Today was a scorcher. I worked until 5 pm, sweating profusely as
usual. The first thing I did was drop-splat myself directly into our
backyard above-ground pool. It was freezing as usual. It was amazing.
Five
hours later I still felt like hot death, so I shimmied back into my
suit, marched up that pool ladder, and flung myself into the pool with
the abandon of a dog jumping at wasps. It was even more amazing than
before.
I told my fiance I'd just dunk and get out
right away, but I had to stay in and frolic. I had to. It was a full moon and it was glistening betwixt the trees for me. I was the sea
nymph Israfel, whom this mysterious stranger had captured and clothed,
and given me inflatable toys to play with. He asked me what did I eat in
the ocean that he could bring me? Naturally I told him my native foods
were garlic butter prawns and crab legs.
Eventually he
lured me out... did you know sea nymphs could live on land? They can you
know. Mysterious Stranger wrapped me in a warm, fuzzy yellow robe and
showed me how to walk. He even taught me how to open a door... turn the
knob and push yourself through the portal.
I like land.
In
celebration I shall now post some of the (mostly pre-raphaelite)
paintings I have been indulging in for the last two nights. Sea nymphs,
sirens, naiads, and mermaids. Among them, some of my favourite artists
such as Evelyn de Morgan and John William Waterhouse. However, if you
are not comfortable with nude figures you best be moving on.
nymph
1. one of a numerous class of lesser deities of mythology, conceived of as beautiful maidens inhabiting the sea, rivers, woods, trees, mountains, meadows, etc., and frequently mentioned as attending a superior deity.
2. a beautiful or graceful young woman.
3. a maiden.
nai·ad
[ney-ad]
noun, plural
1. Classical Mythology - any of a class of nymphs presiding over rivers and springs.
Click to enlarge the images.
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| DETAIL of John William Waterhouse - Hylas and the Nymphs, 1886 |
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| John William Waterhouse - A Mermaid |
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| John William Waterhouse - The Siren |
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| Lord Frederick Leighton - The Fisherman and the Syren |
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| Adolphe La Lyre - Dans Les Rochers de la Plage, a Cartelet |
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| Sophie Anderson - Head of a Nymph |
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| Evelyn Pickering De Morgan - Little Sea Maid |
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| Guillaume Seignac - La Vague (The Wave) |
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| The Land Baby by John Collier |
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| Herbert Draper - The Water Baby |
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| Herbert James Draper - Title Unknown |
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| Herbert James Draper, The Foam Sprite |
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| James Herbert Draper - Ulysses and the Sirens |
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| James Herbert Draper - The Sea Maiden |
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| James Herbert Draper - Flying Fish |
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| Paul Albert Laurens (1870-1934, French) - Catching Waves |
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| Siren or the Green Abyss by Giulio Aristide Sartorio, 1900 |
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| Hans Zatka |
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| Hans Zatka - Pearls of the Sea |
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| Hans Zatka |
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| Hans Zatka, Water Nymphs |
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| Evelyn Pickering de Morgan - Sea Maidens |
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| Charles Edouard Boutibonne - Mermaids Frolicking in the Sea |
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| Mermaid and Her Offspring - Edward Burn-Jones |
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| Victor Karlovich Shtemberg - Sirens by the Sea |
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| Mermaids, by Edward Frederick Brewtnall |
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| Elisabeth Jerichau Baumann Havfrue, 1863 |
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| Elisabeth Jerichau-Baumann - A Mermaid at NY Carlsberg Glyptotek, 1863 |
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| Adolphe La Lyre - La Chute de la Sirene |
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| Arnold Boecklin |
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| Circle of Johann Heinrich Wilhelm Tischbein |
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| Peter Nicolai Arbo Havmanden |
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| Mermaid, by Severino Baraldi |
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| Edward Poynter- The Cave of the Storm Nymphs |
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| Gioacchino Pagliei, The Naiads, 1881 |
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| Gaston Bussiere - The Nereides |
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| Calm Sea by Arnold Bocklin |
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| Mermaids, Artist Unknown (if you know who it is, please let me know!) |
