Click on the paintings to read more about each god and goddess!
Each page contains mythological information and stories, additional art for deities that have more pieces available
and you can buy prints of your favorites directly on their page!
Khepra was one of several of the Egyptian sun gods (including Ra, Amun, and Atum) - specifically though, Khepra was the god of the rising sun. He symbolized not only the dawning new day that eternally renews following the night, but also change and dynamic energy. He was represented by the scarab beetle who Egyptians associated with rebirth and an eternal returning to life. The scarab was one of the most used symbols in Egyptian life, from jewelry and amulets to paintings, showing just how integral the ideas Khepra represented were to their way of thinking.
Bastet was a particularly beloved goddess, and families would invite cats into their home, inviting the spirit of her with them. The cats would protect the family from snakes and rodents, as Bastet protected them from evil spirits and contagious diseases (especially those related to women and children). So revered were cats because of her, that they would be mummified and families would be buried with their cats. She also represented fertility and sexuality - women would buy amulets and statues of her with kittens to assure their own fertility.
Horus was said to have the sun and moon for eyes. Horus was the beloved son of Osiris and Isis, conceived after Set murdered his father and his mother resurrected his father. Horus was the child god who took his father's place ruling Egypt, since Osiris no longer could in his new form. He conquered Set, his father's murder and protected Egypt from Set's continued attempts to take it. He became one of the main ruling deities of Egypt alongside Ra.
Apep (or Apophis) was the cosmic star-devouring being that the Egyptian gods battled each night to preserve our world. He was a giant serpent, said to have the body of a serpent and a head made of flint, that embodied chaos, darkness and nothingness - everything opposite of the ordered universe that the gods cared for and preserved.
Isis was the beloved goddess of magic and life, more clever than thousand gods but known for her benevolence as a protector and healer - said to watch over childbirth with her sister Nephthys. She was the goddess of all the strengths of womanhood - as mother and wife. Isis was wife to Osiris, resurrecting him when he was murdered. She was mother to Horus, whom she protected and hid until he was strong enough to fight Set and rule Egypt. She was granddaughter to Ra and she alone, with the use of cobra venom she created, was able to bring him low and trick him into revealing his true name, giving her power over him. Isis was the enchantress of Egyptian gods.
Nephthys was wife to Set, sister to Isis and mother to Anubis. Like her son, Anubis, she was a goddess of darkness and death. But she was not a goddess to be feared, but rather a natural part of the cycle of life and a comfort to the grieving. he walked the boundary between the existing world and the edge of the formless chaos and darkness where the world ended; at home in the wild lands at the edge of the deserts. A mysterious being, she was associated with dreams and intuition, and with childbirth and mummification.
Sekhmet was a lion goddess of Egypt who was often associated with being the destroyer of Ra's enemies, a goddess of war - and of medicine. Not only could she bring plagues upon her enemies, but also cures to those in her favor. She was known as 'The lady of terror' and the 'red lady' but also as 'the lady of life'. But despite the terrifying names, she was beloved. She was a protector of Ma'at (balance and justice) and was often paired with Ptah (creator), where she (as destroyer) brought needed balance.
Aton, the sphere of the sun, was considered an aspect of Ra until the pharaoh, Akhenaton, elevated Aton to be the first monotheistic god. As such, Aton was said to be the creator of the universe, the giver of light and life. Aton was represented as a disk with rays of light extending down to the earth as hands; those hands often held ankhs of life which he offered as a gift. As the one and only god, Aton combined not only the sun and creator roles of Ra but also the embodiment of truth and order of Ma’at. It was said that he had no human or animal embodiment and towards the end of Akhenaton’s life, even images of him as a disk were prohibited as it was said that Aton was beyond the physical that humans could perceive. When the pharaoh, Akhenaton died, the other gods were restored to Egypt and Aton faded from prominence.
Ra was the first god, with whom all of creation came into being. He was the light that called into being all of creation by speaking their true names. Ra was the sun god, the god of gods, the father of gods and he embodied power, creation, and light. He also was as the eldest of the gods. The god that ruled all others from time immeasurable. It was said that he grew so old and weary that he could not remain on earth, and Nuit lifted him into the heavens to rule eternal. He was the luminous sun god and the eternal ruler and protector; the timeless and the time-heavy.
Ma'at was the Egyptian goddess for truth and divine order. She was said to have come into existence the moment Ra, the creator god emerged from the lotus. One of the more abstract Egyptian gods, she was also one of the most integral to their religion and society. When someone died, their heart was weighed by Anubis against the feather of Ma'at, to determine if they had lived a good life. If the heart was as light as the feather, they could move on to the afterlife and become one of the blessed living. If not, their heart would be fed to Ammut and they would be truly dead.
Akeru was the two-headed sphinx who guarded the gates of the horizon where the sun rose and set each day. One head, Sef, represented yesterday, and the other head, Tuau, represented today. Not only were they guardians of the gates - but between them, they embodied within themselves the dark passage through which the sun god traveled each night - the netherworld itself. As such, they were not only guardians but represented the continuity of time, where yesterday and tomorrow merge and regeneration becomes possible. Each morning, the sun god rises anew from their Eastern gate and travels to the Western gate where he will be swallowed up and make the perilous journey through the dark earth between them.
Like Anubis, he was a god of death - but rather than passive judge, Wepwawet was an active war god, a hunter. He was always represented with white hounds rather than black like Anubis’s. He was known as the opener of ways and he who went before. He was also called ‘the fastest spear of the pharaoh’. Wepwawet was one of the god’s that was worshiped early in Egyptian mythology, only to eventually be absorbed into the newer god, Anubis’s mythology and disappeared.
Gebb was one of the few earth deities in mythology that was male. He was often pictured with a goose or viper around his head and was known as the father of snakes - and the word for snakes meant 'sons of earth'. Tombs were known as 'Gebb opening his jaws' and he was part of the tribunal of judges in the weighing of the soul against Ma'at's feather. While his laughter was said to cause earthquakes, and he could be known to withhold his blessings, resulting in barren land - Gebb was seen as a benevolent god. Grain was said to sprout from his ribs. His healing powers were expansive, and in one text, Osiris compels Gebb to restrain malicious spirits responsible for causing fevers and illness.
Not only was Nuit the goddess of the starry sky, married to her counterpart, Geb, the god of the earth - she also was the mother of the gods - Isis, Osiris, Set and Nephthys. She was the boundary between the ordered universe and the chaos beyond, the protector of the dead and their souls, and the form which Ra followed through the sky each day and night. Nuit was associated with the maqet, a ladder by which Osiris and other deceased souls were able to climb into the starry expanse. Also, she was often represented with a pot on her head, perhaps containing the dark expanse, containing a thousand souls, containing the power to create gods and goddesses.
Osiris was the god of mortality - both of fertility and life, but also death resurrection and life everlasting. He was the eldest child of Gebb and Nuit, brother and husband to Isis, and brother to Set and Nephthys. He was also the father of Anubis. Osiris brought civilization to the people of earth and ruled with compassion until he was murdered by his jealous brother Set who took his throne. Isis reconstructed the body of her beloved and brought him back to life, but Osiris could not return to earth having died. As such, he became the Lord of the Blessed living, the souls of those who had died and ruled the underworld - the Du’at. As an agriculture god, associated with the Nile, Osiris was considered responsible for all the life that grew on earth, as well as the promise of justice and life eternal after death.
Hathor was represented as a wild cow with elegant curving horns, often with the sun held between them. She represented female sexuality, as well as music, dance, intoxication, ecstasy, beauty, and passion - but also the sky. Hathor was also said to be the embodiment of divine wrath as the ‘Eye of Ra’. More than any other Egyptian goddess, Hathor embodied their ideas of femininity - a duality between violent and dangerous versus beautiful and joyful - encompassing the extremes of passion in fury and love. Hathor was the embodiment of success, single-mindedness, power, and seemed to have no doubts or insecurities.
Anubis was best known as a god of death, but it would be more accurate to say he was a judge of the soul. He would weigh the heart of the deceased against the feather of truth (Ma’at) and if it was as light as the feather, they could travel to the next life. If it was not, the heart would be fed to Ammut, a monstrous being, and the soul would be destroyed. He was almost always associated with a black hound or jackal and was one of the gods who aided Ra in battling off Apep each night.
Atum was the first god, self-created from the waters of Nun and created the first pair of gods - Shu and Tefnut. But Shu and Tefnut left him to explore the universe, and Atum was lost in despair with loneliness and fear of being alone forever. When Shu and Tefnut returned, he was so overjoyed to see them, he wept tears of joy that turned into the first human beings. Atum was one aspect of the solar deity Egyptians worshiped and is often equated with Ra, who was also said to be the first god, self-created and representing the sun. Though Ra was associated with the noon sun - Atum was associated with the setting sun.
Newest Paintings!
Thoth was the moon god of knowledge and wisdom. He was said to have invented language, writing, the calander and all branches of knowledge such as mathematics, astronomy and science - and was known as the divine scribe and mediator. He knew the truth of all things and embodied the just judge. He was also a powerful magician who was said to have written all the spells in the Book of the Dead. He was represented often as his totem animals, the ibis and the baboon. Thoth was said to be self-created, speaking the words that brought himself into existence. He was husband to Ma’at and together they represented the divine order itself, and knowledge of that order.
Set - chaotic god of storms and deserts - guardian of the sun against the demon Apep and usurper to the throne
Coming Soon!
Upcoming Egyptian Paintings
Khonsu - whose name means traveler - the monkey god of the moon and time, as well as games
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as I work towards completing the book!
Patrons can receive a beautiful, gold foil embellished print to collect of each newest painting as they are completed! I also share exclusive works-in-progress with my Patrons, that I don’t share anywhere else, as well as high-res downloads and wallpapers of each new painting. Follow along and see the series as it evolves, read about Egyptian mythology and collect new prints of each new painting!
Egyptian mythology has always fascinated me. The idea of these cosmic beings that represented such universal ideas captured my curiosity - and as I explored to learn more, a whole universe grew in my mind’s eye, of these beings’ reality.
As visions of them came to life in my mind though, the images and stories I found did not seem to have the same vitality. In my mind, these beings were vast and nuanced, but the representations of them so often were flat, symbolic, and simple. To me, these beings were immense and cosmic - encompassing universal archetypes and ideas that were the pillars of existence, of sentience, of knowledge, and of life and death. As I looked for images that enriched my understanding of these stories with little success, the images in my mind continued to grow and evolve, to take on faces and nuances. Eventually, there was a whole world that felt like it existed solely in my own mind.
So I chose to bring that world into reality - to paint the faces that, so often, were just names - to write stories that were often just summaries. My hope, as I work towards completing this book, is to share the art and writing with those who share my passion for mythology - those who look for the meaning behind the word, and the soul behind the face.
In these 'portraits', I try to create a sense of something beyond human, beyond corporeal - to show them as beings that exist outside of flesh and blood, outside of time, and outside the laws of reality. They themselves help create and reshape reality, so I’ve endeavored to show them as part of the cosmic fabric of reality. Yet also, like the vast expanses of the cosmos, without definitive shape, ever-shifting and reforming - sometimes in the form of human or an animal they identify with, sometimes as a black hole, solar flare, or eclipse.
Inktober Drawings
I’ve also been working on creating a series of ink drawings for my Egyptian series as well!
It began as an Inktober project - but since these take me 30+ hours each - I was not able to keep up a pace of one a day. But I loved the start of the series so much, that I continue to work towards completing them all. My goal is, once I finish 31 ink drawings, that I will put them together in a sketchbook on Kickstarter, as well as sell the originals and make prints available of each individual drawing.
When working on this series - I begin with digital drawings as the rough draft before recreating the drawing in traditional inks. These are a few of the digital drawings I’ve created for the series so far. Because these are meant to be guides for the final drawing which I will create on paper, they are rougher and not taken to a finished level of polish - but they capture the idea, shapes and colors I want to have in the final.
The Ogdoad
Before creation, before the first mound of earth, before the sun - the Egyptians believed there was a primordial darkness filled with the black waters of the nun, the chaos serpent Apep and abstract beings such as the Ogdoad. The Ogdoad were eight primordial beings, 4 pairs of a masculine (frog being) and feminine (snake being) incarnations of concepts such as darkness, invisibility, potential, stillness and silence.
Nu & Nunut
These two beings represented the abyss, the primordial waters from which all creation sprang.
Quer & Queret
These two beings represented stillness, inactivity, and invisibility. There‘s a beautiful contradiction of trying to create something to represent non-being that I find quite fascinating!
Kekhui & Kekhuit
These two beings represented the primordial darkness, what existed before the radiant emergence of the solar creator god.
Heh & Hauhet
These two gods represented infinity - the endless stretches of time into the past and future, the potential for all things.
I’ve begun building a lexicon that of all the different Egyptian gods. As I’ve been researching mythology for my book, I’ve been building my own comprehensive list of each deity that I come across. As my notes grew quite extensive, I wanted to have a way to share them with others who may be interested. The caveat is - I’m not an Egyptologist, nor any formal training in the field - rather just a love of the subject. These notes are the product of my reading many books and articles and trying to compile the information. I hope it is helpful and interesting! And if you know something I haven’t included - I’d love to hear so I can add it in!
*I am just starting to build the page - letter by letter - so it is nowhere near complete yet. But I will keep building away till it is!