Signs and Symbols: the Last Painting of 2015

Through a forest of ash and mist he journeys to seek the truth.

Signs and Symbols by Amanda Makepeace

Ever since I completed Renascentia in January of this year, I’ve been mulling over the next step. For the first time in several years I felt as if I’d tapped into something inside me–something powerful. I knew it was the beginning of a new series of paintings, but my vision was still incomplete. It took most of this year for me to unravel the ideas behind what I’m now calling Earth Rituals. I’m not ready to reveal all, but simply put it’s a series of two types of paintings: 1. People communing with the Earth (like Renascentia) and 2. People communing with animals (like Signs and Symbols above). Later next month, I’ll delve deeper into how the idea for Earth Rituals developed. For now, I’ll say that the symbolism in the paintings is sometimes based in mythology and old religions; while other times, it may be a blending or creation of my own.

Stone EyeIn Signs and Symbols, a young man has entered a dream forest seeking the answer to a question. I leave the question up to you. He seeks a crow in the forest that will give him his answer.

What is a dream forest? – It’s a place where this world and the unseen one coexist.

What is on his hands/arms? – It’s a mixture of charcoal, earth and water. The symbol was drawn on top of the paint with talc.

What is that symbol? What does it mean? – The symbol comes from a stone I have in my personal collection. It’s one of my favorites and reminds me of an eye. In the painting, it allow’s the young man to see the spirit crow in the dream forest and to communicate with her.

What do you think he’s asking her?

If you’re going to JordanCon 2016 you’ll be able to see a framed, one of a kind embellished print in the art show! I should also have limited edition prints available in my shop in a few weeks.

amandamakepeace.com

About Amanda Makepeace

Amanda Makepeace is an award winning illustrator inspired by nature, mythology, magical beings, and distant worlds. She is the co-founder of the Bird Whisperer Project, a monthly art challenge focused on spreading the the love of birds and art making for everyone. Her art has appeared in ENnie award-winning games and on the covers popular independant novels and anthologies. Her latest project is the cover art for the Long List Anthology Volume 4, a book featuring Hugo nominated stories. Amanda is a regular at Fantasy and SciFi conventions in the southeast, and an award winner at JordanCon, DragonCon, ChattaCon, and LibertyCon. http://www.amandamakepeace.com
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4 Comments

  1. Beautiful thank you for sharing your inner vision for this piece I resonated with it right away when I saw it on FB. After reading your process with regard to nature and communing with nature I realize that this might be partially why– I am working on a series of nature inspired poems that help me to discern my path through open question and answer sessions outdoors. I find an area that seems to resonate or to attract me, I ask for welcome and permission to visit and have a conversation with nature and then I ask my own personal question and see how nature answers it organically. It’s all very intuitive and usually the poems deeply touch my heart and make me realize how much life is out there simultaneously living and finding ways to get by. It makes me feel less alone! 🙂 I appreciate your work in this one because you incorporated symbols and that seems to me an organic extension of being one with nature to sense something deeper affiliated with a particular symbol. Thank you for the awesome art and for sharing your internal work revolving around this piece!!

    • Maria that sounds beautiful! I’ve always felt an immense connection to nature and the earth. I’m probably too connected for my own good, but it just seemed to be there from the start. Bringing that into my art has been less easy. It’s a very spiritual experience. Over the years I’ve touched the surface, but only in this year have I tapped into that connection more fully. Maybe I just had to grow and experience more before I was ready to express it in my art. 🙂

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