I managed to get the used plastic somewhat clean, and now that it is dry, I’m going to keep that pile for future art work. Since it’s damn near impossible to destroy plastic, it should last me a very long time and I don’t have to feel so guilty about it. The last piece done with the plastic:
Šúŋkawakaŋ (Horse). © C. Ford.
There’s a hand print, but the horse may be wild or escaping. Does the Lakota language name of the piece tell something the English one doesn’t?
Ice Swimmer:
No, the name is plain ‘horse’, but the piece is more a Šuŋkawakaŋ okičize, a war horse (war pony), which are traditionally painted with various symbols. The red hand is a symbol specific to the Oglala Lakota.
That’s really cool. I love the bright red and the gray.
Ok, the -wakaŋ ending threw me off then. I’ve seen the word tȟašúŋke (his horse?) in some famous names.
In Finnish a horse is hevonen, a stallion is ori, mare is tamma, foal is varsa, gelding is ruuna and a horse used for riding is ratsu (to ride is ratsastaa).
Marcus:
Thank you!
Ice Swimmer:
Yes, that means his/her horse (as in his horse is crazy, Crazy Horse).
Oooh, I like those. There’s at least 50 different words for horse[s] in Lakota, activities that have to do with horses, types of horses, and colours of horses.
Horses are popular in language here, too. Or at least, were. I’ve recently discovered that several names for horse colours have disappeared from people’s general vocabulary. You can still find them in all the old folk songs, though.
How does one say that similar-to-n letter?
Just curious, but is the handprint yours? I ask to try to scale the size of the picture.
rq @ 6:
It seems languages all over are disappearing. I think horse colour is (or was) very important in a lot of cultures and languages. The ŋ is n, just nasal, like in French. The wiki is helpful.
Johnson Catman @ 7:
The piece is 9″ x 12″, and the handprint is 1″ by 1 & 1/16″. So no, not my hand. ;) This is my hand.
I appreciate the reply Caine. I thought it looked a little too uniform to be an actual handprint. If it had been, I was going to ask about how you did that.
I am not an artist, but my wife is. When we visit displays of art, the questions I ask her are not ones that an artist would usually ask, so my questions to you about your art may also seem odd to you. Thanks for answering
Johnson catman:
They don’t seem odd at all. It can very difficult to figure out scale from a photo.
Caine
Thanks, should have thought to try wiki. :P