Moon Blood. Alcohol Ink on Polypropylene paper.

9 Shadows. Graphite, Watercolor, and Gold Leaf. © Liz Darling 2017

Mycelium Medusa. Watercolor and Ink. © Liz Darling 2017

Thin Places. Watercolor, India Ink, and Gouache. © Liz Darling 2017

“There is in Celtic mythology the notion of ‘thin places’ in the universe where the visible and the invisible world come into their closest proximity. To seek such places is the vocation of the wise and the good — and for those that find them, the clearest communication between the temporal and eternal. Mountains and rivers are particularly favored as thin places marking invariably as they do, the horizontal and perpendicular frontiers. But perhaps the ultimate of these thin places in the human condition are the experiences people are likely to have as they encounter suffering, joy, and mystery.”

Peter Gomes

Aqueous Topography... an exploration with alcohol inks on polypropylene paper.

Our friends Heather and Roger surprised us with a visit too!

These are a few shots from Art on the Creeks, an art festival in Rogers, Arkansas. It was a truly incredible experience. My husband Ryan and I had a great time putting it all together (though it was a LOT of work!) and meeting so many kind and inspiring people. This was my first outdoor art festival of this sort and it seems there is a learning curve to this sort of thing... hopefully I'll be even more confident and knowledgeable for the next one. (:

One of the best aspects of the festival was the skill level and variety of artists. Over the past few days, I've been experimenting with medium and style more so than usual, just for exploration. It's very inspiring to create in different ways, though I still recognize my own art-making tendencies even when using mediums outside my regular practice.

Eden. Coffee and Charcoal. © Liz Darling 2017

Palmistry. Watercolor and India Ink. © Liz Darling 2017

Here's a little one in honor of the solar eclipse today... Sunflower and Moonflower.

Totality. Watercolor and India Ink. © Liz Darling 2017

Gateways in We'Moon 2018

I feel extremely honored to have my work included in this forthcoming book by Dr. Helen Hye-Sook Hwang and Dr. Mary Ann Beavis. Check out Dr. Hwang's website, www.magobooks.com.

Artemis. Watercolor and India Ink. © Liz Darling 2017

It's always interesting to me how an idea adapts to whatever medium is used. Even when I think I have a fairly clear idea of what I'm going for, paintings somehow end up with their own identities.

Wombniverse/The Red Sea. Watercolor, India Ink, and Gouache. © Liz Darling 2017.

This (link right here) is an awesome podcast by Women's Liberation Radio News. You can listen to it on Soundcloud. The episode is on Women's Spirituality, but my favorite part is the segment by Sekhmet She Owl, which starts at minute 48:50. An excerpt:

"Religion is inextricable from patriarchy, and if we want to set women everywhere free from male domination and give them feminist consciousness, we have to understand what religion does to them and refute the lies that religious men tell. Religion is used to colonize women’s minds, to make them cooperative with male power. The indoctrination starts early in life for most of us. As girls, we’re forced to go to church or temple or mosque, we’re taught to pray to all-powerful, all-knowing male god, to beg him for what we need, and to feel guilty when we disobey him. We’re taught to kneel before him; submit to him, be grateful to him as the source of all goodness in our lives, and life itself. There is no equivalent reverence of a female figure anywhere. There is no female in the individual or collective imagination with such power, knowledge, or creativity. Men designed it this way, millennia ago, erasing the goddess that civilizations everywhere once worshiped.

Patriarchal religion places a male authority figure in the female psyche, leading women and girls to accept male power over them as unquestionable. Mary Daly said 'when the God is male, the male is God.' Consider how much more submissive religious women are to the men in their lives compared to secular women. Consider how much farther away women on the religious right are from feminism than liberal and leftist women and corresponding religiosity versus secularism in these two groups. While patriarchal religion is not the source of misogyny in men or women, it does an excellent job of enhancing the misogyny already there, and excusing political, cultural, and social expressions of misogyny. Belief in an omnipotent, male deity and his rules for proper living render women compliant with male authority, both in the home and in the community. This is why most religious women on the right go along with the brazen misogyny of their men. God told them to be obedient wives and daughters. Patriarchal religion is men’s fantasy of their own absolute power, control, domination, and immortality. Rather than some metaphysical truth about the universe or human beings, we should trust male religion to reveal the truth about the male psyche, male ego, and men’s deepest desires."

-Sekhmet She Owl

Dualities. India Ink. © Liz Darling 2017.

Some photos from the "A Womb With a View" show in Jersey City. My appreciation to everyone who took photos, as I wasn't able to make it to the opening. <3

I have work in this show! Opening May 6 at Inner Space, Jersey City, NJ.

The Migration. Collage on Marbled Paper. © Liz Darling 2017.

A few paper collages.

In Vision. Watercolor and India Ink on Arches Paper. © Liz Darling 2017.

Wormhole. Watercolor, India Ink, and Iridescent Medium on Arches Paper. © Liz Darling 2017

This painting will be on exhibit until May 6 at The Gold Coast Railroad Museum in Miami, FL as part of the Time Travel show during the Rail steampunk festival. 

The Dream. Watercolor on Arches Paper. © Liz Darling 2017.

Rebirth. Watercolor and India Ink on Arches Paper. © Liz Darling 2017.