When I last posted on this painting, link HERE I received many warm responses for which I am grateful. Last evening I finished the painting and I can now, at last look at it clearly.
Gnosis…and the Old Gods Were Pleased
2014
oil on canvas
48 by 24 inches
When I last posted my progress the painting was about 70 percent complete, I’ve since made a few changes.
Most of the changes have been made to the female character, who is not Eve ; she is in fact Zoe, daughter of Sophia, bearer of light and wisdom (Gnosis), as Adam lacked the spiritual spark (the source of information and inspiration for this painting was a BBC podcast In Our Time, the topic of discussion being the Gnostics , link HERE ).
I’m happy were her now, my inspiration was in many respects the Grey Eyed Athena and I captured what I wanted…pretty much.
Another, initial inspiration was the sculpture of “Eve in Temptation” by my favorite Giselbertus (1150); I strayed a bit but I know the spark.
My impetus to finish this painting was entry in a juried show at a local museum-an artist alliance exhibition. The following paintings have also been entered:
Resurrection of the Father
2013
oil on canvas
50 by 40 inches
Temptation of St.Anthony of the Desert
2013
oil on canvas
48 by 36 inches.
Wish me luck! I will post the results, good or bad news,
until that time,
be well, Lg
Boondocks Babylon 
Good luck Leonard. Whatever the results of the jury-selection, you are the most important arbiter of your paintings, the one whose opinion matters most. I hope that there will be cause for rejoicing, but if not, don’t despair. For you or against you, these will only be opinions that pass.
A decade ago, when I hadn’t been painting very long, two years in succession I entered the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition. Both times I got in. However, on the first occasion, while I had my larger work accepted, a smaller one had been rejected. On the appointed ‘varnishing day’ (the day historically when accepted painters came in to retouch and varnish work once it had been hung) I arrived for the champagne and strawberry reception. It was glittering event. My painting had been hung so high you needed binoculars to see it, but nevertheless it sold at the opening, which was quite a feat. Afterwards, I slipped outside to find the designated collection point for rejected work. I was directed to the back of the building. There, a sad queue snaked for a couple of hundred yards down a bleak alleyway. Grey-faced men and women dripped in the rain, years of rejection etched on their faces. An art teacher ahead of me asked how many years I’d been entering, and when I replied that this was my first, he smiled ruefully and said that this was his fifteenth year of not bering selected. But, encouraged by his pupils, he was going to keep on trying. I didn’t tell him that I’d just been to the varnishing.
Having got in twice, I never tried again. Didn’t want to risk it.
Kipling got it right:
IF you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,
Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,
And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise:
If you can dream – and not make dreams your master;
If you can think – and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools:
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: ‘Hold on!’
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with Kings – nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And – which is more – you’ll be a Man, my son!
Dear Clive, As I said to Phil, thank you for the support. I hope I didn’t imply that the exhibitions I am submitting work to are on par with the Royal Academy-these are far more modest venues. But I appreciate your sentiments and take heed. I also appreciate the Kipling poem-he nailed it didn’t he?
Lg
What a great painting, it just feels absolutely right in every respect, it looks like a painting very content in itself, it’s a real triumph Leonard, quite takes my breath away.
Good luck with the selection, and of course it’s always a good feeling to have work chosen and given some sort of approval by somebody else, but whatever happens, to echo Clive’s comments, the painting is a great thing in it’s own right – although if it is selected i’m sure it will be one of the stars of the show along with your other paintings.
Thank you Phil, I appreciate your supportive words.This year I intend to just throw a bunch of darts at as many targets as possible. Entering my work wherever and whenever , exposure being my goal. I don’t anticipate being too taken aback if my work is not accepted, particularly with the support that I receive from you and Clive and other friends. For that I am grateful.Lg
oh, i’ve been waiting for this one!! and i’m so excited, it’s wondrous–you really nailed that snake, its presence is absolutely gripping, the coloring is outstanding, and that mouthful glows 🙂
i also like her a lot, i definitely see athena–she has a greek spark to her 🙂
and off to listen to that podcast, thanks for the link!!
good luck!! 🙂
and if i’m not mistaken, that’s a hermaphroditic tree!
yes?
It is indeed a hermaphroditic tree:)
I’m happy you like it, I thought of you as I finished it .
I wanted to thank you for sharing your Bluebeard ideas with me on Google. I feel like such a Luddite because I do not know how to respond to Google. You are my only friend on Google- I have a few acquaintances connected to Google, but they are not of interest to me. So pardon my delay in complimenting your work, eager to see how you resolve the sketches to a third dimension. I have been neglectful, though my brain has been active, concerning my own puppets. Thinking marionettes now, and surprise, surprise, the Hero Twin/Maize God narrative.
Anyway work for us both to do .
Take care and be well,
Lg