Progress on My Spiritual Portrait Series

"Amma's Devi Bhava in Kimberly", in progress, 19 1/2" x 15 1/4", egg tempera on panel

Here, you can see some changes I am making to the leaves in the lower right corner of the painting, and a gold sash I'm adding.  After some consideration, I also decided to remove the shadow from the right side of the painting in order to open up the space more and I hope it will help me deepen the picture plane as I attempt to show the petals going back in space by varying the size of some of them, showing them smaller and further behind her.  Some of the petals have been redone, in one instance on the right-hand side, three times, in order to get a feeling going that I have been aiming for, and I think it is there, but more petals are still needed for the feeling of a 'petal shower'.

There are many mysteries to Amma's Devi Bhava flower petal blessing, and having experienced it for myself, I wish I understood it more deeply on a metaphysical level, but physically, it is a 'shower' of flower petals, from all of the flowers Amma has received in three days of darshan, so perhaps you can just imagine how wonderful it feels.  In this instance I have portrayed Kimberly with a rose petal shower for several specific reasons, and you can read more about this in my latest post on Grander Joy of Spirit