Hindu Temple

This final photo showing the way the ceiling looks with all of the above paintings as a whole. It shows only a small image of what it is actually like to stand underneath this wonderful ceiling mural of Hindu Temple of Southwest Florida. You cannot get the perspective of the immense size of this 1600 square foot ceiling mural until you are in the Temple, looking up and it takes you so long to move your eyes around to take in all of its beauty. What an amazing feat I have created in 8 months time including all the research and actual painting. I just hope that in the years to come, I have made everyone as happy looking at my artwork, as everyone has made me. I want to thank everyone from the Hindu Temple of Southwest Florida who have helped me when I had questions, laughed with me as I encountered some Aha moments along the way and cried with me as some panels were more emotional to paint than others. Thank you all.

I also want to thank Ron of Rons Painting of Fort Myers, FL for helping me at the very beginning paint the background color grid and getting all those lines chalked. Then my Son Carey Foley, for his help on some the gold leafing designs. I love you so very much, son and enjoyed your company at the end of the mural and appreciated having someone to talk to while up there. Carey and I had names for our electric lifts. Mine, being very noisy and larger I called Godzilla. His was a little smaller, but still having a grinding sound we named Godzooki, which in the old movies was Gozillas son. Very appropriately named.

Phase one of the Temple Ceiling 

The mural project for the Hindu Temple of Southwest Florida has started in August of 2009. I have been commissioned to paint a 1600 square foot ceiling.  It will consist of several different designs within the rectangle ceiling parameter.  There will be a section for Hari Krishna, 10 other Deities of the Descent of Divinity, Ganesha, a flower garden of the Valley of Flowers in Northern India, considered one of the 7 wonders of Indiaand a peacock scene.  I will then finish the design off with some raised plaster designs, gold and silver leafing and some inlaid semi precious stones which have already been brought back from India, especially for this painting.  This will be my biggest project to date and I am humbled by the commission and honored to have been chosen.  I will update my website as I continue on until it is finished.  It should take about 4 months to complete. 

This panel is the first one I did and it shows Ganesha. He is known as the Remover of Obstacles and the Lord of New Beginnings.  I had a wonderful time on this panel and have painted the black pillars in the background to resemble the black granite 16 ft. statue of Ganesh which will stand just beyond this painting.

This Hindu mural painting panel is a painting of the Valley Of Flowers in Northeast India.  This is a magical place of thousands of wildflowers growing all summer long.  It sits in the Himalayas at about elevation 11,500 ft. and many people each year make the trek to this place of beautiful color and beauty.  There are several guides who will take you there if you need their help.  It is has been made into a National park and is open to all.  The eagle was placed in this painting to bring the two countries of the United States and India together.  Bald eagles are all over India too and loved and revered by its citizens.

I chose to do this Hindu mural painting panel with two different poses showing the peacocks feathers.  The background is of the Himalayas in India.  Peacocks are revered by most from India and show up in artwork from paintings, cloth, and architecture.  No two peacock feathers are the same and vary in color with the way light hits them.  They show up in artwork from the greenest of greens in the feathers to pink iridescent and golden highlights.

Matsya is the first Avatar in the line of the 10 deities of the Descent of Divinity in Hindu religion.  Krishna has taken the form of the fish. 

Second Avarar in the Descent of Divinity, Kurma takes on the form of the turtle.

Third Avatar in the Descent of Divinity, Varaha is in the form of the boar and rescued the earth from the bottom of the cosmic ocean and restored it to the heavens.

Fourth Avatar in the Descent of Divinity, Narasimha is known as the ‘Great Protector’.  He is half lion and half man with a lion’s head and claws and a man’s body.  He is one of the most worshiped of the Avatars in India.

The fifth Avatar of the Descent of Divinity is in the form of a dwarf. Vamana teaches us that arrogance and pride should be abandoned if any advancement in life is to be made and that wealth should never be taken for granted since it can so easily be taken away.

Being the Sixth Avatar of the Descent of Divinity, this hindu temple painting panel shows Parasurama wielding an ax which he used to fight back the ocean in the coastal area of Kerala state along with the Konkan region. The purpose of the sixth incarnation of Vishnu is considered by religious scholars to be to relieve the Earth's burden by exterminating the sinful, destructive and irreligious monarchs that pillaged its resources, and neglected their duties as kings.

Number Seven Avatar in the Descent of Divinity, Rama is revered all over as literally the Perfect Man or Lord of Self-Control or Lord of Virtue. Rama is the husband of Sita, whom Hindus consider to be an avatar of Lakshmi and the embodiment of perfect womanhood.

He is the Eight Avatar of the Descent of Divinity. Balarama (?????, Balarama), also known as Baladeva, Baldau, Balabhadra and Halayudha, is the elder brother of the divine being, Krishna in Hinduism.

Is the Ninth Avatar of the Descent of Divinity. Buddha means the enlightened one. In Theravada Buddhist traditions, it is held that the person attains this state on their own, without a teacher to point out the Dharma, in a time when the teachings on the Four Noble Truths or the Eightfold Path do not exist in the world, and teaches it to others.

Finally, the Tenth Avatar of the Descent of Divinity is described as follows. The name Kalki is sometimes a metaphor for eternity or time. The origins of the name probably lie in the Sanskrit word "kalka" which refers to dirt, filth, or foulness and hence denotes the "destroyer of foulness," "destroyer of confusion," "destroyer of darkness," or "annihilator of ignorance." Other similar and divergent interpretations based on varying etymological derivations from Sanskrit - including one simply meaning "White Horse" - have been made.

This Krishna mural painting was the last thing completed on the ceiling. It measures 13 ft. wide by 8 ft. high. It has been painted with a simple background so that the figure of Krishna stands out as the main focus of the scene. Krishna is painted with the most vivid colors of shocking pink, vibrant yellow and gold leafing. This Krishna painting is magnificent standing above all others on this ceiling mural with a most peaceful and warm expression. Krishna is worshipped in various perspectives as a god-child, a prankster, a model lover, a divine hero and the Supreme Being.

Contact San

Please contact San at 239-269-5733 or her contact form