| This is a direct link to one of your paintings. At least I think it is . Please tell me about it. Why you painted it. Your feelings about it |
Dear Essencay,this painting is one of my most important ones and has its own story.The authentic one is kept in one of the oldest monasteries ''Esfigmenos monastery''oh Mount Athos known as Holy Mountain of Virgin Mary,here in Greece in Halkidiki.The story says that 500 years ago pirates invaded the monastery and one of them hit the face of VirginMary with a knife.Then blood came out of Her Face and the pirate as soon as he realised what he had done changed his whole life and remained as a monk there.After his death he was burried and after many years when the monks dug his tomb they found out that the hand that had hit the face of Panagia was not rotten but untouched as a sign for the miracle.That's why this holy icon was named Panagia Esfagmeni which means Mother of God who was slaughtered.
Well Essencey a copy of this icon was kept in my grandmother's house and my mother used to pray to it.When she was a litle child she had seen with her own eyes this icon crying ...I was impressed by these stories and I decided to paint it.I have to say that my mother looked like this holy face when she was about 16 years old.After I finished painting it,I had to spray it with a special liquid as I usually do with all my paintings.It was completely dry and ready to be sprayed.Then,after I sprayed it the whole picture started to melt in front of my eyes,only the faces of Jesus and Mary's and their hands were untouched.You can understand how I felt.I nearly collapsed.I repainted that and the same thing happened again.I repainted that once more and thank God nothing else happened after the third spray except the roughness of the picture .Only the faces and the hands are the same from my first painting.
I LOVE that icon and I keep it as a holy one ...That's my story and not the only one...Someathing extraordinary happened with AGIOS NIKOLAOS another painting of mine,but that's another story....
Thanks for asking me...I am deeply touched by your concern
Love
Helenangel
