Athena’s Shield is Melting

The fourth in a series called, ‘The Ancients’. Athena was the Greek goddess of wisdom, strategy, rational thought and civilisation. She is confronted by a very contemporary failure to effectively mitigate climate change. Wisdom has been defeated, not by ignorance but by our refusal to act. She leans on her shield with her eyes closed in horror as the planet has reached sufficient temperature to melt metal. Her rusty shield collapses and melts over the mountains into the sea. This disintegration vibrantly contrasts with the landscape which was based on field sketches made in Northwest Scotland where increasingly volatile weather is wetter and windier than ever as the Earth heats up.

The cool blues of the landscape were used  with the warm colours of Athena to emphasise the impact of global warming. The figure was based on pastel sketches from a lifedrawing session. Crackle glaze was applied to the burnt sienna primer but only on the area where the shield was to be placed to describe the disintegration.