Most years since I’ve become an artist, I strive to complete an original painting to use as my holiday card image. Last year, I didn’t get to paint one as I was in Italy until just before Christmas, so I was anxious to get back to it for this year. But what to paint?

I have painted a number of different subjects for Christmas – from cartoon Santas to Ghirlandaio. But for 5 of my previous cards, I have painted an angel from Da Forli’s fresco on the ceiling of the St. Mark Sacristy in the Loreto Basilica in Italy. I had set a goal to paint all 8 of his angels as I had been transfixed by them when I saw them in Loreto years ago.

This year, I decided to continue on with these angels, and chose the golden-haired and -gowned angel with the cup as my 6th painting of this Renaissance masterpiece.

Once again, as I painted her, I marveled at how powerful recollection can be. The memory of standing at the entrance of that chapel was still so strong – being overwhelmed by the overall design and the colourful impact the fresco made, and then moving on to the details. Typically my gasps of awe are followed by an intense curiosity to understand more. That’s why a half-hour later I was still very much involved in examining each figure, between vigorous neck rubs after prolonged ceiling gazing, and shooing away my husband’s insistence that I should “move on”. I do get carried away!

While this lengthy examination would start my understanding and appreciation, my own painting of these angels has deepened both for Da Forli’s work.

I love the angels’ serene expressions – not animated in any way but still conveying a real contentment. For me, this has been the hardest thing to replicate in my angels. I’m inclined to make mine smiling and joyful, likely because of how they make me feel. I also love the garments they are in, reflecting dresses of the 15th century – the folds of the skirts, the billowing sleeves, and the gold-thread accents which required me to paint with shimmering paints (yay!). And I’ve enjoyed drawing and painting the various oak-leaf designs cleverly framing each angel, paying homage to his patron’s family coat-of-arms. The balance and harmony in the overall piece continues to astonish me!

Happy holidays to all and wishing you a new year filled with awe and appreciation!