Himiko

Queen Himiko's memory is still very much alive in modern day Japan. |Himiko|, sometimes also referred to as Pimiko or the Sun Queen, was a shaman queen of Yamataikoku in ancient Wa. We know of her through records that have survived from Chinese envoys of that era, who wrote of having dealings with this legendary queen. In fact Himiko may be a Chinese corruption of himemiko (princess priestess or lady shaman), which translates to ‘Sun Child’. This off course illustrates her ties with the Japanese sun goddess Amaterasu, of which even the present day emperor of Japan claims to be a direct descendant of.

Himiko never married, and if legends are true, that might be because she didn't really seem to care for having men around in general. " It is recorded that she kept 1,000 female attendants, that there was only one man in charge of changing her wardrobe and providing her meals, and that she was rarely seen in public. " So aside of apparently being a bit of a hermit, she was definately lightyears ahead of her time when it came to encouraging a solid femal presence in the work environment ;).

Wether she had actual supernatural abilities or not, Himiko was certainly looked up to by her people as a spiritual leader and she was extremely well loved. So much so even, that her male succesor had a pretty rough time filling her shoes. Protests arose throughout the kingdom and the peace that Himiko had held for so long was at stake. It was only when a relative of Queen Himiko, a thirteen-year-old girl by the name of Iyo, was placed on the throne instead that the situation calmed down.

I tried to keep a light watercolour sort of feel to this piece, mirroring (yet not even coming remotely close to) the gorgeous Japanese watercolours by the old masters. This is number eight in the series of hopefully twelve, and I've actually already have the remaining four girls picked out. I don't want to jinx this you guys, but I think I might just be pulling this calendar project thing off. *fingers crossed*

Boudica

|Boudica| (or Boudicea) was the warrior queen of a British Celtic tribe called the Iceni. Her husband, Prasutagus, ruled the lands as an independent ally of the Romans, who occupied most of Brittain at that time. While he lived everything went well and the tribe lived peacefully, but after he died and left his kingdom jointly to his two daughters and the Roman Emperor, the trouble began. The Romans ignored the will, annexed the kingdom as if conquered and proceeded to flog Boudica and rape her two daughters.

Little did they know Boudica was not to be messed with, and she went on to lead her tribe on a rather murderous rampage revolting against the Roman opression, seeking revenge. The Romans won in the end, as they always did in those days, but not before Boudica and her people did some serious damage.

Here's how Boudica is described in the writings of Cassius Dio

"She was huge of frame, terrifying of aspect, and with a harsh voice. A great mass of bright red hair fell to her knees: She wore a great twisted golden necklace, and a tunic of many colors, over which was a thick mantle, fastened by a brooch. Now she grasped a spear, to strike fear into all who watched her...…"

The Iceni were known for riding war charriots into battle, and Boudica rode hers with her daughters by her side. The face paint is some artistic license on my part. The only celtic tribe known for using war paint were off course the Picts. But I personally think war paint totally kicks ass so I took the liberty of transferring this trait to our dear Boudica. After all, there aren't any definative claims saying the Iceni didn't use face paint either. ;)

The Queen of Sheba

I am sooo ready for spring! I think I projected some of those longings into the warm colouring of this one. If this series makes it to a full calendar, she'll definately be a summer month.

The |queen of Sheba| is mentioned in many different places, perhaps most notably in the Bible. The kingdom of Sheba is believed to have covered modern day Ethiopia and Yemen. The queen, referred to as Balqis in Arabic legends or as Makeda in Ethiopian lore, visited king Solomon of Israel. This is where the official Bible tale stops but legend had it the two did more then just exchange pleasantries. The two are said to have been lovers, and the Ethiopian version of events even mentions a child of the two from which the imperial family of Ethiopia claim to be descendants. It is said that the |Song of Songs| in the Bible was written by Solomon for this legendary queen.

There's plenty more to tell about this but I'm gonna hold it there because I'm not sure any of you were looking for a history lesson here ;) Fact is, this woman must have been pretty amazing to have her memory survive the ages, no matter how you look at it. I tried to incorporate some elements that could evoke both the Yemeni and the Ehtiopian components of the legend. And just tried do her justice, basically.

The Snow Queen

When I was little, my grandparents had a VHS tape of the 1957 animated feature "The Snow Queen" they had taped from tv. We watched it so many times I, and my grandparents I presume, lost count. It was one of the re-releases dubbed in English but it might as well have been the original Russian version as I obviously didn't understand English very well either at the time. But despite not understanding a word that was said I could still clearly follow the storyline and I was absolutely transfixed by the Snow Queen herself.

With the buzz around Disney's upcoming 'Frozen' (also an adaptation of the Snow Queen), my memory got jogged and I suddenly remembered the 1957 version. I searched for it, rewatched it, and I still kinda liked it. Although the pacing, staging and animation style are clearly from another era I still found it beautiful. I'm not sure it's because of the actual movie or because of the memories that are attached to it, but who cares, right? :)

Here's my take on the Snow Queen, no doubt conjuring up a snowstorm or something of the sorts. It took a few tries to get the hang of drawing the ice the way I wanted to but I got there in the end.