Here, as in the “Blue Cat”, the painting was created by itself, as an automatic writing. 

I first painted the face in natural tones, and the idea of the finish in marble bust came to me almost despite myself. Then I integrated the moon, my favourite composition element. Here, the treatment of the moon as a moon quarter allowed me to bring out the dark back of the head on light background, while exploiting a contrast of light on dark for the face. 

It was a beautiful fall day and I was painting outside. A bird feather lying at my feet, I painted it in front of the bust, then another, and yet another. Each feather that I painted made me see another one. When the composition was finally balanced, there were sixteen. 

The white feather, like the wings of angels, is a symbol of purity and justice, pledges of immortal truth. The number 16 is a symbol of involution and refers to the human condition. 

D.J.