Melusine

While I was looking up “terpsichory”, I came across “Melusine”. I decided to share the Wikipedia explanation. I just liked the idea of such a strange creature, hope you think so too.

For other uses, see Melusine (disambiguation).

Mélusine (French: [melyzin]) or Melusine or Melusina is a figure of European folklore, a female spirit of fresh water in a holy well or river. She is usually depicted as a woman who is a serpent or fish from the waist down (much like a lamia or a mermaid). She is also sometimes illustrated with wings, two tails, or both. Her legends are especially connected with the northern and western areas of France, Luxembourg, and the Low Countries.

What do you see?

Today at choir someone had spilt water on the floor. Like a Rorschach test, looking at ink blots, I saw the figure of a fairy swinging. Both legs bent at the knee, wearing pointed toe boots, sitting forward on a swing, butterfly wings behind and a little pixie hat on her head. If I can I will try and draw on top of the image to see how much more I can make it look like a fairy. This is an example of Pareidolia, where the mind sees images from random patterns.

Feeling owlish

An Owl painting I did a couple of years ago. They are intriguing birds. Their ears are set at different heights underneath all their feathers so that they can differentiate which side their prey is on. Their wings are silent as they fight through the air, making it hard for animals to know they are being hunted. Sharp talons for gripping and hooked beaks for tearing into their prey make them a top predator. Beautiful but deadly.

cat dragon

used basic photoshop drawing tools to turn my cat into a dragon. She was stretched out on the bed this afternoon and the way she was lying was just right for this.Added some blue sky, and with that cute look it just worked, she could be twisting and turning in the air ready to land on the top branches of a tree, ready to furl her wings and sit and have a peaceful wash or she might be ready for mischeif? Whatever she does she will remain cat sized and gentle.

She could also be a bat cat, or a magpie cat. Genetically manipulated to be catwomans friend, you saw it here first!

Crying dragon

Tell me dragon

Why do you cry?

Why aren’t you flying

Up very high?

I can’t he said

With a tear in his eye

I walk on the ground

Not up in the sky!

But why is that?

Then with a great sigh

He told me sadly

I no longer fly

My wings disappeared

I just want to die!

So I bought an old glider

Made of two by one ply

Glued on the wings

Now the dragon can Fly!

Ideas for dragon wings

Dragonfly, gossamer and transparent. Rainbow hued like oil on water.

Scaly, leathery, patterned scales cover the wings and flutter as the wind blows over them.

Batwinged, stretched between long thin bones. Good for gliding and flitting silently.

Feathered, similar to Pegasus wings, bright white or golden. Shaped like an eagles wings.

Butterfly. So delicate, barely able to hold a dragon aloft. They are fine and delicate. Made of magical stuff.

Finally kite shaped. Stretched over a frame. Bright colours and even streamers of material. Light and strong.

Dragon heads

Thinking about dragons and how they look? For a mythical beast there are lots of ‘species’. Ancient Chinese and Japanese, medieval dragons battled by saints, dragons in stories by authors like Anne McCaffrey, films like ‘ how to train your dragon’, with a dragon with a catlike head (toothless).

Then, logically, the wings wouldn’t really get it off the ground. But a mythical beast would be magical and easily able to fly. How about having wings like a dragonfly? Gossamer and transparent? And does the dragon have a scaled body or could it have fur?

Lots to think about!