- Published on
Call Me Nomad Woman
"Nomad Woman" - acrylic and charcoal on Arches 300 lb watercolor paper, 22" x 30". Available here and at Artfinder.
got fire shut up in my bones/ & saltwater shut up in my lungs/ & got my soul shut up in some flesh/ & got this body shut up in a wound/& that wound stays wide open/ wide open/ remember/ i leave from & return to the same place/ always/ no/ where/ now/ here/ call me nomadwoman/ remember/ i be no/ madwoman.
- from dna is just anotha theory for reincarnation: me, sitting in a burning tree DESTINY HEMPHILL
It matters what we're called.
In some cultures, what we're called changes with milestones, passage of time, transformations. Here, we go from nicknames to full names to more nicknames and sometimes names we wish we weren't called at all in the heat of the moment. Names can stick.
And sometimes the names we're given at birth don't fit as well as we age and grow and change and become.
got fire shut up in my bones/ & saltwater shut up in my lungs/ & got my soul shut up in some flesh/ & got this body shut up in a wound/& that wound stays wide open/ wide open/ remember/ i leave from & return to the same place/ always/ no/ where/ now/ here/ call me nomadwoman/ remember/ i be no/ madwoman.
- from dna is just anotha theory for reincarnation: me, sitting in a burning tree DESTINY HEMPHILL
It matters what we're called.
In some cultures, what we're called changes with milestones, passage of time, transformations. Here, we go from nicknames to full names to more nicknames and sometimes names we wish we weren't called at all in the heat of the moment. Names can stick.
And sometimes the names we're given at birth don't fit as well as we age and grow and change and become.
A few close to me have known that my inner name is Lola.
Lola is fierce and feisty and confident and wildly unfettered and brave. Lola is not afraid.
In the past few years of radical change in my life (some by choice, some by happenstance, misfortune or the choices of others) I have become more Lola than Jen. As I began reimagining my cyber art pages, my personal pages began waving their arms and demanding attention. And so instagram (personal) is now instagram.com@thewanderingsoflola. And Facebook followed as Facebook.com/thewanderingsoflola.
I was overwhelmed by the support, encouragement and acceptance of this change. And tickled by those who now call me Lola. It feels like anything is possible - anything can be. Anything can become. Lola knows.
About the art: This piece happened spontaneously. A late evening spent purusing Pinterest boards of avant-garde fashion. An antlered woman in a white lace gown inspired the pose. Bones - of animals and of trees - collected on a beach hike informed the stark color palette. A quick sketch with charcoal, then very wet titanium white to rough in the form. Ultramarine blue and raw umber and titanium white only, brushed on in thin, watery washes. Resisting the urge to complete the background...allowing her to emerge, half formed as if in mid-transformation.
Riding the ride.
I am in awe, slack jawed with respect and celebration.