Draper Fine Art

capturing interactions that change us

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea

Lisa Draper
20000 Leagues.jpg

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
Lisa Draper
48” x 60”
Mixed Media Assembly
$2999

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Jules Verne


“We may brave human laws, but we cannot resist natural ones.” ~20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Jules Verne


History
Vingt Mille Lieues Sous les Mers, originally written in French, literally translates to “20,000 Leagues Under the Seas”.  It was first published in 1870 to immediate acclaim. It is viewed as one of Jules Verne’s greatest works, and describes what would become the modern submarine with shocking accuracy, as submarines were new and primitive at the time of publication.

20,000 leagues refers to the distance travelled during the narrator’s expedition, nearly twice the circumference of the Earth. 


Artist Statement
I know one of the questions I will get about this piece is why there are octopi instead of giant squid.  This because the book is unclear on which of these attacked the submarine. In the original French, the word “poulpe” means octopus.  In modern English translations, the book is generally translated to “squid”, however I wanted to stick to the original French meaning, though I’m aware that in the end, Jules Verne created his own kind of monster for his novel, and it won’t match up perfectly to any animal in existence.

I love this story of discovery, loneliness, exile, and recognition of madness.  Loyalty turned from fierce to fleeting through the deterioration of a leader.

A beautiful, thrilling, informative, and emotionally haunting book; excitement and sorrow echo and create meaning every time I think back on it. 




The Raven

Lisa Draper
The Raven_EAP_Lisa Draper.1.jpg

The Raven
Lisa Draper
24” x 24”
Mixed Media
SOLD

The Raven, Edgar Allen Poe

“Quoth the Raven, “Nevermore.”” ~The Raven, Edgar Allen Poe

History
The Raven was first published in January 1845, and is well known for its beautiful rhythm, rhyme, and lilt.  This poem made Edgar Allen Poe famous in his lifetime, as it appealed to both the lay person and high critic (something he himself alluded to in a later essay “The Philosophy of Composition”). The Raven references religious, philosophical, and other “pop culture” of the day.  These references can be researched to find even deeper meaning in this work.

A poem that describes a raven’s visit to a mourning narrator, it follows the narrator’s descent into madness, hastened by the raven’s repetitive squawking of a single word: “nevermore”. 

Artist Statement
This poem first captured my attention because my 9th grade honors English teacher, Glen Varga, offered a point of extra credit per stanza memorized.  I only got 5 or 6 stanzas in, but the effect has been lasting nonetheless. The beauty was enchanting, and words haunting.

Over time, especially in the creation of this artwork, I have found more meaning in this dark piece.  I love the idea that we shouldn’t search for hope in hopeless places. When we need to pull back and create safety, we should.  The thing that drove this man to madness was turning to a figure of doom for hope when he already felt all hope was lost. Through this process, he himself lost his last shred of hope, and fell into an everlasting pit of despair. 

What areas in our own lives are we following this man’s same fatal fallacy? 
Where are we searching for hope in places where it cannot be found? 
How can we change and actually find joy? 

THE RAVEN.

Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,

Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore —

While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,

As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.

“ ’Tis some visiter,” I muttered, “tapping at my chamber door —

Only this and nothing more.”

Ah, distinctly I remember it was in the bleak December;

And each separate dying ember wrought its ghost upon the floor.

Eagerly I wished the morrow; — vainly I had sought to borrow

From my books surcease of sorrow — sorrow for the lost Lenore —

For the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore —

Nameless here for evermore.

And the silken, sad, uncertain rustling of each purple curtain

Thrilled me — filled me with fantastic terrors never felt before;

So that now, to still the beating of my heart, I stood repeating

“ ’Tis some visiter entreating entrance at my chamber door —

Some late visiter entreating entrance at my chamber door; —

This it is and nothing more.”

Presently my soul grew stronger; hesitating then no longer,

“Sir,” said I, “or Madam, truly your forgiveness I implore;

But the fact is I was napping, and so gently you came rapping,

And so faintly you came tapping, tapping at my chamber door,

That I scarce was sure I heard you” — here I opened wide the door; ——

Darkness there and nothing more.

Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there wondering, fearing,

Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before;

But the silence was unbroken, and the stillness gave no token,

And the only word there spoken was the whispered word, “Lenore?”

This I whispered, and an echo murmured back the word, “Lenore!” —

Merely this and nothing more.

Back into the chamber turning, all my soul within me burning,

Soon again I heard a tapping somewhat louder than before.

“Surely,” said I, “surely that is something at my window lattice;

Let me see, then, what thereat is, and this mystery explore —

Let my heart be still a moment and this mystery explore;—

‘Tis the wind and nothing more!”

Open here I flung the shutter, when, with many a flirt and flutter,

In there stepped a stately Raven of the saintly days of yore;

Not the least obeisance made he; not a minute stopped or stayed he;

But, with mien of lord or lady, perched above my chamber door —

Perched upon a bust of Pallas just above my chamber door —

Perched, and sat, and nothing more. 

Then this ebony bird beguiling my sad fancy into smiling,

By the grave and stern decorum of the countenance it wore,

“Though thy crest be shorn and shaven, thou,” I said, “art sure no craven,

Ghastly grim and ancient Raven wandering from the Nightly shore —

Tell me what thy lordly name is on the Night’s Plutonian shore!”

Quoth the Raven “Nevermore.”

Much I marvelled this ungainly fowl to hear discourse so plainly,

Though its answer little meaning — little relevancy bore;

For we cannot help agreeing that no living human being

Ever yet was blessed with seeing bird above his chamber door —

Bird or beast upon the sculptured bust above his chamber door,

With such name as “Nevermore.”

But the Raven, sitting lonely on the placid bust, spoke only

That one word, as if his soul in that one word he did outpour.

Nothing farther then he uttered — not a feather then he fluttered —

Till I scarcely more than muttered “Other friends have flown before —

On the morrow he will leave me, as my Hopes have flown before.”

Then the bird said “Nevermore.”

Startled at the stillness broken by reply so aptly spoken,

“Doubtless,” said I, “what it utters is its only stock and store

Caught from some unhappy master whom unmerciful Disaster

Followed fast and followed faster till his songs one burden bore —

Till the dirges of his Hope that melancholy burden bore

Of ‘Never — nevermore’.”

But the Raven still beguiling my sad fancy into smiling,

Straight I wheeled a cushioned seat in front of bird, and bust and door;

Then, upon the velvet sinking, I betook myself to linking

Fancy unto fancy, thinking what this ominous bird of yore —

What this grim, ungainly, ghastly, gaunt, and ominous bird of yore

Meant in croaking “Nevermore.”

This I sat engaged in guessing, but no syllable expressing

To the fowl whose fiery eyes now burned into my bosom’s core;

This and more I sat divining, with my head at ease reclining

On the cushion’s velvet lining that the lamp-light gloated o’er,

But whose velvet-violet lining with the lamp-light gloating o’er,

She shall press, ah, nevermore!

Then, methought, the air grew denser, perfumed from an unseen censer

Swung by seraphim whose foot-falls tinkled on the tufted floor.

“Wretch,” I cried, “thy God hath lent thee — by these angels he hath sent thee

Respite — respite and nepenthe, from thy memories of Lenore;

Quaff, oh quaff this kind nepenthe and forget this lost Lenore!”

Quoth the Raven “Nevermore.”

“Prophet!” said I, “thing of evil! — prophet still, if bird or devil! —

Whether Tempter sent, or whether tempest tossed thee here ashore,

Desolate yet all undaunted, on this desert land enchanted —

On this home by Horror haunted — tell me truly, I implore —

Is there — is there balm in Gilead? — tell me — tell me, I implore!”

Quoth the Raven “Nevermore.”

“Prophet!” said I, “thing of evil! — prophet still, if bird or devil!

By that Heaven that bends above us — by that God we both adore —

Tell this soul with sorrow laden if, within the distant Aidenn,

It shall clasp a sainted maiden whom the angels name Lenore —

Clasp a rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore.”

Quoth the Raven “Nevermore.”

“Be that word our sign of parting, bird or fiend!” I shrieked, upstarting —

“Get thee back into the tempest and the Night’s Plutonian shore!

Leave no black plume as a token of that lie thy soul hath spoken!

Leave my loneliness unbroken! — quit the bust above my door!

Take thy beak from out my heart, and take thy form from off my door!”

Quoth the Raven “Nevermore.”

And the Raven, never flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting

On the pallid bust of Pallas just above my chamber door;

And his eyes have all the seeming of a demon’s that is dreaming,

And the lamp-light o’er him streaming throws his shadow on the floor;

And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor

Shall be lifted — nevermore!







Eye See You

Lisa Draper
I See You_Lisa_Draper.jpg

Eye See You
Lisa Draper
24” x 48”
Mixed Media
For Purchase inquiries, Contact lisa@draperfineart.com

The Lord of the Rings, Trilogy

"'I wish it need not have happened in my time,' said Frodo.

'So do I,' said Gandalf, 'and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.'" ~Fellowship of the Ring, J.R.R. Tolkien

History
J.R.R. Tolkien lost his father early in life.  His mother homeschooled both him and his younger brother with a focus in literature, language, and botany.  When Tolkien was 12, his mother died of Type 1 diabetes. With only a younger brother at his side, he was raised under the care of a Catholic father.  Due to his intelligence, a wealthy sponsor was found, and J.R.R. Tolkien received excellent education despite his circumstances, eventually studying at Oxford.  J.R.R. Tolkien served in World War I, where he lost many of his closest friends. After returning, he became a tutor, then a professor at Oxford.

Tolkien began constructing languages - on his own and with others - in his teens.  After having a few children, Tolkien wrote The Hobbit (a prequel to The Lord of the Rings Trilogy) as a story for them, and it was published in 1937, his first published full-length work. 

The Lord of the Rings began as a sequel, and developed into a much larger series.  Fellowship of the Rings was published July 1954, The Two Towers November 1954, and The Return of the King October 1955.

The Silmarillion, a history of Middle Earth, was published by J.R.R. Tolkien’s son after his death, in 1977. 

The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings trilogy are the main legacy left by J.R.R. Tolkien, whose works have been so impactful, the terms “Tolkienian” and “Tolkienesque” have been recorded in the Oxford English Dictionary. He is known as the “father of fantasy.”

Artist Statement
With the exception of the ring, eye, and color surrounding it, this entire piece was created from a single copy of Fellowship of the Ring, the first book in the trilogy known as “The Lord of the Rings”. 

My admiration for J.R.R. Tolkien and his works has only grown as I’ve learned more about his gifted, tragic, and courageous life.  If there was ever a story of triumph over difficulty with a happy ending, it was his. I feel that story of struggle reflects throughout his books, particularly in this idea of a hero who pushes to his absolute limits, and is helped - even physically carried - to triumph by faithful friends. 



The Jungle Book

Lisa Draper
Jungle Book.jpg

The Jungle Book
Lisa Draper
24” x 24”
Mixed Media
For Purchase inquiries, Contact lisa@draperfineart.com


The Jungle Book, Rudyard Kipling

“For the strength of the Pack is the Wolf, and the strength of the Wolf is the Pack.” ~The Jungle Book, Rudyard Kipling

History

The Jungle Book is a collection of stories, with a few principle characters weaving throughout.  It is set in the jungles of India, the most commonly cited real location is “Seonee” (Seoni) which is in the central state of Madhya Pradesh. 

Kipling lived the first 6 years of his life in India, and much of his fascination with the country and wildlife came from that experience.  As was customary during that time, he and his sister spent many years of their childhood at a boarding school in Britain, only leaving to visit their aunt and uncle during the holidays.  Kipling remembers that time with horror, stating that the neglect and abuse was extreme. Their mother eventually learned of the abuse and removed them, 6 years into their stay.

Asked why he didn’t share his experiences earlier, Kipling stated “Children tell little more than animals, for what comes to them they accept as eternally established. Also, badly-treated children have a clear notion of what they are likely to get if they betray the secrets of a prison-house before they are clear of it.”  It is widely believed that Kipling’s writings, which often surround the topics of abandonment, fostering, bullying, misfits, and triumph, draw on these experiences.

The Jungle Book has been influential in scouting due to scouting’s founder, Robert Baden-Powell, being a friend of Kipling’s.

Artist Statement
I love the tales of love, friendship, and triumph over evil told in The Jungle Book.  To me, the stories can be seen in 2 ways:
1.  Me as the hero, overcoming external villains, befriending a wide array of helpers, and learning important skills.
2. At a deeper level, I see this collection of tales as a narrative of my own battle between light and darkness within myself.  The hero is, in this case, the most current version of myself - battling to learn, grow, and discern what path is the best for me.  Jungle friends then become internal strengths; enemies weaknesses. Fire both a cleansing and destructive power, free for individual interpretation.  Sometimes I feel external struggles are my fire. Sometimes they are moments of mental illness or mental clarity - a battle of the mind that can bring both good and bad.

Who are the helpers in your life?  What are they helping you to overcome?

What are your greatest strengths?  Greatest weaknesses?
Which are you giving more power and attention to right now? 
Is that the right balance?  Is it helping you grow?
What would happen if you changed that balance, and paid attention to the opposite?


Noah's Ark

Lisa Draper
Noah's Ark_Lisa_Draper.jpg

Noah’s Ark
Lisa Draper
24” x 36”
Mixed Media
SOLD

Old Testament, Various Authors
“Make thee an ark of gopher wood” ~Genesis, Old Testament

History
The story of Noah and his ark, which preserved him, human life and the animal kingdom from a flood that overtook the entire world, is one that is so larger-than-life, it has permeated pop culture in many forms.  It can be found originally recorded in the Book of Genesis (in The Bible and Torah), and in the Quran.

Artist Statement
What strikes me most about this story is that this man, Noah, was asked to do something absolutely insane - build an ark in the middle of dry land to house his family, 2 of each unclean animal, and 6 of each clean.  Even with the relentless mockery of those around him (despite his explanation and invitation to join him), he built. And built, and built.

I cannot imagine the amount of work, faith, and physical, educational, and emotional support building a boat of that size would take in this day and age - let alone his. 

And when the rains did come, I imagine it was a very grim scene. 

Today, when I choose to “follow my heart”, I remember the story of Noah, and know that I can find a will, a way, and a need for what I feel a calling to do with my life. 

What do you feel called to do with your life? 
What support can you see as you build this life, both seen and unseen? 
How will this choice to live your life authentically impact yourself and others positively?  Negatively?
What will happen if you choose not to follow this path? 
Is that alternative good/bad? 
If you choose to pursue this “heart call”, what changes will you need to make in your own life?

This is a probing list of questions…...if you’ve thought deeply about it, please go home and record what you thought about, and consider making or re-making personal commitments.


Moby Dick

Lisa Draper
Moby Dick.jpg

Moby Dick
Lisa Draper
48” x 72”
Mixed Media Assembly
Available, email lisa@draperfineart.com for price


Moby Dick, Herman Melville

“for there is no folly of the beast of the earth which is not infinitely outdone by the madness of men.” ~Moby Dick, Herman Melville 

History
Moby Dick was initially published in 1851, and was not received well.  In fact, it was out of print by the time Herman Melville died in 1891, by which time only 3,715 copies of the book had sold.   It wasn’t until the 1900s that the book began to be known as a “Great American Novel”.

Much of the inspiration for Moby Dick came from Melville’s own experiences aboard the whaling ship Acushnet.  Many of the characters are patterned directly after his seamates from that time.  His 18 months on this ship led him to encounter the son of Owen Chase, who lent him a copy of his father’s book “Narrative of the Most Extraordinary and Distressing Shipwreck of the Whale-Ship Essex” written in 1821.  The book recounted Owen’s own experience as a survivor of a shipwreck caused by a sperm whale attack. 

Melville wrote: “I questioned him concerning his father's adventure; ... he went to his chest & handed me a complete copy ... of the Narrative [of the Essex catastrophe]. This was the first printed account of it I had ever seen. The reading of this wondrous story on the landless sea, and so close to the latitude of the shipwreck, had a surprising effect upon me”

Artist Statement

One of the greatest lessons I’ve learned in the last few years is the difference between forgiveness and reconciliation. 

Forgiveness = healing up the wound in myself, so that there is no more anger towards the other individual, or energy draining from me due to something they did.

Reconciliation = re-building the bridge between myself and the other individual

Obviously, the ideal is reconciliation
But what about abuse?  Or when the other has become dangerous in another way? 

This is when we need to learn to forgive without reconciliation.  To heal our wounds as best we can, and walk away, giving no more power to the abuser. 

How much different could Captain Ahab’s life have been, had he simply walked his beautifully ornate peg leg around town, and told the children about how he once had part of him eaten by a monster whale? 
How full his life would have been, even missing that lower leg! 
But alas, he allowed the rage to consume him, and revenge overtake, to the bitter, horrific end. 


Fahrenheit 451

Lisa Draper
Fahrenheit 451.jpg

Fahrenheit 451
Lisa Draper
24” x 48”
Mixed Media
SOLD

Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury

“It was a pleasure to burn.  It was a special pleasure to see things eaten, to see things blackened and changed.” ~Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury

History
Written after the end of World Ward II, and during a decades long anti-communist frenzy.  Ray Bradbury witnessed the censorship of politicians, artists, and creatives who dissented from governmental views at a level he felt was overreach.

Between 1947 and 1948 Mr. Bradbury wrote Bright Phoenix about a librarian who confronts a book-burning censor.

In late 1949, Ray Bradbury was stopped and harassed by a police officer one night while on a late walk.  This incident inspired Ray to pen The Pedestrian in 1951.

Through a shockingly quick series of rewrites and expansions on a typewriter rented at 10 cents per half hour, both The Pedestrian and Bright Phoenix transformed into The Fireman, and then to Fahrenheit 451, published in 1953.


Artist Statement
Ray Bradbury and George Orwell (who wrote 1984 and Animal Farm) are prophets of destruction found in the abuse of power, particularly governmental overreach.  Fahrenheit 451 addresses in the danger of rewriting/erasing history - destroying any opposing faction until the great cogs of one's own society cannot even continue to turn. 

When I read this book, I find a desire to read more!  Read anything, but especially the classics: Shakespeare, Melville, Voltaire, Dante, The Bible, The Quran, The Torah, etc.  To examine ideas both similar and different from my own from every angle before I choose to internalize or reject them. 

When I follow this practice, I find great love for those different from me, and an education and stability in my own views (both old and new) that allow me to stand on solid ground.  To speak and defend truth with confidence, and be ready to change and improve as needed. Only with this can our society grow.


Some Pig

Lisa Draper
Charlotte's Web_Lisa_Draper.jpg

Some Pig
Lisa Draper
30” x 42”
Mixed Media
SOLD

Charlotte’s Web, E.B. White

“Ever since the spider had befriended him, he had done his best to live up to his reputation. When Charlotte's web said SOME PIG, Wilbur had tried hard to look like some pig.” ~Charlotte’s Web, E.B. White

History
In 1948, E.B. White published the humorous essay Death of a Pig (which can easily be read online).  This tells the story of Mr. White buying a pig (planning to raise and butcher it), only to have it fall ill within the first few weeks of owning the animal.  The essay goes on to humorously recount E.B. White suddenly becoming a physician for a being he was previously planning to murder, and how incredibly distraught he was when, in the end, he had to bury the poor thing instead of eating it.  The irony of the whole thing being found because “The loss we felt was not the loss of ham but the loss of pig.”


Shortly after this incident, E.B. White began quietly writing Charlotte’s Web.  In 1952, he handed the only existing manuscript to his editor, and it was published on October 15 the same year.  In 2000, Publisher’s Weekly cited Charlotte’s Web as the best selling children’s paperback of all time.

Artist Statement
I find it appropriate that the day I have sat to note the impact of this book in my life, it is the 67th anniversary of its publishing. 

This book has taught me a great many things.  I feel the best can be boiled down to a few small points.

1. The love of a child can accomplish much
2. Every life has value
3. Even when we feel insignificant we can serve others in impactful ways
4. Death is a normal part of life that comes to all
5. The legacy of the kind and serving lives far beyond their death






Unseen Danger

Lisa Draper
Trojan Horse.jpg

Unseen Danger
Lisa Draper
48” x 60”
Mixed Media Assembly
Available, For purchase inquiries, email lisa@draperfineart.com


Aeneid, Virgil

“Through pain I've learned to comfort suffering men.” ~Aeneid, Virgil

History
A Latin poem written between 29 and 19 BC, it tells the story of Aeneas’ wanderings in Italy after the defeat of Troy, accounted for more in full in The Iliad, and mentioned in The Odyssey. 

Aeneas was already known to readers of the day, as he was a character in The Iliad.  He travels to Italy, is caught up in a war in Italy, and eventually founds Rome.  Thus Virgil tied Rome and Troy together in a breathtaking founding myth.

The Aeneid was written in 9,896 lines of dactylic hexameter, the same meter used in Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey (both of which were written in 8th Century BC, long before Virgil’s time).  This comprises of six “feet” at a time, each “foot” being one short and two long syllables. Classical dactylic allowed for the substitution of two long syllables (called a spondee) in the place of a standard foot sometimes.  The final foot would be a trochee (long and then short syllable), or a spondee (two long syllables, as mentioned above).

–⏕ | –⏕ | –⏕ | –⏕ | –⏑⏑ | –X

Artist Statement
Fun fact: because The Iliad is the prequel to this story, pages from The Iliad are on the back of the Trojan horse.  Disappointingly, you can’t see them. But now you know they’re there! 

Speaking of hidden things, the story of the Trojan horse is told in just a few pages in Book 2 of the Aeneid.  In order to accomplish the impossible feat of overthrowing the Trojans, The Greeks build a wooden horse the size of a “mountain”, and fill it with their best warriors, chosen by lot.  They roll it to the city gates, and the rest of the army sails away, as a sign they accepted their defeat.

The one goddess who attempts to warn the Trojans is ignored.  Earthly counterparts are shunned, and even punished. The Trojan horse is dragged into the city and celebrated.  Aeneas tells of being able to hear the armor of the soldiers inside the horse as they dragged it in, but dismissing the sounds as other things, choosing instead to blindly view it as a gift, just as the Greek armies had hoped.

This artwork was created with a raised, invisible layer surrounding the horse.  It cannot be seen in photos online, and can only be truly observed in person, walking around it. 

What a tragedy for the Trojans could have been prevented with only a little more of this same attention.