Women healers practiced medicine for thousands of years.
Old Magic (2025) Oil on Linen
“In the late Middle Ages (1300-1500 CE), these practices were criminalized, and women who worked with plant medicine were rebranded as witches.“
Witches became an archetype for story telling.
Forbidden Fruit (2025) Oil on Linen
“In her recent paintings of witchy women, Mockrin depicts lush, fertile landscapes replete with plants women used to promote menstrual health, sexual health, and for abortion.”
Botanicals included mandrake, mugwort, fennel and dittany.
In Myth
DAPHNE
Daphne is a river nymph from ancient Greek Mythology.
She was the daughter of the river god Peneus.
Daphne “took a vow of chastity and rejected all romantic advances toward her.
The god Apollo fell in love with the river nymph, and when she rejected him, he attempted to rape her.
Daphne ran to the banks of her father’s river, begging him for help.
Intending to protect his daughter from Apollo’s violence, Peneus transformed her forever into a laurel tree.“
I’m intrigued by how Mockrin depicts Daphne as 3 different faces.
A Story told this many times becomes a forest (2024) Triptych – Oil on Linen
Turns out it is 3 stages of transforming – right to left. It comes originally from a poem by Sophia Stid (2020) DAPHNE PURSUED BY APOLLO.
The polestar of Mockrin’s painting is Daphne’s face. Apollo is banished to the outside of the frame.
SYRINX
A Greek and Roman myth, it resembles the tale of Daphne.
Syrinx (2018) Oil on Canvas
“Srynx ran from the satyr Pan, who tried to rape her.
As she approached the shore of a river, she called out to her river nymph sisters for help.
They transformed her into a crop of reeds, which Pan cut to fashion a flute from her.
Even the invention of wind instruments was used to justify sexual violence in the ancient world”.
Sexual violence and even the invention of wind instruments…? I didn’t find further info re; that statement, but…
Oil on canvas – 1722/24
I did stumble upon a painting of Pan chasing Srynx, by – Jean-François de Troy. The free download (& more info) is from the Getty Museum. Click Srynx on the left to view the page.
Could not resist a compare image of Jesse Mockrin’s vision, with Jean-François de Troy’s.
Pics taken by Resa – May 14, 2024
Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, Canada
Source: Getty Images – Flag Art Foundation & Art Gallery of Ontario – “Bold italics in quotes are from the plaquards by the paintings”.
Thank you Lauren for thinking of me and taking these fab shots of beauty for me!
It’s a wonderful feeling to be thought of!
This gorgeous wall painting was taken by Lauren at Baydreamer Writes in late October, when out at a Mexican restaurant. I love it!
I also love Cora’s Quest (her first children’s book) and King Copper, Ever So Gently and More Than Coffee(fine poetry collections). Head to her site for the links to grab one of these gift-able books!
I’ve done reviews of all of her books. Just put the title into the “Search” engine not too far down the sidebar, and go to it.
MONA OF KENSINGTON
“This iconic Kensington Market mural is finally complete — 43 years after it was painted on a dare.”
She’s miserably hard to shoot up high and through wires, but she’s always been there. With her wonky eyes, she was there on my first shopping trip to Kensington.
When I started collecting street art, I did take pics of her. However, she was crumbling & in b&w. This summer the original artist returned and finished her. Here’s an article about it!
Faces in Waiting
The first stunning multi-colour face was on a Magic Mushrooms shop.
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This second face is on a shipping container used as a shop. A row of these container businesses line the Dundas West Skateboard Park “DUNBAT”
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The third face was on a restaurant in Yorkville in 2020. It’s gone now.
THE VIOLINIST
I’d love to learn to paint white on black!
WOW! Watch Lindsey dress during the performance. Stunning!
John Lennon rocks my socks. When I found this street art, Trent raced to mind.
We did 2 joint Lennon posts just over a year ago. We both have an abundance of respect and love for him.Trent wrote a song for John and everything.
Resa – I knew you were taking some voice lessons, but I had no idea you were studying a song, let alone Imagine. Did you pick Imagine right away, or did that come later? Why did you pick Imagine?
Trent – My instructor picks the songs for me, mostly late 60s, early 70s songs. He plays them on his guitar and I sing along. He chooses the key that he feels is best for me. Imagine was a relatively early pick, so it has been at least 8 months and maybe close to a year. I think I had played my song about John for him which is why he chose it.
Trent’s Cover of Imagine
Not only do I love Trent’s cover of Imagine, I adore his drawing of John.
Resa – There are many John Lennon quotes. Some are profound, Some are hilarious. Two of my faves (of many) are – “Time wounds all heels” & “One thing you can’t hide is when you’re crippled inside”
What are a few of yours?
Trent – John was pretty witty, but I can’t think of quotes right off the top.
Trent – I just looked up “John Lennon Quotes”, and there are so many to choose from!
Perhaps – We all have Hitler in us, but we also have love and peace. So why not give peace a chance for once?” Of course, for me his song lyrics are worthy of quoting.
Resa – I completely agree!
“I’m Shot”
Were Lennon’s last words.
Resa – I was shattered when I heard the news that John had been shot and died. I honestly believed in his message of love and peace being a way forward for the world and its people. I felt that die with him. Do you have any memory of hearing the news? Do you understand why I felt the way I did?
Trent – I had pretty much just rediscovered the Beatles just a short time before he was murdered. When rediscovering the Beatles, I gravitated towards John and his message more than towards the others. Peace and Love, the brotherhood of Man. These were huge themes for me. I was pretty much devastated when I heard the news. I sat and listened to Beatles’ songs nonstop for two days.
Trent – Did I feel John’s message was killed with the messenger? Yes and no. I understood that we had entered a new era, but I tried to believe that his violent death would wake people up and that his message would grow. Well, Ronald Reagan and all that he stood for took over the culture so that even kids my age went total right wing. But the spark did remain.
Trent– Like many geniuses, John was a contradiction,
… and had a lot of bad qualities. He said he was violent when he was young, fighting with boys and hitting girls and that a lot of his peace and love was to keep those tendencies at bay, to conquer the violence within himself. He could be super petty and paranoid.
Resa – I love the insight!
Trent – One of the saddest things is that I think after dropping out of public life for all of those years he had finally made peace with himself and was just breaking out again, ready to take on the 80s. But all of that was nipped in the bud.
Favourite Songs
Resa – I think John Lennon is a brilliant songwriter.
My Fave John song from The Beatles’ days is Don’t Let Me Down.
John songs (excluding Imagine) are: Jealous Guy, Whatever Gets You Through the Night and Instant Karma.
So Trent, what are your favorite John Lennon songs?
Trent – With the Beatles I loved: Strawberry Fields, I am the Walrus and Across the Universe.
Solo?
Hmm, maybe: Imagine, Mind Games and Watching the Wheels“- had to put that last one in because I wanted something from Double Fantasy and that was by far the most popular song from that album – it sounds so much like his earlier works.
Resa – I absolutely love the album cover for Double Fantasy. Yoko Ono is an interesting person. I’ve only seen her art in photos. However, as a performance artist she is brilliant in the video for Instant Karma, knitting with a blindfold on, while the band plays. John’s love for her is wonderfully obvious. Do you see it?
Trent – I think there is a huge love story between John and Yoko and is often very apparent. So yes, I see it in the video you mentioned and also at the end of the one for Imagine where they are trying to keep straight faces but end up cracking each other up. I think it is awful how much hate she has received from the world, though I think it has mellowed a lot in the last couple of decades.
Resa – I agree!
About –Let’s All Join In & Trent’s cover of Imagine
Trent wrote on YouTube
Resa thought she saw Lennon’s face from a trolley but didn’t’ find it again until recently. When talking about it, some said we need Lennon’s vision today more than ever and others said there should be a song about seeing Lennon’s face from a trolley…So here it is, both ideas in one. Yes, I drew my own picture instead of using the real street art – how could I without asking the artist? And, of course, I manipulated the drawing in a thousand and one ways.
Click pic to see post with “Let’s All Join In”lyrics
IMAGINE
Here is Trent’s blurb from YouTube, slightly edited for this post.
Yep, a quick take on John Lennon’s classic “Imagine”. Though very close, this is not an exactly note-for-note transcription of John’s original arrangement. Besides a few different notes and different drum fills, I recorded in Bb instead of C. I didn’t even listen to the original string arrangement, I just played. I had a few reasons for recording this song. One is that I sing this in my voice lessons.
Another was that Resa had told me she had found some street art featuring Lennon’s “Imagine”. Since I had been singing the song, why not do a recording?
Many thanks to Trent for joining me here today!
Pics of John Lennon art taken by Resa – July 2, 2025
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