Gallery:  Angel of Self-Compassion

Art Title:  Angel of Self-Compassion

Original art by Melanie Weidner
Created May 2015, started in 2011 - 16 x 22 inches
Watercolor, graphite on paper

Statement:
In 2015, I found this painting in a box! It was unfinished from 2011 and I’d forgotten all about it.  I’d considered it a failed attempt, along with Protect the Emergence, for what would later be Wrestling with the Angel.  But when I rediscovered this third drawing, I knew it was time to revisit my “failure” and finish the painting.  I added the wings, the background, and most importantly, the halo on the wrestling figure.  Four years before, I hadn't understood as well that our struggles are just as sacred and holy as our successes… so I’d left the wrestler bare.  Now she feels honored and held in the embrace of self-compassion.

What challenges might you have put away in a closet and judged harshly?  What wise or spiritual part of you might offer your struggles a compassionate and healing gaze?