Rock Fall
2017, 10” x 14” watercolor by Jenny Badger Sultan
The long-haired cat was a middle-of-the-night image from March 14, 2018: a leopard with long, silky hair leaps up to the branch of a tree and lies down there.The sphinx-like being in the lower center is Tutu, a late Egyptian god, son of Neith, protecting against demons. The green figure in the lower right is a much older god, Bes, patron of childbirth and protector of the household, especially women and children.
The bottom left figure is loosely based on a terra-cotta sculpture of a mother covered in snakes, a common motif in Djenne sculpture (Mali); I sketched a striking example at the De Young Museum in San Francisco that dates back to the 13th century.
Dream leopard
Tutu
Bes
Mother and Snakes