Mermaids

Top pic of Susan Kinneally’s ‘Mermaid Friends’ with a photo of our yacht at sea behind.

Since I was a little girl I’ve had a fascination with mermaids. Mythical fairytale creatures which Wikipedia describes here :

“In folklore, a mermaid is an aquatic creature with the head and upper body of a female human and the tail of a fish.^[1] Mermaids appear in the folklore of many cultures worldwide, including the Near East, Europe, Asia, and Africa. The first stories appeared in ancient Assyria, in which the goddess Atargatis transformed herself into a mermaid out of shame for accidentally killing her human lover. Mermaids are sometimes associated with perilous events such as floods, storms, shipwrecks, and drownings. In other folk traditions (or sometimes within the same tradition), they can be benevolent or beneficent, bestowing boons or falling in love with humans.

Although traditions abequivalent of the mermaid is the merman, also a familiar figure in folklore and heraldry. Although traditions about and sightings of mermen are less common than those of mermaids, they are generally assumed to co-exist with their female counterparts.”

I have sailed around the world with my husband and have felt in tune with the sea after crossing oceans 1000s of miles between lands. Did I imagine mermaids as I gazed the waves around me? I think I did…..

For me though, I enjoy seeing them in artwork and creating my own. Recently I visited the Nimbin Art Gallery and was drawn to a ceramic clock ‘Mermaid Friends’ created by artist Susan Kinneally. (Majolica glaze ceramic). So on a whim I bought it! It was an occasion a couple of years ago I saw a large ceramic mermaid at an auction for Breast Cancer that I just had to buy! I have created drawings an paintings of her from her position hanging next to our front door.

I have been lucky enough to see the Little Mermaid in Copenhagen in Denmark and Iluka on the NSW coast in Australia also has its own mermaid in the Fishing boat harbour. I have drawn this one too!

In this selection of Mermaid Art I include a painting by Tahlia my 9 year old granddaughter. There will be more mermaids to come into my life I’m sure!This last drawing although of a nude, I feel has the attributes of that whimsical creature I love – a Mermaid.