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?

Amritanandamayi Ma's visit to NYC

Only one week until Amma's darshan..........I can't wait!!!

Returning to blogging soon, but I'm in the midst of a two-week break for re-organizing, hosting several special guests who I'm really looking forward to seeing---some old friends and my Florida cousin are coming to town, and this week to enjoy the three days of festivities when Amma, my Indian guru is here in NYC, including darshan (she offers hugs to thousands throughout the three day period), pujas (religious ceremony), live music, chanting monks, clothing & jewelry bazaar, vegetarian Indian food, and Devi Bhava.

Attending Amma darshan is a fascinating, internationally flavored experience. No cameras are permitted, so I can't share it in photos, but to give you a few highlights, so far I sat next to a woman who flew in from Paris (where Amma also tours), watched darshan taking place while Hindus intermingled with people from many religions and cultures, and while Voices of Unity, a large choir from Unity Church in Manhattan simultaneously stood behind Amma singing some rousing gospel songs after the swamis did a round of bhajans (devotional music). I even saw Iggy Pop milling around.

If it sounds like something you'd like to try out, it costs nothing to attend, and Amma is probably coming to a town near you. Here's a link to the North American part of her annual world tour.