nerea

Medium: Watercolor
Dimensions: 14" x 20"
Date: June 2002

This piece came to me completely intuitively as I was lying in bed. I drew it fluidly and quickly and when I went to draw the hands, it just didn't feel right drawing human hands. I was guided into drawing something more fluid, like seaweed. Painting it was much the same. I worked at my desk and burgundy, purple and copper felt like her colors. Even her name came to me. Nerea is serene in the sea, a part of the sea.

About Mermaids:
Mermaids have long been in every culture's folktales and stories. They go by many names: mermaid, maerin, mermen, nereids, sirens, lorellei, minne, mari, harpies, ninyos, lamias, undines, apsara, iara, water nymphs... They are a permutation of the very ancient, primordial sea goddess, or fish goddess who has been called many names: Aphrodite, Yemanja, Tiamat, Mariamne, Kupala, Ran, Cliodna, Dubh Lacha, Ganga, Mami Wata, Sedna. Mermaids in Greek and Western myths are typically beautiful women on the top halves of their bodies, and fish on the lower halves, who spend a lot of time sunning and bathing themselves on sea and river rocks. They lure sailors by their beautiful singing, mesmerizing them to their deaths in the deep waters.