The soul of the newly born baby is marked for life by the pattern of the stars at the moment it comes into the world, unconsciously remembers it, and remains sensitive to the return of configurations of a similar kind. ― Johannes Kepler, Harmonies Of The World
This one was fun to create! I thought of zodiac signs, their symbols and colours. The idea was to make them archetypal, simple and suggestive. My intention was to capture the basic mood of each sign with colours.
I used one big canvas 40 x 50 cm for background, on which I’ve painted 4 elements: fire, earth, air and water. I’ve made elements in columns as the frame for their associated sign. Little remainder: Fire (Aries, Leo, Sagittarius) – Earth (Taurus, Virgo, Capricorn) – Air (Gemini, Libra, Aquarius) – Water (Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces).
I used 12 little canvases 10×10 cm to paint each zodiac sign. When dry, I hot-glued them to the big canvas.
The Eagle Nebula is 6,500 light-years away in the constellation of Serpens. It contains a young hot star cluster, NGC6611, which is visible with modest back-yard telescopes. This cluster is sculpting and illuminating the surrounding gas and dust, resulting in a huge hollowed-out cavity and pillars, each several light-years long.
It was really fun to paint this series of painting Nebulae. I love the play of light and colors and space fascinate me.
This painting was made with dry brush technique. Firstly, I made black background. Than I gradually added layers of paint. When dry I splashed white paint with large flat brush to paint stars.
Listen, are we helpless? Are we doomed to do it again and again and again? Have we no choice but to play the Phoenix in an unending sequence of rise and fall? – Walter M. Miller
I love the texture and play of the light as it moves across the painting.
So, first I squeezed paint directly onto canvas (black and gold). Than pressed down and lifted plastic foil several times, untill I got desired surface. Than I painted silhouette following the contours of surface.
When choosing the colours, I thought of fire and flames burning from deep red, bright red, orange, yellow to blue – so I’ve used that palette to paint the Phoenix. I finished it with touches of gold.
All that glisters is not gold; Often have you heard that told: Many a man his life has sold But my outside to behold: Gilded tombs do worms enfold Had you been as wise as bold, Your in limbs, in judgment old, Your answer had not been in’scroll’d Fare you well: your suit is cold.’
– William Shakespeare
This little birdie thief that loves all that shines was painted to go with the Little owl painting. I’ve used the photo my father made, as for the previous one. My dad loves birds – he wathes them and feed them, so I painted them for him.
Painting technique was the one I often use – plastic foil and paint directly on the canvas to get texture. This time I have made bird contours with the palette knife, to make it smoother and to achieve impression of feathers.
Paint onto canvas
Paint and plastic foil
Smear
Rounded palette knife
Contouring
Birdie
I painted flowers to add some colour and painting is done.
Looking at the paintings of “Natural phenomena” series, it came to me that each brings strong symbolism and deeper meaning that can be linked to tarot and runes. From the beginning of time, our ancestors worshiped and feared great forces of nature. They personified them and made them Gods or spirits. They bring archetypal meaning deeply imprinted in our collective conciseness.
The whole idea started to envelope when I stumbled upon the tarot card “Tower” on the internet. It instantly reminded me of the meteor painting. So I started to ruminate over other paintings and their correlation to tarot or rune.
I will use Raider-Waite deck for this post because It is best known deck even amongst people that don’t share interest in occult or esoteric. Pictures are shown in increasing order by numbers of Major Arcana cards. (The deck I use for my personal meditation and contemplation is Arthurian tarot by Anna-Marie Ferguson Legend-arthurian tarot, which embodies mysterious appeal of tarot and dark age legends likewise. Oh, and dragons, too). Runes are elder futhark.
Those are my associations, I’m sure that there are plenty of different opinions how to match tarot cards with runes, let alone this paintings.
Volcano is strong and unpredictable force, often used to describe someone temperamental, like the lion, untamed beast. When lion is tamed he is warm, timid and cuddly, but always keeping his wild side inside-like magma boiling inside the sleeping volcano. Eruption of volcano is destructive force, but when lava hardens it creates. It can heal. It’s ash nourishes the soil. Volcanos gases form planet’s atmosphere – it basically gives us life. Uruz symbolises life force, endurance, formation, healing, manifestation – and so embodies all concepts of Volcano and tarot card Strength. And zodiac sign Leo – bold and strong and passionate.
If we look at northern lights in the sense of spiritual lights and search, then The hermit becomes obvious. Isa means ice and signifies coldness, isolation, stillness, but it urges you to move forward, because If you don’t find your way out, you will be dead. Death can be spiritual, emotional, not just physical. It’s like the hermit card in some aspects. The Virgo – rational and patient, enduring but wise and kind. General message of this trio is to dive into coldness end isolation to emerge enlightened.
Few man need Fortuna like the sailors, for ages they are toys of Faith. Every journey depends on wheel of fortune, as in life. Sometimes the see is still and beautiful and sometimes is wild and dangeros. Perthro is the rune of fate, luck, unknown, universal law of cause and effect. The wheel of fortune rotates infinitely and no one knows for sure what future brings. And what will the planet of luck, Jupiter’s constellations bring.
I named this painting sun is hiding – because the sun is there, it is only transitional state, and darkness passes. Tarot card Death is similar. It’s ominous look is frightening, but the key concept of this card is beginning through ending, change, transformation, transition. Ansuz also speaks of transition, ancestors, transformation. Like the Scorpio, that mysterious, dark, yet deep and warm sign – changeable and transformational in its nature. So I think that the general theme here is change, life cycles- the necessity to get rid of what is no longer useful and begin the new chapter in our life.
Oooh, The tower! – I think that most of us thinks that when that card appears in the reading. It is card of destruction – like Uranus its planet ruler – or like meteor impact. They all bring chaos, shock, they are sudden and unpredicted. They drastically and swiftly sake you to the bones. But! This is not necessarily bad, it makes you question your beliefs, like death (and it is linked to Death card – Scorpio whose ruling planets are Mars and Uranus) – and brings change. Although Fefu is mostly seen like positive rune, it also brings the concept of new beginnings, failure, and energy – matching the tower meaning.
The moon is mysterious and deep, signifies intuition, psychic powers and deep emotions. It also evokes illusion and dreams. Like the Laguz rune. Moon being the ruling planet of zodiac sign cancer, gives that moonchild all that gifts (and sometimes burdens)., and makes it volatile like moon phases. Being cancer myself, I know that Moon, oh so well.
I imagined this painting without many details, just the play of lights when sun is almost completely hidden. I wanted to catch that moment just before the total dark.
Love the symbolism and message that eclipse brings: sun is here, although we can’t see it. It is only hidden, not completely gone and it will soon be shining bright. Like in life, no dark is forever.
Technically, it was simple. I attached cardboard circle with scotch tape on black painted canvas. I have gradually built the image around that black circle. As shown on pics below.
An asteroid impact would be a natural disaster on a scale that is hard to imagine. Unlike catastrophic volcanic eruptions or earthquakes, an asteroid impact is preventable. Humankind’s first step is finding the devil’s in the dark. Let’s get going. –Bill Nye
I had very clear vision about this painting. I imagined it with warm and bright colours, with bold, thick and somewhat messy brush strokes in the front plane. Background supposed to be cooler, more subtle and a bit hazy as to emphasize the strength and atrocity of the meteor impact.
Technically, this was simple. Black under paint, blue Earth and with the semi-dry brush and small amount of paint I’ve painted the nebulae and space. With wet brush and white paint I made splashes as stars. When dry, several thick layers of paint made fire, flames and sparks. Finally, when this was dry, I added rock with palette knife.
The sight filled the northern sky; the immensity of it was scarcely conceivable. As if from Heaven itself, great curtains of delicate light hung and trembled. Pale green and rose-pink, and as transparent as the most fragile fabric, and at the bottom edge a profound fiery crimson like the fires of Hell, they swung and shimmered loosely with more grace than the most skillful dancer. – Philip Pullman, The Golden Compass
This is the fourth of six canvases in „Natural phenomena” paintings series (Volcano eruption, Sea storm, Meteor impact, Blue moon, Aurora borealis, Solar eclipse).
Cool green and blue colours in this painting bring a sense of serenity and calmness and touches of violet, purple and crimson evoke the hope of Dawn. Purity of white snow battels the darkest Night.
My intention was to depict beautiful symbolism of the the dawn – hope, the end of endurance, sorrow and brighter future before us. Although, in some cultures Aurora is harbinger or war, famine or other misfortunes. Natives of North and South saw the spirits in the lights. Whatever the meaning of Aurora is to someone, it is always mystical and its beauty unearthly.
First coat of paint was black, and over it crimson, green and blue with wide flat brush. While still wet, I made stripes of white paint (plenty of paint on the brush) for the ray of northern lights. With dry flat brush I pulled the white paint to blend with underpaint, to create highlights. I added more white where I thought it would look good. When this layer was finished and still wet, I added patches of green, blue, violet, crimson, and other red colours to create Aurora borealis.
Mountains were painted with the pallet knife. Splashes of white from the wet brush made the falling snow. More white for snow, few pines and spruces et voÍla! Finished painting.
There are times when the ocean is not the ocean – not blue, not even water, but some violent explosion of energy and danger: ferocity on a scale only gods can summon. It hurls itself at the island, sending spray right over the top of the lighthouse, biting pieces off the cliff. And the sound is a roaring of a beast whose anger knows no limits. Those are the nights the light is needed most. -M. L. Stedman, The Light Between Oceans
This is the third of six canvases in „Natural phenomena” paintings series (Volcano eruption, Sea storm, Meteor impact, Blue moon, Aurora borealis, Solar eclipse).
Someone born by the sea told me a beautiful Croatian word for sea storm: “nevera” .
These days I feel like that inside of me… But as the title say, I will find my way long as I can see the light.
Making this painting was intuitive. I didn’t use any tricks, just let the brush dance. First, I’ve painted the sky, blending colours to achieve dark stormy mood. To paint the waves I’ve used flat wide brush generously soaked in paint and with soft continuous moves I’ve let the water flow. Then tapped with top of the brush to create the foam. With the pallet knife I added the rock.
Sky and waves
Rock
When dry, I’ve painted the lighthouse, added clouds and moon and braking waves forming the sea foam on the rock. Just a touch of yellow light and that was that.
Josipa'S Art 