I've been going to the beach a lot this summer. It's been very helpful as I take a very slow summer to heal myself, restore my energy and enjoy life. It's been many years since I let myself simply enjoy all that summer offers.
Yesterday at the beach there were so many seagulls. Usually there are always some, but there were a huge flock of them flying around in patterns and hanging out on the sand. A couple of times while I was in the water watching the sky change as the sun was setting, a seagull flew straight at me and looked as though it were about to hit when suddenly it would see me and soar upwards into the air. I really like seagulls. A lot of people think they are a nuisance, but I like them and always have. That's probably because I've heard them all my life and they are one of the sights and sounds of home for me. And I love animals.
Years ago when I was working in a college library, I was also taking classes at night. I took a photography class and used a film camera that was completely manual and had to develop my own film. One of our assignments was to capture something in motion. I went to the beach, brought some scraps of bread with me and hoped to see some seagulls flying so I could coax a few to fly closer to me with the bread. A huge flock was sitting on the sand and they were all facing the water, away from me, as I got out of my car. When I began tossing bits of bread in the air, they saw and they came. I was swarmed and it was wonderful! They flew all around me and hovered in the air in every direction. They were so close that I reached out and fed them from my hands. I heard the beating of their wings. The sound was unearthly and sublime. I also took some cool photos that day that my professor really liked.
As I drove home I couldn't get the sound of the beating of their wings out of my head and my memory. I thought this... this is what angels sound like. Then I did the painting above titled "Birds Like Angels". From then on, whenever white birds or seagulls appeared in my art, they were a metaphor for angels.
Peace and Blessings,
Robyn
