Saturn

Saturn – acrylic painting by Heni Sandoval

Saturn is a new painting for my planet series. You may be wondering why I chose grayish color. In ancient times Saturn was associated with lead; it was said that alchemists could lead turn into gold. I liked the idea of painting Saturn as a lead sphere; it brought to my mind happy memories of fishing with my Dad, as we would use small lead balls that we would press on the fishing line to help the baited hook sink. I used to love to fish, it’s been a long time now, but we fished throughout our childhood.

Speaking of dads, Saturn in astrology can represent the father but it also represents a taskmaster type energy. Its placement can be challenging in childhood but over time if worked through it becomes a strength. In the painting I made the rings bright yellow as if they were gold. Years ago, I had a housemate who in her childhood had a recurring dream where she would be hanging out on one of Saturn’s rings feeling loved and accepted. I thought that was so interesting. She was a Capricorn, which is the sign Saturn rules.

I used lots of color to complement the gray color of Saturn. I wonder if there is more color throughout space that one day, we will be able to see. I’m pleased with the painting and like that it’s a little different from the other planets in a Saturn type way. My friend has invited me to the Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience here in Atlanta the weekend which I’m looking forward to. Happy weekend to all!

Twin Fairies

Twin Fairies is my third attempt at painting twins and I think the most successful.  As  I have written on my about page, I have an identical twin sister and we are the youngest in our family.  My parents had an eight and four year old when we came along.  They were busy with the older daughters, so the two of us were left on our own  and played together all the time.   We actually developed our own language and I can remember being in our own imaginary world pretending to be animals, fairies, etc.   If you were to see our baby photos, we actually looked like chubby cherubs with curly hair.

My Mom was born in the early 20’s and when she was a child, her mom gave her illustrated prints of little fairies and children that were popular during that time period.  Mom kept them and they hung in our  bedrooms growing up.  We loved them, they were magical and fun to look at.  I wanted this painting to have a bit of that dreamy, magical style.

Mirror Fish

Mirror Fish – acrylic painting by Heni Sandoval

Mirror Fish is my most recent painting.   Two fish  are swimming together like the Pisces symbol of  two fish swimming in opposite directions.  My twin sister and I are Pisces; our birthday is coming up later this month.  Maybe that’s why I felt like creating a new painting of the two fish to add to the other double fish paintings I’ve done through the years.  In this painting I’ve tried to loosen up some and play with lots of vibrant color.

My sister and I are in good places at the moment.  We are happy with our lives,  our families are doing well and we’re enjoying the empty nest phase.  We are identical mirror twins, which means the egg divided after 7 days and so we are mirror images of each other. She is right-handed while I am left-handed.

My sister was visiting last weekend and when we stopped by to pick up coffee at the local Dunkin Donuts, we got attention for looking alike. These days we find getting attention fun.   Growing up we never felt comfortable with all the extra attention we received.   Both my sister and I always smile to strangers and over the years I’ve realized that we do that because people were always staring at us.

We are still very close and talk to each other 2 or 3 times a week but like the fish above with the different colors and along with every identical twin, we each have a unique personality.

The Sea Goat

 

The Sea Goat – acrylic painting by Heni Sandoval

After my last two paintings which were somewhat dark, I felt like choosing a more lighthearted and whimsical subject.  With the festive holiday season in full swing I decided to paint the mythical sea goat constellation Capricornus.

On the Winter solstice which marks the shortest day of the year in the northern hemisphere, the sun moves into the astrological sign of Capricorn.   It’s symbol is the sea goat.  The goat is sure-footed and steady as it slowly climbs up the mountain while the fish tail represents the depths of the sea.  Taken together it represents a mature individual who uses both their reasoning and intuition.

In this painting, the sea goat is floating in the sky over the mountain tops enjoying the festive winter night.  It’s gotten very cold here, feels like winter.  Our daughter gets home for her winter break in a few days and we’re so looking forward to seeing her and spending time with friends and family.  Hope everyone is enjoying this magical season.

The King

The King – acrylic painting by Heni Sandoval

 The King is a new painting for my Heni’s Happy Paintings Etsy Shop.  I had painted a lion cub a while back which I titled, The Prince. I wanted to paint an adult male lion with his large dramatic mane as a compliment to the first painting.

I remember watching “Born Free’ when I was a child and dreaming of traveling to Africa to live with the lions.  They are such majestic creatures.  The lion is a symbol for Leo, the sun is shining brightly behind the lion is the ruler of Leo.  Leo’s love to shine and like the lion are leaders, big hearted and loyal.

Purchase print here:  The King