Totem Portraits part 3

in art •  7 years ago  (edited)

I started this piece as individual portraits, but they just wanted to hang together so they became one piece! Like the other self portraits, they are done with oil paints and 23 carat gold leaf.

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The deer has been my most faithful totem in terms of guidance. S/he has come to me numerous times in dreams when I most needed guidance. The deer is a symbol of Spirit found in many cultures. The Indigenous Huichol Indians of Mexico even call their shamans ‘Marakame’ which literally means guardian of the Deer.

This peaceful and kind totem leads us to Spirit through Love. For Love is the only objective I want to embody in this Life voyage. I follow this totem’s guidance with reverence!

For the deer portrait I included my son and morphed both our eyes onto this noble creature.

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Snake is also a very strong totem for me. In ancient times, snake was seen as a symbol for the Goddess. It represented wisdom. As most of us know, the snake and the female were later to fall from grace and become the religious culprits for our fall from Eden.
Indigenous cultures around the world still hold the Snake in high esteem. Anyone who has done serious vision quests has most likely found this amazingly powerful totem in their visions. It has come to me in many visions as well as dreams.

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The Octopus! What can I say? I have never had this creature in a dream or a vision but how I love it! My love for its intelligence and beauty has brought it into my heart to share space with my favorite guides.

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Beautiful paintings! Really like the Deer. :)

Incredible * ___ * Love the details and the strange eyes so much <3 Each of the panel's animal seems to carry so much personality and philosophy with them! Gorgeous work <3

upvotes and resteems

thanks! :)

Gorgeous work! I've always loved gilt in art works, so classical, and so modern with this application. Bravo!

thanks :)

I am so in love with these, my family is russian orthodox. I chose paganism at the age of 13 but I do still have the orthodox rituals ingrained in my DNA. These reminds me of the Icons my grandmother had all over her house . These however capture the magical with none of the chains, I love them. I have to be partial to the octopuss because I love them sooo much so in this picture she wins. I have handful of totems Tiger, fox , raven , mouse , rabbit and praying mantis. lol ... I can't wait to see more of you artwork this is truly beautiful :)

Thanks for that lovely response. Your dna also has pré-Christian pagan info :) Thé whale totem helps to resurface our cellular memory :)

Nice to connect

It´s disturbing but I like it!

Wow This is Amazing!! 👏👏👏

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thanks. I will check out your channel as well :)

Congratulations @libaws! You've been nominated by @sigrid.nepelius (for being an underrated steemian) to win some $$$ in my contest. If you guys win, you get to split the entire post payout 50/50! For another chance to win, consider nominating another underrated steemian to share the spotlight with them! I also personally think you're awesome, so I resteemed your last post, and am now a loyal follower ^.^

thanks to both you and @sigrid.nepelius I will check into the contest. <3 !

I'm in love with the octopus

Gold leaf is such an amazing looking material, but you really have to see it in person to get the full effect. Pain to work with though, IMHO.

yes looks so so much better in the real.

very tricky to work with indeed :)

Oh, Liba, beautiful paintings!

thanks @borisindrikov :D!

Oh wow!!<3 <3 <3

nice animal painting

Like with all the good stuff from our community, I shared this one on VAG twitter: https://twitter.com/visionaryartcom/status/973971221829300224
Tip: add the links to your previous related posts (i.e. nr 1 and 2.)

super! thanks Otto xxxxx Glad to see someone in outr community is on twitter ;)

not only that, I embedded Twitter on its own page in the VAG:
https://www.vagallery.com/visionary-twitter.html

i started a page years ago but never got into it. Just checked it , have a bunch of followers but i haven't posted in years.

Great pictures! I'd like to learn more about my animal totems. Where is a good place to start? Thanks @positiveninja

  ·  7 years ago (edited)

Thans!
have you ever had a recurring dream with a specific animal? If so, what feelings does it evoke? That's how i'd start. Also google ancestral wisdom. Many cultures especially American Indians have very specific names and attributes for animal totems. It's a wonderful voyage. Enjoy!

Thanks - I see Crows everywhere! And I have a weird love/hate relationship with snakes. I have had dreams of snakes, but mostly fearful Not really any other animals come to mind. Oh butterflies, I have had a few dreams with butterflies. I'll get cracking on google :-)

Crows are very interesting totems. Check out the medicine cards: http://scottfoglesong.printandwebdesign.com/24-crow.pdf
Snakes are wisdom but we are conditioned to be scared of them (humans are more dangerous)
Butterflies are usually seen as transformation due their great transformation from caterpillar to bf.
Enjoy!

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