The mountain King: a painting, a poem and bit of history
The mountain king
30 x 40 cm
Acrylic on paper
Hidden in the depths of rock and earth.
Crowned with flowers which fell from the sky.
Streams pouring out of his hands.
Illuminated by love and fire, by sun and moon.
He is waiting – the mountain king.
Explanation
In my mind there is a wild amalgam of music and folk tales, of myth and modern fantasy all situated in the mountains. Inside my head the theme of Peer Gynt is ringing and with my inner eye I can see rugged mountains tower over dark forests. I can feel ice-cold water drops on my skin and taste mouldy air in my lungs. Images and feelings fuelled by myths of Wayland the smith, of Tolkien’s dwarfs, of the Greek god Hephaistos or modern classics like Ronia the Robber’s daughter. But the one tale which never left my heart and mind is the story of Laurin the Dwarven King of the Rosengarten, which I learned from my father while driving through Italy.
The Rosengarten is the name of a mountain massif in the Dolomites in northern Italy. The impressive mountains have a soft pink hue and they are famous for glowing during sunsets (Alpenglühen). The saga of King Laurin is a folkloristic attempt to explain the phenomena of Alpenglow.
https://pixabay.com/de/berge-s%C3%BCdtirol-dolomiten-alpen-1521697/
The myth
Lauren, the King of Dwarfs is said to have a famous rose garden amidst the bare rocks at the top of the Dolomites, which he defended brutally from every uninvited guest or thief. One day the King of the nearby river Etsch decided to find his daughter Similde a husband. To choose the right candidate he organized a huge festivity and invited all appropriate nobles. King Lauren heard of this endeavour and waited eagerly for the messenger which he thought will bring an invitation. But nobody came. King Lauren was not invited. This enraged the Dwarven King immensely, as he – even though he already possessed jewellery and gold, a cap of invisibility and a magic belt which lent him the strength of twelve men – still missed a woman in his life.
So, King Lauren decided to put his cap of invisibility on and visit the feast uninvited. He secretly entered and as soon as he saw Similde, he was smitten. In his infatuation he saw it best to kidnap Similde. Invisible as he was, he grabbed her and pulled her up on his mount. He rode to his rose-garden and walked Similde through his treasured roses, assuming that nobody can spot him because of his magic cap. But the knights of King Etsch who are famous for themselves like Dietrich von Bern and his weapon master Hildebrand followed King Lauren. They could not detect the invisible Dwarven King, but they saw the roses moving and clever as they were, deduced that King Lauren was hiding in his rose-garden.
King Lauren thought himself prepared to fight the knights, as he was equipped with his magic belt, but he was mistaken. The knights found him and destroyed his belt and so were able to capture him. King Lauren now felt so betrayed by his beloved rose-garden that he spoke a curse: ‘Neither by day nor by night should anyone again glimpse this lovely sight.’ But as he had forgotten the time of twilight and dawn, from this day onward the famous rose-garden glowed only in the early morning and with the setting of the sun.
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The process
The painting I worked in two steps. I started of with a base coat of thick acrylic paint on aquarelle paper. I applied left over paint from my last bigger work in a fast (and furious) method: I splashed chunks of paint on the paper and then distributed it with my hands and a palette knife.
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After this first coat was completely dry I started to flesh out the landscape. Here for I used a wooden pin and a small palette knife. I started with the mountains and then worked my way down to the river. The next step was to paint the forest and at last the sky with its clouds and bright glow of the setting sun.
This was my first painting for weeks (and my first post) and I am sorry for not being able to write consistently. As I do not want to make myself sad again by writing about the reasons, I will simply give you the link to my explanation post.
I hope you are all healthy and well <3
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Beautiful painting .... You should be posting from the Partiko app to get extra Steem ... https://partiko.app/referral/offgridlife
Posted using Partiko iOS
Thank you for the compliment and the tip. I already have the partiko app installed, but now I have to get to learn it :-)
I spent several holidays as a child with my parents in South Tyrol, mostly during spring time. I loved how the valleys were full of flowering apple or cherry trees while on the mountain tops was winter with snow. Each time we visited the Rosengarten or the Drei Zinnen and I bought a book there with the story of King Laurin.
I love how your picture is dominated by green - I only have seen them with snow around me and the mountains looked totally different that way.
Many hugs from me - take care!
Me tooooo.... I remember to spent time in St. Leonhardt, in Lajen or Brixen, around Bozen and Meran. I also loved the apple blossom, it was magical. In my twenties Bozen got a different meaning fo rme, as one of my best/beloved dance teacher was from there and Bozen had many great festivals and workshops. But all a long time ago....
Sending hugs back <3
Hello gorgeous lady
This is cool! I look forward to your artexplosion entry if this is a practice piece.
My participation in the art explosion is a bit of a running joke, I am this contests most dedicated well intended, enthusiastic cereal procrastinator.
When Jules changed it to 2 weeks, rather than maximise the time, true to form i became more laissez faire.
I haven't started anything, but i have ideas of swirls and visual illusions.
I have a half finished drawing from the contest before crypto art and ..... Can't remember the other component , but I thought I'd start over with some of the ideas.
Thanks for dropping me the link. Im so glad you did, i am a terrible networker. I miss so much here.
I hope you are well. I have several needlework projects i have half finished too. I have had a tendency to do lengthy early morning commentary (its 6am) but haven't posted much lately.
Thanks for hosting today's minipost comment.
Here is a peak at one of my latest "creations",
I call it-
Started as a pillow case, painted with acrylic, think it's a tote now , need to add a handle and such...
😂😂😂😂😂😂
X
Thank you for the compliment <3 I actually like it more than the work I want/wanted to submit at the contest.... I am still contemplating to make another painting. Right now, my psychedelic piece would be this elephant
And with the networking... I think I am even worse... sigh...but I am happy I inspired this comment-post of yours as I loooove the second work. I especially love, that it is not clear what function the artwork has. I love that is multidimensional and that you have used different techniques and materials together. The eyes are super intense, and the observer is suck into them. (The first drawing is also good and very fitting into the theme 'psychedelic' - but I love the second one)
And if you are still undecided in 10 days which work to submit, you could also submit your word creation 'dedicated well intended, enthusiastic cereal procrastinator'... it is psychedelic enough :-D
Big hugs to you <3
I absolutely love this piece! You are an incredibly inspiring artist.
The elephant is almost camouflaged, then once seen it becomes a very powerful focal point.
Brilliant!
I am partial to elephants, an impulsive collector actually. I find it hard not to buy them, especially when at a second hand store for a couple of dollars. I got my first set of 4 painted wooden elephants from sri lanka as a baby, they are one of my most precious things, I still have them. They started my obsession. My cousin was adopted from sri lanka, we are close in age and were very close growing up, each of us got matching sets in different colours. xxxxxx
Ohhh wow, what a compliment, I am blushing. I absolutely do not feel like this as I am my hardest critic.
And with the elephants... what a coincidence!!I can imagine how precious the wooden elephants must be for you, as I often feel like objects/artworks can be soaked with feelings and memories <3 I think I am bit animistic <3
The sheer liveliness radiates to me. From the mountain, where the red evening light begins to quarrel with the dark blue darkness, a light fight burns. Down in the valley, where the wild river comes to rest and the birds are hidden in the tree, it soon becomes quiet.
This is how I feel when I look at your picture. A talent you should never underestimate.
I haven't so far read your text. Will do that later on.
Uhhhh thank you <3 <3 It is extreme flattering to here such a nice interpretation.