Ariel and the Lion

Artist: Patricia Ariel
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Ariel and the Lion

Colored pencils on Bristol board,
8.5×12
2008

I’ve been for quite some time seeking to join two of my biggest passions: astrology and art, two languages with so much in common. Then the idea for the Astroportraits was born. They are very special portraits inspired on your astrological profile. I incorporate to the picture the imagery, symbols and colors referent to the energy patterns showed in your astro chart – Rising sign, Sun and Moon signs, predominant element, Moon Nodes and other important points. The portrait becomes a visual poem, a register of your potentials and talents, reminding you how special and unique you are. A representation not only of your exterior image, but also of your inside, of your heart and soul.

This is my own self portrait. I am a Gemini with Leo rising and Moon in Scorpio, and a Water/Air type. It was not easy to create my own portrait, since I identify myself with so many symbols and elements that I thought better to let the intuition go in my favor. In the very last years I’ve been lived a phase of intense changes that made me seek for my strength within, something that I don’t remember to have done so hard before. I remember having made a very rough sketch of a Scorpio (my moon sign) and a Lion (my rising sign), my two inner powers; then I stuck it on the wall and looked at it every time I needed strength, to remind myself that I had that force, that it was in me as part as what I was. Things are surely smoother now, but I wanted my portrait as a perennial register of this power I discovered within myself. Then I drew a Lion, my rising sign, very close to me, almost like a constant companion. This lion arises from the waters, from the big ocean of emotions that characterize all the water types. Although one may think that water people are fragile due to their emotional, sensitive nature, they may be considered extremely strong exactly due to this attunement – they know like nobody how to deal with such world. My Air quality is represented by the color yellow and by the butterflies – also representatives of my sun sign, Gemini. Butterflies go vivaciously from one place to another just like Gemini does. They are also flying animals, symbols of freedom, one of my strongest characteristics. Another reason for picking the butterfly is because it’s one of my favorite animal totems, present in several of my pieces. Butterflies are the symbol of rebirth and transformation and this is why it makes them so special to my eyes. Rebirth and transformation are also keywords of my Moon sign – Scorpio. Another element I created to represent this sign in my portrait was the lotus flower, due to its relation to situations of reconstruction after long struggle or even total loss – the lotus blooms from the mud. It is also a symbol of spirituality, something that is an important part of my daily life and that helps me keep going in spite of any obstacle. A triskele, Celtic symbol of life cycles, shows on the top with the glyphs of Gemini, Leo and Scorpio.

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Related work:
Portrait of Isobel and Unicorn

Ariel and the Lion belongs to the following groups:

Artrageous RB Artists - Self Portrait Gallery, Astrology, Sisters in Arms (feminine relationship described), Spiritual Art, THE SISTERHOOD and Vibrant and Vivid Color