More progress, and more about rose petals and Devi Bhava

"Mary in Amma in Kimberly", (still in progress), egg tempera on panel

After some consideration I decided to remove the shadow from Kimberly's left, in order to show the rose petal shower in an open, (as opposed to a shallow), space.  I hope this will help me to create a feeling of the petals also going deeper into space by showing the petals smaller as they go back in space.  At times I've also changed a petal entirely, in one instance three times, to get the feeling going that I want, and I feel I'm finally getting a rhythm going on this part now.


Having experienced Amma's Devi Bhava petal shower for myself, it is hard for me to describe the blessing feeling that it gives a person, but I can tell you that I wish I knew more about it's mysteries!

I had mentioned in a previous post that while Devi Bhava includes petals from ALL the flowers which are given to Amma during darshan, I chose to portray rose petals for Kimberly's Devi Bhava experience for several reasons. Kimberly is a quite a rare individual as a professional healer in her life. She performs many kinds of healing, beautifully so, across several healing modalities, and it is one of her practices to always have fresh roses in the treatment room where she does her work. A spiritual teacher common to both of us once told us that angels love to be present where there are flowers, but in particular where there are roses. Roses are also Amma's 'theme' flower. Yet, as I'm still adding rose petals to this painting, has anyone noticed there is just one flower petal that is a little different?

Mary in Amma in Kimberly ~ continued progress

"Mary in Amma in Kimberly," in progress

Still on this, more petals are still to come, and the background is beginning to lighten and warm up. A few small areas have been removed (washed or sanded off) for revisions/additions, such as adding a petal or repositioning the green leaves at bottom right. Sometimes removing an area is easier than adding extra layers of paint, due to the translucency of egg tempera paint.

Mary's Inner Beauty in Kimberly

"Mary's Inner Beauty in Kimberly", graphite on vellum trace © Mona Diane Conner

(click the image to see it larger)

Here is a study for my next panel painting for the Divine in Kimberly series, size still t.b.d.

"Mary in Amma in Kimberly" in progress

egg tempera on panel in progress

I'm again in the midst of adding more petals to this painting which now has an official title:  "Mary in Amma in Kimberly". Devi Bhava is a special evening darshan which celebrates the Divine Mother and the divine feminine aspects of God. Beginning with an Atma Puja for world peace and including the chanting of the 1000 names of the Divine Mother, and darshan from Amma as the Divine Mother, Devi Bhava concludes with Amma showering flower petals on everyone present as a final blessing. While the Devi Bhava flower petal ceremony traditionally includes flower petals of all kinds, I have chosen only rose petals for this painting because roses are not only Amma's theme flower, but also the flower that Kimberly loves most.

Although it's a bit long (approx. 8 minutes), I found on YouTube this sweet link about Amma's Devi Bhava. For those unfamiliar with Devi Bhava, the film shows only snippets, but perhaps it provides a glimpse for you of what this all night darshan encompasses: What is Devi Bhava?

Update and Scanned Detail from Kimberly With Roses

Scanned detail from my egg tempera portrait in progress of Kimberly With Roses

Sorry not to have posted an update in a while, but I have resumed working on the upper half of this egg tempera portrait of Kimberly, and I thought it would be interesting, even though my scanner bed is too small to encompass this 19 1/2" x 15 1/4" work, to try a scan of a detail from the painting at this point. A scan shows you the brushwork and details better, and also the depth I am beginning to achieve with the painting as the layers are building. My digital camera has perhaps only captured a portion of this in previous posts, but you can also see a bit of progress with the painting itself.

More Petals and Fringe

"Kimberly With Roses" in progress, egg tempera painting on panel (click image twice for a larger view)

Still adding more rose petals, and working on the gold fringe of her shawl, I'm also beginning to layer in a warmer tone over the background.

falling rose petals

"Kimberly With Roses", 19 1/2" x 15 1/4", egg tempera panel in progress (click the image twice for a larger view)

I'm so sorry that my work to promote portraits in general has kept me absent so long from this blog, but here's another update. As you can see, I'm starting to add falling rose petals and working on the areas around the petals as I add them to the painting.

Please feel welcomed also to visit Mona Conner Portraits, where I feature my commissions.

progress on Kimberly With Roses

"Kimberly With Roses" in progress

Here is what I'm working on; the current version is on top.