Germanic Elements

While reading Austrian biologist Clemens Arvay’s book The Biophilia Effect, about restoratively connecting with the rest of Nature, I suddenly became very somnolent and decided to lie down. I received a vision of four paintings, and I understood them to encompass the four elements in Nordic/Germanic mythology. These are those paintings.

Freya’s Meadow. The first. Sunlight streams forth and strikes the faces of the flowers, tilted to receive it. Wonder, awe, gratitude and openness. Bathed in beauty and possibility.

Odin’s Path. An abstracted depiction of our heroic shaman lying prone, entranced, upon Slaepnir, who surges across the night sky keeping pace with the moon. Ravens – Thought and Memory - glide along the hillcrest above mushrooms glowing softly in attunement. Inner frenzy, subtle awareness, attainment through relinquishing. Healing the invisible floes of emotion and spirit.

Holle’s Gate – Holle Tor. Leaves glittering in sunbeams, the Elder is ready to receive and initiate us to the truths of Life and our own strength found beneath its dark depths. Simple perceptions give way to an understanding of reality as experienced in its fullness. Plunged into crisis, character is revealed through hardship, labor, and perseverance. Perspective and wisdom.

Heimdall’s Way. Passage to the Divine. An iridescent rainbow of glacial melt shining, refrozen to ice between the stones. Desolation to either side. The alluring, but challenging, way before us we must take alone. Wondrously forbidding. Sublime. Life’s Journey.

I learned a lot from this series, which debuted at my exhibition Reconnecting. The paintings are all very brush-stroke dependent. That is, the experience of the paintings depends upon the viewer’s relationship to the angle of the brushstrokes forming the picture. Also, the lighting. Seen from one angle, the paintings shine with life, depth, and detail. Seen from another, they appear flattened and less compelling. This can be seen as a metaphor for life. Your attitude and aspect determine your experience every day. The snapshots below capture more of the life in the paintings than the professional scans.