The Black Dog Series - Despair

The Black Dog - Despair.

The subject and reality of depression is not an easy one, I  stated this in my first blog regarding the Black Dog but I feel, deep within my heart and soul that this state of affairs need to be redressed & the reality of depression should be to be bought out into the open, discussed and accepted as a part of life rather than making it all taboo. 

Right now I am going to go through the stages that most people experience at one time or another.  These may or may not be in the specific order that I am painting them and truth to be told, each experience of walking the Black Dog is unique to the circumstances surrounding it and different stages may come at different times.

The Black Dog - Despair

The next stage that I have painted is called Despair. I some ways this is self-explanatory because when someone really starts to suffer from depression this is how they might feel. Yet someone also might feel very confused & hurt because generally at the time the root of the problem is unknown.  At this stage, it is hard to look into the cause and effect of the condition because the pain becomes very intense & all someone wants to do is either cry, or scream or both.  

The Black Dog in this painting is bigger than in the first painting, this is because the illness is starting to become more dominant & sometimes more difficult to control.  The Black Dog has bitten this person but the viewer will see that although the bite itself is not deep, it is firm enough to have a strong hold on this woman.  This is the first bite that is supposed to alert us that something is wrong and needs addressing.  Yet the Black Dog is not viscous, it is quite calmly sitting there, sharp teeth biting into the dress of fire, some of which is trying to escape, & it appears to wait.  It is waiting for the person involved in this painting to acknowledge that something is wrong, but the woman can feel nothing but despair & as the fire hanging from the Dog's mouth indicates, is already trying to escape the Black Dog's hold.

The fiery dress this time leads upwards to a woman caught in a whirlwind.  This is painted in black and white because it consists of her own hair & in the centre at the top, her face is caught, spinning around & around, it is screaming and crying in pain.  

Because the distressed woman's eyes are shut, metaphorically as well as in reality, she is missing things that surround her.  The skies may be still grey but the wild-woman of her own soul is flying with her, trying to draw attention to the fact that there is life outside of this pain she feels.  The wild-woman is also drawing attention that from this whirlwind created by such pain, that a tree has been birthed with a phoenix that flies underneath it.  It will be some-time before the woman acknowledges that the Black Dog brings freedom if it is treated right.  I do not mean medically treated, Black Dogs are our constant companions in life, they draw attention that something is wrong but once faced something beautiful is birthed.  The beauty of this woman's truth is birthing but it is at an early stage & as yet she does not see it for what it is.  Change is never easy, self-change is harder because as this woman demonstrates, she really does not know what needs changing as yet but as her tree with its strong roots and branches & her flying phoenix shows she is on the way to becoming.

There is one thing I wanted to add to this, when I was painting Despair, my 9-year-old-daughter took one of my brush cleaning rags & got green glitter over it without my knowledge.  Some of this glitter transferred to the Black Dog itself & I have left it there because, as it was pointed out to me, this is a lovely message not to forget that little bit of sparkle that is there in your own life (e.g. family and friends); & that the Black Dog itself sometimes can bring these glimmers of hope that more sparkly times will return again.

 My work can also be viewed at:

http://www.artfinder.com/trac-davies
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Trac Davies - Artist © 

The Black Dog - Recognition.

An individual approach to the battle with depression.

Life isn't always easy, even the most upbeat and positive person can have an off-day but when this continues, when the days get greyer & finally turn into the blackest of hells, that is when the question of depression comes up.

Depression is a touchy subject, for so many years it was taboo & never discussed because nobody likes to think that they are struggling with it.  After all, are we not all human? Are we not all strong? Everyone else can cope so why not me?  It is never a question of inner strength because most often, the most positive of people that have had to be strong for a very long time suffer from depression at some stage in their lives.   

If we were all honest, we would all accept that some time in our life we have been bitten by the black dog, I feel we all have suffered from it from a greater or lesser degree.  As it is such a difficult subject, I have decided to paint a series and I am going to introduce the series via this blog so these will continue as there might be 7 paintings or more.  I do not want judgements on this series, this is not a generalised version of what occurs with depression.  Everybody's journey is different, some take longer to go through the processes and usually, we all miss what it is trying to tell us.  This is because when depression starts, it could be that we have missed something hidden in our psyche.  Even the most clued-up people miss things & if they are not dealt with, these can come back and bite us hard.  

The name the Black Dog has been attributed to Winston Churchill1 but it is a much older expression & was first used by Horace, a Roman Satirist & Poet in 65 - 68 BC.2.   The Black Dog has been used in literature and mythology in various times throughout history to depict depressive illnesses & has been our constant companion throughout the years2.  Sometimes it is caused by an event or events in life that can tear a person apart but genetics and other medical factors do need to be considered.  Causes of depression, such as stress or trauma have a debilitating effect on any one individual3.  However,  it has been underlined that chemical imbalance alone cannot be just the cause of depression, it is a multiple-faceted disease which cannot be contributed to chemicals in the brain alone4. The complexity of the disease is such that brain and nervous system, along with genetics, medical conditions and outside factors have to be assessed & each individual responds to treatment different because of all of the above factors4. I have included the links here because I will now be leaving the art of psychotherapy and science & going onto the first painting. 

The Black Dog - Recognition

Sometimes art speaks for itself, sometimes it is not apparent.  This painting does have clear meaning but I feel the need to describe it because it may not be so obvious to all.  The Black dog here is not like a real dog, it is a shadow-form but has real depth.  However, it does not show the attributes of a true dog.  This dog is MY Black Dog, everyone's Dog is different but this one is mine.

People that experience depression experience it differently, but this is my exprience.  Here the Black Dog is quite small but it is also quiet, it does not attack, it just sits opposite a woman that is attired in a dress of fire.  Her dress is indicative of how she feels, uncomfortable & in pain, as if she is wearing her nervous system on the outside of her body so everything hurts her and sets her alight from the inside-out and the outside-in.  The fire has also reached the floor & flames encircle her so therefore she feels there is no escape.  

Her black and white hair is indicative that at this present time her head is feeling the stark contrast between of her reflection of how she feels she ought to be & how how she feels she is.  She is not feeling the shades of grey or colour that usually make up her world.  She also feels stark contrasts between her and other people that she admires & puts herself in the black whereas others are perfect and all  pristine white.  I have written "feels" rather than "sees" because one branch of thinking believe that hair is like an antenna on many species, including humans5 & as this lady has her head in her hands, she is not really seeing anything, she is feeling it.  

Her head is in her hands for she has just seen and recognised the Black Dog, she has also shut her eyes.  When we first become depressed, this is what most of us do, we refuse to acknowledge it, thus shutting our eyes and hiding our face from the truth.  Yet, the Black Dog is HERSELF, for its tongue is attached to her & makes her fiery dress & thus they are connected.  The Black Dog's eyes are also fiery, they contain a painful truth that, with courage must be faced or the pain will become unbearable but for now, the woman refuses to look upon HERSELF for that is what the Black Dog is, part of you.  

The Black Dog is an inner reflection to point out that something is wrong and it is there to help you sort it out too, this is why I have painted The Crone pouring from the mouth of the Dog.  Again, this can be likened to our inner Baba Yaga, the aged-crone & eternal inner Wild Woman, who's lessons are harsh but once learnt, you never have to go through them in such depth again.  Here she is facing the woman who willfully hides and it will only be once the woman looks into her inner Crones heart that she will be free - that said, there will always be a scar but it will no longer fester and poison the mind and life of any one individual.  

The grey clouds that surround this individual are indicative of how she feels, grey, lifeless and heavy & people that are in her circle are indistinct as everything to her is foggy.  The waves crashing over her are only gentle because at this time she is only JUST beginning to recognise the Black Dog for what it is & that this is not a case of the ordinary blues so at present, the waves of emotion are small but there is a tired face in those waves and this depicts how we feel when we battle with ourselves, tired. 

1. http://www.bipolar-lives.com/winston-churchill-and-manic-depression.html

2.  http://www.blackdoginstitute.org.au/docs/Michael.pdf

3.  http://www.allaboutdepression.com/cau_04.html

4. http://www.health.harvard.edu/mind-and-mood/what-causes-depression

5.  https://www.quantumbalancing.com/spiritualhair.htm

My work can also be viewed at:

http://www.artfinder.com/trac-davies
https://www.etsy.com/shop/TracDaviesArtist
http://www.redbubble.com/people/tracdavies
http://tracdavies.deviantart.com/   
http://www.zazzle.co.uk/tracdaviesartist 
https://www.facebook.com/TracDaviesArtist
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Trac Davies - Artist © 

 

The Dance of the Nebulae - Society's Expectations and Inner Reality.

The Dance of the Nebulae - Different classical representations of women & what she really should be.

Recently I have covered a lot about the divine feminine, it is something that has always fascinated me and is my attempt to balance things up from my own perspective. However I personally feel that all sexes or whatever we choice to be is divine & deserves respect. I have covered this subject extensively  in my blog http://tracdaviesartist.blogspot.fr/2015/05/the-changing-face-of-sacred-feminine.html

I have had a fascination for the wild woman aspect of the feminine since I was a little girl, it was probably another reason why I never fitted into the social norms of others because I did not hold with the fact that boys were more important or better than girls and nor did I feel they had any more rights than I did.  At 5 years old it is hard to put these feelings into words but my questions & observations were not appreciated by my teachers or other authorities that held social norms close to their mindset and hearts.

As I grew & time went by I came to the realisation that many woman in other families apart from my own seemed rather repressed in themselves.  I have always been who I am so I am far from perfect.  I make mistakes, I sometimes misunderstand a situation, I misread people or I miss the message altogether.  I try not to hurt other people but know that I have, it is usually unintentional or when I am defending myself but at times my temper has got the better of me & I have told someone exactly how I feel and have regretted it afterwards.  This is all part of growing & it occurs throughout a lifetime.  

However, as I grew I saw that many woman and girls were expected to be 'Nice Girls'.  This is a phrase that sets my teeth on edge even now, what the hell is a 'Nice Girl'?  Is a 'Nice Girl' someone who has to do what others want?  Is it what she dresses in?  Is it her behaviour & manners? 'Nice girls don't do that'; I was often told, usually with the nasty inflection on the tone of my teacher's voice that I wasn't one of those 'Nice Girls' and would never be one either.  As a youngster, I tried so hard to be that sort of girl, one that who was acceptable like the other 'Nice Girls' at school but I never did get to that stage & whatever I did was never enough.  

As a teenager I rebelled again this expectation, how dare THEY tell ME who I was supposed to be? Who did THEY think THEY were! So I would do everything in my power out of sheer devilment to be a 'Bad Girl'.  Sometimes I had a lot of fun, sometimes I ended up in deep shit, usually both at the same time but whatever the outcome of these adventures, I learnt an awful lot and it helped me balance out when true adulthood did arrive.  Yet what is adulthood?  I have always believed that we are all at a funny age, whatever age we are and sometimes when we are under severe stress, adulthood takes a long hike and we can all revert to being what we were & how we felt as young children and when that happens it often isn't pretty. 
http://tracdaviesartist.blogspot.fr/2015/02/emotions-accepting-rough-with-smooth.html

Repression of the inner wild woman can often lead to these inner conflicts that give rise to any number of confusing messages from any individual in adulthood.  Many of us have been conditioned to be 'Nice Girls' throughout our lives & this is sometimes hard to overcome, especially when boys do things like lift up your skirt and you are told as a child by teachers or their parents that they are 'just being boys' & this is what 'boys sometimes do so stop making such a fuss over nothing'.  What the hell is all that about? This leads to the belief that you are not a 'Nice Girl' & somehow it is your fault that a boy has lifted up your skirt and that boys can do the hell what they like with you whereas you have to be 'Nice' and just take this behaviour on the chin!  This is just one example of an inner conflict that arises & how it leads to bigger conflict later on in life. 

If the wild woman is repressed and has been for some time, taking bad behaviour from badly bought up 'boys' can occur throughout their lifetime. All through my life I have watched ladies from every social stratum, their inner battle to me are plastered all over their faces, although they are never aware of this.  How they struggle with their lot in life, how they squirm sorting out the cleaning at the local church when in reality going to church was their husband's need not theirs & how they died inside each time their husbands made a sexist joke & thought he was ever so witty as she would grind her teeth and 'smile'.  Forced laughter is  habitual in these circumstances but if looks could kill these men would have been 6 feet under in a flash.  Every town, city & village has situations like these, with a woman caught in up the assumptions of others, quietly dying under a social expectation that was never hers to fulfil.  Some women are content with their lot, cleaning their church & their husband's tasteless jokes so they fit their own social expectation & are happy in that role but many are not & nor should they be & most women go through these scenarios at some stage of their lives.  Some accept it, some kick up a stink until it changes and others leave.

We all pick up the conditioning that has been dished out to us and as this leads to inner conflict it is bound to flood out & over the boundaries of the human mind.  Both men and woman act as conditioning has taught them and it is a brave person that faces their own conditioning and questions what they have been taught.  As adults we choice who we become but in some cases we must break our childhood conditioning to do it and this is easier said then done.   But how does The Dance of the Nebulae relate to all of this?  I have, of course, related this to a woman's point of view.

The Dance of the Nebulae

The Dance of the Nebulae depicts the daily struggle that women have with outer and inner, as well as social  expectations.  I will start to the left of this painting, women have many mountains to climb because there is always this social expectation that they will be 'Nice Girls'. So therefore I have painted mountains in the background, with one mountain that is prominent amongst the rest.  All of these mountains represent the slippery slopes that women have to climb to be what society expects her to be but the prominent mountain is the one that is being climbed at this moment in time by the angel.  

 The angel is perfect in many ways to behold, she is what society thinks a woman should be like but you will see that her arms are wings and she has no hands at all.  This depicts how a woman sometimes feels, her hands are tied when it comes to being what she wants to be because society wants her to be a 'Nice Girl' & focus on everything else expect herself. In addition, a woman feels that she HAS to be what society feels she should be, instead of what she knows she really is.  Her nakedness in this case exposes how vulnerable this makes her feel.  She is not accepted for who she is and sometimes the ones she loves the most do most damage, despite the fact that she has given those she loves her all & shown them everything she can.  Her hair is depicted by the energy that leaves her but this is conflicted energy, torn between trying to please and wanting to be.  Women feel frazzled when they are caught in between these two horns of imperative & the energy that leaves a woman in these times can be felt by all, almost static electricity as she battles within, trying to retain equilibrium and her true self.  Her eyes are dark pits absorbing everything as she tries to find herself but these have a twinkle for this is not in vain.  The two energy swirls by her feet are her attempts to reach out to what is hers, what her true being really wants out of life.  Because she is struggling with her inner conflicts these whorls do not reach out in straight lines.  The inner search to find yourself for anybody rarely goes in a straight line, questions tangle and loop around themselves and often there is a lot of backtracking, depicting that on the surface she is going nowhere fast but inside he is making great progress for the lines of the most important of these energy swirls show that there is more activity within rather than on their surface. 

In the middle of this painting there are two energy forms that dance and sway, these depict the masculine and feminine & this is part of what the angel is contemplating.   Inside their swirls there exist different places which although connected to who they are, depicts the ability to give rise to new life that has a form different to their own.  The crescent moon depicts mystery for sexual attraction & love is often is a mysterious and at times baffling process.  In the middle of these dancing forms is Glastonbury Tor, the sun is rising and shows a figure at the top of the Tor, shadows are cast for they always are from whatever we do.  The deeper areas of sky show that the morning sky is part of the Lady of Avalon, the Goddess & mist rises from her to the moon.  This part of the painting demonstrates how everything is connected  as above so below but also reminds the viewer that the sexual act should be considered sacred.

The far right of the painting  shows a hill.  On the top is planet earth, the white lines surrounding it depicts the ozone layer but at the top there is a hole & the energies from space are seeping through.  We also see that on the edges of the ozone layer, the space energies interact, giving the layer many hues.  The layer also covers the hills, showing that we are protected from the energy that resides in space & as it is the layer itself that pushes out it depicts that at present this layer is still strong but the hole in the top is a warning that this will not last forever.  
The hill is almost an abstract version of the Tor & inside, under the different layers in a sacred space a Goddess resides.  She is the true woman that resides inside of the questing angel. She is of sacred sexuality, true passion that comes from a deep inner calling and her light is so great that not everyone can look upon it.  
The inner Goddess of all of us women has no face & needs no face as her energy is vast and eternal.  Therefore, her 'human' form is almost deformed & it is only the people with social norms that have given her breasts, to underline that she is a sexual being not a sacred one and in some religions she is viewed as not to be trusted & the downfall of mankind.  However, she is of her own sex, rather than sex just for the sake of it & has no need of a body, she just is & always has been & her beauty is raw and elemental.  She has fire on her hands and her face is one of flames and light, although if you look you can see the outline of her eyes within the white heat.  She dances in her flame & is glorified by her own energy & stands in ecstasy in deep red flame that is golden on the edges.  This represents the primal flame,  the original source for us all and it is both light and dark but it is sacred.  Sex & sexuality should always be sacred & this is often forgotten & so it stays deeply repressed, especially under the false lies of what a patriarchal society says it is.  
There is an egg which is blue & white in between these flames of primal passion that burn deep red.  This egg depicts 2 things, reproduction and subsequent birth and also transformation & rebirth.  Once a woman faces her own inner light, transformation of some kind has to occur & life can no longer be lived in the same way that it has been in the past.  Sometimes this process is fast but more often these changes ponderously occur over a longer stretch of time, accompanied by deep yearning but once self-realisation hits in, it is only a matter of time before things start moving in a completely different direction.  From the egg white light beams out for all birth is sacred, inner, outer, physical, spiritual and psychological.  The light goes up from the source of the egg, through the Goddess, passes by earth & into the dancing Nebulae that will be there long after the human race as gone.

It is this scene that gives the Angel a twinkle in her eye, she has glimpsed her true inner self & realises that she does not have to be a 'Nice Girl' she just has to be herself.  So she raises her wings in preparation to fly to this part of her as she has not considered that it is already there, inside of her.  The twinkle is self-acceptance & the knowledge that she can be herself & not have to live up to social expectations.  The whole painting is connected by light, lines and swirls and the different skies that are depicted show that under every sky, all is connected, everything.  As above, so below.

 Additional blogs that relate to this subject:
http://tracdaviesartist.blogspot.fr/2015/05/the-changing-face-of-sacred-feminine.html
http://tracdaviesartist.blogspot.fr/2015/02/emotions-accepting-rough-with-smooth.html
http://tracdaviesartist.blogspot.fr/2015/04/stages-of-changing-woman-hood.html
http://tracdaviesartist.blogspot.fr/2014/12/the-inner-wild-woman.html

 

My work can also be viewed at:

http://www.artfinder.com/trac-davies
https://www.etsy.com/shop/TracDaviesArtist
http://www.redbubble.com/people/tracdavies
http://tracdavies.deviantart.com/   
http://www.zazzle.co.uk/tracdaviesartist 
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https://www.tsu.co/TracDaviesArtist

Trac Davies - Artist © 

The Changing Face of the Sacred Feminine

Definition of the The Sacred Feminine & its Control by Other people that are not so Sacred!

Throughout my life, I have always felt the need to promote the sacred feminine.  I do not feel that one sex is any better than the other but as I grew up I realised that the masculine in our society in some places appeared more revered than that of the feminine and so this need is to basically to balance things up from my own perspective.  Even in this day and age I still see that a vast number of different types of people that prefer male babies, revere masculine ideals, follow chauvinistic concepts such as the woman's place is in the home & that a man has a "right" to have sex with every woman when he does not.  I find this revolting, I always have done & it is difficult to accept.  This transgression against the feminine can go from mass rape & murder of women and children to abuse in religion to controlling what women wear & do.  
There have been many different reports regarding the abuse of children and women in certain religions, it is not just one religion & it is a repulsive reminder that many people use the Church for their own personal power.  The reason these people do is deplorable and never anything to do with any of the spiritual tenets.  It astonishes & horrifies me how religious organistions harbour criminals, silencing the already-scared victims & appear to whole-heartily support the offender.  This behaviour is inexcusable but still it seems to continue as if it is "normal."

Regarding what clothes women and girls wear, many people would think of the Burka worn by Muslim women which may be worn either by the woman's or by male choice.  However, this level of control is also applicable in the west & there have been some reports of girls at college being excluded for what they have worn rather than boys being taught that it is their responsibility to control their sexual urges.  A woman should be able to wear what she wants, it should not matter to the male sex because self-control is all & necessary.

It is laughable in this day and age that there are still small-minded people that cannot see this larger truth, that it is down to us as parents to teach our children this fundamental but rather basic concept.  Some of this problem can stem from some religious ideas, fundamentalism in whatever form is ugly and has nothing to do with faith and has everything to do with control over everyone else except yourself.  Sometimes conditioning comes into play, I personally do not know one man that will happily clean the toilet as this is viewed as women's work - even if both partners work, in a heterosexual relationship women do tend to clean the loo!  In addition, there are still some men in this world that believe a woman is a possession whether within or outside any form of relationship.  In some places of the world women and children are raped on a daily basis & they have no rights regarding either the rape, their bodies or the termination of any pregnancy & some die shortly afterwards.  Even Universities in the west are not safe from sexual assault and there have been many reports where sexual harassment, assault and rape has increased but has not been recorded, reported to the authorities so the crime is unpunished.

Yet "Ownership" can go the other way, In some parts of the USA there are the Purity Balls where a daughter promises her father that she will remain a virgin until she is married and her father promises her that he will protect her mind, body and soul so that she DOES remain chaste.  I do not see any teenage males at these affairs, it is all teenage girls and the fact that they are promising their fathers that they will remain chaste until after marriage is not healthy.  Again it this is all about control, nobody has the right to call their child or their sexuality a possession, she has a right to explore it under her own terms when that time is right & does Daddy also choose his daughter's husband as well?   For a young woman to grow and develop having control over their own sex life is all important.  Once she is at an age where sexual intercourse is possible it should be her choice who she sleeps with, not the boy who shows no self-control when viewing her in class or anywhere else, not a controlling & over-protective father and not anyone else.

Lightbringer Series - 
Illumination from the Depths - Rebirth Trac Davies© .

In the 1980's I became a feminist & I have watched how it has changed over the years along with the concept of what  equal rights mean.  At present there are issues because feminism, which is a basic right to equality between the sexes is parodied and placed into a stereotypical box, turned into something that it never was  & thus the culture of controlling equal rights is targeted.  However, feminism in 2015 has both more female and male supporters than in did in the 1980's & all state inequality that they have had to deal with either on a daily basis or in certain situations.  Sometimes the inequality concerns those that have certain viewpoints of what men and women should be, sometimes it is to do with abusive issues either in relationships or with bullying, sometimes it involves  transgender people.  Many are exploring Transgenderism much more openly & gender is no longer viewed as clear cut as it once appeared.  There have been children who insist from a very early age that they are not what they were born as & are unhappy if forced to remain as this sex.  In addition, many adults of both sexes do not feel the same restrictions upon their gender as they did in their own childhoods.  So feminism now covers equality for everyone, whatever sex they feel themselves to be.

Lightbringer - Trac Davies©

My point now is that we all sacred, whatever sex we choose to be and that we all deserve respect and equality.  This is something that I have discussed before but there seems to be a culture where some people are treating other people and animals as things.  This is where the true evil lies, we are not things, we are living, feeling beings, we are not here for anyone's entertainment, we are not here to be used, or told who we are and what we should be.  I feel very strongly about this, I dismiss the toxicity of those that feel people should be straight-jacketed, that they should be what they are, that they should be "normal".  who has the right to say what "normal" is, who would really know?  Those that gossip and slander others should know better than to do this, it is a deep toxic pit, a trap of their own psyche, not of anyone that they are discussing & they will drown in their own toxicity and deserve everyones pity.  

 
Please be patient, I'm rebranding. 

My work can also be viewed at:

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http://tracdavies.deviantart.com/   
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Some links I have included that are examples of what I have discussed in this blog:

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catholic_Church_sexual_abuse_cases

 http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/exjehovahs-witness-schoolgirl-exposes-organisation-as-a-religion-that-destroys-lives-10273064.html

 http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/canadian-student-given-detention-over-inappropriate-dress-attacks-discrimination-against-womens-bodies-in-facebook-post-10249023.html

  http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/stepfather-arrested-in-pregnant-10yearold-rape-case-1023http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/higher/britains-elite-universities-dont-fully-record-allegations-of-rape-or-sexual-assault-10274020.html9112.html

  http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/isis-burns-woman-alive-for-refusing-to-engage-in-extreme-sex-act-un-says-10272832.html

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Purity_ball
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_gender
 http://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/2014/sep/23/media-transgender-people-bbc-radio-one
 http://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/may/25/transgender-children-gender-identity-bigots-media

The Watchtowers - The Watchtower of the West.

The Watch Tower of the West - Or how mere mortals feel the Call or the intense pull from; *That feeling we get when we look to the west.*

 

The Watchtower of the West was the first in this series of four.  I completed this painting in July 2010 & it is the one Watchtower that most calls to me, pulling both heart and soul towards the place I have painted.  
I first envisioned this painting when completing the Flight of the Hamsters & was going to call it The Eye of the Needle.  However, when I started the painting, I kept thinking that the 'needle' looked like an elemental being & decided against calling it by its original name because it didn't fit the painting.  I realised that it reminded me of one of the Watchtowers of Paganism, thus the Watchtower of the West was born. 

In Paganism, Watchtowers are the Spirit Guardians of the four cardinal points, although some believe that they are the abodes of the Guardians.  I have included a link to Wikipedia for a further, more thorough explanation of the Watchtowers, for there are many versions of what they are but Goddesses, Gods, spirits, animals and angels have been Watchtowers for the cardinal points. 

Westwards always speaks of the sea to me, of rocky shores, of coastal paths, of arches in cliffs but there is also a feel of travel with the western watchtower.  Of journeys that have started or ended, of ones that are being undertaken, of outer and inner journeys, of the shamanic or spiritual path.  The West to me also lingers in echos of freedom and spirit.  

I have various feelings about the cardinal points, for instance the South is heat, fire, energy etc; but I have always felt the pull of attraction West.  Perhaps human beings are much like homing pigeons in that they hear or feel the magnetic fields & physically navigate towards where their heart & soul feels it should go.

The Watchtower of the West - Trac Davies© .

Every journey, whether internal or external needs a guardian but the Western Watchtower is disguised as a pinnacle of rock. This elemental being always feels female to me but that could be because I painted it & am one myself. Her "arms" are in a somewhat protective position, which is indicative of self-protection, which in any journey we need to have, but they also look like they have something in them. This "something" is the secret of success for each person that looks upon the Western Watchtower and so what she hides is secret but personal to each person. The Watchtower is camouflaged and has algae on it so to a casual observer looks like a craggy needle but her "needle's", ever-open eye sees everything but she is silent, says nothing and keeps your secrets and is watchful over you on whatever journey you are on.

This Watchtower, if one looks into the distance, faces a corresponding pinnacle.  This pinnacle will be the total opposite,  a male to her female for example, thus depicting balance & equality but it also serves another purpose.  It is a natural gateway for travellers to depart and return through.  The sea is choppy for no journey in life is ever completely smooth and if one is you can expect a rougher time of it with the return or next voyage for circumstances, like the sea are in perpetual change.  

The archway signifies different dimensions, these could be a different place or mind set, but it also signifies permanence.  When we travel to different places in body, mind and soul, we travel through permanence.  The Western Watchtower and her counterpart are indicative of this but so is the archway & the cliffs.  Different states of being are birthed from actual conditions that we live in, our body houses mind and soul but it has to experience the permanence of this world before any changes to the inner or outer states can occur.

My work can also be viewed at:

 

http://www.artfinder.com/trac-davies
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*Taken from: Stairway to Heaven - Led Zeppelin

Link to explain Watchtowers: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watchtower_%28magic%29
Link to explain Homing Pigeons & Magnetoreception: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetoception

Trac Davies - Artist ©