Thursday, 15 May 2025

The Nine Daughters of Ran - first edition complete

 


Nine Daughters of Ran   print and mixed media   ©2025LisaLeQuelenec


The first set of Ran's daughters completed, each daughter mounted onto A4 paper with handprinted and painted net that binds them and suggests the presence of their mother Ran.


My intention had been to bind the daughters into a book format, a concertina so that they could be viewed in a linear format as below in this mock up.


Nine Daughters of Ran   print and mixed media   ©2025LisaLeQuelenec


I thought that this would be a good way of displaying the progression from calm to stormy waters, shallows to the deep. To be able to do this I think they need to be on a smaller scale and I should have thought through the practicalities at the beginning as needing to join sheets to make a long enough concertina became clumsy and distracting. If I were to exhibit and present this set I think they might actually work better framed individually so maybe this isn't as much of a set back as I made it in my  head.


I intend to do nine editions of the nine images using the same base lino blocks, each with different inking and different hand finishing - same sea but different tides - as each set of nine will be made over a long period of time I expect each to develop in different ways with different outcomes and I am thinking different ways of being presented. The idea of binding in a book isn't completely abandoned just yet and is probably something that I will return to, time will tell.


This first set is one that I will keep, a keystone for how the project will develop which may take some years. I am releasing them as prints on RedBubble  individually, in threes and as a print of all nine together in the formats below, they are also available as greeting cards.



Ran's Daughters Blóðughadda, Himinglæva & Kólga   prints available at RedBubble   ©2025LisaLeQuelenec





Ran's Daughters Hrönn, Bara & Unnor   prints available at RedBubble   ©2025LisaLeQuelenec





Ran's Daughters  DufaBylgia & Hefring   prints available at RedBubble   ©2025LisaLeQuelenec







Nine Daughters of Ran   prints available at RedBubble   ©2025LisaLeQuelenec




As a February side quest for the darkest month this project has grown considerably, I had no idea at the start I would be completing just a first round in May. I am hoping that I will discover more about the mythology surrounding these ladies and also parallels with other myths from around the world their commonality and differences; the sirens, selkies and mermaids come to mind and I am sure there are many others as I cast nets in waters outside of Europe. I am sure that these stories passed along trade routes with a bit from here and a bit from there added and missed along the way but with a core of similarities. Maybe you have suggestions that I could research I would love to hear.





4 comments:

Debbie Nolan said...

Lisa this is such an accomplishment and oh so very lovely. How beautiful friend. Hugs!

Lisa Le Quelenec said...

Thank you so much Debbie!
As I type I am listening to a blackbird singing his little heart out and wondering if you are listening to the birds in your garden. The oriole photograph in your post was a delight. I would love to see those in real life. Best wishes for a creative week.

RH Carpenter said...

I am amazed by the work that went into these prints - and the love of the sea, of the myths. Just wonderfully beautiful pieces in their own right but together they are awesome. I will look forward to seeing how these continue to evolve. Now to read a bit more about Ran’s daughters so I know the myths a bit more. I am reading a book titled The Sirens by Emilia Hart - a book about women convicts drowning before making their way to New South Wales, Australia…and also about the merrow (Irish legends of the tir fo thuinn, the land beneath the waves).

Lisa Le Quelenec said...

Thank you Rhonda! More for my reading list - both sound very interesting. The Sirens sounds like an interesting read - I just looked it up and am sold on the cover alone! Best wishes for a creative week.