{"id":43027,"title":"A Fish Out of Water - Postcard from Naxos","description":"Delving into the deep, a marine themed illustration and gentle reference.","content":"

\"czxhprfwvz2slg8jzgvyigcqfwdsbauk2khefooxs3vp89fc.png.png?w=1140&v=2\"Drawing & Gentle Reference of the Ornate Wrasse (Thalassoma pavo<\/em>)<\/p>

The beauty of doing what I do is that I am led completely by my own desires, I can observe the world around me and be drawn to a subject of my own choosing. Mostly it\u2019s birds that inspire me though a series of unlikely events inspired me to draw and gently reference my first fish. As some of you will know I have occasionally been inspired to draw creatures other than birds before, from bat to butterfly - shown at the bottom of this post.<\/p>

This drawing was informed by an intersection of inspirations and events. Firstly I received a copy of a new non-fiction book called Queer as Folklore by Sacha Coward<\/u><\/a>, as the title suggests the author delves into the sometimes unexpectedly queer history of folklore and I\u2019ve been fascinated by the book so far. I was reading the book recently on the way to seaside town Margate to see my friend Katie Tomlinson\u2019s show at Liminal Gallery<\/u><\/a>. The chapter on mermaids explores the queer connections of the mermaid and the myth of the chimera, the following passage was especially pertinent.\u00a0<\/p>

\u201cThe trait of the singing mermaid myth also has its origin with the Greeks. This happened when the story of the oceanids were mixed up with an entirely different creature, that of the siren. Originally sirens were depicted as half-human and half-bird<\/u>, their claim to fame being their beautiful singing voices and a love of causing shipwrecks. The two creatures seem to blend, with sirens and mermaids becoming synonymous. Arguably this was down to either a mistranslation of Greek manuscripts or the thematic overlap of the two beings. The half-fish form took precedent over the half-bird creatures of classical myth.\u201d \u00a0<\/p>

Katie Tomlinson <\/u><\/a>\u2018Under the Surface\u2019, 50 x 60cm, Oil & Lipstick on Canvas<\/p>

These thoughts of half-bird and half-fish creatures in relationship to my work were swirling around my head when I got to Margate. I was amused to discover that my friends recent work was exploring ideas of myth, mermaid and \u2018marine monsters\u2019 her paintings are beautiful and I was especially struck by the painting above. The gallery looks out to sea and all <\/em><\/strong>was strangely connected.\u00a0<\/p>

I am not someone that grew up with an expectation of foreign holidays, I barely left the country until my twenties and have mostly travelled with The Pansy Project<\/u><\/a> since then. I\u2019ve always been amazed that people are able to afford such decadence. Since the pandemic I\u2019ve left the country once to see the Venice Biennial, so when my friends were booking a villa in Naxos I was very tempted but felt unable to afford such luxury. Though as the time approached I listlessly browsed for last minute cheap flights and managed to find an affordable option. So a day later I found myself on a last-minute holiday to Naxos in Greece, with my copy of Queer as Folklore in tow.<\/p>

I assuage my feelings of guilt at flying in the midst of the climate crisis by telling myself that my carbon footprint is relatively low, I have no children, I do not drive and given that I\u2019ve flown twice in the past five years I feel that this is reasonable given the footprint of others.\u00a0<\/p>

And so I found myself gazing over the Aegean sea, it wasn\u2019t long before I was in there swirling amongst the fish. My friend Agatha and I were amongst the more enthusiastic \u2018divers\u2019, so we were delighted when we spotted a little blue headed fish. It looked unexpectedly tropical and so bright in the clear blue sea. We bobbed up and down to frolic in the seas spotting more of them as we chased them through the shallows. I was so struck and enchanted by it, later I Googled it and discovered it was a Wrasse, at first I misidentified it as a Rainbow Wrasse, though on closer inspection I found it to be an Ornate Wrasse<\/em><\/strong>. Over the next few days we spotted them frequently sometimes in pairs and sometimes in little groups of various sizes and colours, I dove down as deeply as I could to get closer looks at them. Warming in the sun between little diving expeditions, I vowed to illustrate and gently reference it when I returned to London.<\/p>

Ornate Wrasse (Thalassoma pavo<\/em>)<\/p>

The Ornate Wrasse became even more interesting and relevant to my work exploring the queerness of nature, as I discovered that the fish changes gender depending on its environment, The Ornate Wrasse (Thalassoma pavo<\/em>) changes sex from female to male when reproductive conditions require it. This is called successive hermaphroditism of the protogynous type. Many species of wrasses (family Labridae) exhibit protogynous hermaphroditism. In these species, dominant males often control harems of females. If the male is lost, the largest female will undergo a change of sex and assume the role of the dominant male. Recognising the fluidity of nature changes how we think about the environment. The more we understand queerness in the natural world, the more we are able to defend ourselves against those that decry us as \u2018unnatural\u2019, a depressingly frequent position those that hate queerness still use.<\/p>

Apollo Temple's entrance, Naxos<\/p>

In the research I\u2019ve done since my return I\u2019ve discovered that the mythological sea god Poseidon was passing by Naxos whilst driving his chariot on the sea surface and is where he first laid eyes on his future wife, the nereid Amphitrite as she was dancing there. It\u2019s such a joy to have had the experience of swimming where Poseidon once rode his chariot and hilarious to return and channel a fish in the midst of the fading feelings of a holiday. Left: Edmund Dulac, The Mermaid in the sea. Right: Portrait of Hans Christian Anderson by Christian Albrecht Jensen\u00a0<\/p>

Another little queer insight into the mythology of the mermaid from \u2018Queer as Folklore\u2019 is that \u2018The Little Mermaid\u2019 was written by Hans Christian Anderson in response to an unrequited love of Edvard Collin. \u201cWhen it came to romance, Andersen was more moth<\/strong> than flame. Andersen frequently flirted with men and women alike, and, just as often, he found himself burnt by rejection.\u201d Since discovering this I\u2019ve been down the rabbit hole, and can\u2019t help identify with Hans Christian Anderson, more on that here.<\/u><\/a>There is also the Disney animated version of \u2018The Little Mermaid\u2019, where the sea witch, Ursula was reportedly modelled on the infamous drag queen Divine<\/u><\/a>, I was aware of this, though to read about it in the context of Greek myth and the history of the mermaid was\/is very pleasing. Of course my own drag history informs all of my little references and I enjoy the cross pollination.<\/p>

When it came to the reference I adopted my usual process of scouring my wardrobe and second hand shops. I found this green top months ago and sensed that it might come in handy if I ever drew a fish or amphibian (mmm?) and the \u2018skirt\u2019 was a perfectly coloured curtain from Oxfam. I found some wooden pegs and painted them blue to reference the fins and made the head dress out of pipe-cleaners, one of my favourite things to work with, the ear-ring a gift from a friend (Maria) perfectly finished off the look.<\/p>

This unexpected aquatic gentle reference has been a hoot and perhaps I\u2019ll do another, marine life is filled with astounding beauty and sea life is as endangered as all of the natural world. As ever my research continues. It seems appropriate to supply a postcard of this \u2018postcard\u2019 from Naxos, you can buy one here.<\/u><\/a><\/p>

Other <\/em>Gentle References that aren\u2019t birds\u2026<\/em><\/strong><\/h3>

The occasional series of \u2018non-bird\u2019 gentle references are usually inspired by a personal story or by someone asks very nicely - you can do that here<\/u><\/a>. Who knows where this strange little project will take me next.<\/p>

<\/p>

See the rest here: https:\/\/birdscanflystore.com\/gentlereferences\/<\/a><\/p>","urlTitle":"postcard-from-naxos","url":"\/blog\/postcard-from-naxos\/","editListUrl":"\/my-blogs","editUrl":"\/my-blogs\/edit\/postcard-from-naxos\/","fullUrl":"https:\/\/birdscanflystore.com\/blog\/postcard-from-naxos\/","featured":false,"published":true,"showOnSitemap":true,"hidden":false,"visibility":null,"createdAt":1727798129,"updatedAt":1770152154,"publishedAt":1770152153,"lastReadAt":null,"division":{"id":107566,"name":"Birds Can Fly"},"tags":[{"id":1114,"code":"art","name":"Art","url":"\/blog\/tagged\/art\/"},{"id":1117,"code":"l-g-b-t-q","name":"LGBTQ","url":"\/blog\/tagged\/l-g-b-t-q\/"},{"id":1368,"code":"fashion","name":"Fashion","url":"\/blog\/tagged\/fashion\/"},{"id":1369,"code":"illustration","name":"Illustration","url":"\/blog\/tagged\/illustration\/"},{"id":1917,"code":"history","name":"History","url":"\/blog\/tagged\/history\/"},{"id":3631,"code":"travel","name":"Travel","url":"\/blog\/tagged\/travel\/"}],"metaImage":{"original":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/yjuhwvmwsiemh05qc5qo49inr7wipq6arrojx4pf9kz2b85v.jpeg","thumbnail":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/yjuhwvmwsiemh05qc5qo49inr7wipq6arrojx4pf9kz2b85v.jpeg.jpg?w=1140&h=855","banner":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/yjuhwvmwsiemh05qc5qo49inr7wipq6arrojx4pf9kz2b85v.jpeg.jpg?w=1920&h=1440"},"metaTitle":"A Fish Out of Water - Postcard from Naxos","metaDescription":"Delving into the deep, a marine themed illustration and gentle reference.","keyPhraseCampaignId":null,"series":[],"similarReads":[{"id":9889,"title":"LGBT History Month","url":"\/blog\/lgbt-history-month\/","urlTitle":"lgbt-history-month","division":107566,"description":"Paul Harfleet reflects on LGBT History Month 2021.","published":true,"metaImage":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/ekp1npewm3bbdgz5vh688egmi8wa75ayhuzytu5v3mmwofwu.jpeg.jpg?w=1140&h=855","banner":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/ekp1npewm3bbdgz5vh688egmi8wa75ayhuzytu5v3mmwofwu.jpeg.jpg?w=1920&h=1440"},"hidden":0},{"id":9902,"title":"Stories Behind the Designs","url":"\/blog\/the-story-of-birds-can-fly\/","urlTitle":"the-story-of-birds-can-fly","division":107566,"description":"The journey from drawing to garment.","published":true,"metaImage":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/logdy9wz68ihyajfcrhjcrncc3nxc9tms1c6yx9jculeotz6.jpeg.jpg?w=1140&h=855","banner":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/logdy9wz68ihyajfcrhjcrncc3nxc9tms1c6yx9jculeotz6.jpeg.jpg?w=1920&h=1440"},"hidden":0},{"id":10431,"title":"Birds Can Fly: Hearing from the Winners","url":"\/blog\/reflecting-on-the-birds-can-fly-competition\/","urlTitle":"reflecting-on-the-birds-can-fly-competition","division":107566,"description":"Hearing from the winners of my Second Birds Can Fly Competition and reflecting on the impact of this new body of work.","published":true,"metaImage":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/4ssny9ukfh73kvpgeqxj8aclazu3iziv69lte62andyxlhqx.jpeg.jpg?w=1140&h=855","banner":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/4ssny9ukfh73kvpgeqxj8aclazu3iziv69lte62andyxlhqx.jpeg.jpg?w=1920&h=1440"},"hidden":0}],"labels":[]}