My Patreon Page

So the Patreon thing is working out quite nicely; I think I'll keep it. :)

In case you don't know, it's basically an ongoing kickstarter, where patrons (that is after all the correct word) pledge to donate a certain amount per month to support an artist (or writer, or musician, or filmmaker, &c.). Creators (that would be the artist, filmmaker, &c) can set up tiers and offer different rewards per amount pledged. You can also set up goals, meaning when X amount of pledges are received, or X amount of patrons sign up, you will do something (like get some fun art supplies that will translate into new art, or offer more rewards to the patrons, anything, really, including being able to pay X bill and therefore free up more time to make art, ha).

These are the tiers I've set up on my Patreon. I've named the levels too, because you can do that.

$1 month, the Patron level--access to sketches, musings on my art and the process of making it, finished art before the rest of the world sees it.
$3 month, the Maiden level--all the above, plus access to a thread for suggestions as to which Goddess I should paint that month.
$5 month, the Lady level--the above, plus 10% off anything in my Etsy store (which includes prints)
$10 month, the Queen level--the above, plus a postcard of my art sent to you every month
$20 month, the Empress level--the above, except 15% off anything in my Etsy store, plus every six months you get a print!

And I've set up two goals. The reason I'm going over this here is because they are both SO CLOSE to being met, homg.

The first is that if I get to 20 patrons I'll give away a print to one lucky patron. I'm at 18 patrons now; JUST TWO MORE.

And the other, which is EVEN CLOSER, is that when I get to $100 in pledges, I'll add the postcards to the $5 level, and throw in some goodies, like stickers, cards, what-have-you, to the $10 and $20 levels (in addition to the postcards they already get). We are at the OH-SO-CLOSE amount of $99! SO CLOSE.

SO CLOSE!!

Cathubodua

One last Celt. This is art of Cathubodua, a Gaulish Goddess known from a single inscription (and one that's missing the C, even). Her name has been surmised to mean 'Raven of Battle'; that makes it exactly parallel to the Irish Badb Catha, one of the aspects of the Morrigan, the Irish war Goddess.

This was definitely an experiment for me, artistically; it's done as a linoleum block print, a medium I haven't worked with since I think high school. (!) It's also done as a reduction print where a single block is carved away bit by bit for each layer of color. Usually each color is carved from a separate block. The advantages of a reduction print are that (in theory) all the layers will line up perfectly (as it's the same block); the disadvantage being that you can only print one set of prints, since the block is destroyed in the process and you can't go back (hence the alternate name 'suicide print').

I'm pretty happy with it; while I definitely need a lot more practice with the tools to get some finer (and smoother) lines, I like the darkness of the whole thing, and am itching to try some more linocuts.

This was another piece done as the monthly Goddess by Request over on my Patreon; for a pledge of $3 a month you get to weigh in on which Goddesses I paint.

Boann

And another Celt, this time an Irish one: this is Boann, the Goddess of the River Boyne in Ireland. Her name may mean 'She Who Has White Cows'; I've given Her cow's eyes as is proper. She is considered one of the Tuatha Dé Danann, the People of the Goddess Danu (or Ana), more or less the Gods of Irish myth.

I did this in watercolor for the May Goddess by Request over on my Patreon; I've also got Her up on prints (through deviantArt) and greeting cards (through Zazzle) as usual, if you feel you simply must take Her home to live with you. :)

Goewin

This is Goewin, from Welsh legend, which I did as a commission. She was the virgin footholder of Math, the lord of Gwynedd in the northern part of Wales. Her story is told in the Mabinogi, a collection of tales taken down in medieval times. Though the stories are presented as legend rather than myth (i.e. more like fairy tales than religious stories), many of the characters are clearly Deities, though it can be difficult to make out given that it was written down in Christian times. Some of the characters are said to be related to Dôn, the Welsh mother Goddess Who is probably the equivalent of Danu of the Irish. Math is Dôn's brother, and so in all likelihood a disguised God himself.

But back to Goewin. Math could only rule on the condition that, except in times of war, his feet rested in the lap of a virgin. That sounds like a strange condition, but it's probably related to the idea of Goewin as a sovereignty Goddess, a theme that was quite common in Celtic myth, especially among the Irish. A sovereignty Goddess represents the Earth and Her powers of fertility and life; in Celtic thought, the kingship was a partnership between the mortal King and the land he stewarded, protected, and ruled over. If he was not fit to be King, the land, in the personification of the Goddess of sovereignty, had the right to reject him. This is why sovereignty Goddesses (like Queen Medb of Irish legend) tend to have many husbands; not because they are insatiably promiscuous (though their sexuality is very much a part of their power), but because the Goddess is entitled to choose the man She likes best at the time, and discard those who are no longer worthy. That Math had to keep his feet in the lap of a virgin may mean that She represented that land and earth; the virgin condition may have come about because the sexuality of virgins was considered to be a concentrated form of that power.

In the story, however, Math's nephew conceives a lust for Goewin, and aided by his brother starts a war as pretext for sending Math away; while he is gone he rapes Goewin. When Math returns, he punishes the brothers by transforming them into wild beasts, and makes Goewin his queen to save her from shame. So the sovereignty Goddess ends up a sovereign Herself.

I put Her in white, for innocence, with a purple mantle for royalty. She holds Her hands in front of Her a little protectively, but She is still shown in an attitude of power.

Nana Buluku

Goodness, I've got a bunch of catching up to do here in regards to new art. First, a digital piece, done to look like a linoleum block print (sort of). It's of Nana Buluku, a Yoruba and Fon Goddess credited with creating the universe. Her children are Mawu, the Moon, and Lisa, the Sun. She is old, very old, and depicted as an ancient old lady. Purple is Her color, and She is associated with water, fish being a symbol of Her. She is shown here holding a carved calabash or gourd, which represents the two halves of the Universe in Yoruba thought--that of the Otherworld, the realm of the dead and the Deities, and the Earth, the land of the living. The pattern behind Her is a spiral meant to echo both galaxies (as She created the Universe) and the whirlpool that in some stories is said to be the entrance to Her home. I've also incorporated some 'sacred geometry' patterns (the circle within a square, and there's a barely-recognizable equilateral triangle in there too) to allude to Her creator role. The designs in the whirlpool are after those on adire cloth, an indigo resist-dyed cloth made by Nigerian women. The fish on Her skirt are after a carved door.

Done for the April Goddess by Request over on my Patreon. I've put this up on both prints (through deviantArt) and greeting cards (through Zazzle).