Cuimhne, Cailleach an Mhuilinn Print ~ by Votive Illustration

Votive Illustration - Fine Art Illustrations of Folklore and Mythology
 
Cuimhne, whose name means 'Memory' as gaeilge, is a mythic Hag of the Mill from Irish mythology. A shapeshifting and supernatural cailleach, here she stands by the liminal riverbank with her wiry dog Brothar, pack-horse loaded with corn and flour, and the carved holed stones of her mill
 
Cuimhne appears in the medieval myth "Compert Mongáin ocus Serc Duibe-Lácha do Mongán" (‘The Conception of Mongan and Dub-Lacha’s Love for Mongan’). She's described as 'a hag as tall as a weaver’s beam, and a large chain-dog with her licking the mill-stones, with a twisted rope around his neck, and Brothar was his name'.
 
She has a very literal association with the creative and destructive processes of milling, and also metonymic association with the craft of weaving - the weaving of cloth, of fabric, but also of time and myth and memory. These associations made me really want to highlight the handcrafted and carefully created materials of her world - the fine thread of her shawl, the woven willow rods of the basket, the coarse coiled rope of the grain sacks, the well worn stones of the watermill.
 
* A3 Archival Ink Print. Supplied on 420 x 594mm (A2) mounted board *