Alright, so this “helios y selene” thing. It wasn’t some grand, divinely inspired project from the get-go, you know? More like a slow burn, something that just kind of… happened.
I’d been fiddling around with ideas, mostly just sketches in a beat-up notebook. Thinking about contrasts, day and night, that classic stuff. Helios, the sun, all power and blaze. Selene, the moon, more quiet, you know, that gentle glow. I didn’t really have a clear plan, which, honestly, is how a lot of my projects start. A complete mess, usually.
First, I thought, “Okay, maybe I’ll try a painting.” Got out my brushes, some cheap acrylics I had lying around. Spent a good afternoon just sloshing paint, trying to get that fiery feel for Helios and the calm, silvery light for Selene. It was… okay. But it wasn’t quite hitting the mark. It felt a bit too, I don’t know, predictable? Like something you’d see on a generic greeting card. So, I scrapped that idea pretty quick.
Then, for a while, I actually considered doing something with fabric. Dyeing, maybe some embroidery. I even bought a few different textures of cloth. But the thought of threading needles and all that intricate work just made me tired. Sometimes your ambition outruns your actual patience, right? That idea went into the “maybe later” pile, which is basically the project graveyard.
The thing with “helios y selene,” the core of it, was trying to capture two very different energies but make them feel connected. Not just slapped together. And that’s where I really struggled. I tried making these little clay figures. One all sharp angles and bright colors for Helios, the other smooth and dark with hints of silver for Selene. They looked okay separately, but together? They just didn’t talk to each other. It was frustrating. I must have made three or four versions, and each one ended up in the bin.
I actually started this whole thing during a bit of a quiet patch. Work was slow, days were long, and I needed something to keep my hands busy, keep my mind from going in circles. It wasn’t about creating some world-changing art. It was more about having a little problem to solve, a little world to build, just for myself. Kept me from staring at the walls too much, if you know what I mean. It’s funny how these small things can anchor you when everything else feels a bit adrift.
So there I was, almost ready to give up on “helios y selene.” Figured it was just one of those ideas that sounded better in my head. Then, I was clearing out an old box of craft supplies – you know, the kind of box where forgotten projects go to die. And I found these little bits of metallic foil, some really fine glittery powder, and a few pieces of polished stone I’d picked up ages ago. Suddenly, it was like a lightbulb went on. Not a fancy LED one, more like an old, flickering incandescent, but a lightbulb nonetheless.
I stopped thinking about making two separate things and started thinking about one piece where they could interact. I decided to use a simple wooden panel, divided it. On one side, I used the warm golds and reds, layered the foil to catch the light, almost like sun rays. For the Selene side, I went with deep blues, purples, and that silvery powder, with a small, smooth, dark stone embedded. The key was creating a sort of hazy, blended boundary between them, not a sharp line.
It took a few more evenings of tinkering. A bit of paint here, a touch of glue there, stepping back, squinting at it. It wasn’t perfect, by any means. If you look closely, you can see all the little imperfections. But it finally felt like my “helios y selene.” It had the spirit I was after.
Now it just sits on a shelf in my study. It’s not big, not particularly impressive to anyone else, probably. But for me, it’s a reminder of that process – the fumbling, the frustration, and then that little spark of finding a way through. And sometimes, that’s all a project needs to be, right? Just a little something you made, that means something to you. That’s my helios y selene story, for what it’s worth.