Nicole Cadet Fantasy Art

Finally *glees* she's finished! I forget how much I love painting with acrylics and although I've probably only got half a dozen online, I used to paint nearly exclusively with acrylics up until the end of art college. This one looked wrong for about two months until I finally got the cloudy sky happening :)

"Ériu"
Acrylics on paper - 11 x 16" (A3)



Background of the painting (There are lots of different myths with subtle variances):
I've loved the character Ériu since I read Orla Melling's The Singing Stone when I was about 13. I think that's where my obsession with Celts probably began (already loved Arthurian knights and medieval stuff, but Melling opened my eyes to Celtic Mythology). Anyways, Ériu is the namesake of Ireland, one of the Tuatha Dé Danann (Irish gods). She had two sisters Banba and Fódla (the top left). Amergin, the Milesian bard, stands to the right, with King Mil below him.

Arriving by ship, they made a truce with the Tuatha Dé Danann to stay nine waves distance from the shore. The Tuatha Dé Danann cast a magical storm to destroy the invaders, however Amergin calmed the waves with his songs, the Milesians went to shore and defeated the Tuatha Dé Danann. When Amergin divided the land between the peoples, he set aside above the ground for the Milesians, and underground for the Tuatha Dé Danann (who entered via the Sidhe mounds).

Some of the symbols include the four mythical treasures of the Tuatha Dé Danann -

• the Spear of Lug - representing Truth (held by one of the sisters)
  
• Dagda's Cauldron - a cornucopia (held by Ériu)
• The Stone of Fal (Lia Fáil) - two stones of destiny (The standing stones Ériu stands between)
• Sword of light (Claíomh Solais) - (held by Amergin as he will eventually win the battle and rule well)

I know there was some meaning with the flowers (probably just me being poetic with wild Irish Roses - I know I hunted for particular flowers, can't remember why), and her hair colour is blonde - I think I read a reference about the Tuatha Dé Danann having blonde hair (though I accidentally painted one of the sisters with dark auburn hair). The Milesians were said to be Gaelic/ Spanish.