It's good to have an angel for backup...

...and I've got a couple of them. Joseph's one!

I made this angel 30 years ago or more, when my town's Nativity scene was destroyed in a flood (this IS a river town!) Christmas was coming, and I knew I'd miss the creche at the entrance to our downtown; I volunteered.

I used to do some artwork for the City; brochures, designs, signs and such, so they knew my work; they were happy to accept my offer.

We got marine plywood so it would withstand weather, I drew the figures on it, and they cut out the shapes I'd drawn and returned them to me. It was a rush, but I managed to get everything done in time...except the angel.

The rest of the figures were painted in full color; this one only had the gesso on it, so I decided I'd finish at leisure, and do pen and sepia ink on white; aiming for a bit of an androgynous effect, but it does look fairly feminine...

As it turned out, the angel never became part of the creche--I believe the feeling was that it was too big, so it remained with me all these years. It went up on the wall of my old farmhouse, and then became part of my late husband's angel collection in our bedroom after we moved to town--it made quite a statement on a bedroom wall!

Eventually, after he died, I redecorated that room so it was just mine...and the angel came down so I could strip wallpaper and re-paint. It's leaned against the wall in the dining room for years...until now. The perfect spot appeared, and Joseph loved the idea of being able to see it from the window by his computer.

It goes with the intention toward serenity, here...

The ironic thing? That Nativity, too, was ruined in a flood, in storage in the basement of our City Hall. The angel on the shed is all that's left.