Mythology myth
278 creative works found
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A tongue-in-cheek depiction of the Egyptian sky god, Horus, in full fury. / Original was completed 2007, in watercolor and gouache media, on Arches cold-press 180lb. paper.
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The classic mythological beast of Greek lore, whom resides in the shadows. An allussion to the beast within the darkest recesses of us all that must be searched out, confronted, and slain. This guy actually just looks like he could use a break…. / Really it was part of my intention in this work to present the sort of monster that is melancholy; a darker beast of dimmer depths than it is often given credit for. / Original was done in watercolor and gouache media, on Arches cold-press 180lb. cotton rag.
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The labyrinth was a maze created by the brilliant engineer Daedalus for King Minos to hold prisoners from ever escaping. The Minotaur resided deep within it’s depths, later to be slain by the hero Theseus. Of course Daedalus himself later became a captive to his own creation. Since even he could not find a way to escape from his own construction, he devised wings of wax and feathers and string, and, along with his son, Icharus, flew from the confines of the labyrinth. Icharus, not heeding his father’s warning, flew on too high toward the sun, causing the wax in his wings to melt; and he fell to the earth, and his death. / The labyrinth has been observed in many cultures to be a metaphor of the depths of the human psyche. From the ideas of old Greece to medieval cathedrals to the modern ideas of the psychoanylist Carl Jung, the labyrinthean depths of our own minds may very well be of the very highest construction and capability, as well as our greatest obstacle toward true enlightenment and freedom. / Original work was created using watercolor and gouache media on Arches cold-press 180lb. cotton rag.
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A little spin on the old story of Narcissus. Narcissus, as you may well know, was a quite lovely Greek youth enamoured by his own image. He pined away his days staring at his own reflection, eventually growing roots in the ground- punished by the gods for his vanity, he was transformed into the Narcissus flower. Of course this is the root of modern English words like narcissist and narcissistic. / In this work I wanted to spin that old myth in a different direction. As an artist I find myself working for hours and hours, days at a time on my artwork. When I rest from my painting I find myself staring at the result, intrigued by my own work. I love painting and I’m in love with my work. Now, it’s often said that art is but an extention of the artist. If that’s the case then it goes to follow that I’m a bit of a narcissist myself, albeit of a different sort. / The joke in this piece is that it’s a self-portrait. But I’m staring down at my work, which happens to be a Narcissus flower (Narcissus poeticus, to be exact), the work being but a different reflection of myself. / The original was completed in watercolor and gouache media on Arches 180lb. cold-press cotton rag, 2007.
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The Sophia, in Jewish mysticism, was the personification of the female counterpart to god. She epitomized wisdom, and was looked upon as a deity that was elusive but could be searched out and found. The name Sophia itself is Greek and means wisdom, being the root in such words as philoSOPHY, SOPHIST, etc. Later religious groups, like some early christian sects, debased her as a heretical figure- her wisdom being superficial and of a false kind. / I personally like the idea of a female godhead, and in this enlightened age I thought it well to represent her in my own style and art. I looked to other female goddess roles for inspiration- Demeter, Minerva, Diana, etc. There seems to be an overwhelming degree of identification with the most popular- and powerful- female deities with the earth, with life, and with death. Of course in the real world woman do carry much of this burden- or blessing, however you look at it- like childbirth, and the stereotypical nurturing roles, etc. Men like myself are able to be brats and run off from our duties with family and home and life, pursuing silly things like war and death and the ‘sporting’ lifestyle. / The Sophia in this painting resides at her place in the cosmos- at once beautiful, stoic, matriarchal and proud. Flower petals symbolizing life fall from her fingertips, but there is brevity in this gift. The skull at her feet is death and the inevitable end of life, yet the skull remains after all else has decomposed; a permanence to this cycle. Accepting this truth and understanding it’s beauty can be enlightening and a release. Original painting was completed in watercolor, gouache, and some acrylic on Crescent illustration board, circa 2007.
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What if the God of War was the Goddess of War?
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He’s creepy, gothy and ready for Halloween … or anytime you feel the need for a bite! Show off your vamp glamor with this wicked Pegasus Pony! Collect the whole Poseur Pony Crew! These shirts are well made and the unique printing process creates a Bright, Colorful and Large image that is almost as good as silk screening and much, much better than what you get from cafepress. If you have any questions about this design, or desire licensing options don’t hesitate to email me or leave me a note at Redbubble. Please also let me know if you purchase one of my designs and what you think of it’s quality. You can contact me at : cybercatgraphics at yahoo dot com.
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The symbols in this image are the tree of life with the rabbit representing birth and the raven representing death. The trees roots are wrapped around the figure of a woman; the soul of nature in her endless labor, toiling and eroding in her cyclical eternity. Photo Montage.
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Special Closeout Sale – Large (30×22.5) Gallery-wrapped canvas / $149.99 / Buy it here ThomasDodd.com/Store One of my few images of a MALE God form… Bacchus represents revelry, drunkeness, poetic intoxication and lust. We all need a bit of his madness in our souls – but not TOO much! / (This manipulation is of a self portrait by flickr user “teenage jesus”) / original photo link / / Available as a Poster!
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tempera and pastel on mdf / cm 90×50
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tempera and pastel on masonite / cm 70×70 ARTROMGALLERY: Dedicated to women who paint – topten international competition – Exquisite Expression – 2^ award
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tempera and pastel on mdf
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tempera and pastel on mdf / cvm 70×100
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tempera and pastel on mdf / cm 102×103
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Child with crown smelling yellow wildflower. Photo based illustration.
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19×26 pastel on Sennelier paper. Featured in the groups: 1 in the Beginning, Ancient Practices, Contemporary Pastel Painters, and Unconventional Artistry The Sidhe are the ancient fairy people of Ireland. This is a painting of a priestess of the Moon Ways. She can help you connect with your ancestors and begin to understand the power of your moontime.
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9×12 soft pastel and a gold oil pastel on colorfix paper Featured image in the groups THE PATCHWORK, and *♂♥♥QUORN♥♥♀ Ariadne was most likely the ancient Minoan Snake goddess. The island of Crete was once a very strong matriarchal society and Ariadne was their powerful mother goddess. When the patriarchal Greeks overtook the island they rewrote Ariadne to be the human daughter of King Minos, and there by stripping her of her goddess power. / The Greek myth has her saving the Greek hero Theseus from the dark and scarry labyrinth and the creepy minotaur (symbols for the womb of the goddess and our own connection to the animal world…through the goddess). / Anyway she saves Theseus and they run off together. Then Theseus decides to dump Ariadne, pregnant no less, on an island. The Greek ultimate partying god, Dionysus, spots her there and falls in love with her. As a way of honoring Ariadne he puts her crown into the heavens and it becomes the constellation Corona Borealis. / Though Ariadne doesn’t play a large role in Greek myth, she seems to be strong in our collective conscious. There have been many paintings depicting her. One such painting was Klimt’s “Kiss”. The white flowers placed at the woman’s crown in the painting are in the exact positions of the stars of the Corona Borealis. The man is wearing ivy in his hair to connect him to Dionysus. I decided to do this painting Klimt style to honor him for symbolically placing Ariadne and Dionysus in his masterpiece. / The real truth behind Dionysus is he is the god of ecstasy. I figure Ariadne felt the ecstasy of his kiss long before he touched her. In fact, Ariadne herself might be a symbol for ascension, for feeling the ecstasy of oneness with god and then going to heaven through our crown (chakras).
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9×12 soft pastel and gold oil pastel on Colorfix paper. Featured in Fantasy Art, Hairstyles, The Sisterhood, Pentacle Passions, The Divine Feminine, and Unconventional Artistry / (Another Klimt inspired piece). / I am very excited right now to be hosting a new group on Red Bubble, THE DIVINE FEMININE. I have been thinking a lot about the Divine Feminine and am reading a lot of the writings that came out of the 11th to 13th centuries. These writings encompass the stories of Camelot and “courtly love”. No other works in history have celebrated the Divine Feminine more than these. / In a time where the Catholic Church was brutally stomping out anything and anyone that honored the Divine Feminine, the writers of these stories had to hide their real intentions. They wrote some of the greatest love stories and poems of all time. To the unlearned these were just romantic tales, but to the initiates of the mysteries these were symbolic tales that would keep the Divine Feminine alive in the collective conscious until the goddess was able to return. / There are many stories of Nimue and Merlin. Merlin was the greatest wizard that ever lived and Nimue was the girl he fell in love with. The stories usually have Nimue using her feminine charms to entice Merlin into teaching her all of his sorcerery and then she uses her newly learned magic to bring Merlin to his death, making her the ultimate femme fatale. / To the Church authorities this story would have been allowed because it shows how women are evil temptresses that can even bring the death of the greatest sorcerer, but it’s truth was hidden in it’s symbolism. The writers of these Courtly love tales believed that all women were to be honored as the goddess, and it was through the love of the goddess that man transcended this world and became immortal. / Merlin would have been able to predict his own death, and yet he willingly hung out with Nimue. In one tale Nimue changes him into a hawthorn tree. The hawthorn tree to the ancient Celts was the symbol for the chalice itself (the Holy Grail). It held the divine secrets of everlasting life. Therefore Merlin became one with those divine secrets by way of Nimue (the goddess).
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A stylized flame-colored unicorn / horse cavorts across a red background. Mixed media on red watercolor paper.
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9×12 pastel on Sennelier la carte paper I am pretty excited about the new Tarot: Map of Consciousness group! This is my attempt at an Empress, my personal favorite card. The Empress is the embodiement of the divine feminine. She is the Earth personified, or as the Celtic traditions would say, the sovereign goddess. / As many Avalonian and Authurian themed tarot decks have done, I have chosen to represent the Empress with Guinevere. Although much of the later written stories of Guinevere have her depicted as a frail, pale, infertile, adultress wimp; originally she would have been recognised as the sovereign goddess. She is the land personified, and the hero she choses to give her favors to would reign as king. Lancelot and Aurthur also represent the Oak and the Holly kings, fighting for the favor of the goddess to have this honor, and to reign over their respective seasons. / The Empress represents change and balance. In the Qabbala the path of the Empress is the path between wisdom and understanding. It is the Divine Feminine that brings this balance to humanity. / There are twelve stars above Guinevere’s head like on many Empress cards. This represents her connection to the heavens and spirit. She is the bridge between the earth, or the material, and heaven. The May blossoms connect her to the Beltaine goddess and is a symbol of fertility. / Guinevere’s name does mean “pale one”, but this is a reference to the ancient “shining ones”, and means that Guinevere was a faerie queen. Laminated Print / Greeting Card / Framed Print /
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9×12 pastel on Sennellier la carte paper Since I did a Guinevere Empress, I had to of course do a Morgan Le Fay High Priestess! / Morgan Le Fay is a very popular figure today, and yet she is rather obscure in Literature. Originally written about as a great healer and shamaness. In later literature she became a rather wicked enchantress who of course had a hand in the destruction of Camelot. / She is the half-sister of King Arthur, and thought to be half faery. Although many are unsure if the Fay in her names actually means Faery or comes from the Latin Fata (which means fate). / She is also guessed to have evolved from the earlier Morrigan triple goddess. This is what gives her her “dark goddess” connection. Morgan Le Fay was the High Priestess of the mystical island of Avalon. Avalon represents the Underworld, or Otherworld. The dark goddess often rules over the Otherworld, for it represents our sub-conscious mind. It is the place we ignore, but is always there with us. It is like our shadow-self. When we journey beyond the veil into the darkness, we bring back great wisdom and evolve into greater spiritual beings more aware of our true nature. / This was the job of the high priestess in ancient times. She journeyed to the Otherworld and came back with the messages for the people from the Goddess. The High Priestess represents our Intuition and our ability to journey into the realm of the Otherworld to bring back “the Law”, or the wisdom of our shadow-self. / The apple is a stong symbol of Avalon. Often the pomegrante is pictured on High Priestess cards, and the apple holds the same symbolism here. It is the mystical fruit of the Otherworld that we seek in order to gain wisdom. / Morgan Le Fay also has a strong connection to water, as water also represents the feminine consciousness and the sub-conscious realm. Framed Print
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Buy it here ThomasDodd.com/Store “We can have some more .. / Nature is a whore .. / Bruises on the fruit / Tender age in bloom…” (Nirvana – “In Bloom”)
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tempera and watersoluble pencils on mdf, frame made of papier-maché by myself / _ cm137×70_
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