Gallery of Friends – Dec 2020

Title: Meng Po and the Tea of Forgetfulness
Artist: Cara V
Other Links: Print Shop
Backstory:
Day 5 of Folktale Week: Death

Today, we’ll dip a toe into the rich mythology surrounding death in Chinese folklore. In Chinese mythology, there are 18 levels of hell. Meng Po, or Old Lady Meng, the goddess of forgetfulness, awaits souls on the Bridge of Forgetfulness in the 10th level of hell. It’s her job to serve the Five Flavoured Tea of Forgetfulness (or Mi Hun Tang, literally waters of oblivion) to each soul before they are reincarnated, so that they forget their previous life (and time in hell). The tea/ soup induces immediate and permanent amnesia.

In some versions of this myth, Meng Po was once a woman who was unable to get over her husband’s death, and found herself unable to be reincarnated due to her grief. To help others relieve the pain of memories from the previous life, she created the special brew so that they would forget their suffering.

I guess whether this Tea of Forgetfulness is a blessing or curse depends on how one’s life was like… 😕

Easter egg: Ox-Head and Horse-Face are two guardians of the underworld in Chinese mythology. I added them in here because I remember seeing them in Chinese TV series as a kid 😂

Title: Charcoal Sketch
Artist: Eesha Hariramani
Backstory:
A Rajasthani Tribal Woman

Title: Elven tower
Artist: Ekaterina Vitkovskaya
Backstory:
Just some practicing for drawing of architecture

Title: Roses
Artist: Scharle
Backstory:
🥀

Title: Javan rhino
Artist: Helen Page
Other Links:
Backstory:
Javan Rhino
Critically endangered

Possibly rarest large mammal on earth,
72 left living in one forest on the Indonesian island of Java.

Living in such remote forest & being very shy, has resulted in very few sightings or knowledge of them.

I was inspired by @tobynotown and his article in @bbcwildlifemagazine.
Using photos to ID individual’s & gain more information in order to work out how to protect them.

This is one species surviving in a remote area which includes a volcano.
Such a gentle creature at the mercy of man yet again.

A4 acrylic paint pens

Title: In This Sign
Artist: Julie Peterson Shea
Other Links: Artist Website
Backstory:
I actually enjoy doing research for my drawings because I find symbolism thru out history so interesting. According to the research that I did if this piece, in Egypt the heron is the creator of light. As a Chinese symbol it represents strength, purity, patience, and long life. In Africa the heron was thought to communicate with the Gods. Most Native Americans see the heron as a symbol of wisdom and good judgement.
The Jesuit Sun was the inspiration for the background and the title of the illustation.

Title: The Mountain Guardian
Artist: Adam Merricks
Backstory:
The Mountain Guardian. Keeps all the animals safe. If you see him you better run.

Title: Mauritian Fruit Bat
Artist: Rachel E
Backstory:
The endangered Mauritian flying fox-purposefully culled (to reduce numbers by 20% leaving them critically endangered) by the Mauritian government to reduce fruit farming losses though there is no evidence it helps. Fruit loses are significantly higher from birds and rats humans introduced to the island as invasive species. They also suffer loss of valuable forest habitat for farmland.

Title: Winter bird
Artist: Pigi Glarou
Backstory:
I love robin birds and they are constant winter visitors of our garden. It is said that males of this kind choose a specific place for winter and they keep returning to that place. Graphite and color pencils on A4 paper

Title: Winter Migration
Artist: John Ramsey
Backstory:
The second of three goldfish-themed illustrations. It also served as a chance to practice my foxes.

Title: Middle Sister
Artist: Maria Gehrke
Other Links: Shop
Backstory:
Part of my 100 portraits challenge, this one is of my lovely sister and her boyfriend. I probably would have waited until I got a little better at this, as this somehow does not look like her. Close, but not quite. But Christmas is coming up and shipping takes a while nowadays 🤷🏻

That’s the thing about painting people you know, you see exactly if it’s right or not. I still really like the outcome for this early into my 100 portrait series. Maybe I need to do a comparison next year 😁

Title: Seraphim
Artist: Elijah Zoe
Backstory:
A lovely friend who is corrupted

Title: White Bengal Tiger
Artist: Aakanksha
Backstory:
A watercolor piece done for the endangered animals week 😊

Title: Mountain Reflections
Artist: Ruth Einfeld
Backstory:
While experiencing my first zoom video call with all 4 of my siblings, a framed photo in the background of my oldest brothers home (he’s an avid nature/night sky photographer) caught my eye. I knew I just had to paint it, so I asked if he would send me the photo. He did, and I did…. And it’s one of my all time favorite paintings!

Title: My Magnolia
Artist: Gina Carranza
Backstory:
More prayers for my grandmothers spirit and those who have passed this year from Covid. My grandma and I always sang to each other a song she taught me about magnolias in Spanish. We would echo each other which is how it came to be that we called each other Magnolia. And by some miracle, she never forgot me… even almost at 99 years of age.. First holiday season without her, its surreal, but I know she is blooming in the place she always talked to us about.

Title: life in death
Artist: Zahra Hasni
Backstory:
Trying to capture the essence of the crone, full in her wisdom and lived experience, she passes down essential knowledge to the next generation. The crone is nature personified, having a deep connection to both life and death, the moon and the sun.

Title: Collared Bush-Robin [LC] 🇹🇼
Artist: Castor
Backstory:
“Communication is merely an exchange of information, but connection is an exchange of our humanity.” – Sean Stephenson

Collared Bush-Robin [LC] 🇹🇼
– Huge Thanks to @lingobirdsday for the permission 🙇‍♂️