Nienna_by_kiwidoc

Nienna is one of Tolkien’s Valar, and her name means “She who weeps”
“She dwells alone. She is acquainted with grief, and mourns for every wound that Arda has suffered … but she does not weep for herself; and those who hearken to her learn pity, and endurance in hope. Her halls are west of West, upon the borders of the world”
JRR Tolkien: The Silmarillion

For me the phrase west of West has always conjured up an image of the golden path made by the sun setting over the sea. The idea of Nienna walking this path to her dwelling place is my own invention. However it does relate to the old tales of magical beings that dwell in lands to the west, that can only be reached by crossing water, and the actual crossing is very significant. I am sure Tolkien drew upon these legends when creating his wonderful world.

I loved this stock image as soon as I saw it. She is so beautiful and regal, and yet the veiled head and the pose immediately spoke to me of mourning. Also the flow and shimmer of the cloth reminded me of the play of light on water … and that’s how this image was born. I wanted to give her a shadow and a wake of sorts, without actually destroying the golden path. I have tried to replace the yellows and reds of the sunlit path directly behind her to sparkling gold and blues - as if the path is now formed of her reflection.
This is my entry into the competition at
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CREDITS
The model stock image is currently not available for viewing, so I have made a small B&A animation so you can see this wonderful base and get more of an idea of the changes I made to it [link]

Model [link]
Water foreground [link] [link]
Sky, trees and water background [link]
Glitter brush [link] Light ray brush [link]

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The following clubs have permission to show this work in their galleries.
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