Art of Allowing: Painting 2

Her face in the wash

Back in May I began Flora Aube's online 'Art of Allowing' course, where we were invited to "cultivate the wisdom of relationship with the Great Mystery and serving as a midwife to the birth of Beauty in our lives and on our planet. This is the high art of embodying the Priestess within, empowered with full access to our divine gifts of Creativity."
Registration is open for Flora's fall course, which begins in early September. 

I wrote about my process with the first painting, Spirit Dancer, here,& here

In June, we began working on our second painting, with the question 'What is asking to be born? Something beyond paint, something you are to bring forth ....' The colours that came during the meditation were gold & fire tones - "Fire, Vesta, hearth, spark .... fiery depth, Sekhmet, bringing heat for radiant life, birthing from orange & yellow, shimmer of wings, .... "

And the phrase: Love is our Soul Purpose ... Heart fire, sacred flame, blessings of the lady! 

WIP - June 12

I later realized that in a card reading at the beginning of the course, one of the cards pulled (Rainbow Earth Tarot) was Strength, with Sekhmet on one side of the priestess. I began the wash in early June, & finished Her by summer solstice.  

 After finding Her face in the wash, I began bringing out the features, & added her fiery hair. 

Like several recent paintings, (including Spirit Dancer, Zephyr & Ether) she began developing a central feathery 'crown.' I loved playing with her fiery hair, Egyptian eye adornment, & skin tones. I played with translucence by mixing Acrylic Glazing medium with Titan Buff paint (equal parts) over parts of her hair.

Sekhmet, June 14

As she is a 'lion headed Neteru,' I found an online tutorial for painting lion ears. I thought of a collar - but clearly heard "DON'T collar me!"

Sekhmet is often painted with a solar disk - I decided to use verigated 'gold' leaf around her, & found several great tutorials, beginning with Terese Nielsen (love this!) & had one of Nancy Reyner's books on using intereference paint and other fun Golden Goodies from the library.

Lucky me, I could go bug my friends at Merri Artist & find the leaf & glue I wanted, plus some yummy interference paint which I used in her hair
 .... green seemed right for the outer area, around her solar disk,  ....& I was 'allowed' to use some gold leaf 'points' on the sides of her neck (NOT a collar!!) You can see flecks of the gold in her 'crown' & in that outer green area.
And there's a great group of supportive artists on a private FB page, who offered mutual support & blessings as we each journeyed with our Ladies!

After painting her, I looked up more about her. 
Sekhmet, lion headed Neteret of Egypt is the goddess of transformation, of solar feminine fire. Her name means 'The Power, the Mighty one' - Egyptologist Nicky Scully writes: "she helps you set your course in the right direction, so you can grow & transform the seeds of your SOUL PURPOSE (!)... write what you see/feel growing & blooming in your heart." 

She was finished June 20, just in time for Summer Solstice - what a wonderful process!

Sekhmet - Love is our Soul Purpose!

 SôLsTïCè greetings!
Sekhmet: the power, the nighty one; lion GøddésS, feminine face of the sun, she brings the fire that fuels transformation.
Sekhmet helps us shape shift into our future selves, and incites us to open our hearts and receive the sees of our Soul Purpose!
Love is our Soul Purpose!
Bright BLéSSïNgS of the Lady on this Summer morn!

 Linking to Paint Party Friday. 
You can find more of my art throughout this blog & on my FB page Nadya's Atelier 
Happy PPF! 

Ether

Last week I posted a photo of a little 'green lady' on my easel ...

Ether - WIP

As I worked on Her, the colour scheme shifted to lavenders & blues, with an airy veil ....

Elemental: Ether (8.1)

By the end of the day, She was almost complete!

Ether, "I come to you from beyond the veils, to remind you of our Spirit connections.... we are always Home!
Never forget WHO you ARE, and what you came to BE. 
I come to remind you, in the beginning! In the end! 
Now is ALL, ALL is Love. 
ALL IS. 
ALL is within and all around.
I AM Ether!"

Zephyr - WIP

She is the third in the 'Elemental' series, joining windy, winged Zypher & sunny Sekhmet.  

With each of these ladies, I began with a wash, then looked within the movement of the paint for the being .... 
I am intrigued with their 'crowns' .... each a bit different, but similar. 
For the translucence, I used white (Buff Titanium) mixed with Medium and painted over the hair, veils, crown .... 
I love interference paint, which shimmers in different angles ... Ether has lavender eyes & lips .... done with interference violet 

Zephyr - 7.1

When I stopped by Merri Artist this week, I found they're having their August sale on Golden Paint (!) so I picked up larger sizes of some of my most used paint, & helped Merri assist a customer from california trying to remember the names of the paint she wanted - "Ah! That would be Quinacridone Nickel Azo Gold ..."

And across the street, at Currents Gallery (our local artist's co-op) I picked up an entry form & 8 x 16" canvas for the September juried show: Cityscape!  
"A cityscape is an artistic representation, such as a painting, drawing, print or photograph of physical aspects of a city or urban area."
If you're an artist in Oregon, you might wish to enter!! The price of entry includes the canvas (which may be embellished) & jury fee .... all entries must be for sale.

Happy Paint Party Friday!