Painting the Divine

Dione, the Divine - oil on panel, 30 x 30cm

Lately, in the studio, I’ve been continuing exploring the theme of the Nereides, the sea nymph daughters of Nereus, the Old Man of the Sea in my paintings.

Dione, the Divine is my latest ocean-inspired painting to be completed. Mentioned by Apollodorus, the Greek poet. Dione's name means "the divine." She is not to be confused with the earlier Titaness who some say was the mother of Aphrodite.

For this painting, I have interpreted the divine as having power over the forces of nature In its most direct form, the operation of this power implies some form of divine intervention of the state of the sea. In Greek legend, for instance, it was Poseidon (the god of the sea) who used his abilities and raised the storms that blew Odysseus's boat off course on his return journey.

Dione, the Divine is an emotive painting full of dark and light contrasts and ethereal light in which I have attempted to capture the sense of awe when facing the fleeting forces of nature.