"Stella"

"Stella". Stella is special to me. She was the first of my Glitter & Grunge "abstract angels" that I ever sold. It was the beginning of my online art career. I was proud of her, first and foremost because I had listened to my heart and the lessons my first abstract angel taught me. I left her "unfinished". And I was delighted that someone else "out there" appreciated that rawness too. I also thought she was very pretty. I still do. I miss her. 

But there was something else about her. In some photos, like this one, she looks very pretty and very sweet and innocent. But in others, and in certain light, I was afraid she may look too "dark". She had heavy contrasts and shadows. She could look a bit frightening or foreboding. And I realized... that is an angel after all.  They are not mere cherubs for greeting cards. They are fierce warriors, guardians, and messengers. They have stood in fires for us, and taken scorching we could not bare. They protect us from dangers we could not survive the sight of. 

So Stella's dark shadows, tear streaked face, scratches, smears, and scars all add to her fierce beauty. She is speckled with stardust, which is where her name was born. A name she shares with my paternal grandmother. Stella is a story I didn't understand when I painted her, or when I sold her. I only hope she continued to tell her story to another after she left me. She has so much to say.