The Buddha

When I think about the Buddha the first word that comes to mind is: compassion:
compassion for all living beings. And this compassion comes with inner peace and stillness and recognizes that at the heart of all life is an undercurrent of suffering.
May all beings be free from suffering is what the compassion call is.
Buddhism comes from the heart. I had a Buddhist yoga student for many years and regularly people came to her door and she would never turn anybody away. That is compassion is action.

This picture is based on a card I made years ago which is inspired by a statue I have.
It is a stance of taking refuge within oneself. The introspective gaze and the head dominate.
The colours are warm and the texture soft. She (for she comes across as a she) takes you into her internal world of focus, stillness and contentment.

For me there is a paradox: she is here and yet she is not here. Her focus is on the impermanence of life and as such she illudes us.
For that reason, the work is fixed, the only movement is in the top she wears.
Despite this apparent absence, she dominates the page and fills it.