I envisioned a series of artwork inspired by some of the great women in history. Not necessarily women who were born to positions of power like Catherine the Great or Mary, Queen of Scots, but rather women like Frida Kahlo, Clementine Hunter, or Hilma af Klint, women who had to find their own way in an oppressive, patriarchal society that discourages women from standing out, or even standing on their own.
I intended to include factual blurbs about the woman as I posted a new artwork. My end goal was to make each woman a focal point of my weekly blog posts. I planned to begin by featuring Frida Kahlo.
BUT, then I was inspired to create some artwork of Marie Laveau, the Voodoo Queen of New Orleans. She's an iconic local legend but I've never created artwork of her because I didn't think it was my story to tell. Looking at all the false imagery and information floating around on the internet about her, I decided that as long as I approached the subject with respect and truth, I could create my own take. I'd be offering a starting point for a deeper dive for those who are interested in Marie Laveau and her story.
I discovered the day after I worked on the Marie Laveau artwork that the day I'd been so inspired was actually the birthdate of the Voodoo Queen, September 10th. I couldn't resist the synchronicity of it all so I leaped right into my new series.
My original intention was merely to focus on easily found "facts" on the internet.
Nope. Most of the information floating around on the internet is inaccurate so I've borrowed two books on Marie Laveau from the library (one is full of scholarly documentation and the other seems to be a little more fun). The blog post on her will not be happening today because I'm going to have to do a deep dive into the research.
I realize I need to change this from a week-based series to a month-based series so that I can do justice to my subjects, their lives, and the artwork.
The other thing you need to know is that I love synchronicity. I love looking for patterns. If I feel like the Universe is showing me something repeatedly, I believe that it must be for a reason. Most recently, the Universe keeps shoving toads in my face.
I keep hearing stories about toads, and seeing references to them in unexpected places - like a friend showing up in a Void Toad t-shirt. My cousin rescued her adventurous garden toad. The toads were showing up for me in full force, but why Universe? Why?
That being said, if you recall, I said I intended to start by focusing on Frida Kahlo.
I've been working on images for the past several weeks as I worked on the nuts and bolts of this new series idea. Of course, I jumped in with both feet when the Marie Laveau Synchonicity happened.
Yesterday, as I drove to my night art market, I was thinking about how I needed to re-envision this series and allow myself time for a deeper dive into research (ie from a weekly series to a monthly one). I reflected on my original plan to begin the series with Frida Kahlo, but why?
Why does Frida Kahlo resonate so deeply with me? She's self-taught. She's of Hungarian descent (I'm both these things). She had a problematic relationship with her father (mine was a self-righteous narcissist). Hers told her she was the smart one, but her younger sister was the pretty one (so maybe her father and mine weren't so dissimilar).
I'd had to re-invent myself after my husband died of cancer and my second long-term relationship revealed himself to be a covert, abusive narcissist.
But, Frida's suffering went beyond anything I've had to endure. So much pain. So many surgeries. And, then, Diego Rivera.
The husband of Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera, was twenty-six years older than her (admittedly, he was financially successful and paid off the mortgage of her struggling parents). He cheated on her from the beginning of their marriage, including an affair with the younger, "pretty" sister. He was controlling and manipulative (sounds a bit like my abusive ex, Rageroo).
Aside from the financial benefit, why would she stay with such a man? He wasn't even very attractive. In fact, his nickname was "The Toad".
Wait. The Toad. Like, really Universe? Is all of this: the stories about toads, the synchronistic appearance of toads, the t-shirts, and the memes. Was this the whole point of the toad thing, Universe? It's not even that funny.
Ok. Maybe it's a little funny, but dammit Universe. I wanted depth and insight and you serve me up a giggle instead.
So, yeah, the Universe has a weird sense of humor.
Rippit.
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