Paula Rego Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Paula Rego - Essay Example At this stage, the drawing is linear and stark. The quality of the line is determined by the length of time it stays in the acid, the longer in the acid, the darker the line becomes. This whole process is described by professor Paul Coldwell. Drawing is central to the painter's work, being the way in which her works are born. The Portuguese painter found her source of inspiration in fairy tales like Fantasia, Snow White and Pinocchio. And she made her pictures resemble the children's drawings. But as compared to the representation of beautiful figures, illustrating the good characters of the fairy tale, Paula Rego's characters are far from being described by the adjective "beautiful" in the sense we understand the meaning of the word "beauty". Taking as example the painting entitled "Swallows the poisoned apple" we notice how different the Snow White we are shown here is from the image of the young and delicate charater of Grimm's fairy tale. It's definitely not a beautiful young girl what we see. On the contrary, the female character in the painting looks old and ugly. She doesn't appear as it would in a common drawing, lying artistically on the floor, but she is half on the floor, half on the sofa, in a position that conveys pain realistically. Although dressed like a princess, the background against which she is painted is a modern decorated room and not the fairy tale dwarves' house. There is a combination of myth and reality in this painting that makes us think of the combination myth-reality we find in our own lives. We thus, could see these paintings as symbolical representation of our own lives.Represented in another painting, with a stag's head on her lap, Snow White doesn't look more beautiful than in the other painting described. The painting is called suggestively "Snow white playing with her father's trophies." Seated in an armchair, she has an indelicate and unaesthetic position, with her legs spread. Just like in the previously analyzed painting, Snow White looks older than she is supposed to be and her appearance is not as delicate as we are used to imagine it. There is no trace of happiness or at least serenity to be noticed on the face of the two Snow White figures. If in the previous painting, pain would appear as understandable, the character being shown in a critical situation, in the second the grief is not so explicable. Although traditional by subject, the fairy tales inspired drawings cannot be considered traditional. The way of treating them is startling and this makes their contemplation the source of mixed and confusing feelings. This kind of illustrating fairy tale images can be viewed as a sort of debunk. Myth is given certain realistic features and at the same time, re ality is transformed. Nursery Rhymes (from 1989) show a girl - although we could not really use the word girl for her as she looks aged and three strangely big and frightening mice. The painting looks at the same time funny and horrible. The exaggerated size of the mice as well as the way they look is scaring. Yet, there is something amusing in their behaviour, as they look like whimsical children. We notice a synthesis of opposites that the painter achieves in her paintings, be that a synthesis between comic and scaring, young and old, myth-reality or beautiful and ugly. As frightening or at least confusing

The Virgin Komi Forests Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

The Virgin Komi Forests - Essay Example However, there are a number of threats to the Forests, including illegal logging and gold-mining, which could cause irreversible damage to the area and the loss of species. This paper aims to illustrate the natural diversity of the area to convince you to provide money for the support of conservation programs in the Virgin Komi Forests. The Diversity of Life As previously mentioned, the Virgin Komi Forests are an incredibly large virgin forest, and encompass a number of important and iconic species. The grey wolf (Canis lupus) inhabits the area, and was once the world’s most widely distributed mammal but is now extinct in a number of areas. Most significantly, the grey wolf used to inhabit a huge amount of territory in Europe, and thus a safe ecological zone within Europe may be of great benefit in protecting this species. The wolverine (Gulo gulo) is also present in the Virgin Komi Forests. Although the wolverine is classified as ‘least concern’ by the IUCN Red L ist, this may be in part due to the fact that it is still common in North America. In Europe, however, trapping and habitat fragmentation have reduced the range of the wolverine and they are now absent in many of the areas in which they were once present. Again, a European protection area for this animal may be of great benefit (Bobretsov & Yakushev, 2008). Although these species are important, there are a number of further species which are classified as rare or endangered by the IUCN Red List. The Ural Mountain anemone species Anemone uralensis is also under threat in the area, mostly because of flooding and human agricultural efforts. The artic sorrel plant is also declining in the area, in part because of its use in Russian soups and in part because of the changing environment of the Forests. The Ecology of the Forests The aforementioned wolverine and grey wolf are just two of the important animals in the area, both of which have been greatly affected by the habitat fragmentatio n common in other parts of Europe. Protection of the Virgin Komi Forests should, therefore, not just focus on saving this creatures but the habitat in which they live, including a number of tree species which are necessary for their livelihood. The black woodpecker (Dryocopus martius) is an example of a bird species in the area. These birds rely on tree species in the Virgin Komi Forests, such as the fir (Abies sibirica) and the Siberian larch (Larix sibirica) for their nesting sites and food (Kuuluvainen, Syrjanen & Kalliola, 1998). The black woodpecker also plays an additional ecological role, in that they abandon the holes they have made in the tree bark, which can then become important nesting sites for the smaller birds in the area. The Eurasian beaver (Castor fiber) is also found in the Virgin Komi Forests. Beaver species are often important keystone species within their environment for a number of reasons. Firstly, beavers are involved in the creation of wetlands which can he lp to increase biodiversity, as well as providing a suitable habitat for other species. Beavers are also involved in tree coppicing, which again alters the natural habitat and provides tree cover for other species. Finally, beavers also play in important role in protecting fish species because their dams trap sediment and improve water quality (Gawthrop, 1999). Although the Eurasian beaver is of