Merci Mère (Thanks Mother) is an original, encaustic mixed media painting. With aqua, gold and ivory paint and papers, as well as shellac burn technique, it includes these simple words from a French storybook dictionary.
Creating something new, without a specific outcome in mind, can be a wonderfully relaxing process. In this painting, I began by collecting and gathering the various elements: art papers in my favorite colors, with some incorporating leaves.
Next, I arranged and re-arranged these elements, until I found a design I found pleasing. Layering the papers added depth. Carved hexagon shapes, of various sizes, as well as a shellac burn and text, adds interest and intricacy. The finished artwork is 12 inches by 12 inches.
She Chi is an original, 7-panel, encaustic mixed media painting inspired by an amazing springtime dream that went something like this…
Once upon a dreamscape, a woman was spending a quiet spring evening in a peaceful secluded park at the edge of a forest. Positioned up a bit on a hillside, she sees train tracks over yonder with a very unusual train. The train’s cars were open face, with flat beds and many cozy spaces.
One of the cars, toward the back, is humming with a lot of motion. As she zooms her eyes and focuses in, she realizes the car is full of something living. It is full of all kinds of incredible talking ovaries!” They are fully alive and chattering amongst themselves, but only about what they know best…every and all kind of egg thing imaginable! Some were quiet and in serious conversations, while others were joking and laughing. This was a surprising and curious sight, indeed!
The next car toward the front on the train is similar, except it is full of stomachs! They were busy talking about what they know best… all kinds of stomach things! And so it went like that all the way up to the front of the train, to where the brains were driving the engine.
Now on the track in front of this women’s train, a big, dark and hollow train was barely moving, all tuckered out with only a tiny spark of energy.
About now, “HER” voice from another realm is heard all around, filling every sound space. “SHE” directs the women’s train to approach the hollow train and to “drive through” it to fill it out from within. Once inside, the women’s train engine carefully makes its way through to the hollow train’s engine space, where it begins to settle down and fill it out.
Finally, as this union is complete, “SHE” declares the plan a success!…
A dream calls out to be painted
This dreamscape absolutely caught my attention; I was especially intrigued by the talking ovaries. The feminine voices must be heard: they were animated, energized, and speaking their truth in so many ways. This vivid dream was bound to inspire a painting, plus some interesting conversations and insight, too.
While working on some initial ideas and sketches, I researched to learn more about this area of the female body:
“The Female Pelvis, Anatomy and Exercises,” by Blandine Calais-Germain, is filled with easy-to-understand text and illustrations showing the pelvic bones, how they are shaped, and how they move and work together. Separate chapters focus on the muscles, tendons, and organs. See how amazing this area is – able to dramatically expand and transform during pregnancy, childbirth, and then in later years. The book also shows targeted exercises to help keep this area healthy. While reading this book, I realized how much about this area I had not known before!
I emphasized the orange, second chakra area, with thin o-shaped coils of handwritten, egg and ovary-themed notepaper embedded in multiple layers of pigmented encaustic. A variety of round or egg-shaped beads fill many, but not all of the coils. Finally, the feminine charm in the painting’s center, perhaps symbolizing a sort of kundalini experience, provides the energy to push forth its truth.
⇒For information about viewing or purchasing this artwork, contact Janet Fox.
The Little Girl’s Dream | encaustic mixed media on wood (sold)
The Little Girl’s Dream is an encaustic painting reflecting on the earliest dream I recall ever having. The image above is a sneak peek at part of it.
I’ll present about both at DREAM ART: Connecting to the Dream World through Art, Annilee Oppenheimer and Janet Fox, at the Jung Society of Washington on Friday evening, October 13th. Ms. Oppenheimer will begin introducing the topic of dreams and dream circles. I’ll follow with a recounting of my first dream and my process of creating this artwork. I’m looking forward to lively conversation.
One thing I can reveal now is that while creating this painting, I came upon stories of Vasilisa and her trek to find Baba Yaga.
Today With The Wise Woman | encaustic | 12″ h X 12″ w | 1st Place, Abstract & 3-D, Montgomery Art Association’s 2016 Creative Expressions
Seeking the ageless wise woman
Today, I’m thinking of the ageless wise woman. When I wake up in the morning, I often spend a few minutes lying still, listening to my body and thankful that I’m alive for another day. Most days have a schedule. But on days that don’t, I like to choose an intention and see if I can work on it throughout the day. Some days, I think of who I might see and what question I might ask of them.
Characteristics of the wise woman
Who is this wise woman? She is the one who knows all things from a feminine perspective. I don’t think there is such a being within one person, but I try to look for core characteristics in the many people, female and male, who I will meet today.
Business woman, author and broadcaster Lynne Franks’ presents wise women traits in this TEDxWhitehallWomen video. In it, she notes traits of responsibility, connection, laughter, creativity, leadership, teaching, nurturing, confidence-building, mentoring, integrity, courage, and bridge-building to generations of the future. I’m also reminded of the Hindu goddess Kali, who is a creator but also known for being a destroyer of what is no longer helpful, especially the dark forces.
I’ve been fortunate to know many wise women. They show strength, vulnerability, compassion, humility, respect, love. They use their smarts, experience, and hearts to make the world a better place.
Here are a few other ideas about the wise woman:
The section about Wise Old Woman and Wise Old Man, from Dreams-Myths-Symbols, describes these figures in terms of Jungian archetypes and mana personalities, stage three of a human’s individuation process.
Hmmm. Is it laughter, creativity, leadership, mentoring, courage, letting go of something… or something else I need today? When the opportunity is here, will I serve as a mentor to another? How will I make the world a better place for the generations of the future? What can I contribute? How does my purpose today fit into the purpose for my life?
About Today with the Wise Woman
Today With The Wise Man | encaustic | 12″ h X 12″ w
With May’s celebration of Mothers Day, I created this encaustic mixed-media painting in honor of the many wise women in the world. I used my favorite turquoise to surround the rust-colored feminine symbol, which also happens to be the sign and the color for the planet Venus. The tiny round glass beads fit nicely with the larger copper staff with the carved bead. The short poem encircling the symbol leads to the bigger note: “Today With the Ageless Wise Woman.” It’s companion painting is my next post.
⇒ For information about purchasing this artwork and/or its companion art, contact Janet Fox.
The dreamer’s dreamscape… I’m in a big city, sometime during the daylight. I’m positioned high enough to see onto the flat rooftops of multi-story buildings. On one in particular, I see a small group of burly men working with vats of molten iron. The first man, with dark hair and closest to the roof’s edge, takes a shovel full of the hot liquid iron and puts it into the second vat. The man at this second vat then does the same thing, shoveling it into a third vat. The third man does the same thing again, into a fourth vat.
Suddenly, my attention speeds back to the first man. As he toils away, a spec of the hot iron splashes on his arm and he thunders out a throaty roar as it burns him. Instantly angry, he throws a little blob of the molten metal from his shovel and over the edge of the roof.
Instantly, my perspective changes and I’m down in the beautiful cool green park below. I see that the hot blob raining down has formed a small ingot as it cooled off. This ingot is orb-shaped and simultaneously also forms a small rectangle, which slightly protrudes from one side of the orb. The rectangle has a company’s logo on it, although I don’t recognize it.
I’m far enough from the building and safely out of the way. I hope none of these flying blobs will hit anyone innocently walking by, as it would definitely hurt… or worse. I think I need to warn them, although I don’t see anyone else in the area. I’m also not sure how I would warn them…
The heat of raw energy
Exploring this dreamscape, I’m struck by the intense masculine energy on that flat roof. Big, burly men in repetitive, machine-like actions that no weak or refined person could, or would, do. This intense raw energy is a brute force to witness. But there’s not any particular end purpose, such as a molded metal object, for all of this doing. Or perhaps the purpose is to gradually cool off the hot metal.
Pain and anger instantly spark, though, when the heat burns. The instinctive masculine energy cries out, forcefully throwing the molten iron away after it has hurt him. And he does so without regard to what, or who, might be below.
Calling cool and calm energy
As my dreamer’s perspective changes, so does the feeling. It’s almost tranquil in the coolness and greenery of the park below. The energy in this space feels much more feminine and nurturing. But in this park space, which could easily be full of playing children and their adults, people could be at grave risk of being hurt from above. My dreamer is thinking ahead, but thankfully, no one is in immediate danger.
Dropping molten metal from a roof
Reflecting on the raining hot metal reminded me of historic “shot towers” in our country’s early days. In the 1800’s, men built and used these towers, such as the Philadephia’s Sparks Shot Tower, to more efficiently make lead bullets for muskets. They dropped molten lead (not iron) from the top of the tower into cooling water below, forming round bullets. Hopefully, nobody below was hit by any of the cooling bullets!
Iron’s symbolism
Iron is a curious part of this dream. Iron, by mass, is the most common element on Earth. We use iron, combined with other materials that strengthen it, for so many structures and objects. It’s also a critical component of our red blood cells, transporting oxygen throughout our bodies.
Mars, often associated with the masculine, is red due to high iron content. Iron’s atomic symbol is “Fe.” In the context of this dream, these two letters also start the word “fe”male. In past days, “ironing” clothing was often women’s work. And how many times have we had “too many irons in the fire?”
About The Dreamer’s Orb
While creating this dream-inspired encaustic painting, I focused on finding harmony between masculine and feminine energies. Choosing simple lines, shapes and color palette felt right. I’m enjoying exploring this dream imagery and with many other ideas swirling in my head, The Dreamer’s Orb will be the first in an eventual series.
This painting was also selected as the cover art for the spring 2016 issue of The Rose In The World.
How do you “too many irons in the fire?”
⇒For information about commissioning a similar artwork, contactJanet Fox.
