And the legend of The Red Thread
Color. All of my paintings start with an exploration of riotous color. And marks. And scratching into paint. Painty play.
From those initial layers, images emerge. With the stories that they want to tell.
My job is to find those images. To listen to the pieces of their story that they share with me as I paint.
This one spoke to me of family lines and sisterhood and the deep bonds that stem from the love passed down from a mother to her daughters.
There’s also an element of the Red Thread reflected in this painting. According to Chinese legend, The Red Thread connects those who are destined to meet, regardless of time, place, or circumstance. The thread may stretch or tangle, but it will never break.
The Red Thread is also tied to the ancient Greek legend of Theseus and the Minotaur. As the story goes, Theseus was tasked with killing the Minotaur — a terrible monster with the body of a man, and the head of a bull — to save his city. But to do that, Theseus had to navigate the Labyrinth where the Minotaur lived. But no one, not even the Minotaur, had ever escaped it. Theseus did. A woman named Ariadne gave Theseus a red thread to trace his path to the monster, so that he could retrace his path on the way out.
Fascinating, right?
What do you see when you look at this painting?
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Weekly notes from an artist’s studio, including pages from my mixed media art journal, works in progress, notes on the creative process, and other ideas that capture my interest, along with regular discussion threads to chat about art.
Your art is something else and I love your interpretation of it. To me this spoke of how women have to hold on to each other to fight against injustice and misogyny.
the texture and pattern looks so amazing. I absolutely love how you layer colors. Love the story behind The red thread.