A personal note.
There’s a certain magic to transformation. An alchemy. Alchemy is, at best, a zero sum achievement; you take one thing and you turn it into another. In our experience, transformation has been a destructive experience. When I met Angelina, my raven haired beauty, I knew she was on the brink of dramatic change. I watched her evolve as she conquered her devils and moulded what was left of them into something else… something brighter. I discovered this piece of music by Shawn James at almost the same time I met Angelina. Serendipity? A warning? Whatever it was, I recognized early-on that I was a roost on her journey. When it came time to acknowledge that the time had come for her to “take to flight” we were mutually inspired to create this work.
Midnight Dove
Why do you wander
On through clouded skies
There must be a glimpse
Of hope in sight
Spread your wings and take to flight
Leave the past behind
The dawn will birth a brand new light
So fly on and never
Look back from where you came
The sky opens up
And it's calling out your name
'Cause all you got is all
All you got is all
All that you need
The entire Aria collection is composed with drapery and non-revealing nudes. I had a couture fashion designer in Seattle combine over 500 pieces of red fabrics to create the drapes to resemble, but not imitate wings. In the pose the model (Angelina Aho) is both caught in, and launching with, the drapes. The gold represents the clouded skies illuminated by a breaking dawn: hope. The deep blue: darkened skies. She is both landing on and launching from her roost.
