Painting Dragons

Posted by Ange

February 9, 2009

: Hand Dropping

: Flying

: Among the Reeds

I’ve been painting dragons lately. On canvas, in my mind, and with words. Dragons are amazingly, and almost inexplicably present in a huge range of cultures. Scratch beneath the surface of ideas of where they came from and you’ll find that the theories are shaky at best, and nobody really knows how dragons first entered human culture. They are depicted on ancient Mesopotamian pottery from approximately 10,000 years ago.

They were known to change shape, share wisdom and knowledge and were associated benevolently and destructively with water, rain, and crops. Very different from the mad, destructive, fire-breathing beasts that permeate our culture today…

These mysterious creatures seem to have existed, with their own goals, alongside humans for thousands of years. I wonder where they came from, and where they went.

If anywhere…