Brian Fisher Print, Paint and Sculpture Blog

Twin Djinn, 10 x 10 in. monotype over wood panel, (currently at Swiftwater Gallery ) is inspired by the Arabic myths of the Qareen, meaning “constant companion” or spiritual double, who is either part of you or a complementary being in another dimension. Sometimes defined as Djinn, the Qareen have parallels in Egyptian mythology, as ka, a tangible "spirit double" and in contemporary stories of the doppelgänger.

The subject is Djinn. This photo was taken at QMP, Quartermaster Press, while still on the press.  Although printed last week the red ink was still wet when I picked it up yesterday.  I think one more layer of black line, some gold leaf and... it will be finished!  But first it must... dry! A Djinn (genii, ginn, jann, jinn, shayatin, shaytan) is in Arabic mythology, a spirit, not a demon, not quite an angel either, but something like the Greek Daimones.  Djinn can be either good or evil.  They possess supernatural powers and in lore can be conjured to perform various tasks and services by humankind. Most of us are familiar with Djinn as the wish-granting “Genie” in the Arabic folktale of Aladdin's Lamp and The Book of A Thousand and One Nights, but there are many stories of Djinn.  This is the first of my series about them.