New art

I was inspired in spite of /or/ thanks to an (mild) earthquake on wednesday, and finished this piece. It started with a very rough outline, inspired I think by a Haida mask I saw last month at the McMickael museum. Once I did that, I wrote a text. Here goes:

Klack-klack! Klack-klack! her beak went. It meant "Leave at once!" "you are not welcome" Klack-klack! "You are not one of us!" Through the dense forest I ran. Quickly. I turned just only once more. I saw it. Something soft in her eye. A message of hope. One day we would be welcome again, even with the most secret one of all. Hope surged in my heart.

As I wrote it, the image became very clear in my mind and I started painting. By thursday morning it was done and very close to what I was expecting.

The little black ant... do you see it? it is there for the little black ant i killed (willingly but heart brokenly)

what's what? - tout est tout

Reflections are so symbolic of the distortions in how we perceive the world, the illusions we are faced with, the limits of our mind and of our eyes, perceving so little of all there is to see. Is a tree a reflection of a tree? or is it something real? is a reflection of a tree in water as real as a tree? a watery twin brother? where is the reflection? ...in our eyes? ...our mind? ...the surface of the water? ...the particle of light? ...Where? ..Where?

Tell me!

Reflection on a forest

Another of my favorite things: sunken forests. I wonder how ancient they truly are as wood decomposes very slowly in these nutrient poor lakes, it takes many many years. the forest is under, over, all around and I feel at peace in that green cocoon.

Algonquin park trip - May 19-22

Back from a wonderful trip canoeing in Algonquin Park, North-East of our great city. A paradise it was, we were the only one there, the weather was ideal, my god-daughter Maroussia discovered Canada's incredible untouched beauty and vastness.

Here is one of my favorite things in Algonquin Park : litle islands of drift wood. It is a miniature world, self contained, that invite the imagination. Floating on the emerald water, close to the full size forest, those embody the spirit of the boreal forest for me.

With a sprinkling of pollen on the water...

Nymphs

"Hylas and the Nymphs" by John William Waterhouse, 1896

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From Wikipedia:

A nymph in Greek mythology is a female spirit typically associated with a particular location or landform. Other nymphs, always in the shape of young nubile maidens, were part of the retinue of a god, such as Dionysus, Hermes, or Pan, or a goddess, generally Artemis.[1] Nymphs were the frequent target of satyrs. They live in mountains and groves, by springs and rivers, also in trees and in valleys and cool grottoes. They are frequently associated with the superior divinities: the huntress Artemis; the prophetic Apollo; the reveller and god of wine, Dionysus; and rustic gods such as Pan and Hermes.

The following is not the Greek classification, but is intended simply as a guide:

Land Nymphs
Alseids (glens, groves)
Auloniads (pastures)
Hesperides (nymphs of the west, daughters of Atlas)
Aegle ("dazzling light")
Arethusa
Erytheia (or Eratheis)
Hesperia (or Hispereia)
Leimakids (meadows)
Minthe (mint)
Napaeae (mountain valleys, glens)
Oreads (mountains, grottoes)
Pleiades (daughters of Atlas and Pleione; constellation)
Maia (partner of Zeus and mother of Hermes)

Wood nymphs
Dryads (trees)
Hamadryads (oak tree and others)
Epimeliad (apple tree)
Leuce (white poplar tree)
Meliae (manna-ash tree)

Water nymphs ("Ephydriads")
Helead (fen)
Naiads (usually fresh water)
Crinaeae (fountains)
Eleionomae (marshes)
Hyades (rain)
Limnades or Limnatides (lakes)
Pegaeae (springs)
Potameides (rivers)
Corycian Nymphs (Corycian Cave)
Nereids (daughters of Nereus, the Mediterranean Sea)
Oceanids (daughters of Oceanus and Tethys, any water, usually salty)
Sabrina (the river Severn)

Other Nymphs
Lampades (underworld)
The Muses
Nephelae (clouds)

What's your favorite Nymph??? - mine are the Limnatides

more info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nymph