Dream of the Mammoth, 48" x 60", acrylic on canvas, 2017
DECEMBER 2017 IN ICELAND
I finished a month long artist residency at NES in Skagaströnd, which is in the north of Iceland. It is an experience I loved, and brought home many different inspirations and ideas. Here are the beginnings of some... and a few photographs of the many beautiful, mysterious, though cold, locales and light that crept into my subconscious and came out through my hands.
Spákonufell or Lyngbakr?, 36" x 70", acrylic on canvas, 2017
NES Opið hús Flyer, 12" x 16" acrylic on canvas, 2017
On my way to the studio every day, I would walk by the mountain of Spákonufell. I later read the tale of the Lyngbakr, a whale-like monster that would bait sailors by posing as an island. Once ashore, the Lyngbakr would sink into the sea, drowning the crew. Skagaströnd was primarily a fishing town, and the studio the former fish factory.
When I painted the flyer I included the mountain, as I felt although it was winter, it would still entice the sailors home. Every town in Iceland has a town Christmas tree, and this is also represented. I liked the image so much, I painted a larger, more abstract study.
The above waterfall is Goðafoss, Icelandic for "Waterfall of the Gods". Although I saw it on a road trip after I painted this monster, and this monster is far from being God-like,
the influence of Iceland is apparent.
Yet Untitled, 12" x 16" acrylic on canvas, 2017
Set of Runes, made from found wood from beach, 2017
Burned signs on cleaned found bone, 2017
Direction Stave on Horse Hip, Protection Stave on Horse Hip
I spent many early afternoons walking on the beach by the studio. It was also near "The Museum of Prophecies". A rune reading there inspired me to look into the history of Icelandic Magic.
PINHOLE PHOTOGRAPHS
I have been experimenting with a pinhole camera. My favorites are in the slide gallery below.
