PATH OF THE GODDESS by Eric Whollem/ CONTEMPORARY ART/ Figurative Abstraction

PATH OF THE GODDESS

1984

by Eric Whollem

mixed media on paper

9" x 6"

Collection of the artist

COPYRIGHT BY THE ARTIST

___________________

See more of my CONTEMPORARY ART designs:

http://artblogericwhollem.blogspot.com/search/label/contemporary%20art

THE VIDEO BELOW

SHOWS SOME OF MY ABSTRACT ART

Whimsical Abstractions by Eric Whollem                         

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ALTAR OF THE GODDESS by Eric Whollem/ Goddess Painting/ FIGURATIVE PICTOGRAPHIC ABSTRACTION

ALTAR OF THE GODDESS

1984

by Eric Whollem

gouache resist on paper

9" x 6"

Collection of the artist

COPYRIGHT BY THE ARTIST

_________________

See more posts on the topic of the GODDESS:

http://artblogericwhollem.blogspot.com/search/label/goddess

THE VIDEO BELOW DEPICTS

SOME OF MY GRAPHIC DESIGNS

THAT DEAL WITH GODDESS

SYMBOLISM

Artistamps from Amphora                                 

THIS VIDEO PRESENTS IMAGES OF

MY CERAMIC GODDESS

SCULPTURES

Ceramic Goddesses                                        

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HAWK WOMAN by Eric Whollem/ Earth pigments in resin with gouache on paper/ MIXED MEDIA ABSTRACTION/ 1981/ Figurative Pictographic Abstraction

HAWK WOMAN

1981

by  Eric Whollem

earth pigments in resin with gouache

on paper

Collection of the artist

COPYRIGHT BY THE ARTIST

___________________

See more of my FIGURATIVE ABSTRACTIONS on these posts:

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

This link will take you to my posts on SHAMANISM:

http://artblogericwhollem.blogspot.com/search/label/shamanism

THE VIDEO BELOW

PRESENTS A SELECTION OF MY

FIGURATIVE ABSTRACTIONS

Video by Eric Whollem                                     

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CERAMIC MERMAID SCULPTURES by Eric Whollem/ Notes on Celtic Mermaids/ Selkie Art/ FIGURATIVE CERAMIC ART

THE DARK SELKIE

1998

by Eric Whollem

oxides on white clay

6"

Private Collection

PHOTO COPYRIGHT BY THE ARTIST

CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE

CELTIC MERMAIDS

The peoples of Scotland and Ireland refer to the mermaid as a

'selkie.'  This term literally translates as 'shifter.'

The archaic religion of the Celts posits metempsychosis, or

reincarnation as the order of things. After death a soul is said to

undergo transformation. This means a person could manifest as

an animal, a stone, a tree, or another person. This is one aspect

of the 'shifting' which is indicated for the selkies. However there

are special cases where the shifting occurs magically during the

life of a being. For example, Morrigan, the Sea Queen, is said

to have been able to take the form of many different animals.

One of the most popular conceptions is that Celtic mermaids

manifest as seals. This is only one form that the soul might take

in the Otherworld. The Irish Celts called the Otherworld Emania,

while the Celts of Wales referred to this land a Annwn, the

Summerland.

It is said that nine mermaid Goddesses tend cauldrons at the

bottom of the sea off the Galway Coast. These cauldrons are

said to represent the wombs of metempsychosis. Many of the

archaic Gods and Goddesses had special magical cauldrons.

Also the Sidhe, or Celtic fairies, are said to have kept cauldrons

hidden in lakes.

THE CELTS THROUGH HISTORY

Galicia, Breton, Liguria, Gallo-Helvetia, Persia, Scythia, etc.

The Celtic peoples are not limited historically to Ireland and

the British Isles. The Celts of France live in Breton, or Brittany.

The Celts of Spain and Portugal live in Galicia. While Liguria,

in northern Italy is the traditional Celtic region of that country.

The Gallo-Celtic peoples of Helvetia, are the Swiss Celts.

The regions north of Greece are tradtionally Celtic. Many students

of ethnic lore also posit Turkey as a pivotal location for much

Celtic migration. The Vikings, especially from their center in

Denmark, represent the northern migrations of the Celts. The

curvilinear designs in Scandinavian art are very distinctively

Celtic, being from the Scythian ancestors of the Celts. Many

songs of the Norwegians and others have a very Irish and

British feel to them. But Galician music from Iberia in many

cases is nearly indistinguishable from Irish music.

The Celtic peoples have their traditional ancient homeland

in Persia and Scythia, where they migrated to other parts of the

world. There are generally two major migrations: the northern

Celts and the Southern, who travelled through Phoenicia and

Egypt to Spain.

ERIC WHOLLEM CELTIC PLAYLISTS

See my playlist of Galician music on Youtube for good examples

of lesser known Celtic music.

Among my  other Celtic playlists are the music of Liguria, Lombardy,

as well as Ireland, etc.

On my Romanian playlist there is a beautiful rendition by Maria Tanase,

entitled, 'Bun il vinu' ghiurghiuliu,' a song which indicates a link to the

Celtic music of Lombardy, insofar as the Romanians are largely derived

from Italian colonists.

You can find a link to the ERIC WHOLLEM CHANNEL on the left

hand column on this blog.

THE RED SELKIE

1998

by Eric Whollem

earth pigments on white clay

6"

Private Collection

PHOTO COPYRIGHT BY THE ARTIST

CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE

_______________________

See my posts about SELKIES:

http://artblogericwhollem.blogspot.com/search/label/selkies

Read more about CELTIC MYTH:

http://artblogericwhollem.blogspot.com/search/label/celtic%20myth

THE VIDEO BELOW

PRESENTS A VARIETY OF MY

CERAMIC SEA HORSE SCULPTURES

Video by Eric Whollem                                    

Read more about the CELTS on Wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celts

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Mythographic Sculpture/ THE HARPY by Eric Whollem/ 'Bird Women: the Ancient Scourges of the Gods'/ Notes on Greek Mythology: Hesiod, Homer and Aeschylus/ FIGURATIVE CERAMIC SCULPTURE

THE HARPY

1985

by Eric Whollem

pumice from Mt. Shasta, polymer emulsion,

on white clay

2.5"

Private Collection

PHOTO COPYRIGHT BY THE ARTIST

BIRD WOMEN

The Ancient Scourges of the Gods

Harpies sometimes have a 'bad reputation' as being entities

with a malignant disposition. This reputation comes from a

patriarchal bias.

The Harpies are bird women, having traditionally the bodies of

birds but with the heads of women. Ancient Greek lore, especially

the works of the poet, Homer, made these beings well known.

The Harpies are synonymous with the Sirens, the supposed 'mermaids'

that lead Odysseus to his doom. These correlations come from the

play of Aeschylus: The Eumenides.

The Sirens are not vile sedeucers, if one reads archaic lore right.

Odysseus was a black pirate, and a blasphemer of Athena and

Poseidon. The Harpies or Sirens served as the police of the Gods

in ancient Greece. Their designation was that of 'scourges' or

punitive officiants.

The Sirens also served in the Mysteries, having their place in the

Abyssos, along the River Styx, where they served as the Chorus

of the Naiads.

The Sirens were Naiads, or river mermaids, being the daughters

of Achelous, the River God. The Nereids, the daughters of Doris

and Nereus, were the benign oceanic mermaids of the Greeks.

Hesiod posits the parents of the Harpies as Thaumas and Electra.

Archaic mythology has contradictions, as mythology is a general

consensus of poets. And poets of various ages utilize mythic beings

in varying contexts.

The Bird Women of preshistoric Europe are very ancient prototypes

that may be ancestral to the development of Greek mythological

notions about Sirens and Harpies. Marija Gimbutas and other

feminist writers popularized Bird Woman in the 1980's.

Today the Harpy is an archetype that many Jungian psychologists

utilize in their observations on human nature.

________________

See my posts on the NAIADS:

http://artblogericwhollem.blogspot.com/search/label/naiads

THE VIDEO BELOW

PRESENTS A VARIETY OF IMAGES

OF MY CERAMIC SCULPTURES

Ceramic Sculpture Artist Stamps Video                         

See more of my CERAMIC SCULPTURES:

http://artblogericwhollem.blogspot.com/search/label/ceramic%20sculpture

See my posts on MYTHOGRAPHIC ART:

http://artlblogericwhollem.blogspot.com/search/label/mythographic%20art

Readers may be interested in my articles on MYTHOLOGY:

http://artblogericwhollem.blogspot.com/search/label/mythology

See WIKIPEDIA'S listing on the HARPY:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harpy

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ARCHETYPICAL CERAMIC SCULPTURE/ Goddess Amulets by Eric Whollem/ Figurative Ceramic Sculpture

GODDESS AMULET

1985

by Eric Whollem

oxides on white clay

3"

Private Collection

PHOTO COPYRIGHT BY THE ARTIST

CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE

GODDESS AMULET

1985

by Eric Whollem

oxides on white clay

3.5"

Private Collection

PHOTO COPYRIGHT BY THE ARTIST

CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE

GODDESS AMULETS

These amulets were created for use in necklaces.

See the links below for more posts relating to my

ceramic creations.

__________________

See more CERAMIC AMULETS:

http://artlblogericwhollem.blogspot.com/search/label/ceramic%20amulets

THE VIDEO BELOW

PRESENTS MORE IMAGES OF MY

CERAMIC AMULETS

AND WALLPIECES

                                    

See my general posts of CERAMIC SCULPTURE:

http://artblogericwhollem.blogspot.com/search/label/ceramic%20sculpture

See my posts on ARCHETYPES:

http://artblogericwhollem.blogspot.com/search/label/archetypes

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Figurative Expressionism/ BLOSSOMS IN THE SNOW by Eric Whollem/ Modern Art

BLOSSOMS IN THE SNOW

1984

by Eric Whollem

mixed media on paper

9" x 6"

Collection Calvin Sandborn

COPYRIGHT BY THE ARTIST

___________________

See more of my posts on FIGURATIVE EXPRESSIONISM:

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

VIEW MY VIDEO

ON FIGURATIVE EXPRESSIONISM

Eric Whollem video                                 

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DANCING COUPLE by Eric Whollem/ watercolor on gray sandpaper/ An Abstract Figure Painting Rendered in a Style Characterized by a Fusion of Celtic and Native American Art

DANCING COUPLE

1973

by Eric Whollem

watercolor on sandpaper

12" x 15"

Collection of Russ Dunn

COPYRIGHT BY THE ARTIST

CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE

EARTH COLORS

This image is an example of works that I executed in 1973, at the

outset of my project to develop paints from natural earth pigments, which

I planned to gather in nature.

In time I gathered as many as seventy different paints made from earth,

ash, pumice, wood particles, sand, etc. I used casein, acrylic emulsion,

polyvinyl resin, and beeswax for binders.

__________________

See my EARTH PAINTINGS on these posts:

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

THE VIDEO BELOW PRESENTS

A VARIETY OF MY

FIGURATIVE

WORKS

Whimsical Abstractions                                  

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GEOMETRIC FIGURATIVE ABSTRACTION by Eric Whollem/ 'Primary Environment'/ CONTEMPORARY PICTOGRAPHIC ABSTRACTION

PRIMARY FIGURESCAPE

1984

by Eric Whollem

mixed media on paper

6" x 9"

Collection Calvin Sandborn

COPYRIGHT BY THE ARTIST

CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE

____________________

See more GEOMETRIC ABSTRACTIONS on this link:

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

VIEW MY GEOMETRIC

ABSTRACTIONS VIDEO BELOW

Eric Whollem video                                       

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SOROR MYSTICA/ Notes on Nostradamus and Hildegard Von Bingen/ An alchemical allegory by Eric Whollem/ India ink, tempera and parafin on paper/ CONTEMPORARY ART/ Figurative Abstraction

SOROR MYSTICA

1986

by Eric Whollem

mixed media on paper

21" x 15"

Collection of the Artist

COPYRIGHT BY THE ARTIST

AN ALCHEMICAL ALLEGORY

Alchemists very frequently worked as cooperative couples, man and

woman, working in the laboratory among chemicals, retorts, and charts

in spiritual union.

The term, 'soror mystica,' means 'mystic sister.'  Nostradamus, for example,

taught his wife all he knew about medications and ointments and the symbology

of alchemical science.

Hildegard Von Bingen worked all her life with a monk named Volmar, who was

her amenuensis. She created works about natural healing, which at that time was

parcel of alchemical practice. In this instance, the woman was the leading

practitioner.

_____________________

See my posts on ALCHEMY:

http://artblogericwhollem.blogspot.com/search/label/alchemy

THE VIDEO BELOW

PRESENTS MATERIAL ABOUT MY

USE OF NATURAL EARTH PIGMENTS

GROUND IN A MORTAR



Earth Pigments Video by Eric Whollem                   

See my posts on METAPHYSICAL ART:

http://artblogericwhollem.blogspot.com/search/label/metaphysical%20art

   

               

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FIGURATIVE ABSTRACTION by Eric Whollem/ 'Primary Figurescape' / CONTEMPORARY ART

PRIMARY FIGURESCAPE

1984

by Eric Whollem

mixed media on paper

9" x 6"

Collection of Antonio Reyes

COPYRIGHT BY THE ARTIST

_________________________

See my posts about FIGURATIVE EXPRESSIONISM on this link:

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

THE VIDEO BELOW

PRESENTS MORE OF MY ABSTRACT ART

Whimsical Abstractions                                   

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MARSH OF THE ORACLES by Eric Whollem/ 'Reed Boat People'/ Mesoamerican and Preshistoric California Reed Boat Builders/ Coastanoan and Maidu Indians/ PICTOGRAPHIC ABSTRACTION/ Contemporary Art

MARSH OF THE ORACLES

The Reed People

1983

by Eric Whollem

mixed media on paper

11" x 8.5"

Collection of the Artist

COPYRIGHT BY THE ARTIST

THE REED BOAT PEOPLE

Many of the early peoples of California were Reed Boat People,

which is to say, from cultures that relate historically to the reed

boat builders of Mesoamerica to the south. The painting, 'Marsh of

the Oracles' pictographically renders an image of marshlands.

The Mayans and Peruvians are famous for building boats

made from reeds. The early Spanish explorers to California

saw many reed boats dotting the San Francisco Bay when

they first arrived.

The Coastanoan Indians, now mostly extinct, were reed boat

builders. But inland groups, such as the Maidu Indians, were

also Reed Boat People. The Maidu are believed by some to

be distant relatives of the Mayans, said to have migrated to

California via a route through Utah.

I lived in close proximity to the Maidu for many years, having

lived at Black Earth Village in the Sierra Nevada Mountains.

______________________

Readers interested in my contact with the MAIDU may want to see these posts:

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

Concow Maidu Indian Video                           

See my posts on ANTHROPOLOGY:

    http://artblogericwhollem.blogspot.com/search/label/anthropology    

               

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EARTH PAINTS/ 'Rainbeetle' by Eric Whollem, 1973/ An earth painting made from natural earth pigments

RAINBEETLE

1973

by Eric Whollem

earth pigments on panel

Collection of the Artist

COPYRIGHT BY THE ARTIST

RAINBEETLE

Rainbeetle is the lead character in a novel I began in 1973.

The links at the bottom of this post take the reader to

previous articles I have written about 'Rainbeetle.'

This painting was created in the year of my first experiments

with paints made from natural materials.

_______________________

See more posts about EARTH PAINTS:

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

Earth Paintings Video                                        

Read more about RAINBEETLE:

http://artblogericwhollem.blogspot.com/search/label/Rainbeetle

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LETO by Eric Whollem/ CONTEMPORARY ART/ A figurative abstraction based on studies of Mesoamerican art

LETO

1985

by Eric Whollem

gouache and parafin on paper

Collection of Jean and Bob Reagan

COPYRIGHT BY THE ARTIST

CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE

______________________

See more of my posts about ABSTRACT ART:

http://artblogericwhollem.blogspot.com/search/label/abstract%20art

CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE

GARDEN OF THE TURTLE

mixed media

by Eric Whollem

BELOW IS A VIDEO

THAT SHOWS A VARIETY OF MY WHIMSICAL

ABSTRACTIONS

Whimsical Abstractions Video by Eric Whollem                  

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