Radiance Found

Pastel, 9” x 12”, 2001 $600

This pastel was inspired by portrait of the virgin Mary as depicted in Leonardo da Vinci’s painting The Virgin of the Rocks, which is my absolute favorite painting and highly influential on my art. I have been privileged enough to stand before both original versions of this painting – first in London at the National Gallery and three years later, I stood in the Louve in Paris and drew the head of the virgin from the first, edgier version of this painting. That drawing became the basis for “Radiance Found.’

I wished to express in this work the feeling of coming into the light, into grace, and into “one’s own” Being truly at peace with yourself and feeling your inner peace, goodness, and true self shining through. I used a diffused light to play over her hair and features, and soft colors for the collar of her dress and for the background, to express the softness and mystery of this state of mind. This work is an expression of the softer, feeling, in one’s solitude, of self-actualization, being truly in the authentic self and feeling content.

For more information on the background of this artwork, please see the blog post on Archangel Uriel.