Brian Fisher Print, Paint and Sculpture Blog

  This is my painting of Lailah, Angel of Conception, Angel of Night , oil on canvas over panel, 36 x 24 in. currently at Vashon Center for the Arts Gallery on Vashon Island WA. Angels are typically considered genderless, but Lailah is described as feminine in Midrash (commentary on Hebrew scriptures, attached to biblical text). In this tradition, she teaches the unborn spirt the Torah before birth and provides each a candle so that it can see its path in the world to come. In the moment that the spirt is born to this world, Lailah blows out the candle and strikes the child’s upper lip, causing the new babe to forget everything, but leaving the indention we all have above our upper lips. This is said to be the physical reminder of original knowledge and prompt to unlearn our way back to God. I was unfamiliar with this story until researching angel mythology, but it called to mind that experience we all have, at least while young, of knowing something rather than learning something. A g

  Haniel, Angel of Joy is said to hold the keys to the palaces of heaven and appears in Genesis and The Book of Enoch, part of the Jewish and Christian Apocrypha, where he transports Enoch from earth to heaven as a living man. My painting of Haniel and all the Angel paintings and prints I've made in 2021, are inspired by Italian Renaissance artist Fra Angelico’s Angel paintings. His "Technicolor” depictions of angel wings intrigue me. I am delighted that Haniel has already sold to a friend and patron but you can still see Haniel on exhibit at Vashon Center for the Arts Gallery Jan 7-30, 2022, where you will also view work by Notable Collection artists; Victoria Adams, Morgan Brig, Brian Fisher, Pam Ingalls, Kristen Reitz-Green, Cathy Sarkowsky, and Erin Shulz. You can also see work online at VCA's Notable Collection now thru April 2022.