I colored and splashed water over this while chattering with my two year old yesterday, supervising her coloring (which mostly consists of preventing her from eating crayons or decorating the carpet and walls with her art), and daydreaming. My, how we multitask. :) The result is a sort of melding of Mary as Mary, and as wood nymph, Tree of Life, pregnant tree, life giver umbilically connected to a source of life, and I don't know what else. Fancifully imagined and childishly executed. It's also a celebration of pregnancy-- I love the phrase "great with child", it's so much more vibrant, strong, and Mother Earthy than referring to women in late pregnancy as huge-- which I heard a number of times with both of my last two pregnancies. Haven't quite reached that stage yet with this one. I don't think of myself as a particularly temperamental pregnant mommy, but will say I'd prefer "great with child" to huge any day! For aesthetic reasons, naturally. I care about the poetry of things.
It might be fairly observed that my tree girl is hardly identifiable as Mary, but I hope that the quoted phrases snatched from biblical stories about her make up for that. (Well, "in the fullness of time" is actually from a verse in Galations: "But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman. . . " ) And I was thinking of Mary, at least partially, when I colored her, so maybe that means she counts. :)
Linking to a A Virgin A Day.
LOL I have to say when I was pregnant I was "huge", but then I had twins and EACH weighed 6 pounds, so it wasn't me that was huge, it was them. But...it was ok to be huge. It was worth it. Your journal drawing is awesome. The meaning of each part of it is very special.
ReplyDeleteAh, so the phrase would have to be pluralized for you-- "great with children"! :) Wow, I can't even imagine having twins. Thanks for your kind comments on the journal page!
DeleteYour art is wonderful. It shows us the joy of knowing Mary. God grant you some physical comfort as you go through your pregnancy...oops, I mean as you endure being great with child...oops...er, I meant well!xx
ReplyDeleteA picture great with joy and life as is Mary and you!
ReplyDeleteHappy painting for 12 Days ~ Delightful and filled with love ~
ReplyDelete(A Creative Harbor) aka artmusedog and Carol ^_^
What a joyful image. You are Mary today!
ReplyDeleteWonderful!
Sweet dreans,
Ruby
I enjoyed your post and image of Mary. I like the idea of Mary Tree, she is very colorful with arms outstretched. Sweet.:)
ReplyDeleteIs it all right to indulge in a bit of envy? (I'm going to do it anyway!) I envy your artistic ability. I love this childlike and playful rendition of Mary great with child!
ReplyDeleteMary of the Menorah
I love your references to great with child and hope this pregnancy is as successful as your other two. I love your piece--divine feminine everywhere--and the fact that your two-year-old was creating, too.
ReplyDeleteshe counts totally and completely!
ReplyDeleteyou have me smiling here!
I love the swirly tree! And you're right - 'great with child' is a wonderful phrase, dignified and carrying great import :)
ReplyDeleteyou commentary makes me laugh, think of days gone by..
ReplyDeleteI wonder how I missed this yesterday? I think Mr. Linky wasn't working properly.
ReplyDeleteI love that image! If Mary is, indeed, everywhere, then She is in that tree, too!
what a joyful, playful celebration of womanhood and pregnancy. Visiting from Art Journal Every Day and so glad I came by!
ReplyDelete