Fire And Water
This artwork is built around a sculpture I made some years ago as part of a set of 4 pieces symbolizing ‘The Elements’, seen in the New Zealand context.
Fire is symbolized by the volcano, and water is ubiquitous in Aotearoa, the Land Of The Long White Cloud.
Fire and water of course do not mix, and some especially spectacular results occur when volcanic magma and gases are released under the sea. This is exactly what is predicted to occur when the next eruption takes place in our largest city, Auckland – a narrow peninsula riddled with approx 53 volcanic vent holes.
In this regard, here is an interesting comment from NZ’s GeoNet:
“The type of volcanic activity in Auckland means each eruption has occurred at a new location; these are coming from a single active ‘hot spot’ of magma about 100 km below the city. … Auckland’s existing volcanoes are unlikely to become active again, but the Auckland Volcanic Field itself is young and still active.”
For more details, click on the image.
Mixed media – sculpture and Bézier pen tool vector. Created in Macromedia Fireworks MX.
Patricia
Spirit of the Volcano
Thought by way of a change, I’d add a painting I’ve just put up in my store on Society6.
This was inspired by New Zealand’s magnificent Central North Island Plateau (National Park as we call it) – the location for 3 volcanoes, 2 of them active. Note: Mount Tongariro has proved me wrong on this, with a series of recent eruptions – Yay! The ‘inactive’ volcano – Mount Tongariro – has so many blown-out craters, it’s probably more like a bunch of volcanoes in its own right.
If you saw the “Lord of The Rings” series, one of our active volcanoes on this plateau – Mt Ngauruohoe – was featured as Mt Doom.
Ngauruhoe is actually a beautiful, symmetrical cone, regarded as a female in Maori tradition, and she looks anything but ‘doomful’ under normal conditions. She does, however, tend to have a plume of steam arising from her crater quite often – a sign that she is by no means as sweet-natured as she may look.
Anyway, the inspiration for this small ACEO painting was Mt Tongariro doing its undoubted best. Click on the image for larger size and more details …
Patricia Howitt Art Blog 