Series 2 - Clown #9 - 'Jack Frost'

It's December, and that means, amongst the plethora of winter archetypes and iterations we may draw from, Jack Frost is certainly a factor.

Chill, bitter, frigid, frozen temperature, atmosphere and mood thrive in the image of Jack Frost.

Here, he's the realization of those cool, brooding characters fully immersed in and one with their singular, lone-wolf nature, driven by a temperament that may inspire transformation or more negatively hinder the life around them with hypothermic force.

However the beneficial or destructive aspects of this persona take hold, it is certainly also a festive one for the holiday season - Winter wonderland, perhaps?
And the little chickadee birds are always frequent, playful, darting black and gray blurs amidst the conifers in the north-east, this time of year.

Cold things can be beautiful, whatever their pathos.

A Madcap Credo's Jack Frost:

Keep warm and be bright, this winter season!

-Mairin-Taj

Series 2 - Clown #8 - 'Jack Oriole'

The first clown of this series II back in April was the 'April Bluebird', referencing happiness, fresh, jubilant vibes and a spring-like brightness.

Here's a refresher:

This Autumn, I did a male version, if you will - 'Jack Oriole', which is an allusion to pumpkin-themed season of tricksters, confidence, the oriole bird, and it's child-like, playful nature.

The lingering Halloween festive spirits in me also left me remembering the beloved character Jack Skellington from Tim Burton's A Nightmare Before Christmas, and so it had a subtle influence... Call me quirky, if you like.

The oriole bird is also the state bird of Maryland.

A Madcap Credo's Jack Oriole:

Happy November!

-Mairin-Taj

Series 2 - Clown #7 - 'Wanna Be'

The "wanna be", the "poser", the envious copy-cat or thief of the original, rare, and genuine qualities in this world.

We might know someone with this mirror-like character, or have experienced it out of circumstance, abstractly, via philosophy, but it happens; the messy, gory act of taking something clean, quality, self-sovereign, and passing it off as something else, someone else, intended as another thing entirely. 

There are always stains left of such an act, the consequences that inevitably come to light for the fact of what was done.

This was originally a pure vision, the metaphor for the white soul, the Unicorn, so to speak. 

But then, I liked the idea of it being fake - An assumed identity, by someone hoping to pass it off, out of insecurity, envy, instability, and a kind of blind obsession with what is out of reach.

People can do cruel, insensitive things while under the panic of passion for something beyond themselves. The murder of a thing, or an idea...

After all, those who can't seem to find and face their own unique individuality take it from elsewhere. It never fits right, it never looks right, or wears right, but they try to fool themselves that it's theirs, nonetheless.

Here, she's done the messy deed, she's taken the rare horn for herself, and she's caught between proudly bearing it, and wondering if others see the lie of it.

Not all archetypes are good and virtuous - Series II, Clown #7 demonstrates this.

A Madcap Credo's Wanna Be...

Also, Happy Halloween, All-Souls'-Night, Lughnasadh, what have you, at the end of the month! Disguises are the theme.

-Mairin-Taj