New painting - Yamantaka

Creating art has been my personal relief from the world, it's my sanctuary where nobody else has any control. It's private and comforting. Sure, I very rarely love the end result, but then again most of my work have never reached completion... 

I'm not entirely sure how I came across this inspiration for a painting. I think I might have been looking up pictures of Buddha at first and then stumbled across Lord Yamantaka somehow along the way. After having read more about this personality, I was persuaded to create a painting of Him. I found one painting that I thought looked very interesting, it was a close up of just his face, so I began to sketch out my own version of this painting. I think that's pretty much how this began...

I have a fascination with history and in particular Eastern beliefs, culture and traditions etc... Ancient scriptures and the Vedas and Sutras have gripped my mind. The stories are so mystical and fantastical that I have to turn it into a physical piece that I see within my mind..

This fearsome figure is actually a a wonderful personality that was victorious over the Lords of death and judgement, breaking the continuous cycle of rebirth of humankind. 

Yamantaka is a violent aspect of the Bodhisattva Manjushri, who assumes this form to vanquish Yama, the God of death. By defeating Yama, the cycle of rebirths (samsara) that prevents enlightenment is broken.

Because of this he makes enlightenment easier for all who seeks it.

Scripture is interesting, these kinds of writings has always captured my mind. I try and capture these images in artwork has always been my Artist journey. It takes on personality and emotion with every stroke of the brush. You can feel the drama in expression, this has been an interesting painting...

My New Painting "Divine Beauty"

Hi there folks,

Longtime no post. Excuse my disappearance, I have been knee deep in paints.

So, after much deliberation, I have begun a new painting titled "Divine Beauty".

It is still far from completion or even half way, just a rough outline at the moment, but I'm happy with how it is evolving.

I hope my artwork has some kind of impact on whoever sees it. But, who knows what the future may hold, I might be sitting on a goldmine of paintings and it's just a matter of time before they are discovered and my life will change! Here's fingers crossed for such a jackpot.

Anyway, back to my new piece, I've titled it "Divine Beauty", so far I've done rough outlines, but there's so much more to come. I'm quite excited about this piece, I just know it's going to be a turning point in my Art collection. I've had it temporarily posted on social media and it had an unbelievable amount of interest. I'm hopeful this painting will boost my Artist reputation and ignite my recognition amongst customers.

There are times I look at the painting and my heart sinks just knowing how much more still needs to be done and I begin questioning whether I have the skill to pull it off correctly.

So to break the negative influence, I'm currently working on three different smaller kinds of paintings, all of which have their own style. This gives me a break from overthinking a technique or becoming frustrated with a specific colour I want to achieve or a specific angle I want to create. Plus there's the added bonus of simultaneously having three paintings progressing together.

Thank you for taking the time to read my story and I hope and look forward to anyone out there.

The painting on the left is title "Divine Beauty and the painting on the right is titled "Divine Mother"

The Great Protector

I just finished my oil painting titled "The Great Protector".
It took approximately 4-5 months to complete.

The inspiration for this oil painting came from Vedic and Buddhist philosophy.
A powerful being in the form of half man and lion, He is described as seated on a universal serpent with many hoods. The Great Protector is known as Lord Narasingadeva and to this very day is found in ancient caves and temples in the East. The oldest artefact thought to be Lord Narasingadeva is carbon dated to be approximately between 35000 and 40000 years old, discovered in a cave in Germany.
There is a wonderful story found in Vedic scripture how an all powerful being known as Lord Narasingadeva appeared to save a child from his abusive father, an evil King, who tried to behead his son because he believed God was more powerful than him. I won't go into much detail here, but it is remarkable how the little boy had faith that the Lord he was devoted to will always be there to protect him, so when Lord Narasingadeva appeared and killed his father, the boy was not afraid, nor sad, nor confused. He believed and knew the fearsome figure was in fact the Lord he loved and worshipped and was there to protect him from harm.

I think that is inspiration enough to paint this painting, how did Lord Narasimha look, what did the King see, what did the little boy see?
How would Lord Narasingadeva have looked when He attacked the King?

The original painting was actually commissioned by a private client, but I have made a duplicate available for purchase.
I will be painting a much larger version of this painting soon, showing a zoomed out birds-eye view of this scene, displaying all the detail of what is happening. The palace, King, soldiers and the young prince all will be included, so watch this space, there is much more to come!

Please feel free to leave a comment.
I hope you enjoyed this entry, thank you for reading.

COWS, COWS, COWS EVERYWHERE!!

You know how many are either a dog or a cat lover, I am a cow lover. That's right folks, I love cows, they are just simply adorable.

Cows and peacocks, if I had land, I would definitely keep cows and peacocks....

Why cows you may wonder, I don't really know why....

Back in the day when I was much younger, I practiced as a nun, part of my daily duties included milking cows... All the cows at our monastery had a name, they would come when called and they each had a unique personality. They were taken care of throughout their lives, the bulls were kept to work the fields, but I rarely saw the bulls as the monks generally cared after them. From what I remember, the bulls were gentle and sometimes playful. 

So what is this post all about you probably wondering.....what does my story about cows have to do about art...?

Well, I have a new private commission for another oil painting! The client originally asked for anything that has a cow and lotus in it, so I will be surprising them with this beauty!

Actually, out of all the excitement, I started 4 smaller paintings of cows as well...

The main COW painting was inspired from sacred ancient scripture, I read descriptions of a spiritual planet, shaped like a lotus flower and home to desire cows. Yes, desire cows, these cows were colourful, wore jewellery and silken cloth. Their milk flowed from their udders and tasted sweet like nectar. They were desire cows because simply by glancing upon them, all your desires and wishes were full filled. 

A cow planet shaped like a lotus.....I think the client will be pleasantly surprised!

This inspired me to create a new painting, a lotus shaped cow mandala. The vision I have of this painting is magnificent, there will be much detail and colour. But, at the moment, it is still very basic and rough, but it will eventually take shape of a wish full filling desire mandala. 

Let me know what you think, I'd love to hear your thoughts. 

Watch this space, I'll keep you posted as the painting blossoms into a wonderful cow filled lotus mandala!

ART GALLERY WEBSITES

It has been a while since my last post, I've had exams and graduated from University. That is right folks, I am now have a qualified accredited Biomedical Scientist qualification! Look out world, I am armed with a lab coat and bunsen burner!! Just need to complete a portfolio and become registered!

Other than the exciting world of chemistry, I have also been glued to my canvas. After having left my last employer (insurance), I received a wonderful commission to complete an amazing painting called 'Great Protector' and dived straight into it. I paint everyday for hours until my fingers begin cramping. Yes, yes, that doesn't sound great, but it is all about perfection, my paintings must look glorious, they must be masterpieces at any cost! So a bit of cramps and blurred eyes is a small price to pay for excellence! The 'Great Protector' is a commissioned piece, but I will complete a duplicate original for sale as well....it's just too powerful to be a one time only painting!

I have just signed up to a few online galleries, my paintings are nearing completion, so I am setting up accounts on a few Artsy sites so I'm all prepared for the big day of uploading these beauties. In the meantime I'm also missing the exciting world within a laboratory and have been on the lookout and applying for posts non stop, I'm positive my perseverance and determination will be fruitfull!

I'm hoping to hold a private show in the summer and sign up for open house shows, but more on these events later on!

Another Day in the world of Flowers!

I decided after 'The Hibiscus' flower sketch, to make a whole series celebrating their beauty called 'Flower Power'.
Here is the second photo added to the series, this is called 'Cheeky Fuchsias'.

Flowers are natural wonders, all so beautiful, have a variety of smell, shape, colours, unique in behaviour and attractive to all big and small.

So, if anyone is reading my posts and would like to add their favourite flowers to my collection, please feel free to either write to me in person or post a comment with your flower name. I will draw your favourite flower and add to the collection.

Let's have some fun!

I'm a tad slow with pencil drawings, but I'm enjoying the challenge.

Here are my 'Cheeky Fuchsias'
Pencil sketch approx 9hrs

My HIBISCUS flower sketch

Hi all lovely people,

So a quick flower sketch of Hibiscus. Took approximately 12 hours to complete....

This is actually my first ever still life flower pencil sketch. My comfort zone is actually with oil paints, but I decided to stretch myself. So here it is, Hibiscus!

Promoting my art has been a tough journey, still is... But I'm positive I will find some amazing networking opportunities that will rocket my Artwork in the right direction.....

If I could pay for advertising or afford an agent, I would be up in the stars with all the other well known Artists, but art takes time and patience, eventually our work will be stumbled across sooner or later. In the meantime I see this time as practice, tweaking my skills so when I'm found, I will be even more brilliant than at present! All gems need polishing!


Thank you for reading! xxx

An ARTIST no matter what!

Hi There Beautiful Art Lovers!

So, here's a bit about myself.

Once upon a time I used to be a baker. Yes, that's right, an Artist becomes a baker! Stars collided, planets fell, the whole universe went into a spin!!! It was fantastic, I turned every single cake and cupcake into a unique piece of Art and people were completely taken by surprise.

Unfortunately, due to circumstances beyond my control, called seperation, I lost my artsy cake business, but kept my fabulous looks, so not a meltdown!

Thinking I could rule the world, I decided to go back into education.

For some reason an honours degree in Biomedical Science sounded like a fantastic option, so I dived straight in!

This is now my final year at university and I can honestly say, the University experience has been like a rollercoaster ride of emotion. 

Art keeps me alive, it's my life support, when everything is falling apart, assignment deadlines piling up and exams pressing on....I just take an extra dose of painting...

If it hasn't been for my Art, I would have gone completely loopy by now.

So, that's my life story in a nutshell, oh that and that I used to be a nun many moons ago.... but that's all for now folks! 

Here is a photo of my very first Dinosaur cake I made for a kiddie’s party! ENJOY!!!!