Hestia is the mythical Greek goddess of the hearth. The background colors are hot yellows, oranges and reds to be representative of the heat and flames in a hearth that this mythical goddess controls. I decided to do a simple portrait of her with a look of innocence and knowing at the same time as Hestia is both the oldest and youngest of the Olympian gods of Greek mythology. I will leave the reader to research that. It is kind of interesting.

While I have a general concept of what I want the painting to be, I never do a painting with a preconceived conclusion about what the finished painting will look like. I prefer to make decisions while in process, or what I call having a "conversation" with the painting. However, in addition to the expression, there was another thought I wanted to represent. I did want the illusion that the painting is looking back at the viewer regardless of where the viewer was standing or sitting so I used the old masters technique to achieve this. This is a 14 by 18 inch Oil on canvas painting. There are four paintings in this collection to represent earth, air, fire and water. Hestia is the goddess of the hearth.