Mary, Queen of Sorrows

I decided to do a Mother Mary recently mainly because of the influence of my new friend and amazing artist Russelle Marcato Westbrook.  She is doing a whole series of exploring Mary and the opposites of dark and light within us all.
In the Bible, Mary was still a teenager when she was called upon to bear the Son of Man.  She became a mother in innocence, and lost her son in the height of his greatness.  She knew his fate, and had to bear the sorrow.  Mary is the one goddess that has been allowed in Christianity. She stands for compassion, nurturing, acceptance and love.  I think her archetype deeply effects women, especially mothers.
I am writing this right now as I am struggling with my son.  He is in 3rd grade and he is beginning to hate school.  He daydreams a lot and doesn't know how to handle his emotions very well.  He is a typical boy in our society. Boys are getting more and more lost everyday.  I think the Mary archetype has a lot to do with mothers and their sons.  We are losing our sons to war and violence, and we are suppose to just grin and bear it.  We are suppose to be strong and just let our sons go, at least this seems to be the underlying message from our society.  But I think it is time for Mary to wake up.
I thought I would show you a few of the work in progress pics of Mary so you can see exactly how she evolved.  Sometimes I change them and play with them a lot before they are finished.

"Mary, Queen of Sorrows"                                                  

 16x20 acrylic and ink on panel

2011