Thursday, January 5, 2012

Paint Party Friday

Work in progress

First of all.
I hope 2012 is off to a beautiful start for all of you!
Which means inspiring, creative
and with your muses present and lending a helping hand!

So, I have a long way to go on this.
I became even more convinced when I snapped a pic in bad light
and put it on the computer. Funny how you see things differently
on a computer screen.

This was going to be my entry at Inspiration Avenue for
the Something old, Something new challenge.
(2 challenges ago)
What is old is that I always start something ambitious
with only a day or so to complete it.
What was new is that this is a very different size for me
(12 x 24 as opposed to my usual 8 x 10's)
So those things combined meant there wasn't a chance in hell 
I would get it finished in time. Ha. It's still not finished.

Alright, enough whinging and whining,
here is the story.

I modeled her after John Waterhouse's Psyche painting.
I love John Waterhouse ~ his figures look so graceful and solid,
like they could walk right off the canvas.

I thought this painting
was Pandora, but apparently it is Psyche.

And this
 
is Pandora.

I am still calling mine Pandora.

I don't see anywhere in the story of Psyche where she has a box.
According to http://www.pantheon.org
this is the story of Psyche:

Psyche is the youngest of three daughters. She was of such extraordinary beauty that Aphrodite herself became jealous of her. The goddess then sent her son Eros to make Psyche fall in love with an ugly man.  She was meant to fall in love with the first man she saw, which Eros would make sure was the ugliest man on earth. However, the god himself fell in love with her when he got pricked with his own poison arrow. He visited her every night, but forbade her to see his face, so she did not know who her lover was. On her sisters' instigation she tried to discover the true identity of her beloved. When he lay asleep in her bed, she lit an oil lamp but when she bent over to see Eros' face, a drop of oil from her lamp fell on him and he awakened. When he noticed her intent, he left her. Psyche wandered the earth in search of her lover, until she was finally reunited with him. 
 Zeus himself reunited and married the lovers. 

A nice story, but where is the box??
If anyone knows, please tell me :)


and here is the story of Pandora:

Pandora was the first woman on earth. Zeus ordered Hephaestus, the god of craftsmanship, to create her and he did, using water and earth. The gods endowed her with many talents; Aphrodite gave her beauty, Apollo music, Hermes persuasion, and so forth. Hence her name: Pandora, "all-gifted".
When Prometheus stole fire from heaven, Zeus took vengeance by presenting Pandora to Epimetheus, Prometheus' brother. With her, Pandora had a jar which she was not to open under any circumstance. Impelled by her natural curiosity, Pandora opened the jar, and all evil contained escaped and spread over the earth. She hastened to close the lid, but the whole contents of the jar had escaped, except for one thing which lay at the bottom, and that was Hope. 

 Not as nice a story, except the part about Hope.
Interesting, the parallels between this story and that of Eve...

Oh, and the stories all say Pandora had a jar, not a box.
I'm still going with a box because who ever heard of
"Pandora's Jar"?

So Happy Paint Party Friday!
And Happy 2012!

Don't forget to visit the party:

Signature

30 comments:

  1. Oh wow, this is going to be an outstanding piece. You've really started out with a winner.Love the stories behind this as well. Thanks for sharing. I haven't posted mine yet, it's too early over here, but please stop by if you get a chance. Love your piece, Happy New Year.

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  2. I have a book on Waterhouse so I looked it up for you.

    "After many vicissitudes, Psyche has been commanded to journey to the underworld with a golden casket, which Properina fills with a secret charm for eternal beauty; Psyche is forbidden to open the casket, but cannot resist the temptation... After opening the box Psyche will fall into a deathly slumber, but Cupid will rescue her.

    They were obviously short on plots in those days so Pandora and Psyche both got magic boxes with secrets no mortal should know...

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  3. Aha, so the Psyche story continued into the underworld! Her lover Cupid (Eros) to the rescue!

    The gods were really setting these poor women up...who could resist a closed golden box?

    Thanks Lisa, that clears it up.

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  4. Congrats on going big! She is looking fabulous - especially like the way her dress drapes!

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  5. wow, this is amazing, I never knew that it was a jar and not a box, how did they get that wrong, this painting is just amazing,I can't wait to see it completed, its already stunning,

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  6. I LOVE this! The way you've combined painting and collage....gorgeous! I thought it was a shadowbox at first with the way you did the shading of the trees under the patterned papers, it almost frames Pandora and I really like that effect....I could go on and on about how much I love this, but I think you've already gotten the idea! And FWIW. I've decided the best way for me to critique my own stuff is to put it up on the computer- I always see it in a new way on the monitor...
    PPF Hugs,
    Stephanie

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  7. Wow! Love this creation ~ well done ~ ~ thanks, namaste, Carol (Share the Creative Journey) Happy PPF ^_^

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  8. I didn't know of a box in Psyche's myth.... gotta search wikipedia... The painting is wonderful!! Will you make all the goddesses?

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  9. I think the box is part of artistic license. Your Pandora is beautiful. I love the Waterhouse look myself. Faye

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  10. Be sure to read WrightStuff's comment above. She explains the box!

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  11. I really like this, although I totally get what you mean about how you see things on a computer screen that you don't when you're staring at the actual art. I had never heard of Pysche before and didn't know much about Pandora other than her box (in a manner of speaking!) As for parallels - look up the truth about religion on You Tube and you'll see how pretty much all the religions and gods right back in time are pretty much all based on the same storyline - it's a real eye opener.

    Anyway, I really like your Pandora and look forward to seeing it when you are happy it is completed!

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  12. The box is the Afrodita had so it was a bit of the beauty of the Queen of the underworld, at least I think that says the story, the image is beautiful in any case. Hugs

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  13. This is really wonderful. Love everything about it, especially her pose and way her dress drapes.

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  14. Loving your painting already, especially the way you have created those huge blocks of stone. Happy PPF and have a great weekend, Hugs Annette x

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  15. She is looking lovely!
    Happy new year and PPF!

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  16. I'm really loving your version so far.

    LOL - Pandora's jar indeed - something sure got lost in the translation and I think Waterhouse suffered from confusion.

    Looking forward to seeing more! (PS Fun New Year's header!)

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  17. Thank you for sharing the two stories. Your artwork is lovely.
    Happy PPF!
    Sheri Cook/HappyHorseStudio

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  18. This is going to be such a successful piece... i love the tonal work in the folds of the fabric... can't wait to see this finished off... happy ppf xx

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  19. Well I love your painting and the story with it. Thanks for adding both stories. They were fun to read. I didn't know about Psyche!

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  21. Love your interpretation of the original painting!
    Your bright colors are beautiful and refreshing. I especially like the background, and you definitely captured the inquisitive expression on the figure! :)

    Happy New Year and
    Happy PPF!!
    Mary
    Mixed-Media Map Art

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  22. Fantastic - I love all of the care and thought that is going into this painting! I used to love to red Greek mythology... I'm going to have to pull out some of my old books and revisit them :)

    I am really looking forward to seeing how you finish this already wonderful painting!

    xo
    Kristin

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  23. I mean really. Pandora's jar?!? Hm. I love your version of Pandora. Not being a painter myself, she looks quite finished and totally beautiful.

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  24. Wow, thats interesting I never thought about the similarity with the Eve story! Its amazing how so many different cultures have similar stories, I love that! Your painting is gorgeous, it took my breath away as it appeared on my computer screen, just spectacular!!! Deb

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  25. Very lovly piece and a great post.
    Nicole/Beadwright

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  26. I love your W.I.P. Gorgeous! Happy PPF

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  27. You have an excellent start to this painting. I know exactly what you mean, the computer heightens the pictures and we see our foibles in it. Blessings, Janet PPF

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  28. I love your WIP. She is a beauty already. thank your for the legends of Pandora and Psyche. I wonder what those secrets were?!

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  29. She is just gorgeous already! I love the old mythological stories too! :-)

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