Venus

Venus – acrylic painting by Heni Sandoval

Venus is a new painting in my planet series. I’ve learned quite a bit about the mythology of Venus from the research I did for a couple of other abstracts last year. The abstract which I named Ishtar, of a eight pointed star symbolized the planet Venus’s star pattern as she travels through space around the sun from our view on earth. Ishtar is an ancient Mesopotamian  goddess very similar to Venus, the goddess of love and beauty in Greek mythology. The earlier abstract I painted, Golden Mean Spiral, was based on the spiral pattern found throughout nature. Venus as she continually moves through space in a golden mean spiral forms a beautiful rose pattern. It’s interesting to me that the ancients knew about this.

I started this painting planning to get the star formed around the planet but then I thought I’d already done the star; so, I then decided to paint Venus as she appears in space. Venus is the second planet out revolving around the sun and as seen from earth is always close to the Sun, sometimes she’s the morning star and sometimes becomes the evening star. Those transitions are when the star points are formed in the pattern. Venus is a white planet brighter than the moon and has pink clouds. Here on earth, she appears as a bright white star.

I began to imagine Venus as almost like a pearl from the seashell within the sea from which she was formed in the Greek myth so famously portrayed in Botticelli’s Birth of Venus painting. I put in the sun on one side and used pastel colors, on the other side of Venus, I imagined it as the sea with its mysterious depths. It was fun to play with and I’m pleased with the painting. Spring is here in Atlanta, a great time to see the gold mean pattern and appreciate all the beauty in nature.

s.

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Rose Goddess

Rose Goddess – acrylic painting by Heni Sandoval

Rose Goddess is another painting that I began years ago and have just now completed.  I had always loved the composition but her face was not right.  I had found the image from a photograph of a goddess statue in the Versailles gardens.  Her face had always looked too masculine, so that’s what I changed to complete her.

I have heard that my mom’s mother loved roses and had a beautiful rose garden.  She died when I was too young to remember her.  My parents both admired her and always spoke of what a wonderful and loving woman she had been.  No one ever said an unkind word about her.  I think of her and her loving qualities and wished I had gotten to know her. She had  a pair of rose vases that I feel lucky to have inherited.   The fact that my loving grandmother loved roses has stuck with me and gotten me curious about the rose symbolism.

The rose has been associated with goddesses throughout history.  In one legend the first roses sprang from the Greek goddess of love, Aphrodite’s tears.  In later times the rose symbolized the beauty of romantic love.   Under Christianity, the rose became the Virgin Mary’s sacred flower, representing the divine feminine love.  The accepting feminine  loving energy is so special and much needed now.

 

Quan Yin Riding the Dragon

Quan Yin Riding the Dragon -acrylic painting by Heni Sandoval

Here is my new painting, Quan Yin Riding the Dragon; it has taken me a couple of weeks to complete as it was quite complex, integrating all of the elements was a challenge.

Quan Yin is an Eastern Goddess of compassion.  Quan Yin carries the Goddess and Divine Mother aspect of Buddhism and is worshiped throughout Asia as an ascended master who is a protector to women and children.

I’ve done many paintings of Buddha but I felt drawn to paint Quan Yin this time around, perhaps because my daughter is away in Japan all summer.

I chose to paint her on a dragon.   She is compassionate but also courageous and thus can tame the fierceness of Dragon.  In the dragon’s wild and cruel nature, Quan Yin is the only one who understands the dragon and his nature. She is the one that can heal him. 

It’s hard to believe we are entering the last leg of summer here, the kids in our area are already back in school.  Enjoy this month!