Caul, Detail Mixed Media |
With all of the focus on business it's time to get back to the proverbial drawing board. To the right is a detail of a very complex mixed media piece I finished a little over a year ago. The "mistakes" that lead to its existence are buried in the archives of this blog. It took months to do because both the process and the concept of the piece took a while to unfold. I ended up naming it Caul.
Here's a brief quote from Wikipedia. I developed the piece before finding the word but the concept was perfect:
Caul, History and tradition
In medieval times the appearance of a caul on a newborn baby was seen as a sign of good luck.[6] It was considered an omen that the child was destined for greatness. Gathering the caul onto paper was considered an important tradition of childbirth: the midwife would rub a sheet of paper across the baby's head and face, pressing the material of the caul onto the paper. The caul would then be presented to the mother, to be kept as an heirloom. Some Early Modern European traditions linked caul birth to the ability to defend fertility and the harvest against the forces of evil, particularly witches and sorcerers.[7]
A legend developed suggesting that possession of a baby's caul would give its bearer good luck and protect that person from death by drowning. Cauls were therefore highly prized by sailors. Medieval women often sold these cauls to sailors for large sums of money; a caul was regarded as a valuable talisman.[8]
In modern times those born with the caul claim to possess preternatural abilities.[9][10]
Work in progress, Reference photos and painting
supports on top of translucent Yupo (polypropelene) paper
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