Amy Jarvis Art

Legertha, a Viking Shield-maiden from Norse Mythology

I was watching a Vikings episode shown on The History Channel and admiring the sheer bad@ssery this mythical woman, Legertha, when the spark came to me that I could do a series on her and more woman leaders like her.

She was fascinating, inspiring and fierce and she was going to be the first in a series of paintings I’d figure out.
I based this painting’s subject on a tale of how Legertha and her husband, Ragnar, got together.

The story goes like this:

He was very impressed with her courage and wanted to court her for some time.

When he arrived to to the coast to seek her hand in marriage, he sent word but she feigned interest. And, then she came up with a challenge for him.

She allowed him to win her hand if he could come to her land and get past her bear and hound, which guarded her home. 

He speared the bear and choked the hound and won her hand. Umm? 

But, later in the tale we find out he was annoyed and resentful that she endangered his life, so upon returning to Denmark to fight in a civil war, he divorced her and took another wife (who happened to be a daughter of the King of Sweden). 

Upon researching for Legertha, I found some slightly disappointing news.

There are chronicles from the 1070s suggesting that the women were actually said to be “war-like,” without clarification of that what means.

And in other sources, stating there may have been only a handful of shield-maidens, not the army of women that we were all envisioning. There is a suggestion from scholars that they were a literary motif perhaps devised to counter the influences of invading Christian and their notion of proper submissive female behavior. We’ll take it.

I used a friend’s fierce face in this painting, quickly photographed at her kid’s school while waiting for the bus. I am so thankful she had the time.

Painting one in the series.

Harriet Tubman (1820–1913), escaped from slavery to become a leading abolitionist, humanitarian and Union spy during the American Civil War. 

Harriet was born Araminta Ross, known as Minty for years and also Moses, later.

She decided that death was preferable to chains and worked tirelessly to free hundreds of slaves, after she found her own way to freedom with the organized effort known as the Underground Railroad. These trips to freedom were long, harsh and at night following the North Star.

Harriet suffered a traumatic head injury as a teenager, and throughout her whole life suffered seizures and what she called visions.

She valued them as religious experiences from God and used these visions to help guide her on her journeys.

I knew I wanted Harriet in my show early on, but I wasn’t sure if I could execute it the way I wanted to and wanted to be very sensitive to the African-American culture. I thought on it for months, and then I asked my yoga teacher friend, Joanna Brooks, about it. I shared my vision for the painting.

She loved Harriet and gave me two thumbs up and then we talked about my need for an actual model. She had just the person who also loved Harriet. And that person, Monica Pulley, said yes and was so generous of her time and cut up an old sundress that I decided I wanted to keep on Harriet because the patterns were more desirable than slave clothing and this painting was about freedom.
I had been recently inspired by reading the book “The Water Dancer,” by Te-Nehisi Coates and refers to this magical conduction situation around Harriet and her visions. I felt inspired. The blue light on her finger pays homage to the book.

The Leonid meteor shower was spectacular in 1833, and I’d like to think she saw it on her route and why I included a fairly bright starry night here.

“Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world.”

Just before Harriet’s death in 1913 she told friends and family, “I go to prepare a place for you.”  And did she ever.

Painting eight in the series.

Devotion seeps out of every corner.

I chose Durgha. Her name means impassable, unassailable; a fortress.

She preserves moral order and righteousness in the creation.
As Deepak Chopra mentions about his homeland, “India is an assault on the senses, with its oxen, cars, bikes, noise and smells and a very fragmented history. Yet, the Indian people remain calm in the chaos.”

This painting took the longest to paint of the series. A bit more precision and detail was called for and I wanted to see if I was up to the task of mostly imitating, with my own skills and adding my own touches in order to make this well-known deity come to life. I even photographed my own hands 8 times to make it more mine.

There is high symbolism in these representations of gods, and the symbolism may change from region to region.

When I showed my painting to my friend, Padmini, she looked aghast and asked “Why are her eyes closed?” (that is not done with Durgha), and when I cheekily explained that I felt it gave her a more spiritual and all-knowing actualization of herself and the world, Padmini giggled and liked the idea.  

In approximation,  I’ll mention the symbolic items in what she is holding in her many hands from left (as we view) going up and clockwise:

Hand with Mudra with Om symbol: Forgiveness and Blessings

Trident: Courage

Sword: Discrimination

Chakra: Righteousness

Lotus: Detachment

Club: Loyalty and Love

Arrow and bow: Character

Conch: Happiness

She herself represents positive pure energy. Her tiger represents unlimited power and her red sari represents her protection of mankind from pain and suffering.

I did not keep track of the hours put in here, and it didn’t take nearly as long as it took to build the Taj Mahal.

Painting two in the series, and finished much later.

The photo made me emotional, I had to paint her.

In searching for an image I couldn’t help but feel pain and shame at what was taken away from the indigenous people all over our great nation. Many of the mythical woman I chose to create in this series, are protectors of people and land and beauty. 

I couldn’t stop thinking of Loti-kee-yah-tede and wanted her to take her rightful place in my series, as a mythic. I wanted to pay homage to a beautiful nation especially after I read a Pueblo Myth called The Mother Moon. 

In the painting of Loti-kee-yah-tede, I blinded one of her eyes to tie in the story of a Laguna myth, The Mother Moon. 

Here is my summary of the story:

The Sun, who was to be the father of all things and the Moon maiden the first and loveliest woman in all the world and in her fair form, were the seeds of all humanity and of all life and love.

They married and made a happy brood together and from that brood the whole world began.

He, the Sun, guarded them all by day and she, the Moon, by night. Both watching over the world with their bright golden light as both had two bright eyes each and made all the beautiful children of the world dance and sing all day and night…it was never dark.

And over time, the world grew weary and the birds flew away, the flowers never shut and none knew how to rest. 

The Trues came to the realization that the world was not well, and the Sun and Moon must not see with two sets of eyes alike, and that one eye needs to be taken out so there is darkness half the time.

The Moon went the Trues and begged them to take her eye so that her children could be content and that her husband could continue to be the provider, their protector against harm and hunt game for them to eat. 

She cried these things and they let her to have her way.

“It is well, daughter,” they said, and she could never again see so very well. 

Then night finally came upon the tired earth, and the flowers and birds and people slept their first sleep, and it was very good. 

In her motherhood, the Moon was more beautiful than ever.

Painting three in the series.

I think many of us artists feel the mythical qualities of Frida, and I have been a 30 year fan. I’ve been waiting for an excuse to take my time and pay homage.

She is a legend, a warrior of life, fierce in personality and opinion and inspiring.

She wanted it this way. She wanted to be seen and heard.

An iconic woman from real life painted over and over again because she is interesting. It is mesmerizing that she did all this while enduring a lifetime of chronic pain. She had polio as a kid and then as a teen was in near-fatal bus accident that caused her multiple injuries, including a pierced pelvis and displaced vertebrae. And due to the accident and failed corrective surgery, Frida wore a corset to support her spine much of her life. She lived every day being uncomfortable.

In working on my idea, my bookshelf already had the inspiration I was seeking; her personal diary, reprinted, which I have carried with me for years.

For my painting, I very much wanted to construct a composition with her handwriting and energy, both of which were alive and well in that diary.

I wanted to paint the famous photo portrait of her, in her traditional Mexican clothing which she loved to wear, with a bit of her personal thoughts, written in her hand and her native language, Spanish.

Her diary contained a sketch I was captivated with. It pictures a drawing of her in pain with angel wings and at the top of her sketch she writes “Te Vas? No” and at the bottom of the page she wrote “Alas Rotas” which translates from Spanish to English as “Are you leaving? No, broken wings.” She was expressing her state of affairs physically and emotionally.

Depicted with her in my painting is her deer, Granizo, that she also depicted herself in her famous painting “The Wounded Deer.” My quick version of that painting I also painted on her plaster body cast.

It was a joy to paint Frida, my hero.

Painting four in the series.

“Brigit of Ireland”

Brigit, also known as Saint Brigid, Brigit naofa, Muire na nGael and other names is a patron saint of Ireland who straddled Paganism and Christianity and defended the plights of women.

You could say she is the Celtic version of Mother Mary. She is highly revered.

She is a protector of women, children, smithers, and she turns water into beer.

She also protects cows, sheep, hens and goats.

She can make the sun turn to rain.

She provides inspiration.

And, more.

I was given so much information on Brigit, after I did my own on-line researching it became hard to decide what stayed and what got left behind.  I knew I wanted to paint a younger Brigit and have it packed with some of her symbolism. 

I had help from a Brigit expert, Seosaimhín Nic Rabhartaigh, who still lives in Ireland.  We chatted a lot on WhatsApp and she knew a ton about her, I don’t want to say obsessed, but close.

Brigit liked to give away all the family’s belongings to people in need and it was very tiresome for her dad.

When she was older than depicted in my painting, she plucked out one of her eyes in order not to be married off by her father who kept trying.

Brigit only wanted to serve God and her father had to come to terms.

After he gave her permission, she immediately healed her eye back into place. She spent her entire life helping others and built a convent to serve.

Her white cloak has taken on significance and it’s a custom to leave a piece of fabric (representing her cloak)out on a bush on January 31st so becomes covered with morning dew as Brigit’s feast day is Feb 1st. In legend, it is believed that Brigit visits the world on that night and blesses it. There is a saying “Brat Bhride ort!” This translates to “the cloak of Brigit upon you!”

Here’s a fun centuries old fact: Bee stealing was a thing in the early 1300s and to protect these highly coveted insects, the “law of bees”  was written called Brecht-Betha. They were valuable and needed protection against thieves.

Notice the inclusion of a bee in this painting.

Also, the small Moiled cows here are native to Ireland. Most all were stolen by the Vikings and the breed did survive and are now also back in Ireland.

Painting five in the series.

They thought of themselves as Gods and inscribed it out of the largest stones they could find. Their beautiful pictorial language, Hieroglyphs, are captivating to us.

I chose Nefertiti for my Mythic for two reasons, childhood crush and that she possibly dressed up as a man to rule. 

As a child we had a bust of Nefertiti sitting about on a pedestal and I spent years trying not to knock it over, and also take time to stare at her and memorize the eye liner pattern I’d use in college. Plus, watching PBS growing up told fascinating stories of how they may have lived and reigned. I enjoyed how pimped out they were. The first celebrities? Maybe.

Nefertiti’s name means “The beautiful woman has come” and in my painting, I used personal artistic license to adjust that. 

Nefertiti ruled alongside her husband about 1353-1336 B.C and they did have two daughters together. 

The recorded history seems a bit sketchy to really understand the roles here, but in her case, there are hints of her dressing up as a man and ruling under the name Smenkhkare after her husband Akhenaten died.

In their short span as rulers, her husband and her took the polytheistic worshipping of Gods, to monotheistic. This was a big deal, and wasn’t received well.

It is written that she and her husband believed that the sun god Aten was the greatest of Egyptian gods and ruled supreme, thus reversing thousands of years of worshiping multiple Gods. 

Very bold rulers, these Egyptians.

Nefertiti is also known as a Pharaoh Queen, again suggesting she had a bigger role. Mostly men ruled during these times, but she paved the way for others, such as Cleopatra. 

Nefertiti and her husband changed the world forever and her enemies destroyed most all evidence of her life.

I can’t say I’m as emotionally attached to this mythic, but visually in awe of her and others at this time. Their history appears to be written and erased over and over again. And, we think ours will stick. 

Painting six of the series.

On her own and before World War ll, Marina had already become famous as an aviator (she was a very experienced pilot and navigator, as well).

In the 1930s. She helped set a number of long distance records. As women of Russia tried to join the war efforts, their applications were generally ignored and blocked until one evening Marina was in the same room as their Soviet leader, Joseph Stalin, and bent his ear.  He listened and created 3 new air regiments, all calling for women to be welcomed to the war. 

She led this effort and headed up the training, pushing these mostly twenty-years-olds to complete four years worth of training in a matter of months.

They were given wooden aircrafts, mens uniforms and boots. They were the first regiment in world in which only women had served so supplies were short.

They were met with skepticism and sexual harassment. 

They kept going.

Marina and her regiments became famously known as The Night Witches.

The Night Witches earned their name for flying into enemy territory at night, cutting the engines on the planes, going in low and then dropping bombs on the Nazis.  They came in like ghosts. 

The planes they flew did not have radar, so they had to fly low and they never used radios, so radio locators couldn’t pick them up either. The Nazis were afraid to light a cigarette at night in fear of being attacked.

Marina and many other women, became legendary aviators and navigators and took unprecedented risks to save their country from the Nazis. 

There are so many great photos of them looking proud, accomplished and laughing together.

This is why I chose to combine two Soviet Night Witches together. There is the most amazing public photo out there of Mariya Dolina who lived to 2010.

I kept going back to it. 

I couldn’t find photo credit for it, but it was colorized by a “Kimblin 0.01” with permission to use and I loved the hand-colored photo look of that time. 

Mariya photographs very similarly to Marina and in my research I saw a few instances where they were misnamed, so it helped my resolve in what I wanted to do for this painting.

Painting seven in the series.

According to legend, she was over 9 feet tall, with a voice which sounded like a temple bell, and rode into battle wearing golden armor and carrying a sword in each hand. 

The Chinese were said to be afraid of her fierce gaze and said it would be easier to fight a tiger than face Lady Trieu in battle.

She is also known to have 3-foot breasts that she tied on her back during battle. She usually fought while riding an elephant.  

Chinese historical sources make no mention of Trieu Thi Trinh, yet for the Vietnamese, she is the most historical figure of her time.

In legend, when her brother wanted to persuade her from rebelling, she told him:

I only want to ride the wind and walk the waves, slay the big whales of the Eastern sea, clean up frontiers, and save the people from drowning. Why should I imitate others, bow my head, stoop over and be a slave? Why resign myself to menial housework?

As for me, I chose not to camp up this painting with giant breasts and allowed her to wear a more flowing garment to allow a bit of softness in the painting. The designs in the corners were inspired by what is known as Hang Trong paintings, a style of Vietnamese folk art.

I wanted an elegant and fierce Lady Trieu.

I chose the golden yellow color for my background because it has valued symbolism for the Vietnamese, representing freedom, wealth and prosperity.

I started this painting after a significant break of time from the others.  Sometimes your own life has to be shelved to step up into your higher-self to serve others. My Mom’s health started to decline quickly and it took awhile to find the right type of housing and care. 

It was a fight to get any time in at my art studio to design and execute this painting. So, I felt the fierce subject matter quite fitting as the last one for this series. And once I started painting, it flowed out easily from brain to hands and is one of my personal favorites of the show.

Painting nine in the series.