One Month with the Mother of God -quotes

It  is Mary's style to have absolute faith, without creating problems for herself or asking for an explanation, but abandoning herself entirely into the hands of the Lord. (p.19).

The candor of Mary is enchanting. The secret lies in her obedience to the call of the Holy Spirit : with humility and courage she challenged the ways of the world , fear of being misunderstood and despised, along with other difficulties which may have seemed to he insurmountable. But this is what Jesus wanted of His Mother. Those who are preoccupied with pleasing God put their faith in His help and receive the grace they need to overcome obstacles which seems insuperable. (p. 20) 

      - Fr. Gabriel Amorth, SSP -  in 'The Gospel of Mary - One Month with the Mother of God'

Iconographers of all times tried to show in the image of Theotokos as much beauty, gentleness, dignity and grandeur as they could imagine. They sometimes paint grief, and sometimes sorrowful, but always filled with spiritual strength and wisdom.

The Most Pure Lady is always shown with her head covered with a veil, which drops to her shoulders, according to the tradition of Jewish women of that time. This veil or head covering is usually colored red to show her suffering and her acquired holiness. Under her veil her clothing is blue, symbolizing the humanity of the Theotokos.

Mosaic from Kykkos Monastery depicting the Theotokos asking St. Luke to paint the first icons of her and Christ, along with the Archangel Gabriel (who according to another tradition gave him three boards on which to paint icons) (taken from:http://www.chrissihart.com/node/376)http://full-of-grace-and-truth.blogspot.in/2008/10/st-luke-evangelist.html

There are three golden stars, one on the forehead and one on each shoulder of the Most Holy Theotokos. These stars symbols of her virginity. She was a virgin before, during, and after the Nativity of Christ. The three stars are also a symbol of the Holy Trinity. Sometimes the third star is covered by the figure of the Christ Child the second person of the Holy Trinity.

A fairly elaborate Orthodox Christianicon corner as would be found in a private home.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Icon#Luke.27s_portrait_of_Mary

2501 Created "in the image of God," man also expresses the truth of his relationship with God the Creator by the beauty of his artistic works. Indeed, art is a distinctively human form of expression; beyond the search for the necessities of life which is common to all living creatures, art is a freely given superabundance of the human being's inner riches. Arising from talent given by the Creator and from man's own effort, art is a form of practical wisdom, uniting knowledge and skill, to give form to the truth of reality in a language accessible to sight or hearing. To the extent that it is inspired by truth and love of beings, art bears a certain likeness to God's activity in what he has created. Like any other human activity, art is not an absolute end in itself, but is ordered to and ennobled by the ultimate end of man. 
CCC - Catechism of the Catholic Church