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Believe it or not, Herne started off as an octopus eye, and then the energy dropped away and I couldn’t continue. Then, up flew a barn owl in raging reds and pinks, and then that energy dropped away.
When this stag stepped in, a calmness wove itself across the wood panel I painted on, and I knew Herne was here to settle.
Herne is a forest protector, the name coming out of the lore of the British Isles. And to me, this stag is the sage of the forest, the wisdom keeper whose body intertwines with roots, his core a waterfall trickling into stones, his antlers becoming the canopy of trees. He is the wisdom of forest community, reminding us that we too are a part.
There are other animals who emerge within this painting too— perhaps you see them? Unintended… but there is one area where I see a heron, which at times becomes a goose, and other times becomes a fawn. So often these paintings give birth to other animals, who emerge through the veils of our seeing. Who do YOU see?