One of my favorite series is titled "Dangerous Angels." It started with a burst of images when I was in grad school in 2012. It was the first and only time I combined oil and digital painting.
"The Father"
As with all my series, the story grabbed hold of me and wouldn't let go until it was done. The characters in these paintings were aggressive. I was going through a tough time, and I needed these beings. They announced their names as they tumbled into being. The Father, The Mother, The Doctor, The Cutter, The Teacher, Bird Man, Mr. Blue, Smoking Angel, The Protector came first. Orpheus and Narcissus came later. I thought the series was long gone when The Nightmare Eater popped out, a full 5 years later.
"The Teacher"
This series taught me that my "angels," my protectors and teachers, don't wear white flowy robes. They're fierce and scary. In fact, they're frightening enough to scare away any nightmare.
"Bird Man"
So now, I value my Dangerous Angels. I'm not scared by my darkness anymore. The darkness needs to be scared of me and my angels! I've learned more from the tough times than I ever did from contentment--and I've developed superpowers that keep me safe.
Some people paint landscapes. I paint myself into wholeness.
Art Heals
It's hard to find info online about the painter Ottavio Mazzonis, who died in 2010. I have only one book of his work, and it's all in Italian. He was more of a traditional artist, but his religious paintings pushed beyond the representational into abstraction. I love the energy and movement, the rich blues that made the yellow-whites pop, the devotion to the paint that reminds me of worship. I've returned to his work again and again to absorb the luscious mystery in those brushstrokes.
"Expulsion from the Temple," Ottavio Mazzonis, 1991
