A Merrow’s Longing, gouache on paper, 17” x 12”, $500
Delivered matted & ready for full framing, Matted size 22” x 16” - free shipping

Celtic Ireland, with its abundance of fairies and magical beings has its own kind of mermaid, the Merrow, originally depicted as a beautiful, slender, graceful woman with webbed toes and fingers for better swimming. A Merrow always has her magical red cap, called a “cohuleen druith,” which allows her to travel between the deep water and dry land. But without her red cap she cannot return to her home under the sea.

When she was spotted on shore where she loved to sunbathe, a man would steal her cap, leaving her stranded on dry land. Then he would offer her protection as his wife. With no way to survive on land, she agreed.

But she never lost her longing for the sea and ultimately left her husband and children to return home. The Merrow/human relationship reveals our complex and dual nature—the drive for civilizing comfort and the longing to return to the wild state from which we emerged.