Venus

Venus – acrylic painting by Heni Sandoval

Venus is a new painting in my planet series. I’ve learned quite a bit about the mythology of Venus from the research I did for a couple of other abstracts last year. The abstract which I named Ishtar, of a eight pointed star symbolized the planet Venus’s star pattern as she travels through space around the sun from our view on earth. Ishtar is an ancient Mesopotamian  goddess very similar to Venus, the goddess of love and beauty in Greek mythology. The earlier abstract I painted, Golden Mean Spiral, was based on the spiral pattern found throughout nature. Venus as she continually moves through space in a golden mean spiral forms a beautiful rose pattern. It’s interesting to me that the ancients knew about this.

I started this painting planning to get the star formed around the planet but then I thought I’d already done the star; so, I then decided to paint Venus as she appears in space. Venus is the second planet out revolving around the sun and as seen from earth is always close to the Sun, sometimes she’s the morning star and sometimes becomes the evening star. Those transitions are when the star points are formed in the pattern. Venus is a white planet brighter than the moon and has pink clouds. Here on earth, she appears as a bright white star.

I began to imagine Venus as almost like a pearl from the seashell within the sea from which she was formed in the Greek myth so famously portrayed in Botticelli’s Birth of Venus painting. I put in the sun on one side and used pastel colors, on the other side of Venus, I imagined it as the sea with its mysterious depths. It was fun to play with and I’m pleased with the painting. Spring is here in Atlanta, a great time to see the gold mean pattern and appreciate all the beauty in nature.

s.

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A Girl with Two Red Birds

A Girl with Two Red Birds- acrylic painting by Heni Sandoval

I have begun  a new series of paintings with children as the focus.  A Girl with Two Red Birds is my first one and I am pleased with her.  A few years ago after my parents had passed away, my sister Melissa mentioned to me that whenever she saw a cardinal pair she thought of mom and dad.  I liked her thought and since then I’ve noticed that each spring we have a cardinal pair settle in our yard and now I too think of mom and dad when I spot them.   My parents were from the World War II generation and went through ups and down as most couples do, but in general they loved each other and got along well.  They had shared interests which helped.  Both enjoyed gardening and feeding the birds.  I can still picture them sitting in the sun room getting excited about the various song birds feeding and bathing in their backyard garden.  In this painting the girl looks centered while she holds two bowls with the male and female birds balanced on each side of her.