Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Mythic Naturalism

I want to give due to one of my favorite living artists, because he deserves it!

Jonathon Earl Bowser - Painter of Goddesses
I discovered Mr. Bowser's art probably, oh, ten years ago. I immediately fell in love with his work and frankly, his work inspired many of my own characters for the stories I write. I am very interested in mythology (he touches on all kinds of mythological traditions), elegant, fanciful fashion (his elegant dresses actually look real and tactile...even the dresses made of water or air), and beautiful landscapes...he has it all!

He depicts strong, ethereal women...typically goddesses or mythological beings. They're put in fantastic, epic settings that he gives such precise detail to. His figures are graceful and exceptional. Themes include Beauty, goddesses, Forces of Nature, Cosmic balance, history, philosophy, and spirituality. He calls these works Mythic Naturalism - "Images looking for the mysterious poetry of which the natural world is made."


Mr. Bowser was born in Canada in 1962 and graduated from Alberta College of Art in 1984. After college, he spent 5 years working in commercial illustration before changing direction to follow his own creative inspiration in 1989 (Thank goodness he did! :)). His limited-edition collector's plates and prints are known internationally and his website, Jonathonart.com, receives over 1,000 visitors a day (myself included :) - YOURSELF included. Go look!!). Many of his works have been published by Webster Galleries Edition, Mythic Publishing, The Bradford Exchange, Eureka Publishing, and Limited-Edition Giclees.

All of these images belong to Jonathon Earl Bowser. You can buy his work by visiting his website! All of his images are a "reverential meditation on The LotusMaiden of Eternity."

1 comment:

  1. Wow!! I love ferngulley! This guy is amazing. Its like he perfectly synthesized J. E. Millais and Gustave Moreau into a pathetic fantasy landscape. Truly stunning!!!! Your taste is impeccable!!!! Caspar David Friedrich has nothing on him. I wish more women would use this as a model of positive, passive femininity. These artists have penetrated the inner most being of the feminine character to expose the laconic ennui of the much persecuted chatelaine. Pounded as she may be on all sides by the throbbing phallus of masculine post modern interpretive conjectural thrusts, Bowser has imprisoned her in a dank and odious cell into which only the most intrepid fungi could penetrate; Bowser's women however stand as pillars of neophyte passion, yearning for an understanding of their inner selves. Only an artist as perceptive of the feminine condition as Bowner could render into concrete form a symbol of such enduring feminine qualities that elucidates the beguiling and deadly character of the femme isolee: the heartless and treacherous female monster, adamant on the evisceration of masculine agency.

    ReplyDelete