Dear reader,
I am so sorry for being absent for so long. I guess it’s just me, being unreliable, or my words were just running around without the need to take a certain shape or form. Maybe that’s why I dwell into visual art so much. In this post, I reflect on Zmei Folklore inspired Art—my way of exploring myth, monsters, and emotion through color and imagination. My colour palette is there for me, to ‘describe’ every emotion, to shelter me, to light a fire in my gaze on a cold November morning.
My head is in the clouds again, it’s easy to breathe up there, despite what others tell you. I watched the new “Frankenstein’ movie, reread the book, remembered my word of the year – ardour and sank into fairy tales I’ve forgotten I’ve ever heard. The painting I created after watching the new Frankenstein film is part of my ongoing journey in Zmei folklore inspired art, where creatures, humans, and imagination intertwine. Folklore stories of other times, when and where nothing was the same but makes sense in a way.
I remember being scared of a dragon which in my home country we call змей (zmei). Scared but curious, I wanted to hear the stories even though they might keep me up at night. A snake, a dragon or something else, something human but off in a way. Yes, there are a lot of different legends, that they can walk among people, love innocent girls, probably steal them. And our ancestors had many rituals to keep the evil away. I don’t know if it’s a metaphor for sickness or desire but it’s bad, bad for you and everyone around – to be loved by a monster. But with Frankenstein’s revival and all awakened creatures from the folklore, living their best life between our pages, I began to think that we love monsters
But why?
Do we explore something? Or we’re just all freaks living a normal life, we’d like to escape? We’re tired of punishing ourselves for not living up to our standards. Feeling different, off or even bad, do we see monsters as a mirror reflection? But I am just an artist, living way too much in my head to know that. The Zmei can walk among people, they say, love a soul, without having one. And if a beautiful person can transform into a monster with some movie magic, is it so unbelievable that a zmei can be mistaken with a human for a moment? Maybe it’s just a trick of the light or this zmei here has the same eye colour as the human next to him? A colour woven of many burning flames – warm yellow, orange and burned sienna. And our ancestors learnt to be very precautious with fire.
If watercolours can tell stories, this would be a perfect one, starting with a question – how close can you get, before getting burned?
Thank You for being here, my reader! Till next time!
Stay creative! If you want to know more about me and my artistic journey, you can visit my about page.
Love,
Radost