Solstice

Solstice
“‘The fourth sister was not as bold, she stayed out in the wild mid-ocean, and said that it was precisely this that was the loveliest – one could see many miles around one on all sides, and the sky above was like a great bell-jar. She had seen ships, but far off, they looked like gulls, the amusing dolphins had turned somersaults, and the huge whales had spouted water up out of their blowholes, so it had looked like hundreds of fountains around her..”
This is a quote from the original, and very dark tale of The Little Mermaid, by Hans Christian Anderson, this inspired the painting and the title of this piece.
This painting is 14.5cm x 21cm painted on wood panel, the surface is smooth, I have worked here are many, many layers of paint and ink and varnish it also includes old leaf, the texture is tactile, with crackle effects and smooth finishes, you want to run your hands and your eyes over it! Watch the pearly inks glisten, reminding you of moonlight, this is a wistful and thought provoking painting.
The piece was created as part of the Den Lille Harfrue Collection – the little mermaid. Created in lockdown to express my feelings about the restrictions, being unable to have social contact and also experiencing incredibly vivid and at some times quite scary dreams, a lot based underwater.
Not only did I draw on my own vivid dreams as inspiration for this piece, and this whole collection, I also looked at one of my favourite Fairy Tales as a Child- The Little Mermaid, by Hans Christian.