When Mermaids Appear in Intuitive Drawing and Painting

Hi everybody,

Little Mermaid and Sunny Day is the first intuitive painting I completed at the beginning of 2015. She is reminding us of summer and beautiful weather. I painted her with watercolors on 300g/m2 watercolor paper.

"Little Mermaid and Sunny Day", Watercolors on Paper, Intuitive Painting

Mermaids have always spoken to my imagination. Occasionally they come and visit me in my work. Here they always stand for love, compassion, hope and mysticism. When considering the idea that what appears in my intuitive art is guided by a cosmic source, it is reasonable to assume that they are light-beings.

Nevertheless, I suspect that many people are more acquainted with their dark side. When I first realized this I thought of it as a conflict. I needed to understand these creatures' deeper meaning. In order to reconcile the two opposite aspects of their nature I decided to do some research by googling mermaids and symbolism. I found that mermaids represent duality. Being half human and half fish they can live on the land as well as in the water. Like the oceans and the seas they have both destructive and healing qualities. Water stands for abundance and purification but also for fluidity and unpredictability, what also makes it a metaphor for emotions. As water elements, mermaids carry both in them, which makes them a symbol of balance. It is believed that they are spiritual messengers like a type of angels or refined creatures from the lost world of Atlantis. I was familiar with the fact that water is associated with intuition, emotion and the feminine. I learned now that mermaids can also represent transformation. This makes sense when considering their hybrid shape. There are stories of mermaids transforming into humans or vice versa. But here we are talking of spiritual transformation like the one of the butterfly going through the stages of a caterpillar, a cocoon and ultimately its full grown form. In the story of Hans Christian Andersen the little mermaid acquires her legs and ultimately transforms into an angel and goes to heaven. I recognize this motif of transformation in two other works I made.

"Reflections of a Mermaid", Pen and Ink on Paper, Intuitive Drawing

In 2012 I created an intuitive drawing of a mermaid holding a mirror, one of the creature's well known attributes. I called it Reflections of a Mermaid. When looking closely, one can see a ship by sunlight in the reflection of the mirror. The image is at night under a full moon with a ship visible in the distance. It looks to me like she is arranging the safe return of her prince the next day. So she can be considered a guardian angel. The transformative element is in the process of the work. I spent a long time diligently drawing and shading the mermaid and the rock she is sitting on. I worked with pen and bister-colored ink on thin watercolor paper. It was going well and seemed like, as usual, it was meant to happen until I started the background. It turned out way too dark and when I tried to tone it down with white gouache the piece looked totally ruined. I was wondering why this happened and I was hoping that there was a way to save the beautiful little mermaid. So I decided to accurately cut her out with an X-Acto knife, adhere her to a fresh page and redraw the background. The result is amazing. The mermaid on her rock seems delicately raised and I find that this actually adds to the mystery of the piece. The transformation here lies in the initial feeling that things are wasted and lost, followed by the act of mending and healing, which resulted in beauty and mystery.

"Lady of the Coral", Watercolors on Paper, Intuitive Painting

Also the work I made in 2009 narrates transformation. Lady of the Coral is made with watercolors on 300g/m2 watercolor paper. It is not technically a mermaid but she is definitely belonging to the mer-folk. She comes out of the coral that is still visible on one of her legs. She has the beauty and grace of the ancient Greek sculptures reminding us of Aphrodite, the goddess of fertility and beauty. This also brings Ovid's Metamorphosis to mind. She appeared out of a myriad of colors. I first laid a wet into wet layer of watercolors with no idea of what was going to happen. After it dried I clearly saw this beautiful figure taking form in the randomly applied washes. I then shaped the paint by adding and lifting and I made finishing touches with pen and ink. Also here the process itself was a complete transformation from chaos into a highly defined and beautiful water fairy, goddess or mermaid.

If you too love mermaids I would love to hear your thoughts!

Love,

Rika