GARDEN OF THE TURTLE/ Mixed Media: Earth Pigments and Gouache/ FIGURATIVE ABSTRACTION

                                      

                                        Garden of the Turtle

                                        1998

                                        by Eric Whollem

                                        earth pigments, gouache and acrylic emulsion on paper

                                        Collection of the artist.

                                        14" x 11"

                                                                                                                                                                 Copyright by the artist.

  

Coon Man and Bearfish Mother in Turtleland

Many Native Americans posit the Turtle as a Creator Spirit. A being who

created the world and all that lives in it out of a handful of mud. I have

followed this tale in sympathetic sport, having taken a bit of earth paint

from the archaic bed of the prehistoric sea that used to fill the Sacramento

Valley floor and mixed it with some gouache paints from the art store.

The result is Garden of the Turtle.

EARTH MOTHER/ Earth Paint Made From Pigments Gathered in Nature/ Alchemical Wisdom/ A PICTOGRAPHIC ABSTRACTION

      

           Earth Mother

          1981

          by Eric Whollem

          earth pigments, charcoal and ash paint in casein on panel

          Collection of the artist.

          32" x 22"

               Copyright by the artist.

EARTH COLORS FROM NATURE'S ALCHEMICAL STOREHOUSE

This painting is an image that borrows much in technnique from
Australian aboriginal art. I used sticks as brushes like the aborigines.

LUNCHEON OF THE BIRD PEOPLE/ Earth Pigments and Watercolor/ Influences From Hopi Indian Art

                                 

                                    

                                        Luncheon of the Bird People

                                       1974

                                       by Eric Whollem

                                       watercolors with earth pigments and casein on paper

                                       Collection of the artist.

                                       11 1/4" x 9 7/8"

                                               Copyright by the artist.

HOPI INDIAN CERAMIC TILE PAINTING:
AN INFLUENCE IN MY EARLY YEARS

In 1973 I made my first earth paints from raw natural earths.

At that time I had been inspired by the power of Native American sand
painting, which is traditionally used in healing ceremonies.

I fell in love with Hopi ceramics, their pottery and their ceramic tiles.
The design in the painting in this post is derivative in a degree of their
tile art. I had read The Book of the Hopi about this time; it was a
popular book in the 1970's, describing the cosmological beliefs of
the pueblo Indians.

HOPI INDIAN CUBISM

The modern art of the Hopi people is amazing. Many of the traditionally
trained painters have done renderings of tribal ideas in a style distinctly
Cubist. I feel that Hopi Cubism is some of the best in the genre of Cubism,
though public recognition has never been commensurate with the degree of
excellence exhibited in the art.

If Braque had been Hopi, he would have spun circles around  Picasso.

________________________

Readers may find my posts about the MAIDU INDIANS of interest:

http://artblogericwhollem.blogspot.com/search/label/maidu%20indians

BELOW IS A VIDEO

DEALING WITH THE RELIGION OF

THE CONCOW MAIDU INDIANS

OF NORTHERN CALIFORNIA

ERIC WHOLLEM                              

Some might be interested in my articles on DIGITAL CUBISM:

http://artblogericwhollem.blogspot.com/search/label/digital%20cubism

BELOW IS A DEPICTION OF

'AUGUST BOWER'

A DIGITAL WORK OF MINE

THAT UTILIZES

CUBISTIC

TEXTUROLOGIES

(COPYRIGHT BY THE ARTIST)

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FIGURATIVE ABSTRACTION

JEWEL DESERT/ Native American Motifs in the Figurative Art of Eric Whollem/ Abstract Art

                                            

                                          

                                                The Jewel Desert

                                                1985

                                                by Eric Whollem

                                                mixed media on paper

                                                Collection of the artist.

                                                9" x 6"

                                                                                              Copyright by the artist.


THE JEWEL DESERT

This painting evokes the art of Native American
Indians. Not just the turquoise pigmentation of
the image, but the pictographic symbols that are
arrayed across the image's surface.

American Indian rock art has been a huge influence
on my work. Rock art is generally divided into
two types: pictographs and petroglyphs. Much of
my art has been dedicated to exploration of Native
American pictographic art.

        PICTOGRAPHS AND PETROGLYPHS VIDEO

EARTH PAINTS AND INDIAN LORE


The label, earth paints, will lead you to articles
that describe Native American inspiration as the
basis for the development of my own paints made
from natural earths, ash, and charcoal, etc.

                          EARTH PAINTINGS VIDEO

See my posts on EARTH PAINTS on this link:

http://artblogericwhollem.blogspot.com/search/label/earth%20paints

See more of my FIGURATIVE ABSTRACTIONS here:

http://artblogericwhollem.blogspot.com/search/label/figurative%20abstraction

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GODDESS' GARDEN/ Mixed Media Figurative Abstraction With Earth Paints

            

                 Goddess' Garden

                 1997
                 by Eric Whollem
                 gouache and earth paint in acrylic emulsion on paper
                 Collection of the artist.
                14 3/4" x 9 3/16"
                     Copyright by the artist.

The Golden Child at the Gate of Initiation

Demeter is the Goddess of the Mysteries. In this painting the
Goddess has birthed an initiate, a golden child, whose destiny it is
to follow the path of Mystery.