Raising the Dead - Surreal Landscape Painting
I knew as soon as I looked at the central black shape in this painting that it would have to do with the Underworld. I saw the shapes of those involved in rituals to raise the dead assembling in a circle on the left and conjuring an angel--a dark one--to guide dead souls. I knew I wanted some souls, though, to be climbing out of the Underworld on their own; these are at the left end of the entrance to the Pit. The black figures on the right might be magic workers or spirits of the dead, being seen as robed figures but also as dark architectural arches, signifying our blindness to their presence. A necromancer, perhaps the Witch of Endor, works in the lower right hand corner, building energy for her own work. The monster stands for death but also our own fears of death. This painting is the first work where I combined watercolor paint, colored pencil, and pastels. The original mixed media painting is 16 x 20" on archival watercolor board and should be framed behind glass or acrylic.