Advising the Princess of Kush
digital (Paper 53)
Copyright 2013 by A. Dameron
All original writing and art copyright A. Dameron 2000-2013
Showing posts with label women. Show all posts
Showing posts with label women. Show all posts
Monday, May 20, 2013
Monday, April 15, 2013
Mother of the Bride
Mother of the Bride
inktense pencils, graphictint pencils, ink pen, blender
Copyright 2013 by A. Dameron
All original writing and art copyright A. Dameron 2000-2013
Thursday, June 14, 2012
Four Fashionable Ladies, 30 Days of Creativity, Day 14
Four Fashionable Ladies
Copic Fine Point Pen
© 2012 by A. Dameron
30 Days of Creativity, Day 14
dr
All original writing and art copyright A. Dameron 2000-2012
30 Days of Creativity, Day 14
dr
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
The Chang Sisters (30 Days of Creativity 2012, Day 12)
The Chang Sisters
Copic Fine Point Pen
© 2012 by A. Dameron
30 Days of Creativity 2012, Day 12
Monday, May 7, 2012
New Art: The Egyptian and the Nubian
The Egyptian and the Nubian
colored pencil
©2012 by A. Dameron
Two warriors from neighboring warring cultures join together to fight a greater evil.
Sunday, March 25, 2012
A Different Kind of Spa (Tea and Coffee), Dedicated to my US and UK friends.
A Different Kind of Spa (Tea and Coffee)
Derwent Studio Colored Pencils, Copic pen, prismacolor blender
© 2012 by A. Dameron
Dedicated to my (mostly) tea-drinking UK friends and (mostly) coffee-drinking US friends.
Thursday, March 8, 2012
New Art: "Seaside Contemplation" (International Women's Day 2011)
Seaside Contemplation
acrylic, marker
© 2011 by A. Dameron
painted for International Women's Day
Saturday, February 19, 2011
Becoming a Medicine Woman (Seneca)
The life of women follows a particular cycle: birth, maturity, decline and death. But there is much more than that. The Seneca (American Indian) tribe had strict requirements of who could become a medicine women. Only a woman who has gone through the years of childbearing and entered menopause.
The Five Requirements (Seneca):
a) She must be counselor who can assist others to find their personal talents and life path with the Medicine Wheel, tribal law and her own wisdom.
b) She must be a historian of earth, air, fire and water, as well as prophecies of the future world.
c) She must be an herbalist and a healer, and able to diagnose what ails the body, mind, and spirit.
d) She must be a seer and must be able to contact the spirit world and interpret their signs and symbols
e) She must have the ability to teach all aspects of this wisdom to the next generation.
I remember seeing (and comparing) many variations of these Five Requirements. They were all similar in one thing: only those who have experienced life can guard and protect it, and only those who have "been there" can pass on that wisdom to their children.
That responsibility falls on all of us. Are we ready for it?
All original writing and art copyright A. Dameron 2000-2011
The Five Requirements (Seneca):
a) She must be counselor who can assist others to find their personal talents and life path with the Medicine Wheel, tribal law and her own wisdom.
b) She must be a historian of earth, air, fire and water, as well as prophecies of the future world.
c) She must be an herbalist and a healer, and able to diagnose what ails the body, mind, and spirit.
d) She must be a seer and must be able to contact the spirit world and interpret their signs and symbols
e) She must have the ability to teach all aspects of this wisdom to the next generation.
I remember seeing (and comparing) many variations of these Five Requirements. They were all similar in one thing: only those who have experienced life can guard and protect it, and only those who have "been there" can pass on that wisdom to their children.
That responsibility falls on all of us. Are we ready for it?
All original writing and art copyright A. Dameron 2000-2011
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Sei Shonagon and Pillow Books
A Japanese "pillow book" is a collection of observations, notes and lists, which paint a picture of someone's life at a particular moment. It first became popular during the Heian period of Japan (from about 794-1192 AD) when the women of the court jotted down their thoughts at the spur of the moment. They used scraps of paper under their pillows, hence the name "pillow book". Some of the books were used in romantic rendezvous, rather like the Indian Kama Sutra, but not all of them were so explicit in their content.
A Heian courtesan named Sei Shonagon penned the most famous Pillow Book. No one knows her exact identity, but her observations span a period of ten years. They include anecdotes about the court, her personal opinions, and one hundred and sixty four lists. Some of those lists have mundane titles like "Distressing Things" and "Elegant Things", but they reveal details about Sei and the day-to-day doings of her contemporaries.
Sei's final entry in her book is as follows:
"I set about filling the notebooks with odd facts, stories from the past, and all sorts of other things, often including the most trivial material. On the whole I concentrated on things and people that I found charming and splendid: my notes are full of poems and observations on trees, plants, birds and insects. I was sure that when people saw my books they would say, 'It's even worse than I expected. Now one can tell what she's really like." After all, it is written entirely for my own amusement and I put things down exactly as they come to me." (as quoted from A Collection of Beauties at their Height of their Popularity by Whitney Otto)
She wrote to please herself, not the critics and included what she thought was important at the time. This form of writing is called "zuihitsu" or "following the brush", since the writers simply take down what inspires them at that particular moment. A form of free-write, so to speak.
Unfortunately, Sei's final fate is unknown. Her empress, Teishi, was banished from the court by Teishi's uncle, and Sei was forced to leave with her mistress. Teishi later died in childbirth, but there is no other record of Sei's life after that.
Yet her Pillow Book remains as a historical document as well as valuable insight into the mind of a Japanese courtesan from over a thousand years in the past. Her words remain.
All original writing and art copyright A. Dameron 2000-2010
A Heian courtesan named Sei Shonagon penned the most famous Pillow Book. No one knows her exact identity, but her observations span a period of ten years. They include anecdotes about the court, her personal opinions, and one hundred and sixty four lists. Some of those lists have mundane titles like "Distressing Things" and "Elegant Things", but they reveal details about Sei and the day-to-day doings of her contemporaries.
Sei's final entry in her book is as follows:
"I set about filling the notebooks with odd facts, stories from the past, and all sorts of other things, often including the most trivial material. On the whole I concentrated on things and people that I found charming and splendid: my notes are full of poems and observations on trees, plants, birds and insects. I was sure that when people saw my books they would say, 'It's even worse than I expected. Now one can tell what she's really like." After all, it is written entirely for my own amusement and I put things down exactly as they come to me." (as quoted from A Collection of Beauties at their Height of their Popularity by Whitney Otto)
She wrote to please herself, not the critics and included what she thought was important at the time. This form of writing is called "zuihitsu" or "following the brush", since the writers simply take down what inspires them at that particular moment. A form of free-write, so to speak.
Unfortunately, Sei's final fate is unknown. Her empress, Teishi, was banished from the court by Teishi's uncle, and Sei was forced to leave with her mistress. Teishi later died in childbirth, but there is no other record of Sei's life after that.
Yet her Pillow Book remains as a historical document as well as valuable insight into the mind of a Japanese courtesan from over a thousand years in the past. Her words remain.
All original writing and art copyright A. Dameron 2000-2010
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