Using a short questionnaire I gave to my friend, I finally was able to come up with a concept. She [and two others] have requested something to put up on their wall and as of now, my main focus have been more personalized portraits--conceptual portraits.
I did my homework using a symbols book and took answers from the questionnaire to come up with something that suits her. So first off, her name is Liberty and yes.. I know there's a Statue of Liberty so coming up with something new was the first objective. From the set of questions, one of her hobbies is sewing so I looked up crafts and came across Athene.
Athene is the Greek goddess of intellect, one of the principle deities as well as the patron of crafts. She was credited with inventing the Olive tree, the potter's wheel, and the flute. She beat Poseidon in order to be the patron Athens [named after Athene] after winning an invention competition [Poseidon made a fresh salt spring while Athene invented the olive tree--a source for oil for lighting, cooking and perfume, and symbol of peace]. So that is why I chose a picture of Athene and based the portrait on that. And yes, that's a sewing needle in place of a staff.
Liberty has an affinity for purple and Puma shoes. In the concept, she's wearing a dress and a shawl...Purple means the color of royal and dignity in the ancient world [the pigment back then to make purple was uber expensive as they say] and a puma... a cat essentially... means a lot of things including cleverness, stealth, the power of transformation, and sensual beauty to name a few.
And check this out out: In Rome, the cat's self-sufficient freedom made them emblems in the Temple of Liberty.
The sewing machine on the feet of Liberty is just a final touch to credit her creative ability.
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Definitions of the symbols are from The Complete Dictionary of Symbols (Tresidder)
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