Embodying Adaptability
A short story about the art
In an effort to bring more joy into my life, I've been looking at more art (as well as making more - this is the first time I've used pen and ink in a very long time). I haven't done anything so official as visit a museum or gallery; I've just been googling images, looking in books, paying attention when I visit restaurants. In approaching this first Art Email, I looked around for inspiration.
You can probably imagine what comes up when you google "hunter in art": art from the Western world, a lot of it 17th-19th century - in other words, white dudes and dogs running after hares and deer. This is one form of hunter, and I was interested to get reacquainted with it - this kind of art was popular in colonial homes where I grew up in Massachusetts. It seemed perfectly normal, very Grown Up, even, for a family to have this kind of art on their walls. Perspective changes with time.
The mainstream theme in many countries' worth of Hunter Art is "man chases animal." But then I got into the Online Digital Art World.
The commonality here was lithe, thin young women in hoods with bare arms giving the viewer a cool, collected, come-hither look. This wasn’t quite the mood I wanted to strike.
My favorite piece of art was one that found me unexpectedly: a picture, by someone named Hunter, of a blue bird, seen from behind, on an aqua background. The shape of its head and beak, along with its dark hue, echoed how I envisioned the hood of my own Hunter.
I hope my version of the Hunter reaches you and brings you meaning; keep an eye out for next week's Hunter Spell.
And in the meantime, if you're looking for more ways to bring clarity, juiciness, and intention to your July, come to my July workshop, button below.
