Geisha (Spring 2006, acrylic)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJI5gaWuf6w
Oh my dear Japan! How do I miss thee!
This Geisha painting is in fact a painting of a Maiko-san. The difference between Geisha and Maiko is that she is much younger and she is still learning the craft of being a real Geisha. It takes years of study and skill polishing in music, dance and etiquette. I know that this is Maiko-san simply because she has short sleeves at her kimono.
This painting is in my older brother's possession. I painted it for him and his family. There is a lot of love and longing for Japan in it. She is simply gorgeous. Look how beautifully she stands there full of elegance and grace! It's part of her skill as Maiko to know where to stand and how to pose to display her best side. Her kimono in real life was much more elaborate. However, I didn't want to take away from her beauty and made it plain burgundy-purple. Her feathery hair ornaments make her look like an angel. And of course the romantic background of cherry blossom (sakura) that is like a life of a samurai. Fleeting, short but how intense!
In 2005 my husband and I took a long ride on our bicycles. Right after our second wedding (I love my husband so much I married him twice! One day I will explain, wink wink) we had planned to take this honeymoon trip. June 2, 2005 it started with a flight to Porto, Portugal. It was a time of many "firsts". First day in Portugal, first day of our European Bike Ride, first day as Couch-Surfers! It was really exciting to start something so completely different from what we new! We had stayed with the nicest couple a "virgin coach-surfer" can dream of! We are still friends to this day!
After x and y days and weeks of cycling through Mediterranean Europe we finally got to Salento Region of Italy where we met a gracious man who introduced us to Southern Italian culture. He took us in, shared his home, his food and adopted us to be his family for a short while. Luckily for us at that time there was a festival in town. Pizzica festival. Incredible! I felt as if i was looking into an Italian soul with a special magnifying glass. Thank you for giving me this feeling and this experience.
Pizzica is a dance with a story. Taranta. to be more exact. A long time ago, single Italian girls had a hard time to meet boys that they loved because of strict rules of conduct. So this dance had to be invented as a way of explaining their madness. We all have heard of tarantulas. When they bite we are poisoned, we convulse and sometimes die. These girls explained that they got bitten by the tarantula and that is why they danced the way they did in order to find healing.
In today's Pizzica festivals tambourines and music are played to re-enact a crucial role in healing from the poison and the soul possession. Men dance beside a woman to "protect" and to help with the healing while the possessed woman waves a red scarf to invite them to dance with her. At the end she gives her scarf to the chosen one. If she fails to give a scarf to any of her dance partners the message is clear. It is a very vibrant and very energetic dance. So sometimes a man has to dance really hard and long to work for that scarf. I personally think it shows the commitment he is ready to engage in. I hope I captured the motion and the energy here.
This painting is in a possession of a friend of the family in Hamilton, Ontario.
