Lost in Scylla's Embrace!

 ''Up to her waist she is sunk in the depths of the cave, but her heads protrude from the fearful abyss, and thus she fishes from her own abode, groping greedily around the rock. (Odyssey, 12:87-95) '' 

Homer 

Lost in Scylla's Embrace 

50cm x 65cm 

Finally finished, Lost in Scylla's Embrace! As a child I was fascinated by mythology, whether Celtic, Roman, Greek or Norse and combined with the fascinating traditions of maritime lore my work has moved into the realm of reality and fantasy. Edges being the boundary between the solid world that we know and the realm of shapeshifters or mythological creatures. Here we've got the swirling waves encircling a rock, like the tentacles of some fabulous sea creature, the waves are real however they pull us in to another world. You can feel the pull, the draw of the unknown below the surface. Developed from one of my photos from my trip to Oman. I really wanted to keep the emerald hues of the sea there and the brilliant blue reflections. Scylla really sprang to mind, a beautiful young woman above the surface and below a frightening collection of tentacles and dogs' heads, the curling edges of the waves her fingers drawing her victim in. 

According to Hesiod, Scylla (or Skylla) was the daughter of Hecate who was associated with the Moon and the Underworld, and especially with ferocious hounds. Homer, however, names Scylla's mother as Crataiis. Her father is the sea god Phorcys but may also be Typhon, Triton, or Tyrrhenius, all figures with a sea connection. A later tradition makes her a beautiful mortal human who has affairs with Poseidon, Minos of Crete, and the sea god Glaucus until she is transformed either by the sorceress Circe or Poseidon's consort, the sea nymph Amphitrite, into a monster out of jealousy. The girl is caught unawares in her bathing pool, and when magic herbs are thrown into the waters, she turns into the hideous creature. 

(The Ancient History Encyclopaedia, Scylla and Charybdis by Mark Chapman). 

Nothing like a good bit of mythology to brighten up your day, so now we've got our Scylla perhaps we need her whirlpool partner Charybdis. Being between Scylla and Charybdis is an idiom for having to choose between two evils, like being between the devil and the deep blue sea. In my painting we are definitely there!