She’s finished. My portrait of the Crone of All Hallows, renamed “Elder of the Scar Clan.”
Actually I knew that was her name from the very beginning. I just wasn’t ready to tell everyone until now.
This image of the Crone (the third face of the Goddess, the Old One, the Wise One) came to me as I meditated on the ancestors during the season of Hallowmas. I ruminated on the women in my ancestral bloodlines who were wounded, and on my soul-sisters’ wounds, and on my own. We are all initiates of the Scar Clan.
Scar Clan is a term coined by Clarissa Pinkola Estes in Women Who Run with the Wolves, meaning “that timeless tribe of women of all colors, all nations, all languages, who down through the ages have lived through a great something, and yet who stood proud.” (pg. 374)
“It is a good idea,” Estes writes, “for women to count their ages, not by years, but by battle scars. ‘How old are you?’ people sometimes ask me. ‘I am seventeen battle scars old,’ I say. . .
Make no mistake about it. If you are asked your nationality, ethnic origin, or blood line, smile enigmatically. Say, ‘Scar Clan.’ ” (pg. 376)
You can see earlier posts on this piece as a work in progress, here and here and here.
There’s an explosion of comments and shares on Facebook. So glad to have touched so many people with this piece.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=2500695069045&set=a.1066934985939.11437.1002984375
Joanna, I think the bird is probably a raven, but I’d like to think of hir as crow, if that is ok with you :). Love this so much — I’ll start saving up for a print now.
Peace to you,
CrowsFoxes
Thank you CrowsFoxes, and oh yes, a crow is just fine. 🙂 I’m running a 20% off sale on all prints through the end of the year . . . use the coupon code holiday11 in the shopping cart, if you want to order by then. Blessings.
Oh… my… Goddess…! Just stumbled across your site and I’m in awe of this picture. I write a blog for women aging in unconventional ways, and this says so much of what I want to get across.
Thank you Tess. I just checked out your blog, and have to say I love it. We have much in common, methinks. You’re welcome to use this image somewhere on your site, just link back. Many Blessings.
Oh, she is so beautiful, and so powerful – so expressive of Clarissa’s work and your own artistic gifts. WWRWTW is one of my favorite books ever – Clarissa will love this image!
She is magnificent!
Joanna! You totally rock as an artist and a healer. I, too, am a member of the Scar Clan, though I didni’t know it until now. We need images like these in our world today.
Cate, Shari, Loran — thank you all. Deep deep appreciation!
Wow…power, beauty, wisdom…a role model to aspire to. Thanks for sharing inspiring work. Wow….
Thank you, Baxter Clare!
Joanna, she’s beautiful! Full of character, wisdom, peace and a certain gentle fierceness! (Yes, fierceness can be gentle…:)
Stopped by and was delightfully surprised! Maybe once I get through the next two Art Fair weekends, I can work on mine!! 🙂 Happy Friday!
Thank you, Indigene! Looking forward to seeing more of your work on the Elders too.
Gee, somehow I missed seeing that scar over her heart the other times I looked at her! That reminds me of a wonderful Marge Piercy novel I read in college, where one of my favorite women decides near late in the story to remove a tattoo she had over her heart and is then proud of the scar and what it means to her.
As usual Joanna, you are painting my SOUL. I’ll definitely order one before the end of the year. For my “underground room” . . .the craft room in the basement I’m trying to get finished before our Mid-Winter Class!
Ah . . yes. That reminds me of the famous photograph of Deena Metzger with the leafy tattoo over the place where her breast once was.
Someday, I would like to see your underground room! 😀
Oh and I just have to add that I actually have a huge and perfect Silk Moth like you’ve painted, that showed up at midnight on a full moon a few years ago and then died in my hands.
Theresa – Oh! my! Goddess! what a sacred experience.
Referenced you in my latest blog post! Great site and powerful painting! https://foxrivermamas.com/2016/09/04/what-is-a-womens-circle-2/
Thank you Karen! Blessings on your work.