Antonia writes of her paintings: ‘paintings that combine the divine with the mundane. I love the idea of taking a little sideways look at Christianity, and bringing the idea of Jesus and faith into our every day lives with a sense of humour.

1. the Male Madonna. If you change the gender of the holder of the Christ child, what then happens? How does it make you feel? This painting is about the celebration of fatherhood, about the dedication of so many fathers to their children. We rarely see baby Jesus in the arms of a man.

2. The 4am Madonna and the Breast Feeding Madonna diptych. Here, the mother of baby Jesus is up at 4am, with a lively baby wanting to play. She is exhausted. She has a pot of tea beside her, and lots of baby clothes behind her. The next painting is the very little known fact to new mothers that breast feeding can be painful when you are a new mother with a tiny baby. Mary is taking a sharp intake of breath as the baby begins feeding.

3. The Annunciation with Lexi and Katriona. Here, my thirteen year old daughter and her friend Katriona pose as Mary who was only about that age herself when she heard she was to be the mother of Jesus, and the Angel Gabriel. I wanted to show how young 13 is, and how childlike Mary must have been.

4. The Annunciation “What? Her?” A more light-hearted look at the Annunciation. Here Angel Gabriel visits Mary, a young teenage girl, and finds her room is as messy as any teenager, and that she is just like any young girl of 13. The angel is checking in with God and asking, “What? Her?” while Mary just looks confused.

Antonia calls herself ‘Artist Extraordinaire and Soul Midwife’.
Explore Antonia’s blog and her website for ‘news of both what I am doing and what I am thinking of doing’.

Click here to share this post: