sketchbook: ex-voto painting

"As a child I dreamed of cats howling at the moon
&
heads following in the night.
The wolf stalks, breath is cold and my heart beats & beats & beats.
I prayed let this night be over, be over, be over,
but the head still follows
&
the wolf waits in the dark corners
&
there is no escape
from the demons that haunt us in the night."

Obviously this isn't what the original ex-voto that I used as inspiration for my sketchbook version said. The text is a moment in a child's life, mine.
It is acrylic and pen on paper and then coated it with kyrlon crystal glaze.
I have always had a love of ex-voto's, partly because it uses text in the paintings. I have never quite figured out how to use text in my paintings and so I find them inspiring.
Here is a link to some really beautiful ones.
History of ex-voto paintings.

Comments

Janets Planet said…
I never knew about ex votos before. They are really interesting.
Anonymous said…
I didn't know about them either jan. Thanks for sharing this with us! It is wonderful that you can express yourself this way! Keep it up! I am sure that I will keep coming to see what new paintings etc. you have made! :)
Anonymous said…
I really like this one, because of the story I think :-)
Dr.John said…
I never knew about ex-votos either. I looked at the link and they all seem to be religious in nature.
Susie Q said…
This was a new one for me and I love hearing about it. Great sketch and story. I love your ability to express yourself this way....amazing.
Hugs,
Sue
jafabrit said…
Hi Dr. John, yes they are very religious. I added a history link at the bottom of my post. I would describe them as visual prayers. Ex-voto is from latin meaning "from a vow". The practive dates back to ancient greece.
Hi sue, I am thinking I would like to do a painting incorporarting the text and my own images.
thanks suzie and angela, jan. I hope you enjoy exploring their history and some of the work.
Philip said…
I'd never heard of this either.Interesting - I like tseeing words in pictures ans keep meaning to give this a try myself.

BTW - How much of your sketchbook work ends up as finished paintings? What inspires you to take a work further?
wonderful! It inspires me in many ways.
Cynthia said…
I'm really interested in retablos and shrines. I had to look up ex-votos because I had never heard of them before but they seem related. Almost like a medieval book of hours. I might be wrong there.

Anywho, I'm interested to see where you're going with this.
jafabrit said…
man, you ask good questions phillip and I think it has inspired what my next post will be about. I will answer that on the next post in a few days time.
Lynette said…
This is very inspiring (wonderful sketch) and makes one want to explore new ways of expression. Thanks for sharing this and I had never heard of ex votos either but I love to learn new things...awesome!
Dr.John said…
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
jafabrit said…
Dr. John, I removed the comment since it is more to do with an issue with what was said on your blog than what my blog entry is.

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