The Value of Perseverence: The Story of The Yemaya Painting

So, while working on the Yemaya piece, I went through so many trial and error disasters (lol) As an artist you always have a vision of what you want the final piece to look and it often takes you a while to get there, if you ever get there at all. This is the story of my epic battle with the Yemaya painting. 

The Beginning

Since this piece is part of a series, I wanted it to be similar to the Oshun painting but the deities are different so she needed her own distinctive attributes as well. 

Yemaya is the Yoruba Mother Goddess of the Ocean, and she's often depicted with a fish tail. I wanted to include that and also have her hair to frame her face and have a character of its own. I love the work of Alphonse Mucha and how he made hair look almost like a living organism. Yemaya's signature colour is blue so I knew that had to feature prominently in the piece. 

Painting Woes 

Everytime I paint, I go through a crisis where I feel like I don't know what I'm doing. There's lots of frustration at this point and sometimes some tears. I was especially insecure about doing this piece becaue I've never done anything closely resembling a mermaid/ sea deity before. I wanted it to be ethereal and include reflections of the water on her face and body. To make a long story short, I put a lot of pressure on myself. This is what came out of this period that I call 'PaintingWoes.'

Getting the Hang Of It 

After thinking of quitting painting for good, I decided to keep trying. I realised that I need to relax and just enjoy the processof making mistakes and learning from them. I had to remember the true spirit of what I was doing: depicting a goddess who has a motherly and nurturing essence and is well loved around the world. 

Eventually the painting started to look kind of like I wanted it to. 

I completed the piece today and I'm pretty happy with it. I'll post it tomorrow but I wrote this blog post to say that I'm glad I didn't give up on it. I hope that it gives you some inspiration to keep on trucking if you're struggling with something. Keep going, learn from your mistakes and press forward. 

xoxo 

Patricia