The dark raven eager for the doomed shall speak of much

[ferrumaeternum]

I finished these a while ago, but haven’t had time to photograph and post them until now. They’re 6" x 8" linoleum relief cut prints. We were supposed to create something inspired by the themes in Japanese ukiyo-e prints, so I continued with the mythology theme. I’m a huge fan of Hiroshige and Hokusai, so I also incorporated some Japanese elements as well. The composition is influenced by this style, particularly the stylization of the border. Nature is very important to both pre-Christian Europe and Japanese cultures, so I wanted that to be the main focus. The falling leaves universally symbolize death. The raven occurs in most cultures’ folklore, so I am content if that’s how far the viewer reads into this piece. However, I did intend for these birds to specifically represent Odin’s ravens Huginn (thought) and Muninn (memory). They fly around Midgard (the world of men) every day and bring back news to Odin. The tree is once again meant to be Yggdrasil, which is given away in the shape of the ash leaves.

I’m still debating whether or not I should continue making mythology-inspired pieces because most of my audience is only familiar with Greek/Roman mythology (and dare I say Christian mythology) and I’m more interested in Norse, Celtic, and Egyptian mythology. I try to make it so even if the viewer doesn’t understand the symbolism, they can still grasp the overall feeling of the content, but I’m not sure I’m achieving that because I rarely ever get negative feedback from my classmates during critique. It also doesn’t help that my drawing teacher encouraged us to use mythology as a theme for our final drawings. I just don’t want to turn into some conceptual artist that can’t connect with their audience because communication is the whole point of art in my opinion. Maybe I should go back and try to dig deeper meanings from the Grimm Brothers and Hans Christian Andersen’s tales most people are familiar with? I plan on having some kind of professional career once I graduate, so I want to find a happy medium between expressing myself and my ideas while still being able to relate to the viewer. If anyone has any thoughts on this, please let me know!



I also printed an edition of four on a multi-colored roll I made for a previous project I never used and plan on making a third edition of prints once I’m finished with all my big projects for the semester. These will be hand-colored with watercolor or watered down-acrylic.








How perfect is it that there are nine prints in the black and white edition and four in the colored? I’ll have to carefully choose how many I make of the hand-painted ones, as I don’t want to disturb the nice pattern of Norse numerology I have going on here. ;) If you want to get even nerdier, I also coincidentally printed these on a Wednesday.



I completely forgot to post this with my screenprinted scarf. This was printed on a scrap of cut-up black jeans I found in the lab, and I still have no idea what to do with it. (The Valknut literally means “knot of the slain” and represents Odin’s power to bind and unbind and control warriors’ minds in battle.) Unfortunately, I recently discovered that a lot of white power groups use this symbol, so now I’m a bit wary of using it at all. I know the Nazis used all kids of pagan imagery, but I thought the only surviving one today was the swastika. I know there are still racist groups that exist and claim to practice Asatru (which is bullshit because the pre-Christian Germanic tribes did not consider their spirituality or culture to be above others they came across). It’s hard for me to believe that people are still stupid enough to twist the Norse texts and pagan symbols toward their evil ideology, but I guess that’s life. I will have to decide if I should wear it anyway for its true meaning and risk being associated with these cretins or not use it at all.

Comments

[emperorkefka.livejournal.com]

Wow, that looks fantastic! That's exactly something I'd love to put up on my wall. I would say that you should continue making pieces that would interest you, and an audience that you can communicate with will eventually find you. I also don't really have an interest in Greek/Roman mythology, and a semester of Greek and Latin is really reinforcing this. I'd much rather study old norse again.

The upside about the valknut compared to the swastika is that it isn't as widely recognised by most people. The only people who are likely to recognise it are neo-nazis, Antifa thugs, and people with an interest in norse mythology. So depending on what kind of attention you want to attract, you may feel comfortable wearing it. I probably would feel fine wearing out during the normal day, but I probably wouldn't wear it to an industrial concert (not that I oppose it, just wouldn't want to draw the attention to myself).

[ferrumaeternum.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the compliment and the advice! It's also good to know I'm not the only one who isn't a huge fan of classical mythology.

The upside about the valknut compared to the swastika is that it isn't as widely recognised by most people. The only people who are likely to recognise it are neo-nazis, Antifa thugs, and people with an interest in norse mythology.

That's a very good point. I'm just overly paranoid because I'm not too well-liked at the art school and I don't want people claiming I'm some kind of neo-nazi on top of it. Unfortunately, the goth/industrial scene here is almost non-existent. There's one club that plays that kind of music a couple days a week, and that's pretty much it.

[palovana.livejournal.com]

Loving the linoleum prints as well as the Valknut! =P And haha, the 9 + Wednesday symbolism is awesome, especially since it was unintended ;)

And I hate racist group using pagan symbols!! >( It really makes me angry. Lots of them neo-nazi (here anyway) also have Mjolnir tattoos or pendants. I mean, what the fuck?

[ferrumaeternum.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I'm glad you like them because I'm planning on sending you one. Once I make and post the painted ones, you'll have to let me know if you would prefer one of those or just a black and white one...or both.

Ugh, there are neo-nazis where you live too? I thought that was mainly some kind of backwoods American redneck and British skinhead thing. The ones here in the States also unfortunately use Mjolnir imagery, so I sometimes get nervous about wearing my pendant in public - especially in a city with such a huge German immigrant population that might recognize it and other heathen symbols.

[palovana.livejournal.com]

Heeeh, thanks so much hon!! =D Already looking forward to it ♥

& Yeah, in Flanders (the northern, Dutch-speaking part of Belgium) there's a rather strong nationalist/separatist movement (nationalist being "Flemish" then, not Belgian). And they often have ties with neo-nazis and skinheads.. I sometimes feel nervous as well wearing my pendant, but I guess we both don't really look like skinheads, lol, so we're probably pretty safe for now - unless the imagery starts becoming more and more widespread and linked to these nationalist movements of course =( But I hope it won't..

[dscarron.livejournal.com]

It certainly does look quite cool.

The only way we are going to shake off the Nazi's and their sentiment is by applying those symbols in a correct context.

You take commission for stuff?
(Not that I have anything in mind...)

[ferrumaeternum.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

You're completely right. It's good to hear this from another Asatruar. I've been feeling a bit discouraged lately because I found out a local so-called Asatruar I've been talking to for a while now was hiding from me that he is a Nationalist and involved with racist organizations.

I haven't done any commissions yet, but I hope to in the future if and when I have the time.

[dscarron.livejournal.com]

Clearly you are hanging out with some crappy folks...

I'm fairly sure we could hook you up with a better quality of Asatruar.

[ferrumaeternum.livejournal.com]

Unfortunately, he's not the only one. I met another in my Norse Mythology class this past spring who promised we'd do a small blot for Ostara and called it off at the last minute. He also flaked on all the other plans after that to do a blot, so I'm not in contact with him anymore.

I just listened to your Podcast on the blot, and your kindred sounds like a wonderful group! There's one kindred where I live, but I've only been practicing Asatru for three years and still haven't read all the sagas, so I feel like I should really know all I possibly can before joining. Anyway, I'm definitely looking forward to hearing your Yule Podcasts!

[dscarron.livejournal.com]

Dude, there are like 60 sagas or so. :)

That's a long, long time...

You just need the basics as to have a core knowledge for some frame of reference. You should have that after 3 years...

[rurouniyuudai85.livejournal.com]

whoa, these are awesome! it's cool that you're so concerned about your message and whatnot, so many artists couldn't care less, or they hide behind obscurity and convolutedness in order to seem "cooler" or more "artsy". (fucking hipsters DX)

anyways if you do make a career out of this you should totally make a website or something. i'd totally buy something, i love your art style and the mythology. keep up the awesome work :D


OH, also, about connecting with your audience: imo educating people isn't a bad thing, i say just roll with whatever feels right and if you think people may not get what you're trying to say you can always add captions or footnotes or whatever. who knows, maybe you'll even inspire an interest in less-popular mythology in some people through your art. that'd be pretty sweet.

[ferrumaeternum.livejournal.com]

Thanks! Haha, yeah...most of those hipsters end up starving artists and I certainly don't want that to happen to me. The average person doesn't want to buy their work because it doesn't mean anything to them or they don't get it (and I don't blame them!). One hipster in my class did a print of a strawberry with no background or anything and gave this elaborate bullshit explanation of the "meaning" behind it. I mean...seriously? Who do you think you are, Warhol?

You're right, I really need to get an actual professional website up. I've had bands - one even signed to Nuclear Blast - ask if I'd consider designing album art (um...HELL YEAH, DREAM JOB!) and if I had a website with my work (which I don't). That is very kind of you that you'd consider buying something from me, but I don't think friends of mine should have to pay unless it is a one-of-a-kind painting or drawing originally for sale or something. I'd be particularly happy to give away prints, since I don't really need to hang onto more than a few and the rest will just collect dust. I also did a linoleum block print a couple years ago of lotuses, leaves, and koi fish if that's something you'd be more interested in. I don't have a print of one of the blocks by itself, but here's the drawing of what a single print would look like. This is what 3 x 3 of them printed together look like. Let me know if you'd like me to send you any of these!

Thanks for the advice! I think there's a lot of truth in that. You wouldn't think Viking/folk metal would be doing as well as it is nowadays, but it is, even though the listener might not be totally familiar with the mythology.