Hamsa, the Hand of God with Star Artwork with Handmade Japanese, French & Red retail Chinese rice paper 5.5 x 5.5 inches (14x14 cm)

For this series of art, I have been using the theme of Patchwork quilt patterns using beautiful Japanese, French, Chinese and Nepalese papers collaging them onto an illustration board, then painting an image over them. In this case, I painted a beautiful Hamsa, the Hand of God.

The Hamsa is an ancient Middle Eastern and North African amulet symbolizing the Hand of God. In all faiths it is a protective sign against evil, danger and the evil eye. It brings it's owner happiness, luck, health, and good fortune. The hamsa hand is known by many names - hamesh, khamsa, and chamsa. In Judaism, it also stands for the Hand of Miriam, named for Moses and Aaron's sister. In the Islamic faith, the hamsa hand symbolizes The Hand of Fatima, daughter of the Prophet Mohammed, Blessed be his name. This symbol originated retail however in Mesopotamia where it was the hand of the Divine Feminine.

For this exquisite piece I used an Ohio Star Quilt pattern, affixed a Japanese chiyogami paper, a French Blue green hexagonal papern and a vibrant Chinese red rice paper flecked with gold onto a black illustration board. Then, I painted a gold circle and a Hamsa in white, blue, and green, picking up the colors of the Japanese origami paper. Signed and dated on the back.

All artwork is copyright 2019 by Edwin Glassing, I have the right to reproduce the image.
Thank you for looking!