The Servant Queen
A Fairy-Tale "Higher Self" Portrait
exploring a self
The Servant Queen, a portrait of one individual, stands as a sketch for EveryWoman.
When Shelli commissioned a Higher Self portrait, I couldn’t focus on a solitary aspect; her complexity demanded several facets. This is because women tend to be multi-taskers, multi-dimensional, multi-talented beings. They offer a spectrum of wide-ranging services and skills, instead of a narrow expertise.
Looking into Shelli, I contemplated the requirements of an accomplished Lady. Dating from the mid-seventeenth-century, a Lady — the word comes from “loaf-kneader” (!) — of high social class was expected to master many skills. Communication headed the list, with reading, speaking several languages, and letter-writing. She knew how to dance, sing, and/or play a musical instrument in order to entertain guests, including nobility. Along with basic sewing and mending, a Lady knew fancy needlework or weaving, painting, and decorative arts. Etiquette, poise, and grooming were her domains. Another imperative was the moral and intellectual development of children.
Until recently, if a woman didn’t become or want to be a housewife, her working options narrowed to teacher, nurse, secretary, domestic, or sweatshop/factory worker.
To create this portrait of the Servant Queen I had to understand She Who Knows Her Domain, having worked her way to the highest rank through lifetimes of service. The Armenian fairytale, Anahit, came to mind. If you are unfamiliar with the story, check it out. In brief, Queen Anahit was a gifted artist and a practical person — she insisted that her suitor, the Prince, learn a skill as a prerequisite for marriage. After they wed, Queen Anahit told the King to disguise himself as a peasant and travel the land, to see the truth about life in his kingdom — away from the palace. Okay, I’ll stop here, before giving spoilers.
The noble person changing clothes to experience the workers’ reality inspired the servant figures and their oneness with the Queen, for The Servant Queen rules a realm both mundane and mystical. Thirteen Grandmothers who preceded her and whose dedication and creative skills birthed the Queen shine through the thirteen moon phases.
Thirteen transmutes to four (1 + 3 = 4), the number of the compassionate heart — the Anahata Chakra — centered between the lower and upper triangles. In this heart space, the four Servant Selves unite as the Queen’s train-bearers: Horse Mistress, Charwoman, Cook, and Nursemaid. Taken together, the Queen and her Servants number five. According to the Ten Light Bodies of Consciousness, this five equates with the Physical Body and consequent healing touch. Think Reiki, Angelic Reiki, Sat Nam Rasayan: pointers to a possible future direction for Shelli.
Each dimension of Her servant-selves uplifts the Queen, so that she can claim her Divine birthright. My goal was to spotlight the Queen aspect for Shelli, since her many roles as wife, mother, horse mistress-cum-stablehand, cook, housekeeper, and community leader, overshadowed this subtle — yet powerful and spiritual — core Self: the Queen who both serves and is served by all the other parts.
the dress
This artwork started at the Pueblo Holistic Fair in November, 2021. A an extraordinary woman walked into my booth. I could feel her powerful energy as a combination of healing light and humble shyness, with big questions in the fringe of her aura. A vision kicked in. I started to see a Queen, one who has reigned for many lifetimes in ways large and small, over times long and short, over many people, beasts, and terrains.
The Interdimensional Mantle — a cloak with metaphysical properties — materialized before me.
I fashioned the Queen's dress from a purple Indian sari, hand-painted with golden flowers and twines, paired with an embroidered sari of luscious turquiose-teal. To create the pattern, I deconstructed an authentic medieval dress from Berlin, complete with corset-style lacing and loops instead of buttons and zippers. The hooded cape is diaphanous chiffon trimmed in brocade, with a longer train than the inner gown. Such a vestment requires many days of hand-stitching.
As I measured each pattern piece, stitched the seams, and braided the ties, the Spirit guides whispered to me of this Queen, whom I have served in lifetimes past. She has always been a kind, generous, and much loved leader: one who cares for all below her in rank. She knows how to turn conflict into peace, how to cure the injured and revitalize the weak, how to bestow esteem on others with her grace and presence. She is as gentle and compassionate with animals as she is with people, and has a special touch for horses, dogs, and stray wild creatures.
The more I worked on her raiment, the more I could feel the metaphysical energies of this time-traveller Queen. Though humble, she is of the highest order. Her wealth comes from her heart, which (often unbeknownst to her) sends healing light from higher realms to aide others.
the shoot and the artwork
I’ll let the source photos and excerpts from the final painting speak for themselves …
what i thought as i created
I remember making a character model sheet in first year animation. Drawing a character posing expressively from every angle led to acute observation of people. I love to watch how people sit, move, gesture. Often, I can see beyond the person into their life — details such as how many kids or siblings they have and of which gender; their relationships with parents, bosses, spouses; what year a major trauma happened that connects to the present moment. I cannot explain how this “knowing” and “seeing” works, and science has yet to quantify and prove its existence.
With Shelli, I could see into past lives in Asia, her family circumstances in childhood, and her current situation. As I worked on this piece, different strands of her lives floated past. With my hands, I wove those insights and many prayers into the garments, the photos, the etheric glimmering pixel colors. The whole process feels very guided for me, as though forces in the Akash flow through my eyes, heart, and hands to tell a story in pictures.
No matter how hard I work, the final piece always falls short of the initial “seeing.” The floor seemed too clean and hard and cold. The moonlight seemed so dark. The magic seemed so hidden, needing to be interpreted, not as pretty and summery and outdoorsy as I wanted for Shelli’s portrait. The Universe shows me the celestial blueprint and all I can do is try. But transcending that threshold from the spiritual to the material is a thing: physical artwork can never carry the original magnificence and luminosity, the celestial codes of the source apparition, despite being melded through a screenful of colored light — just as a dream dissolves when daylight strikes.
I can only hope that some of the healing light, clarity, and empowerment infused during the creation process reach Shelli—and you—through the artwork.
Amazing vision. Masterfully realized by creating each component with care and assembling them creatively into the final masterpiece.
Absolutely beautiful!