I think of some paintings like sign posts, pointing me in a new direction. This is a signpost painting for me. Last winter, I had an idea that kept pulling at the edges of my mind.. an idea connected to Ireland's ancient queens and women warriors .. I kept pulling the threads of the idea, like gossamer strands of a dream that disperse after waking ....This painting started as a landscape, then it became a tree and finally it transformed into a queen.. It felt so different to my previous work but also very connected to the trees in my Samhain paintings.
The title is inspired by the following poem, which was significant to someone our family lost last winter:
“We have calcium in our bones,
iron in our veins,
carbon in our souls,
and nitrogen in our brains.
93 percent stardust,
with souls made of flames,
we are all just stars
that have people names.”
― Nikita Gill
In ancient Ireland, women were equal to men and could enter the same professions, including being a warrior. The women of the 'fianna' were known as the 'banféinní'. What if these powerful women were here today? What if our landscape was female, our society was matriarchal and women were both equal and powerful? What would this landscape look like?
I've been exploring female bravery, heroism and mythology in my paintings, inspired by the challenges facing my teenage daughters and Irish mythology about women warriors . I've been imagining a female landscape, shaped by powerful and fearless women who are connected to the transformative magic of nature.
