I was supposed to have dinner with my friend Laina tonight but I feel a cold coming on and decided I need to rest up a bit and conserve my energies. In her honor, I'm posting a pastel painting I did of the goddess Kwan Yin.

Date Created: 2004

Medium: Soft pastels on cold press paper

Dimensions: 11x14 (image) 14x18 (matted)

Status: SOLD

COMMENTS: When I was studying comparative mythologies a few years ago, I was entranced with the idea of the Kwan Yin -- a goddess who crosses over several ancient mythologies -- buddhist, taoist, shinto, confusicianism. She is a Great Mother of Compassion and a favorite of women and mothers. When I was looking for a statue of her to add to my goddess collection, I asked Laina, also known as Samantha, to take me shopping in Chinatown. Since her parents are from Hong Kong and she speaks a bit of the language, I thought she might know where a Chinese person would purchase such an item. We had a great day out shopping and I purchased a Kwan Yin in a small store for an extremely reasonable price. It about 8 inches high and is of a pure white porcelain with small touches of gold. The robes are highly glazed but her face, hands and feet are a creamy white matte finish. The only one that I've ever seen that's nicer is the one that is on display in the Asian Gallery of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. That one, however, is about 8 feet tall and not for sale. The image in this painting is based on my small statue, which always makes me think of Laina, who introduced me to din sum, sticky rice, and several Chinese words and expressions that have come in very handy. So, uhm sai, and sorry about tonight, Laina.

Technorati tags: Kwan Yin, Metropolitan Museum of Art