Syn

Syn is one of the Norse Goddess Frigga's twelve handmaidens; She is said to guard the door to Frigga's hall. She determines who can come in and who cannot; and if She refuses someone access, nothing can change Her mind.

Done for the September Goddess by Request over on my Patreon; this was a bit of an experiment with inks applied in blocks of color, inspired by the linoleum prints I've been doing. There are only a few colors, layered over each other to make more colors: the light Her skin tone, the light brown of the door, the medium brown of Her hair, red, and an indigo blue, which, combined with the brown made something like black. I quite like how this one came out and would like to do more like it. It reminds me of an old-fashioned illustration tipped into a book, like the way a reproduction of a lithograph gets all flattened out.

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.

Kostroma

This is Kostroma, done for the March Goddess by Request over on my Patreon. She's a Russian earth Goddess Who can be described as a maiden or as a witch in the fields. In a song She is said to fall asleep underneath a birch tree to be awakened in the springtime with the Earth. I have put Her under the birch trees as She wakes up; it's winter on the left and spring on the right, and the Sun of the vernal equinox shines overhead.

The style is inspired by traditional Russian embroideries. It's acrylic on canvas board, about nine by twelve inches.

I've put this art up on both prints and cards as usual.

Medb

New art of Medb, an Irish Goddess of sovereignty, fertility, sexuality, independence, vitality, and strength. She's probably best known as Queen Medb of Connacht, who features in the Táin Bó Cuailnge, the Cattle Raid of Cooley; but She is originally a Goddess proper. There is another legendary (non-Goddess) Medb, also related, Medb Lethderg, Queen of Leinster, who took to husband (?) nine successive Kings of Ireland. A sovereignty Goddess represents the land and the right of the land to have a worthy ruler; in Irish legend, at least, the King and the land are symbolically bonded, hence Medb Lethderg's nine royal husbands, and Medb of Connacht's famous sexual independence and prowess, as she will not have an unworthy man in her bed.

In the Táin Medb is described as having a pet squirrel and golden bird, which hearkens back to Her role as Goddess of the land and its living creatures; I've put them on Her dress in a sort of La Tène-ish style that is hopefully writhing with vitality. Her name means 'Intoxicating', and is related to the English word 'mead'; She offers (or is thinking about offering) a golden cup of mead; I've also made Her hair the color of mead.

It's in acrylic, and let me tell you this piece had a mind of its own, all the way from the sketches to the finish. Which is unsurprising, really. She was done as one of the monthly Goddesses by Request over on my Patreon, where I went into some detail about Her strong will, ha.

I've put Her up on prints and cards as usual, if you've a hankering.

Nantosuelta

This is new art of Nantosuelta, a continental Celtic Goddess, Whose distinctive attribute is a little house (or temple) on a pole. That's been taken to mean She's a Goddess of happy domesticity; She can also be shown with apples (or other fruit or perhaps loaves of bread) or something that might be a beehive, so that does sound about right. Her name means either 'Meandering Stream' or 'Sunlit Valley', though given She is not usually shown with watery imagery I'm guessing the latter is more likely. Though who knows; that's just going by the depictions of Her that have survived the ages, of necessity an incomplete picture.

She is also quite often shown with a raven, which gives Her a darker aspect, as the raven is as far as I know always a symbol of death (or battle) in Celtic thought.

She was associated with the Celtic hammer-God Sucellos, and was his cult-partner (or one of them, depending on the region). He was Himself heavily associated with the wine harvest (and the center of Their worship was the wine-growing regions of France and Germany, especially the Moselle River valley); I thought an autumnal harvest scene was appropriate, with a burgundy-colored shawl to make reference to wine.

It's in acrylics and is something like ten inches tall; I've put it up on deviantArt as a print as usual if anyone's so inclined.

Done for the October Goddess by Request over on my Patreon.