just exquisite

Here’s an appropriate image for these shockingly frigid days, painted by the amazingly talented Virginia Lee. Isn’t this snow maiden so beautiful? It’s a lovely thing, to be able to hibernate under such a peaceful-looking blanket of snow until spring’s arrival. I would love to do that — I’m not a big fan of winter, to say the least.

I first meet Virginia when she was a little girl. She is the daughter of Alan Lee, the English book illustrator whose work has influenced me profoundly. It’s amazing to see how Virginia has grown as an artist over the years. Her work is just breathtaking in the best possible sense of the word. (Meaning not in the Seinfeldian sense.)

More information about Virginia Lee: She worked as a model maker on the Lord of the Rings trilogy with her father, who was one of the Academy Award-winning creative directors. Her upcoming books include The Frog Bride, to be published by Frances Lincoln in the UK. I hope it will be printed also in the US, so I can obtain a copy here. She also shares the same birthday as my daughter, which I view as a fortuitous coincidence — I know several other people with Thea’s birthday, and they’re all wonderful and talented.

An entire gallery of Virginia’s work has just been posted on the Endicott Studio website. I urge you to pay a visit, if you’re at all interested in mythic arts and things of beauty.

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Goddess Inspiration Oracle

I’ve just updated the goddesses section of Art and Words to include information about my upcoming Goddess Inspiration Oracle. I hope you will take a moment to check it out!

The Goddess Inspiration Oracle will be published by Lllewellyn Publications in October 2007. It includes a gift box, storage bag, 120 page book and 80 full color cards, each featuring a goddess painting created by me. I also wrote and designed it in its entirety.

If you’re interested, you can be notified when the Goddess Inspiration Oracle is available. Simply send an e-mail to e-comment [at] artandwords dot com. Please make certain to include “GODDESS INSPIRATION ORACLE NOTIFY” in the (Which is entirely possible with a toddler running around here!)

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goddess painting of the day: brigit

(Well, this isn’t really a goddess painting — it’s a goddess drawing — but for the sake of catagory continuity, I’ll title it such.)

Presented here is a drawing I’ve done of Brigit, the Celtic goddess of inspiration. And I’ve posted her only two days late for her sacred holiday of Imbolg, which is traditionally celebrated on February first.

I love Imbolg as much as I dislike winter. After all, it’s the symbolic start of spring, the return of light after the dark winter. It also marks the start of lambing season, and the new life that arrives with the start of spring.

Many rituals were performed at Imbolg to win the favor of Brigit for the coming year. In Scotland, on the night before Imbolg, a sheaf of oats would be dressed up and placed in a basket next to a thick wooden club. This basket, called Brigit’s Bed, was laid in the hearth and allowed to burn by the women of the household. If an impression in the shape of the club was left in the hearth the next morning, it was believed that Brigit had chosen to bring good fortune to that home. People also attempted to prophesize by spreading ashes upon their hearth, later looking to see if the goddess had left her footprint within them.

To receive the inspiring wisdom of Brigit, many would hang a white wool cloth outside on the eve of Imbolg. The next morning, they fetched the cloth, believing it had absorbed the energy of the goddess. This sanctified cloth would be set aside in a special place, to be called into service when inspiration was required from Brigit, goddess of creativity.

This drawing was originally created for my book Embracing the Goddess Within and is now published in the anniversary edition of The Book of Goddesses. The information about Brigit was adapted from these same sources.

February always feels like the dark before the light to me, in both a metaphorical and literal sense. On a “lighter” note, Punxsutawney Phil and Staten Island Chuck didn’t see their shadows yesterday — spring is on its way!

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This has me livid (and more)

In liu of writing a “real” post, I leave you with an excerpt from this article. It was published in the Guardian today.

“Scientists and economists have been offered $10,000 each by a lobby group funded by one of the world’s largest oil companies to undermine a major climate change report due to be published today.

Letters sent by the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), an ExxonMobil-funded thinktank with close links to the Bush administration, offered the payments for articles that emphasise the shortcomings of a report from the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Travel expenses and additional payments were also offered . . .”

Read the entire article here and shake your head in horror and frustration. I can’t help but wish that Al Gore was president. Or anybody else but the truly scary individual currently occupying the oval office. Has there ever been a worse president?

As for Art and Words (that book making stuff I do, not the website), I’m ready to send out a new proposal! These past two weeks have been devoted to tying up all the lose ends on it. Thanks to lulu.com, I can now get my book proposals professionally printed at a fraction of the cost. Which makes my books-under-development look oh-so-much-better when I show them to editors.

I know that lulu is intended mainly for self publishing — for example, I had my Divine Feminine exhibition catalog printed by lulu, and they did a surprisingly beautiful job. But they’re also great for printing up samples. And they’re a lot cheaper when you consider the high cost of inkjet cartridges. I mean, I adore my Epson R1800, but it’s not the most practical way to go if you’re printing up long book proposals to distribute. These days, I mainly use my Epson to print proofs and archival prints, as well as the occasional business letter.

Otherwise, I’ve been thinking that I need to get more active with my blogging. I seem to go through phases where I post everyday, and then will hardly post at all. I suppose that’s normal, especially when you consider that I’m trying to work full time as well as take care of a toddler. But I think it’s more about making a habit of it — if I’m posting everyday, then I’m in the habit, and it feels more integrated somehow. For example, I loved posting the Goddess Painting of the Day entries, and simply would post them from my laptop as I drank my morning tea.

On the comments versus spam front, I’ve installed Spam Karma, which should allow folks to post again. Let me know by posting a comment!

Oh and it’s Imbolc (or was yesterday) and Groundhog Day, two of my favorite holidays. Thea will be attending her first Imbolc celebration tomorrow. I’m excited.

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