My friend, Suzan, posted this image this morning on Facebook and although I am a Mark Ryden fan, I had never seen this piece before! I love it, of course :)
"Santa Worm" by Mark Ryden
So, then I started doing some research on it and realized that it is everywhere! From prints sold on Ebay to sets of holiday cards.... Where have I been? :D
Anyway, If you are not familiar with Mark Ryden's work, here is a fairly recent article that I found to be interesting (with an interview of the artist). And showing one of his meat themed paintings.
http://tmagazine.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/04/30/meat-lover-mark-rydens-cool-cuts/
I love his approach to the meat industry. It is basically the same way I approach meat when it comes to feeding my children. I tell them exactly what it is (ham = pig, beef = cow, etc) before they decide on what they want and then they can make the choice themselves whether or not they are OK with consuming that.... Usually they are not so they rarely (very rarely) consume meat products. Meat is so disguised that I can see why it took me until I was 13 years old to realize that I wanted to be a vegetarian! And it tastes good! But once I truly understood what meat was and how it was "made" it didn't matter to me how good it tasted. I felt morally compelled to stray from meat and 20 years later I don't regret it one bit.
See what art can do? I see a simple Mark Ryden image and it becomes this entire speech about eating meat! :D That is what I love about art though.... It can inspire something inside of us like nothing else can. and even if Mark Ryden himself is not a vegetarian, I respect his approach, which is awareness. I do believe that human beings are intelligent enough to make conscientiousness decisions by themselves and not be controlled by habit or be tricked by meat in disguise.... It's just a matter of them feeling that it is important enough to do something about it.
Well enough about that.. What I really came here to say was Happy Christmas Eve! ;)
Wishing you all happiness and peace (and tofu) in the new year!
xoxo
Mel
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