These are lines from Psalm 139 and I've always loved them. Cut off from my former church community and friends, and yet to build new relationships in our new life, I was feeling a bit sad and lonely. At times of self pity it always does me good to remember that I'm never alone .... and as always I chose to document this in my art journal.
This was one of those rare times when I did know from the beginning what I wanted to do with the page, and that the first thing was to draw the serene female mother God face. You can see below its earliest sketchy beginnings ... and no I can't explain why she turned out blue, she just did.
You can see below how I travelled from a simple outline and took it on from there. Once I'd painted the background, the black sweep of hair was done with a big chunky Posca paint pen The blue was painted with ordinary acrylics and a brush, then I added some shading with a grey marker and colour to her lips.
My mother God pictures always have swirling long hair for some reason, so when I looked at the above I felt it needed more but wanted to leave room for some writing. I extended her hair a bit, and also added a blue edge to give the page more definition, and did some more subtle work to the eye.
Once the writing was done I began to feel that the black hair was too 'flat' a colour, so I got out some gold and silver pens and added swirls of these to her hair, and some touches of gold to her forehead and the neck of the dress. Oh yes, and couldn't resist adding a few dots for decoration ..... well it would be wrong not to, wouldn't it.
Its very early days in our new life - barely 3 weeks since we moved and although the flat is looking more and more like home as we find places for things, there are still 9 boxes waiting for shelving in the studio. However, I am managing to work anyway using what I have to hand (which is quite a lot actually) and that does my soul good when I'm feeling a bit low or lonely.
Himself continues with the chemotherapy, which is hitting him harder these days, and that runs right up to Christmas. Then he has 4-6 weeks to build up his strength again before major surgery to remove his bladder and create a stoma. Apparently its possible to live a full and active life with one of these and it should leave him cancer free. Its big surgery so its going to be tough, but together we can do this.
4 comments:
A beautiful page - positive and calm and so expressive. God bless you both, Love and prayers as always x
Your Mother God radiates both calm and movement - I am reminded of Botticelli :) - and I am glad there is comfort and a sense of presence to hold you as you move through this difficult space for you both, Rosie. (Our local council and our Volunteer Bureau has a list of trusted traders, including a handyman who will do any little job quickly for retired people; I don't know if there might be something similar in your area?).
Sending well wishes to you.
xoxo Sioux
This is a lovely interpretation. Thank you for sharing.
Post a Comment