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.

 

Mexican Madonna

Mexican Madonna Holding a White Dove – acrylic painting by Heni Sandoval

In December I was inspired to paint Mother Mary;  I’ve painted her three times now.  In this painting I wanted to capture the kind loving acceptance of a Mexican Mother Mary.   My husband and I lived in Oakland California for a while and at that time I began to notice when riding the subway into San Fransisco that I started to gravitate to sitting near Hispanics.  They just didn’t seem to be as uptight as everyone else;  it felt peaceful to sit near them.   In my life I was always striving and I tended to be hard on myself.  My husband, who has Hispanic blood, is a hard worker but has always been easier on himself.  I have learned in life that accepting yourself is an important key.   It seems to me cultures and families who honor the loving mother archetype provide a space for inner peace.

Available here.