By Abigail Tembreull
Water Maiden, composed from color pencil, marker, and ink, was created in response to the Copper Country Community Arts Center’s annual Kalevala exhibit. The exhibit boasts fantastical images inspired by the National epic of Finland. The show coincides with Hancock, Michigan’s Heikinpaiva festival, where the area’s remarkably concentrated Finnish heritage and culture is celebrated. Thus, in the spirit of Heikinpaiva, the C.C.C.A.C. asks artists to illustrate a favored rune from the Kalevala. In the beginning of the epic, a creation story unfolds. The woman of the sky, Ilmarinen, has an affair with the sea. She floats in the sea for 500 years, and during this time she becomes impregnated with Vainamoinen, who becomes a hero in the runes that follow. I decided to depict Ilmarinen in the lonesome and beautiful waters before she triggers the birth of the world. This particular image was inspired directly from the rune, “It is chilly for me to be here, woeful for me to shiver, in billows for me to dwell in the water to wallow.” The solitude of the moment is honorable.
Water Maiden, composed from color pencil, marker, and ink, by Abigail Tembreull