Halcyon

A friend asked me to paint angels a while ago. To be honest I haven’t painted many of those in my lifetime, so I looked around for some inspiration in books, online, but just couldn’t find myself to paint anything that resembled an angel. I did many sketches too, but nothing took my fancy and l left it for a while. I only like to paint something when I feel passionate about it otherwise it just doesn’t work, and the painting is left incomplete and collecting dust on my shelf.
 
A year had passed, I had some time on my hands and a longing to paint. Right, I thought, it’s time I painted an angel. I only knew the colour scheme I wanted to experiment with, warm and cold colours. So, I went for colours ranging from yellow orange to red, a fiery background and a blue angel. I just thought that the background could represent difficulties in life and the blue angel was the cooling, calming element that remained constant amidst upheaval and turbulence. I went into the zone and just began painting the background. When it came to the angel I just let myself go and went with the flow. I painted the face of the angel in a very serene manner, unperturbed by everything around it. I also added some fine glitter to enhance the wings.
 
After its completion, I couldn’t think of a name for it. I sat down one evening, with my husband, and deliberated on what to call it… nothing came to mind. I decided to sleep on it. When I woke in the morning… it came to me… Halcyon! It’s funny how the brain stores words and at the right moment regurgitates them. I had heard this name before and knew it had something to do with being peaceful, so I googled the meaning. It was perfect! The definition described it as calmness, peacefulness, and tranquillity. It was also a name for a mythical bird associated with a kingfisher that had the power to calm the wind and waves as it nested on the sea. It fitted the painting perfectly. So here it is for you… enjoy.
 
Much love
Samira :)

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