Lilith

Lilith has been around for a long time. Some even say she was there from the very beginning, even before Eve. In Jewish folklore Lilith became Adam's first wife. Unlike Eve, who was made from Adam's side and thus 'inferior' to him, Lilith was created from the same stuff as Adam at the same time and so his equal in every way. Adam didn't quite see it that way though, and refused to take turns when it came to who got to be on top (wether that be metaphorical or during actual sex).

"Soon, they began to quarrel with each other. She said to him: I will not lie underneath, and he said: I will not lie underneath but above, for you are meant to lie underneath and I to lie above. She said to him: We are both equal, because we are both created from the earth. But they didn’t listen to each other. When Lilith saw this, she pronounced God’s avowed name and flew into the air. Adam stood in prayer before his Creator and said: Lord of the World! The woman you have given me has gone away from me."

So basically Adam went whining to his daddy who eventually gave him a new toy in the form of Eve. But not before trying to get Lilith back first. God sent three angels after her to persuade her to return to Adam.

"Lilith asked: `How can I return to Adam and live like an honest housewife, after my stay beside the Red Sea?? 'It will be death to refuse!' they answered. `How can I die,' Lilith asked again, `when God has ordered me to take charge of all newborn children"

And so Lilith became a demon, killing newborn children. But she and the angels agreed that if an infant wore an amulet around it's neck depicting the likeness of said angels, Lilith would spare them. Over time she also became known to seduce men in their sleep and such, which is where the succubus thing comes from.

I also made a slightly modified version of this where she's more covered up. Because I figured it might be practical to have a version of this that isn't so NSFW. But it doesn't look quite right. I mean, if there's one lady who you can safely depict as being totally comfortable with her own body and sexuality, it's our dear Lilith. So boobies it is :)

XENA

I entered the ladies only Xena draw off over at |Cape Billowing Publishing|. It was so much fun to do! It's been ages since I've watched me some Xena. I admit then when I stumble upon reruns I usually switch channels, because it has aged quite a bit (some of those special effects...) . But when I was making this all sorts of memories came flooding back and I remembered just how much I was into it. It was waaaay cooler then "Hercules" imho. I mean, Xena had all of this going on.

Don't even bother pretending you didn't attempt the battle cry at least once (or if you were like me during the Xena haydays, at least once a week) :D I made this so the three girls work as a group, but the images of them individually could stand alone as well. Sort of like collector's cards?

Anyway, if you like it go over to the facebook page |HERE| and vote for me by clicking the good ol' like button. Pretty please? I'd be ever so grateful! Thank you! ♥

Perseverance

I've had this piece finished for some time now but I've been holding of posting about it for a little while. I made this specifically for an auction, and I wanted to do a post closer to the actual date of it so that all the information stayed fresh in people's minds. It's a charity auction of which all the proceedings will go to a Belgian cancer foundation, so I'll be continuing in Dutch a bit further on.

I chose to depict 'Perseverance' because I feel it's a quality any person who's battling a disease , not just cancer, could use a bit of and that's the energy I wish to release into the world towards them. It features the magnolia, hydrangeas, plum blossoms and the bee, which are all used to represent perseverance. So, on to the practical info part.

Perseverance is een digitale illustratie geprint op doek. Het doek meet 40x60 cm met een latdikte van 4.5 cm. Het canvas is stevig schildersdoek van een hoogwaardige kwaliteit textiel en heeft een toplaag transparante beschermvernis.

Dit doek zal geveild worden tijdens |Kunst Tegen Kanker|, een veiling voor zowel amateur als professionele kunstenaars waarvan de opbrengst naar Kom Op Tegen Kanker zal gaan. Aansluitend wordt er ook een kunstkalender uitgegeven die opgemaakt is uit alle deelnemende werken.

De veiling zal doorgaan op zaterdag 25 mei 2013 te Puurs, in zaal JOC 't Wijland (Fortbaan 9, 2870 Puurs). Deuren gaan open om 12.00 uur, de veiling gaat van start om 13.00 uur. Er loopt een tentoonstelling met een selectie van de werken van 15/05 tem 23/05 in de Kollebloem te Puurs (Kloosterhof 1). Er wordt ook een kijkdag georganiseerd vrijdag voor de veiling (24 mei), van 17u tot 19u30, eveneens in zaal JOC 't Wijland.

Dus iedereen die dit werk graag in huis wil hebben, en tegelijkertijd ook nog eens een leuke bijdrage wil maken aan een goed doel: opschrijven in je agenda die datum en gewoon mee komen bieden! Ik kom zelf zeker ook een kijkje nemen, dus wie weet zien we elkaar daar wel.

You can come to my party!

I made a book!

My little niece turned four recently, and I try to make her something unique every year on her birthday as a special gift. I worked on this for some months, and the hardest part was coming up with a good, simple story. I really wanted it to be all about her on her special day, you see. The pieces all fell into place when she hit her Disney princess phase. Hard. She already had some princesses merchandise before but she's just now getting to the age where she's starting to see the actual movies for the first time. She's been on a Snowwhite kick for months now, and recently I let her pick a movie to borrow from my Disney dvd cupboard (which she treated like the Holy Grail it is, bless her) and she picked The Aristocats (my sister nearly had a heart attack when she then later announced auntie Cilla had let her 'bring kitties home' :p)

I can relate to being under the Disney magic spell, having never truly outgrown my princess phase myself ;) And so the idea for the story came easier after that. It's about her fantasizing about getting to be a princess for the day, and all the fun things she would get to do with the Disney princesses. Because it's her birthday, she gets a crown, making her a true princess for the day and so her wish comes true. The title comes from what has become her favourite catchphrase. For the entire year now she's been inviting people to her birthday party, and uninviting us again when things don't go quite her way, and then inviting us again, and so on, and on, and on... :)

Here are a few pages, and some pictures of the finished book. I'm rather proud of this project and I might attempt one again in the future. Something that doesn't involve copyrighted material so it could possibly be pitched to a publisher? Who knows :) Needless to say the princesses are, off course, copyright Disney.

 

Medea

Zeus the father knows

What I have done for you, 

and how you’ve treated me.

Ah, the Greeks. They sure knew how to write a tragedy and perhaps my favourite one of all is Euripides' Medea. 

I saw this play on a mandatory school outing when I was sixteen. Now I saw many a play on school outings, but very few of them managed to leave any sort of impression. The year I turned sixteen was a big one for me. I changed schools and enrolled into an art school, it was located in Antwerp so I also transferred from a small town to the big city. I don't know wether it was my new school's staff that made better programming choices, or the fact that they had a wider variety to choose from because they were located in the city. Or maybe it was just because I was more receptive because I was so much happier there, but the above mentioned handfull of plays that have stayed with me through the years were all seen during my two years in Antwerp. I saw both Medea and adaptations of Shakespeare's Othello and King Lear back then, and those plays still have a special place in my heart.

Now, back to Medea. Married to ancient Greece's number one dickhead Jason, this was truly a women scorned. And as one other important historical |playwright| righfully learned us; "hell hath no fury" like that. She's most commonly known for mudering her own children just to get back at that no good husband of hers (seriously, he's the worst, not a fan), but that's off course a gross oversimplification of events and does the play no justice whatsoever. Those who'd like to read up on Medea, thanks to the wonderfull world of the internets, you can also read it |online|. Finally, what better way to sum things up then with another quote from the play itself :)

How frightening is resentment

how difficult to cure, 

When lovers hurl past love 

at one another's hate.

Daenerys Stormborn

Did a little speedpaint to channel some of my excitement for the season 3 return of the show. Here's my girl Daenerys. Khaleesi for the win! ;)

Boudica

|Boudica| (or Boudicea) was the warrior queen of a British Celtic tribe called the Iceni. Her husband, Prasutagus, ruled the lands as an independent ally of the Romans, who occupied most of Brittain at that time. While he lived everything went well and the tribe lived peacefully, but after he died and left his kingdom jointly to his two daughters and the Roman Emperor, the trouble began. The Romans ignored the will, annexed the kingdom as if conquered and proceeded to flog Boudica and rape her two daughters.

Little did they know Boudica was not to be messed with, and she went on to lead her tribe on a rather murderous rampage revolting against the Roman opression, seeking revenge. The Romans won in the end, as they always did in those days, but not before Boudica and her people did some serious damage.

Here's how Boudica is described in the writings of Cassius Dio

"She was huge of frame, terrifying of aspect, and with a harsh voice. A great mass of bright red hair fell to her knees: She wore a great twisted golden necklace, and a tunic of many colors, over which was a thick mantle, fastened by a brooch. Now she grasped a spear, to strike fear into all who watched her...…"

The Iceni were known for riding war charriots into battle, and Boudica rode hers with her daughters by her side. The face paint is some artistic license on my part. The only celtic tribe known for using war paint were off course the Picts. But I personally think war paint totally kicks ass so I took the liberty of transferring this trait to our dear Boudica. After all, there aren't any definative claims saying the Iceni didn't use face paint either. ;)