Mami Wata

Mami Wata is an African deity, revered in a number of African countries, the Caribbean and parts of North and South America.  They have a shrine to her at the Horniman Museum in South London; that's where I first learnt about her.  She is basically a mermaid; half fish, half beautiful woman.  Mami Wata is a water goddess, associated with rivers and seas, and often accompanied by a snake.  She is seductive, sometimes ensnaring men and then demanding fidelity.

Below is my own take on Mami Wata.  It's quite different to most traditional images of her, because I have enhanced the grotesque nature of a woman-fish hybrid.  I have also used the idea that mermaids are often reported to have hypnotic red eyes, and so the attraction becomes more sinister.

Mami Wata

a close up of the fish lady

I also have to tell you to go out and buy the latest issue of Disorder magazine, because my pic "The Hazards of Love" is in there alongside buckets of other good stuff.

The Hazards of Love

Chuffed

And Natalia Kills is on the cover.  Bonus.

Look out for this

Image Hoard: Feathers and Furrr

I'm back from holiday so it feels like Monday to me but is in fact a Friday, which is both good and bad at the same time.  

I have been reading 'Venus in Furs' by the original Masochist: Leopold von Sacher-Masoch, and this post is like a coincidental tribute.  Here are some gorgeous pics and links for you to feast your Friday eyes on.

Bull by Sam Wolfe Connolly

Savage Beauty Costume by Alexander McQueen

Slick by Kate MccGwire

Medusa 9 by Javier Piñón

Mood Board by Emma Shipley

Cheetahs

Cuteness via Kimya Dawson's Tumblr

Evelyn Nesbit

Veronica Lake

Those last two are due to the fact that I found a website dedicated to pictures of women on polar bear skins, aimed at quite a niche market I'm sure.  I didn't bookmark it, so don't have a link.  A google search should get you there if girls on Polar Bears is your bag.

Another blog post done and dusted: It's Business Time...

Business Time

Whiteout

I finished these critters last week, but didn't have the time to post them because my extended weekend was overrun by family time and excellent eating.  Now I'm back at work so I have the time to blog it.

Society6 had an open brief (that closed on Friday) for submissions on the theme "Whiteout".  Whiteout can mean one of three things; a polar blizzard, the correction fluid (American for tipex) or a state of reduced visibility due to a lack of contrast.

There are places where the changing of seasons creates a drastic difference in landscape.  A few animals have adapted to these conditions, to camouflage and blend in.  Both hunting and hiding would be quite futile if you're brown and scurrying accross the white blanket of winter snow.  The animals I chose to draw: Arctic Fox, Arctic Hare, Ptarmigan and Ermine, all loose their colouring in winter and turn white to match the snow around them.

My images are all painted with ink and white gouache.  They are available to buy as prints on Society6 here:

Whiteout: Arctic Fox

Whiteout: Arctic Hare

Whiteout: Ptarimgan

Whiteout: Ermine

Whiteout: Arctic Fox

Whiteout: Arctic Hare

Whiteout: Ptarmigan

Whiteout: Ermine

Ermine are too flippin' cute!  (as you can see in the vid)  But they are wild animals and carnivores to boot, so they can be pests if you are raising chickens or other small animals.  They're widely known as the white fur with black bits that English kings and queens used to trim their garments with.  Below is Marilyn Monroe sporting a very fetching ermine bikini; a good call for British Summer.