A Rescue

I often use some amount of mythology to influence my art. Mythology is a huge interest of mine, so it only makes sense for me to draw inspiration from it. This is the first time I've directly used a story from a myth in a painting, using the story itself as the subject, rather than just inspiration.
One of my favorite myths is that of Hades and Persephone. Hades falls in love with Persephone and her mother- the goddess of agriculture is unable to save her. In the end, Hades and Persephone's mother strike a deal, that Persephone will live half the year with Hades, and the other half with her mother. The half she spends with Hades becomes the winter and fall, while the other half becomes spring in summer.

The same myth is repeated nearly identically in a Hopi Myth. The Blue Corn Maiden (you've all heard that part in the 'colors of the wind' song where Pocahontas sings about a Blue Corn Moon? That's a reference to the Blue Corn Maiden) attracts the affection of the Winter spirit and he kidnaps her and locks her away in his home. But the Summer is also in love with the Blue Corn Maiden and fights the Winter for her love. In the end, she must divide her year between the two of them in the same way that Persephone does.

I love parallels between myths, which is why I chose this subject matter. I also wanted to make something that would be more marketable in this area, and Native American artwork is pretty popular here. The assignment was to create a very large piece, so this painting is about 25' by 50'