Kwan Yin

Lots of stuff happened when I worked with the Acheulian Goddess. As I mentioned, I researched the hell out of her, but when it came time to bring her to life, I realized I had to abandon all that I thought I knew. The same goes for my life. Everything I thought I knew has just gone out the door. We’re starting at the beginning. And it’s been tough, still is. With the Achulean Goddess demanding that I let everything go, even though I don’t know yet how it all comes back together I decided to ask for a little (well, alot) of mercy. Which brought me to Kwan Yin.

Kwan Yin has a couple of stories and many different spellings of her name. She is a bodhisattva who hears the cries of the world. Hopefully she has heard mine. We’ll see!

As I was painting her I was thinking about the culture from which she originates. There is wealth associated with Chinese deities; wealth, luck good fortune. And although Her key words may be compassion and mercy, I was focusing on abundance.

Kwan Yin is teaching me that abundance is effortless. That there is a flow and it comes from a never ending source (her pouring water). She doesn’t practice compassion, She is compassion. She doesn’t show mercy, She is mercy. Just as She doesn’t have abundance, She is abundance. And that is what I need to be.

She is usually shown with a dragon. I chose to portray her with Dragon Fish. One of these fish recently sold at auction for around $450,000. Dragon Fish also come from Indonesia. That’s where my husband is from and as I painted her, I kept thinking of his Grandmother. I think my Chinese woman morphed just a bit to reveal some Islander type features. But that felt right to me.

The colors are not colors that normally work with, but then this was about Her not me. They made me feel at peace and loved. But She’s not pastel. Life isn’t pastel. Her oranges and pinks were used to show vibrancy, life, creativity and sexuality.

I like that She’s beautiful but doesn’t care. Her dress drapes in the water. Her foot dips in as well. I wanted to show the connectedness of all life and the flow of abundance. Her causal happy attitude reminds me of the law of least effort. I am also reminded to see the beauty and abundance already around me and be grateful.