I will be part of Artomatic 2012 in Crystal City, VA, right near Washington DC.  The venue is accessible via the metro and there is parking nearby.  There will be a boat load of artists of all kinds there, including at least one of my co-workers.
My space will be on the 2nd floor: 217, which used to be someone's office and which I am sharing with one other artist.  It is right off of a larger room, so it should get decent traffic as people would pass by the room on their way to the next large room.  Now, I have to decide which paintings to install on my wall.
And I am trying not to have stage fright about it all.

Artomatic 2012 will be at 1851 S. Bell St., Arlington, VA, adjacent to the Crystal City Metrorail station.  May 18th to June 23.

There is a lot more to Dionysus than Bacchus would have you believe.  Before I started doing all of my intensive research for my mythology based novels, especially for The Hunter of the Dead, I knew only the most superficial basics about Dionysus/Dionysos, and much of it badly tainted by the presence of Bacchus, a Roman god.  For that reason Dionysus was scarcely a blip in my imaginary radar of a landscape.  He rates only a passing reference in Deus Ex Machina, although to be fair, he wasn't central to the plot, whereas in The Hunter of the Dead, his role was pivotal - Thanks to the books ELEUSIS by Kerenyi and FATE, LOVE, AND ECSTASY by Sanford, in which Dionysus appears closer to himself than Bacchus.
FATE, LOVE, AND ECSTASY: Wisdom From the Lesser Known Goddesses of the Greeks - by Sanford provided a much appreciated and needed introduction to the exotic and frequently underrated, if not flat out misunderstood figure of Dionysus.  (Seriously, find a copy.  It's full of wonderful insights.)  Among the many details given are a wide range of epithets, associations, and the qualities he possesses.
Although a later addition to the Olympian pantheon, Dionysus is also older according to some sources, and very likely imported from a culture in Asia Minor.  Certainly his legend has him traveling from Egypt all the way to India.  Once adopted into the Olympian Pantheon, he was also 'adopted' (you could say) by Zeus (another 'imported' figure), who played a particularly significant role in Dionysus 'second' birth after his 'first' birth via the mortal Semele.
His is a complex and involved tale and I'm assuming most of you are familiar with it already, but if you aren't: Wikipedia, theoi.com, or hunt down such books as can be found about him, especially the two fore-mentioned.  As it would be all too easy to draft quite an extensive chapter on the origins and tales surrounding Dionysus, I am going to attempt to restrict this essay to that which beguiled its way into my writing and my art.
Dionysus is potent.  His powers include shape-shifting, divine mania as a means of achieving ekstasies: the ability to stand outside of oneself, or as we might say, achieve liberation from the ego and the constraints of society.  As a liberator, he and his rites played a significant role in the lives of women in ancient Greece.  He is blessed with a variety of associations.
He is the God of Life, the 'twice-born one', God of regeneration, who may have more than a fraternally symbolic association with Persephone and the Eleusian Mysteries.
Iacchus is his mystic name and in the Eleusian ceremony the 'leader of the dance on earth was held to be the youthful, torch bearing god, whose statue (which was called Iakchos) the procession bore from Athens.  Dionysus shares the name 'Zagreus' with Hades as well, according to some, which suggests that he shares a dual nature with the Lord of the Underworld, especially according to Heraclitus, who stated that Hades and Dionysus are one and the same, even as he shares a duality of purpose, a balancing role with Apollo, the god of self-knowledge and 'enlightenment'.
He is also known as the Bull-Horned God of fertility, which associates him not only with Persephone, Kore, Plouton, and the Eleusian Mysteries, but also with the Minotaur and his half-sister Ariadne, a priestess-princess who became Dionysus consort.  He is particularly sympathetic toward humanity.
Whole books have been written about him, so one could go on and on in endless fascination about this especially rich and beguiling deity, but it's time to get to the more 'intimate' discussion originally intended by this essay: his symbolic impact on this author/artist.
Going into some of these paintings, I've worked some of his famous associations, connections, and relationships - as you can see above and following.  At other times I did a little symbolic free association with depictions that merged figures from different cultures to hint at other aspects or deeper qualities.
These are the results, which you may view in my online gallery here:
Apollo and Dionysus seated together on a rock in which the former points to Dionysus, who holds a 'grail' cup in his hand.

Dionysus seated upon the Purple Lotus of Mysticism (from Buddhist/Hindu art).  He sports his bull horns and snakes and sits between two flourishing trees, as between a theatrical facade, and before a lush, verdant landscape.  In his left hand he holds a 'grail' cup from which has hatched a plumed serpent, symbol of Quezalcoatl, whom Dionysus regards with a look of delighted amusement.

In a smaller canvas, Dionysus stands beside the potent female symbol of Death and Regeneration (snake symbolism): Medusa.

In the first painting of a diptych, Dionysus dances with Kore (Persephone) inside a sacred circle.  The second painting depicts Kore's fate at the hands of Hades (Dionysus' dual aspect?).

In part of the "Fun With Color" series, Dionysus gazes into the mysterious heart of the Grail cup from which trance smoke arises.

A more recent canvas that is more narrative than symbolic finds Dionysus on a walk beneath stormy skies with Apollo (in Buddhist attire), Artemis (in her Native American guise - see previous Artemis essay), and Eros.  I can only describe it as a leftover mental image from writing The Hunter of the Dead, in which all of these deities play significant roles.

More recently Dionysus joined Aphrodite's Family Picnic, seated across from all of the Erotes - plus young Cupid, and beside Ares and the Three Graces, who having a VERY good time.  One of the Graces has even availed herself of his horns in the spirit of fun.  His association with Aphrodite's 'phallus-loving' aspect is why he is there.  He does get around, doesn't he?

In the painting above of Dionysus with the Minotaur, Ariadne and Nandi: Ariadne and the Sacred bulls is a whimsical play of symbolic figures that have things in common, Nandi being a literal 'sacred cow'.

He appeared again in what turned into another diptych, a more interpretive narrative one than anything else: Apollo and Dionysus gazing, with some irritation at Aphrodite and Eros, the former of whom seems to be saying 'What are you going to do about it?'
Dionysus will be appearing in more canvases.  He is too fascinating to ignore and too supple a symbol not to paint again.
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I have written here previously about Aphrodite/Venus, one of my favorite artistic subjects.  Here I will go into more detail about my quirky artistic choices whenever I paint her and the rest of her 'Court': the Graces, the Erotes, and Psyche.
My early depictions of Venus tended to depict her as: A. unclothed, and B. without a belly button.  That visual omission arose from a reading of Hesiod's Theogony in which the birth of Aphrodite is told.  According to the generally accepted myth, the Goddess of Love was born from the sea as the fortuitous by product of the gruesome act of Cronus throwing Uranus' castrated genitals into the sea.  From the sea foam that formed around the divine organs, a divine maiden formed: Aphrodite.  Mulling over this tale, it occurred to me that she might not necessarily have a belly button: she was born from the sea, not a womb, so no umbilical cord and therefore, no belly button.  Now, whenever I paint her unclothed, I paint her WITHOUT a belly button.
In the habit of combining Eastern symbols with Western figures, I've done more than one painting of Aphrodite seated or standing atop a stylized Hindu/Buddhist red lotus, representing in this case especially 'passion'.  In the formal depictions, she tends to have either the ocean behind her or a throne with a blue shell-like appearance and some form of aureole behind her head.
Three times she has appeared in close proximity to Dionysus, suggesting an intriguing dynamic at work between them or represented by them.  The first time was in an early project: a crude triptych depicting the arrival of Aphrodite on Cythera.  Dionysus stands beside a tree and toasts Aphrodite's arrival with his wine cup.
The second time, Dionysus sits to her left, with her hand resting on his thigh as he helps her with her veil.
The third time they appear 'together' is in another triptych: Family Picnic.  Dionysus shares the right canvas with Ares, who is digging a gnat out of his wine, the Three Graces, who really enjoying themselves, and Dionysus, looking particularly relaxed.  (Their association continues in the novel The Hunter of the Dead, too.)
The middle painting of this series depicts Aphrodite with Psyche on her right and Adonis on her left.
And then the third canvas, depicting the Erotes: (left to right) Himeros, Pothos, Eros, Anteros, and young Cupid, courtesy of the Romans.
Aside from her 'paramours' Ares, Dionysus, and Adonis, and her handmaidens the Graces, there are the aforementioned other key members of her familial court: the Erotes and the mortal turned divinity Psyche.  Usually one hears only about Eros, or Cupid, and the story about him and Psyche, his mortal consort turned immortal at the end of her 'fairy tale'.  There three other 'brothers' to Eros: Anteros with his butterfly wings, whose statue resides at Piccadilly in London, and two more, somewhat less familiar ones: Himeros and Pothos.  Eros is 'love'; Anteros is 'reciprocal love'; Himeros is 'desire' or 'lust'; and Pothos is 'passion' or 'longing', and has also an association with wine.  Whenever I paint them, I like to give them an Indian flare in their appearance, as though they were more directly related as well to Kama.  I'll come back to the fifth figure in a moment...
Speaking of India's rich influence upon my visual stylization of these figures, this influence has been applied quite often to my depictions of Eros and Psyche.  In one earlier painting, they are depicted in poses reminiscent of Shiva and Parvati:.  In other paintings, they interact in a less formal manner, although Eros retains his colorful, India-influenced appearance, which he shares with the Erotes.
Back to that fifth, junior figure among the Erotes, the one who looks like a younger, kid brother.  That is the 'Roman son' of Aphrodite/Venus: Cupid, the boyish equivalent to the fiercer, grown-up hunter who was respected, or rather, feared by the Greeks.  I have never depicted Eros as anything but a young, intense man, but in a whimsical mood I began to imagine the sort of petulant interactions that might result if Eros and Cupid were indeed separate incarnations.  This resulted in the painting called Sibling Rivalry, in which Eros holds an arrow, the evidence of some act of mischief, and faces off with a defiant Cupid, while Aphrodite scrutinizes him.  Meanwhile, the consequences of Cupid's misconduct looms dark in the background.
After that, I made certain to include him with the Erotes, reaching into a bowl to get a roll while Anteros looks on.
Now that I see Cupid as separate, I can only see Eros and Cupid standing apart as individuals and interacting as siblings do.  It's actually kind of fun that way.
Aphrodite recently appeared again in the company of her beloved Ares and with Athena and Apollo.  And the obsession continues.
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There are two or three saints for whom I have a particular liking: Francis of Assisi, Jeanne D'Arc (la Pucelle), and George, patron saint of (among many places0 England and the province of Aragon in Spain.  I have painted the first two saints once each, and someday I expect I'll attempt them again.
Saint George, thanks in part to his associate the dragon, is a source of greater artistic fascination, as he has been for many artists and storytellers through the centuries.  I have painted him a total of four times, including as part of a diptych.  What can I say?  I like the visual symbolism of George and his dragon.
Actually, you can blame Disney's classic Sleeping Beauty for my adult fixation on St. George and the dragon: the climactic battle between Prince Philip and the Sorceress Maleficent in which she turns herself into a black and purple dragon evokes something of St. George's legend.  Certainly, it's where I got my dragon fixation.
Once again, as I had done with my Olympian subjects, I sought out further insights into this saint and into dragons, especially their symbolism in different cultures.  In the West, dragons had mostly negative associations, but in the East, in Asian cultures, the dragon had benign and even beneficial qualities.  It is these qualities that I lean toward when I explore the dragon as symbol.
The most significant (and recently encountered) version of St. George's legend involved him subduing the dragon first and then leading it into the beleaguered town, where he gave the populace an offer they couldn't refuse: Convert to Christianity or he'd turn the dragon loose, right there.  Needless to say, the people converted and the dragon, which was also an allegorical symbol of pagan religions was killed.  The actual St. George, or the man who inspired the tales of this saint, was believed to have lived in the time of Diocletian and came to a horrific end for refusing to worship pagan gods.  (I'll spare you the gruesome details.)
The western perspective of dragons tends to be that they are all evil, as well as dangerous and destructive.  They breathe fire, can be poisonous, and are usually winged, with a penchant for guarding hoards of treasure.  They were also affiliated with the Devil and using the term 'dragon' was also a way to reference Satan.  Except for the Welsh Red Dragon, they are monsters to be destroyed.
So, where is a dragon to go to find more favorable traditions?  East.
In Asian cultures dragons are revered symbols of nature, religion, and long life as well as Wisdom and the Universe, the powers of Divine Creation: the elements, especially those associated with water.  They are magnificent, magical creatures and usually more serpentine in form in their eastern depictions, unlike the giant lizard, dinosaur like versions of Western iconography.
Being born in the year of the dragon, I'm inclined to view them as simply large animals that should be dealt with carefully, like rhinos, elephants, hippos, bear, or moose.  I do not view them as evil, but I recognize that dragon would be a dangerous thing to encounter.
Now to the paintings...the first one, which I was lucky enough to sell, is this one:

St. George and the Dragon.
I painted this one in response to the aforementioned version of the St. George legend, or rather my response to it: a non-confrontational depiction of George walking  WITH the dragon, because I guess you could say both wound up becoming sacrificed to Christianity - one unwillingly and the other as a martyr.  In a nod to Asian culture and its dragons, this western, but wingless dragon clutches a peach - symbol of good health and longevity.  (Yeah, I know, seriously ironic here.)
The second painting features a meeting of Old World and New World...

St. George with the Plumed Serpent (Quetzalcoatl) in a formal, stylized presentation.
Looking again at dragon lore, serpents were frequently mixed in, most decidedly in Asian depictions.  Not one of my better depictions, but certainly exotic and as presented, laden with various shadings of implications and meaning, especially as George was also patron saint of Aragon in Spain > Ferdinand and Isabella: Aragon and Castille > Columbus in 1492 and the invasion of the New World that ensued.  And that's just one visible interpretation.  Again, there are issues of sacrifice...
Next, a diptych in which the maiden or princess of legend makes an appearance WITH the dragon, who seems situated more like a protector or guardian than a menace where she is concerned.

She had been resting upon the dragon's coiled tail, but now rises, startled and uncertain.  Certain shades of yellow, in this case a generous mix of Italian Yellow Ochre, Italian Naples Yellow, and Italian Burnt Sienna (Williamsburg paints), represent for me Divinity, Heaven, Divine Bliss - you get the idea.  Blue, especially certain shades and in this case Mussini King's Blue and Williamsburg lightened Ultramarine Blue represent also the same spiritual quality of heaven and is a calming color.  Red is passion, or at least the Cadmium Light Red I'm fond of tends to, but it is also frequently fiery.  In this case, it's just a touch of contrast on the maiden's head from which her peaceful blue veil issues.  Green, well green is life, abundant life energy - the true treasure of the Earth and of Gaia.  Both paintings share pretty much the same colors in varying shades.

As for St. George in his companion painting, he looks a little tentative. Perhaps the situation isn't what he expected: the girl seems more fearful of his intrusion than she does of her dragon companion.
The last and most recent version is similar to the one with the Plumed Serpent.

A similar color scheme to the diptych: earth tones, greens, seething reds, more intense Prussian greenish-blue this time, and a fiercer shade of Divine yellow.  They stand as a symbolic duo before a yellow and red emblem reminiscent of flames or feather wings that is surrounded by a wall of foliage.  St. George brandishes his weapons, but not necessarily in a belligerent manner.
And there you have them: the Variations on a theme of St. George and his dragon.

(PS. Hey, sometimes it takes me awhile to figure out what these things mean too.)

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Original artwork: finished paintings and some oil studies are available for sale at Etsy.com.  They would make great gifts and are at great prices for your budget.  

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And I also have calendars for sale at Lulu.com: [link]

And I have prints and notecards available via Zazzle: [link]

AND also via Society6 : [link]