Slightly late drop but it’s here! Aries is mountain, and what’s more appropriate for a fiery fire sign than a volcano? Talking to Maya during the conceptualization stage they explained something rather simple that had eluded me for a very long time about the signs mapped to a year and transitioning between each other. They laid out the idea of the fire sign as a generative spark in a sequence, and Aries as the first fire sign in the new year. For people living in the climate I do this is more or less the time of year we see the first signs of plants returning, seeds sprouting and sending up shoots, pollinators starting to wiggle out from under dead leaves so I connected with this and I liked the idea of a big fiery explosive beginning to be followed by fertile soil and new life.
The color associated with Aries is red, as is the case with MtG Mountain land types, which are also associated with action, impulse, passion and speed, all perfect for something as eruptive as a volcano. For this sign I wanted to just reference the symbol for aries in the lava form, a simplified version of the horns of a ram (sometimes identified as Chrysomallus the flying ram that provided the golden fleece). I also referred to my own work yet again, since I was instructed to pull from my previous series of paintings from my Endless Sky zine, though the requirements in terms of scale and color for the MtG seriesdidn’t leave much to draw from since the original is more realistic.
I’ve said a couple times my brain is just a big simmering stew or slurry I pluck ideas out of, and something that was burbling around in there for a long time was something my long time art penpal Tremor (you should commission him!!) mentioned offhand to me years ago (which neither of us totally remember) about a temple on the side of a volcano. In my mind I imagined a temple surviving countless eruptions, with the lava just diverting around it, and I was just waiting for the right thing to apply it to.
I was also working on this while Mt. Etna was having a lot of activity. I recommend this instagram account to any other lava freaks. I also read Basin and Ridge by John McPhee last year and have been marveling over geological/deep time, the wild reforming of the planet through eruptions, plate movements, massive shifts and upheavals. I find it all weirdly soothing.
Other things of potential interest: I opened an Inprnt account for all of the MtG prints, with a special border, because I wanted them to be a bit more embellished. The border was inspired by a very specific era of fantasy borders you sometimes saw on cards or paperbacks. I normally am not super into print to order sites and prefer to give my money to local printers, but this series has too many unique pieces (12!) for the to ultimately be able to preprint them all and guess at interest and manage sales .
I’m not opposed to throwing up other pieces on there if someone is after a print of something I have no plans for at the moment so feel free to email me at wanderinggenieart@gmail.com if there’s something you’ve had your eyes on. I added this older Orphic Egg painting at someone’s request already so that’s also available!
I also did this interview with the #1 sweetie pie Skinner! He’s one of my favorite people and I always love chatting with him and we really do know how to ramble off topic. Did you know he’s working on an incredible epic psychedelic stop motion movie right now ?!?! He has a patreon where you can support his ambitious projects.
Also Maya, whose astrological insight was so crucial to me working on this series is opening bookings for readings right now, short half hour ones or longer more in-depth ones. Maya is really very insightful and thoughtful so if that’s something you’ve ever wanted to try out you can book here!
Oh and if you’re interested in bidding on the original it’s in a fb auction group here but you can also contact Donny who is running the auction! Ends Tuesday evening 4/5
