Madonna of the Cave

16"x20" Oil painting

The idea for the madonna came to me and I worked up some concepts but ended with (as is usual for me) some unexpected aspects. I had not thought of her as being part of the cave, that she had been birthed there, was of the same material as the stalactites, born of the waters, and I had forgotten that a year before I wrote on my goals for 2005-- Emerge from the waters, come forth from within and fully become the woman I was born to be.

The Madonna is not me; she is a young woman, but she represents a soul being born into life. Or us being reborn whenever we suddenly realize the directions we had been going no longer work.