100 DRAWINGS IN 100 DAYS - EASTERN GODDESS BLYTHE

BLYTHE (IS DIGGIN' THE BLING THAT GOES ALONG
WITH BEING A BODHISATTVA...)

allow me, if you will, to take you on a journey... actually a few journeys. i am delving into "sets" of drawings at the moment (it all started with alice...). i have already explored the Virgin Mary, and the Immaculate Heart images, and now i am heading further east, to the Buddhist countries and their Buddhas and (the female version) the Bodhisattvas.

now, there are so many different goddesses and gods, that i couldn't even begin to name them, for they are just too numerous, and they all hold different qualities. i have done a Mrs.  Potato Head, and actually taken bits and pieces from a few different Bodhisattvas to create my very own... (hope that's ok with the universe that i did that!) i have combined two in particular: Tara and Kwan Yin.

Both these Bodhisattvas embody compassion and Samsara (continuous suffering), and each of them have their trademark symbols: kwan yin with her 1000 arms and 1000 eyes because she is omnipresent (but usually portrayed with eyes in the palms of her hands), and usually holding or sitting on a lotus flower - a sign of purity; and tara with her calm and sympathetic expression because she is the goddess of longevity and healing. for the sake of simplicity and clarity, i preferred not to draw the 1000 arms (i would have run out of ink as well...), and only one eye besides the normal two on her face. but the story behind this goddess kwan yin is a must read, and for that matter so is tara's. they both have beautiful anecdotal qualities, which is why i was so attracted to them. 

when i lived in Oklahoma City, i attended a buddhist temple on sundays, and our primary focus was on the various Bodhisattvas, of which i had previously no experience. and so naturally i thoroughly enjoyed making up my own image of "Her".