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Spiritual Paintings and Portraits by Mona Diane Conner
All art images, photographs, and content of this blog are © Mona Diane Conner 2014, and may not be reproduced in any form whatsoever, online or in print, without permission.
What this Blog is About: The Divine in Each Person
We are not equal to God’s Divine power, yet we carry it’s seed within each of us. Over time I am developing a series of spiritually-toned portraits of one person, then another, attempting to pin down that seed of the Divine within the individual as it expresses itself uniquely through each of us. If it is true that we are made in God’s image, is there is a way in which we don’t really perceive this in ourselves, or what it fully means about the measure of each person’s life? Yet if all of creation is a reflecting image of the Divine, it must be true that we are more special than we know. It is this missed part---the divine-yet-human part in each of us--- that I attempt to highlight with my series of each person, beginning with my first subject, The Divine in Kimberly.
If we could really see ourselves as God sees us, how would it change us? Would it help us grow closer in our relation to the Divine? Would it heal us? Would it expand and shift our understanding about who we really are? Religion and spirituality are in a sense flip sides of one coin which are only reflected in each of us by how our actual actions pan out in our lives. Kimberly wears a veil in salute to her reverence for the Divine Feminine in several guises--Mary, and living Indian avatar, Amritanandamayi Ma. She is not Mary or Amma, or a portrayal of them in costume, yet she carries them so dear in her heart that the beauty of this expresses out to all with whom she comes into contact.
Once my mother had a dream. In her dream she was trying to walk home, but she felt lost at first because all the houses were beautiful mansions that looked alike. Which one was hers? Each mansion had lit candles in every window. Then seeing these candles, a safe feeling came over her that although she thought she had been lost, every one of these mansions was actually her home.
It's many lives I believe that we live and it's many mansions, both in heaven and on earth, that we are given to explore, and as in my mother's dream, candles are lit in every window of every mansion, calling us home there too. On earth these mansions lie within each of us, each one a realm of its own within a person, an aspect of who we are. It is these mansions we need to explore in order to fully realize our true human potential.
If we could really see ourselves as God sees us, how would it change us? Would it help us grow closer in our relation to the Divine? Would it heal us? Would it expand and shift our understanding about who we really are? Religion and spirituality are in a sense flip sides of one coin which are only reflected in each of us by how our actual actions pan out in our lives. Kimberly wears a veil in salute to her reverence for the Divine Feminine in several guises--Mary, and living Indian avatar, Amritanandamayi Ma. She is not Mary or Amma, or a portrayal of them in costume, yet she carries them so dear in her heart that the beauty of this expresses out to all with whom she comes into contact.
Once my mother had a dream. In her dream she was trying to walk home, but she felt lost at first because all the houses were beautiful mansions that looked alike. Which one was hers? Each mansion had lit candles in every window. Then seeing these candles, a safe feeling came over her that although she thought she had been lost, every one of these mansions was actually her home.
It's many lives I believe that we live and it's many mansions, both in heaven and on earth, that we are given to explore, and as in my mother's dream, candles are lit in every window of every mansion, calling us home there too. On earth these mansions lie within each of us, each one a realm of its own within a person, an aspect of who we are. It is these mansions we need to explore in order to fully realize our true human potential.
About Me
- Mona Diane Conner
- In addition to my website: monadianeconner.com, I am pleased to present four painting blogs to the public --- my portrait blog, "Mona Conner Portraits," my spiritual paintings blog, "Grander Joy of Spirit," my miniature painting blog, "The Ruby Slippers," and "Windows of the Soul - Eye Portraits in Miniature." Please note that "Windows of the Soul" will remain active in order to introduce the tradition of miniature eye portraits in modern terms; however, future eye portraits (along with other kinds of portraits) will also post on "Mona Conner Portraits."
OTHER LINKS TO MY ART ONLINE
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Blog Archive
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2009
(77)
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March
(12)
- "Mary in Amma in Kimberly"
- More on the pastel of Kimberly
- More pastel in progress ~ Kimberly
- Pastel in progress ~ Kimberly
- P.S.
- "Surprise Daddy!"
- "Session on the Ruby Slippers" with Mona Diane Conner
- Artist Statement & Bio
- Panel Progress, "The 'Mary' in Kimberly"
- Gilding a Panel
- Panel Progress, "The 'Mary' in Kimberly"
- Panel Progress, "The 'Mary' in Kimberly"
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March
(12)
5 comments:
I see you gave pink colors to her. The fingernails are now pretty pink. She is coming a live! :)
I love so much how you try to get the spiritual sid of your models, my many compliments!
Very nice!!
I don't know much about egg tempura, it's so interesting to see the process!
Thanks everyone. It may be helpful to know that it's rabbit-skin glue gesso that must be used when painting with egg tempera, Kathleen. Acrylic-based gessoes will not allow the egg tempera to bind properly to the painting surface.
I just wanted to add in response to DEB's previous comment about memories from her former church, it's non-denominational symbols I am trying for, even though it can remind us internally of experiences we've had in one specific context. I am trying to take spiritual symbols out of their traditional context and make them more universal in what they express.
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