Monday, June 23, 2008

"THE STORIES" SERIES: #1 FISH GODDESS


The Fish Goddess is one of the early paintings from this body of work that I began in the late 1980's. It was a pivotal piece for me, and because of its importance to me (which I'm not sure I could verbalize even now), I have not sold this original painting, even though many people have expressed interest in it. I was just beginning to allow myself to be aware and to get psychically hooked into the stream of images that wanted to come through. (Sounds wierd, I know, but that's the way it feels. Seems like it really has nothing or very little to do with me as an individual---I just hold the paintbrush & try to get out of the way)
The original inspiration was a photograph that I saw in a National Geographic magazine & it was that HAT---I wanted to paint that hat! But also it was the combination of this woman in the hat, who was holding a fish on a plate.....but the photograph was actually a crowd scene during a religious festival. So I pulled her out of the crowd, changed her around, made her into a goddess (with a changing iridescent halo) and set her down in San Francisco, with the Bay behind her & the fog coming in. Beading was added around the border and iridescent beads scattered across her dress. She has an aura of mystery and all-knowing, and still is a favorite to people who visit my studio.
Image: "Fish Goddess" acrylic on canvas with mixed media

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