Well ladies and gentlemen, we are reaching the end of this collection. Here is piece #9 out of 10 and what a journey it has been so far!
This painting was one of the original concepts and though it has been altered and changed a little along the way, it holds true to the original theme.
This painting was inspired by two different quotations. The first is the nursery rhyme “Ring around the rosie, pocket full of posies, ashes, ashes, we all fall down”, which many of us growing up in the states could remember singing when we were children.
Ironically, it does come from the Black Plague, a time period which is very fascinating to me. They had this belief that beautiful smelling flowers could keep the sickness away…
The 2nd quote is actually from Batman, of all places. “Would you dance with the devil in the pale moonlight?”
I always loved that imagry. Though there is no moon in this painting, it reminded me of midsommar here in Sweden and the people dancing happily around the maypole. This whole collection has been so much about temptation and self preserverance. Who will be sucked in and who will manage to break away?
The devil and his entourage happily dance in the background, while the girl in the forefront looks at the viewers with her posies and I suppose wonders where shóuld she go? Should she join the celebration or should she keep her talisman of protection and carry on with her own life path?
The answer will come in the next painting, the final one in the series! It’s close now to a year that I have been working on this thematic collection and it’ll be bittersweet for it to come to an end.
This piece is available through Galleri Melefors in Linköping and measures 85 x 65 cm (painted on Belgian linen). If you’re interested in adopting it, feel free to send me a message through my contact tab up above! <3