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"

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!