Here is new video of Jeanie Tomanek's beautiful art. I love the gentle beauty of these paintings, drawn from myth and fairy tale, from poetry and from the natural rhythms of nature. Her female figures are at once maternal, Demeters with arms full of sheaves of wheat, of flowers and branches. They are composed of moonlight and the rich soil -- silver, indigo, ochre and rust. The women always seem on a journey; treading paths through spare groves, sailing small night boats or drifting upward on wings. And there are always animals to accompany them -- loyal dogs, ravens and deer.
Of her work Jeanie explains: "I paint to explore the significance of ideas, memories, events, feelings, dreams and images that seem to demand my closer attention," she says. "Some of the themes I investigate emerge first in the poems I write. Literature, folktales, and myths often inspire my exploration of the feminine archetype. My figures often bear the scars and imperfections, that, to me, characterize the struggle to become."
You can read more about Jeanie in "The Heart's Desire: The Art of Jeanie Tomanek" (Journal of Mythic Arts) and see more of her wonderful art on her website.
