29 Faces: 2.5.12 Madonna and Child

I created this with a white charcoal pencil, very old black gel paper, and the Rouen Cathedral Stencil from Artistcellar.  

Every winter season I am moved by the Christmas story.  Even though I try to focus on other aspects of Christmas what really reaches me and moves me deeply is the story of Mary's willingness to be the mother of Christ and all of the sacrifice that calling would require of her.  I see her as a deeply compassionate and faithful woman who was both over joyed with carrying and having the Son of God but also tremendously pained by Christ's experiences.  So, it is with this sense of what Mary will face in her life as the Mother of Christ that I celebrate these moments of joy when He is her child and she is a mother in love with every aspect of the baby she holds.