The Carter Holman Blog

Friday, June 3, 2011

Saints and Santos


La Madre Santisima de la Luz

(the back reads)

Patroness of Leon, reliever of all ills.

Protector of Leon against the plagues, storms,

and invasions during various wars and revolutions.

In modern times--patron saint of electricians.



(image on the right)

Nuestra Senora De La Conseption Inmaculada

( The back reads)

The Virgin of the Dove

The Rose without Thorns

The Lily among Thorns

Symbolizing Purity

and Exemption from the sins of the world.

(This is one of the more popular Mexican Santos)



The Holy Child of Atocha

(The back reads)

The spirit of the lord is upon me,

because he has anointed me to announce

the gospel to the poor;

I have been sent to proclaim freedom to the prisoners,

to give sight to the blind, to free the oppressed

and to proclaim a year of the Lords grace.

Luke 4.17-19

The child would bring water in the gourd

and bread in the basket and the water would not run out or the bread.


Periodically inspiration takes me on an unexpected adventure.

I’ve just completed a series of eight

Saint/Santos inspired works. Painted on

wood panels with specially designed wood stands,

there is a thought, color, or design on

every surface.

So many Saints and Santos to choose

from. I did a lot of research, looked at a variety

of pictures of the same character. I find as many artist do

that looking at the way other painters have characterized a subject

helps me to understand it--

which adds depth to my own interpretation.

I have a musician friend that does the same thing

before or while she is learning a new piece. She listens to

the composition played by a variety of performers.

I even read about a translator of poetry that said before he begins

especially if he is not that familiar with all the colouration's of that particular language

he will read other translations of the poem to get an overview.


After all my research I picked the ones that looked like they would be

fun to play with.

It was a fun journey.

Saints and Santos by Linda Carter Holman

Can be seen this month at Wilde Meyer Gallery in Tucson,AZ

See the gallery showing at

http://wildemeyergallery.blogspot.com/