HomeILLUSTRATION 2022 /
CHERI A ELLIS copyright 2015 / All Rights Reserved
My great love ... black and white, pen and ink, illustration. Something about filling small spaces with highly designed composites of detailed black and white tonal expressions. Each image represents a different type of organic message, using cross cultural symbols of healing, restoration, protection, and empowerment. With much of it coming from ancient mythologies and story-telling, the effort has been to blend, to unify, to illustrate the gorgeousness of cultural collectiveness.
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Moth T R A N S M U T A T I O N / caterpillar, cacoon, moth / osmosis, crawling to flying
HUNAB KU BEE / Mayan mythology / power of uniting or bridging opposites / one source
ORPHIC EGG BEE / healing, regeneration, rising of the feminine energy. / philosophers' stone
MUSHROOM FRACTAL 2222 / healing through detoxification / nerve and brain health
OWL BEE / magical, mysterious, sustaining ancient wisdoms / symbol of the feminine
DAY OF THE DEAD BEE / life / death / rebirth cycles of nature / fearlessness / all-seeing
HEALING MUSHROOM BEE / cognitive and emotional strength / optimizing
HUMMINGBIRD BEE / tireless to long journey, resilient, adapting, accomplishing what seems to be impossible
"Hummingbird Bee" was the first image created in this series, to be followed by a family of allegorical illustrations depicting the bees in fantastical ways of wisdom and abundance. Much of the bee art is intercultural and inspired/created from research about significant symbols derived from the natural world and the protecting of it. The bee wings have been designed to embody ideas of the flight of freedom. The body of the bee is tabernacle like, a sacred birthing chamber, blossoming and transformational. Some of the bees have a rooting system as they express the deep and profound connection to the earth. Surrounding the bees are illustrative legacies of 'flora and fauna', sun powered grids, and much serpent/snake energy that represents change and transformation. Celtic knots have been added, somewhat altered, as in expressing the evolution of great wisdoms.
PANORAMIC ODYSSEY BEE STORY PROJECT
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THE PROCESS /
The artwork is timely. Because the original image is not being created for re-sale, only half of it is drawn while using the other half of the paper to write in the research. The drawing is then digitally mirrored, always slightly off center to create a slight portal affect in the middle of the illustration. Using cross cultural symbols of restoration, protection, and empowerment, with much of it coming from ancient mythologies and story-telling. After the image is complete, a story is written, and then silkscreened on to the back of the t-shirt.
THE ORPHIC EGG BEE
The "Orphic Egg Bee" is an illustration about the current shift on the planet, the healing, regeneration, and the rising of the feminine energy. The drawing began with a pair of lofty angel wings, I think for a sense of angelic, divine transformation. In the "Bee Odyssey" illustration series, I have been using the wings of the bees to embody ideas of liberation and emancipation.
The Orphic Egg is commonly depicted as a serpent-like creature wound around an egg. The ancient Greek symbol represents the 'cosmic egg' , from which Phanes, a deity, was birthed. Phanes was the deity of procreation and life, a hermaphrodite (male / female) making it a perfect symbol for these times with the great effort at hand to create equality and balance between the innate masculine and feminine energies. In the drawing, the Orphic Egg was incorporated into the pollen sacks, and the angelic winged creature began to fully embody the essence of our bee, the tiny little 'huge' deity of procreation, the 'giver of life' on our planet.
The serpent theme continued, with the snake's amazing sensory vision. Here, representing the 'new vision', one which embraces co-existence, collaboration, and co-creation verses domination and exploitation. Next, the uroboric snake appeared, the self devouring serpent representing the eternal cycles of renewal, the cycles of life, death, and re-birth. The snake is a highly transformational animal, a healer.
Medusa, also from Greek mythology (more serpent/snake energies) was then called into the imagery, with the idea of creating a type of Medusa-like bee stinger. The Medusa mythology is about a female who endures great tragedy at the hands of a patriarchy, the ultimate story of exploitation of the feminine on the planet. Medusa, losing her great beauty, both inside and out, to the ugliness and rage of rape. Reaching way beyond the idea of gender, this is the dynamic of the planet over the last thousands of years, to take and take from the planet, without her permission, what it does not need. The bee teaches success is to take only what we need. The bee's stinger is there to protect herself and her honey (our creations and dreams), hence I merged the rage of the exploited medusa with the stinger of the bee.
Finally, I came upon the 'squaring of the circle' (the philosopher's stone), a symbol in alchemy that has a metaphorical meaning that describes the 'doing of something that may seem impossible'. Creating the symbol of the circle, triangle, and square, I used powerfully healing symbols including the lotus, a symbol of purity, enlightenment, regeneration and re-birth. "Even when its roots are in the dirtiest of waters, the lotus produces the most beautiful flower". In this time of radical transformation of consciousness, the feminine is bound to find that what may have seemed impossible before, may now become very real and very possible.
Moth T R A N S M U T A T I O N
The ORPHIC EGG
The OWL BEE
The 'Koi Dragon' comes from traditional Asian folklore/mythology, more specifically samurai culture. With so much of the authentic tale available, a story was not written, as it seems to provide such a wonderful 'go-to' for inspirational reading. The image was created in the tale end of 2020, bringing in the New Year of 2021, just after the conjunction (a significant astrological event). The story of the 'Koi Dragon' is all about rising from the ashes, when the Koi successfully jumps up the waterfall, after being stuck in many a pond, he turns into a dragon! With the challenging aspects of covid, A t-shirt was created with the empowering text above the illustration / KOI DRAGON 2021 / OVERCOMING ADVERSITY / perseverance, power and strength / path of the stars.
KOI DRAGON /
find the t-shirt on the 'Bee-tshirt' link / available @ etsy.com/people/cheriaellis
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