Hindu sculpture located in a cave somewhere. The sculpture features a face with a male face and a female face on either side - you can't see the male or female faces when you're looking at the first face, the face of God, straight on. I love this message and think it perfectly represents the ideal of unity when focused on God, and I would love to find a picture of it.

If anyone knows anything about this sculpture could you please let me know?

Thank you,

Amber

Hi everybody. I'm just posting to let you all know I've updated my journal again, with more art. I'd love it if you could stop by!

here

thanks!

hey! I'm new to livejournal and this community. I just wanted to introduce myself and show everyone what I'm about. I've just posted some of my art at my journal here and I would be so thrilled if you'd take a look and tell me what you think. You are all so talented.

thanks!