Thursday, October 14, 2010

MERMAID & SEAHORSE ART/ Maltese Rock Art/ MEDITERRANEAN MYTHOGRAPHY/ The Unicorn of the Sea/ ATARGATIS/ 'Temple of the Sea Snake'/ Figurative Abstraction/ ABSTRACT COLLAGE ART/ 'Hippocampus' by Eric Whollem




Hippocampus & the Sea Temple
1994
by Eric Whollem
collage art
Collection of the artist
COPYRIGHT BY THE ARTIST


The Temples of Malta

This drawing was inspired by the stone temples of Malta in the
Mediterranean. There are huge boulders that have been anciently
pecked and grooved with pits over their surfaces. This is a sort of
rock art, but rock art done on large stones moved into architectural
positions, rather than the normal rock art found in natural settings
where the arrangement of the rocks is in the hands of nature.

The above collage shows a mermaid priestess communing with the
Sea Horse God. This deity is named Voltumna by the ancient
Etruscans. The Sea Horse is a chimaera, a being that represents a
multiplicity of beings in itself.

The Temples of Malta were sacred to the Eternal Feminine, the
Goddess principle. A major ancient Mermaid Goddess with a fish
tail was Atargatis, the Starwhale dolphin mother Goddess of the
in the Near Eastern coastal deserts of the Nabateans.


The Unicorn of the Sea

The Sea Horse in the above piece has a single horn on it's brow.
It is the Unicorn of the Sea. As such it has a correspondance to
Pandemos, the dove manifestation of Aphrodite, her virgin form,
the White Goddess.

The Stone columns in the Temple of the Sea are huge fish dolmens.
A  dolmen is a large boulder turned upright as a sacred marker.
Such dolmens are exemplified in the pillars of Stonehenge, but are
also found in great numbers through Portugal, Spain, France, Ireland,
and other countries as far afield as New England in America.

______________

Readers interested in the DOLPHIN may want to read these posts:


SEE MY CERAMIC SEAHORSE VIDEO:

  'Ceramic Seahorses'                              


These are my posts on the SEA HORSE:

Find MERMAID posts here:

See my posts on MYTHOLOGY:

*

MERMAID ART/ 'The Pool of the Naiads'/ Mythology of the Hot Springs: Medicinal Spirits/ DIGITAL ART by Eric Whollem/ A line drawing interpreted through mixed media



The Pool of the Naiads
2010
by Eric Whollem
mixed media digital art
COPYRIGHT BY THE ARTIST

Mermaids of the Freshwater Springs

The Greeks called the spirits of the pools and rivers Naiads. They
were conceived of as beneficent spirits, often accredited with the
spirit of prophecy.

Hot springs were conceived by the Europeans as the sites of
medicinal spirits of the spring. Their names are many. I will
mention just a few: Maponos, Damona, the Griselicae Nymphae,
Sequana, Virotutis, Segeta, Luxovius, the Suleviae, Borvo, Bormanus,
Borvoni, and Bormo. The famous American product, Bromo Seltzer,
was named after a medicinal Naiad.

Naiads can be male or female.

THE VIDEO BELOW
EXAMINES MYSTICAL
ASPECTS OF MERMAIDS AND MERMEN


            PORTAL OF THE SEASKY by Eric Whollem


THE SALT SEA AND THE SALTS OF THE HOT SPRINGS

The wife of Neptune was Salacia, the spirit of the waters of the
underworld. Her name relates to 'salt.' The Goddess Sul or Sulis
from the Salisbury Plain in Britain was a Goddess of the spring,
a Naiad related etymologically to Salacia.

The Greek God Poseidon was a god of the sea and also of the
springs, but his wife, or one of his wives, was Amphitrite, the
dolphin Goddess, thus a mermaid of the salt sea.

The waters of hot springs contain salts of sulphur and other
minerals. Thus there is a mythic connection between the springs
and the sea. The Underworld is often conceived of as a place of
sulphur and heated waters. . . a huge hot spring.

The Romans worshipped Cloacina, a Naiad, at a large temple
site, a place of bathing. The well-known brand of soap named
Clorox was probably rooted in the name of Cloacina.

_______________

My posts on MERMAIDS can be found on this link:

BELOW ARE A FEW
SAMPLES OF
MY MERMAID ART


AMONG THE STARFISH
by Eric Whollem

CLICK ON IMAGES TO ENLARGE

MERMAIDS AMONG THE BLOSSOMS
by Eric Whollem

THE OUSEL
by Eric Whollem

This link will take you to my posts of ABSTRACT ART:

*

ABSTRACT PAINTING/ 'The Pictographic Milieu' by Eric Whollem/ India ink, casein, parafin & gouache on paper/ A MIXED MEDIA PAINTING/ Pictographic Abstraction




The Pictographic Milieu
1998
by Eric Whollem
mixed media on paper
Collection of the artist
COPYRIGHT BY THE ARTIST

________________

My posts of ABSTRACT PAINTINGS can be found on this link:

CLICK ON IMAGES TO ENLARGE

Pictographic Tableau
by Eric Whollem




Swedes' Flat
by Eric Whollem


My works that relate to PICTOGRAPHS AND PETROGLYPHS are found here:

BELOW IS A VIDEO
THAT SHOWCASES SOME OF MY
PICTOGRAPHIC ABSTRACTIONS


ERIC WHOLLEM                            

*
Figurative abstraction
Contemporary painting
Abstract figure painting

*

MAAB'S TRANCE/ Abstract Painting by Eric Whollem/ FIGURATIVE ABSTRACTION/ Mixed media on paper/ CELTIC MYTH/ A Goddess of Intoxication





Maab's Trance
1985
by Eric Whollem
mixed media on paper
Collection of the artist
6" X 9"
COPYRIGHT BY THE ARTIST

CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE

Maab the Fairy Goddess

This work is an expressionistic interpretation of the lore
of fairies. Maab is featured in the lore of the Celtic peoples.
Her name is variously spelled. Commonly one sees 'Medb.'
One Medb was a historical figure, an Irish queen.

But metaphorically Medb or Maab relates to 'mead,' and thus
her name implies one who brings about intoxication.

________________

Readers interested in my ABSTRACT PAINTINGS should view this link:


'Whimsical Abstractions' a video by Eric Whollem.       


Those who have an interest in FAIRY ART should see my posts:

Read about MEDB on Wikipedia:

*