Wednesday, March 26, 2014

Taweret and the Lure of Egyptian Art in My World

One of the reasons I love revisiting the origins of creative aspects in my life is that, over time, they can take on different forms and meanings. They reveal themselves slowly across the years, even disappearing on occasion only to comeback strong somewhere down the line.

They are always evolving and unwinding. 
They are the threads. 

At the same time, I do not want to lose my grasp on where they began as I truly feel those beginnings are always important and never pass into a state of irrelevance.

While it is always easy to say that Ancient Egyptian art has been something I have been deeply drawn to since I was 6 or 7, it is also true that, over time, the meaning of that has grown with me.

The pieces I have been creating these last four years have been allowing me to explore new avenues for their reasons of existence in my life. Always allowing me to deepen that connection and revisit those wonderful days of ancient history/discovery from my youth.

So, when I create a piece like the Taweret statue below, I am reminded that this link is now close to forty years old. From the first time I saw Her portrayed on tomb carvings and artifacts I was smitten. Some of it was the way my young imagination tried to grasp that this animal, the hippopotamus, was truly a part of Egyptian life. . . not something just seen in a magazine or in an urban zoo. I'd think to my young self, "Yes, I'd have made a statue honoring them too!!"

Sheis magnificent and what I love most is the way ancient artists captured her shape, her toothy grin and her delicate legs.

Taweret: Patron of Childbirth and Protector of Women and Children


Now, when I create a piece like this of Taweret, I am always aware of the connection to those early days when I felt that my drawings of Egyptian deities were protecting me somehow.  So much so that I drew them on the tops of my feet whenever I felt the need for extra "help".  Anubis, Bast, Horus, Sekhmet and Djehuty were all a part of my childhood circle of guardians. . . . but seriously, if you have to pick an animal to "protect" you. . . isn't the hippo going to be at the top of the list due to sheer size alone?? : )

I feel so completely honored that, in recreating these pieces today, I am able to send them off all over the world for others to honor in their own way and for their own personal reasons.  It feels as a service is truly being done in their creation and that each one is part of the growing understanding I have of their place in my life today.

What never changes is, at my core, they are all protectors of my dreams, my creative path and my life.  It's why they always have a place on my work table and by my bedside. The magic I found in them all those years ago is just as strong today. Except now I make them out of clay and not tin foil and paper as I did as a young boy. lol

Hope you enjoy seeing Her. :)

xo
nicolas

4 comments:

  1. She is lovely! I love that you drew protectors on the tops of your feet. Magically speaking that makes perfect sense :-) As a teenager I went to a regression and was told by several people that they saw a bearded man in a floppy hat watching over me. It was the first time I had ever felt that someone... some ‘thing'... was on my side. Now I practically collect protectors from all sorts of paths! And I dearly love each one. I watching your shop patiently and waiting for one to wink and tell me it wants to come live with me.

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    1. Ahhh I've felt that protective hand. . . and on two occasions, a voice . . . by my side since I was 5. They do range in all forms and manifestations but, the are always there. I hope one day to create that protector that is just right for you Nichola! Thank you for your lovely comments!

      ~n

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  2. She is beautiful! I bet she was beautiful out of tin foil and paper too ;o) Big Hugs ;o)

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    1. I'm thinking, for a future post, of creating one of the old tinfoil and paper deities to show along with one I do now. lol I think it will be hard to not over do and try to perfect the tinfoil one though! I can recall them so well. . . : )

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