Monday, December 8, 2008

Yorkshire... & Ramble




My great-grandparents came from Yorkshire, England in the 1920's to Los Angeles, CA. They never returned. I have a love of all things British (and French)... the rolling hills and stone fences of England are no exception. Maybe it's the phenomena, 'Primordial Ancestral Imagery'** that drives me to paint these kind of landscapes. I've never been to England but have heard about it all my life and know many customs that we've practised in our family. I could be totally 'off' but somehow in the back of my mind, I'm seeing what my Great Grandma saw through her eyes in these paintings.
**This comes from a theory of Carl Jung... having to do with social anthropology and psychoanalysis. I learned about it in a fabulous cultural anthropology class...back in my social work days.
The images are inborn forms of intuition.
Primordial images originate from the initial stages of humanity and have been a part of the collective unconscious ever since. The images are apparently located in an inaccessible part of the brain. In my class we studied more details about this theory that included discussion about our own ancestors having more specific, cultural imagery - not just pure, primal human experiences from the initial stages of humanity.
Whew! That got way more detailed than I'd planned... but I wanted to explain myself instead of just throwing the term out there :)

7 comments:

Jeane Myers said...

Brenda - this is so interesting - this idea, new to me, but not a surprise, that images could be in our DNA so to speak - it would explain so much about things we are attracted to and don't have a clue why - an idea that I will pursue - it intrigues - thanks

tangled sky studio said...

i love landscapes. the whole idea that a few horizontal lines of color can conjure up an image is amazing to me.
i've never heard of jung's theory but find it intriguing... it seems to share some of the elements of the ideas behind reincarnation...hmmm.
lovely paintings...are they oil or acrylic?
beth

Paula Villanova said...

a fascinating interpretation of an equally fascination concept!

artslice said...

Thanks for your comments, ladies! It really is an interesting theory...
Beth - it's acrylic. (wish it was oil because it's what I prefer but it just doesn't fit my life right now!)

RosieK said...

Hi from Yorkshire
I think you would find the light very different here especially at this time of year - you really must visit sometime and find the world of the Bronte's Wuthering Heights
I love your blog - thank you
Rosie

take5paintings said...

Hi Rosie-
Thanks so much for stopping by... all the way from Yorkshire! (How cool is that!?) Well, I guess I was thinking of a sunny afternoon when painting. My family was from Rotherham - is it sunny there?! :) I must visit someday, it's in my plans.
Many thanks for your kind words and come back soon.
~Brenda

take5paintings said...

oops, I posted as myself from my painting blog - but, it really is me from Artslice!