Bertcha

I live within the deepest folds of your mind. When we spin farthest from the blazing mother of life, frost begins to cool your feet and I will arrive just in time to lengthen your smile. Children will delight in my gifts and charms but if you've misbehaved, beware my owl and serow. They may carry you off into the woods and plant you in the ground; perhaps to come back another time.

This artwork invokes a sense of fantasy and mystery. Originally inspired by glass artist Dawn Thompson with studies from Valerie Meijer and Andrea Misetta, they helped me discover my way through the beginning and supported me until its completion.

Many cultures have used Bertcha as a holiday figure from Germany to Spain, which is similar to modern day Santa Claus but sometimes with more severe consequences for being naughty, with some cultures giving her an owl; while others a goat. She is an ugly witch in Spain known as Berara and rides a broomstick.

I have chosen to portray her as a mysterious figure perched on her proud serow and her wise owl returning to her basket of gifts. Their path is illuminated with a shroud of the upcoming seasons illustrated with Columbines of spring to flowers of every season and above them a slumbering tree outstretching its branch as if to stroke her hair. The sun could be setting or rising but it does seem that their gaze is set ahead with a view of the viewer that resides in the future.