248. The Tourist Does Art #10 and #11

During my four week stay here in Sofia I have been greatly inspired and creatively-enthused by this glamorous city and all it has to offer visually ... so much so that I have completed three art pieces of my own ...

The first piece - Under the Skin - featured in my previous blog #244 ... and now here are other two completed works ...

Mother and Child - influenced by the stunning religious artworks and icons in the Bulgarian Orthodox churches throughout the city, and dedicated to Mothers' Day ( 08 March here in Bulgaria - 14 May in Australia and many other parts of the world ... ) ... This is a time for celebrating our mothers as well as motherhood, maternal bonds and the influence of mothers in society ...

 

The centre piece is a Madonna and Child icon I purchased from the shop at the Cathedral - and the scrolls are from the pages of a book of daily meditations based on scripture.

The scrolls in the outer frame represent the chaos, mess and confusion in our lives - and those inside the silver frame reflect the order and calm and security we find within our mother's arms ...  

The second piece - Out and About - is based on a tourist map of Sofia - an essential item when exploring any city - though I have to say; the days of paper maps and trying to orientate the map to the points of an imaginary compass are limited - though now days most tourists can be seen standing on the street corner gazing into their smart phones for directions. My favourite app. is < maps.me > and it has saved me on many occasions. It's a freeby and doesn't use up any of your precious and expensive roaming data ...

 

 

My pieces Under the Skin and Out and About will be soon gracing the shelves of a nice little art gallery in the centre of Sofia - Gallery Arosita ( www.arosita.info ) ... and Mother and Child will be staying behind in my apartment.

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My time in Sofia has come to an end and in a couple of days it'll be time to pack my bags and head off into the yonder for another adventure. Although I have been here for four weeks, I haven't explored all the sites and sights on my bucket list, so maybe one day I'll have to return to Sofia to complete the story.

Next blog post, I'll show you a few of the sights of this friendly city ...