"In a field of peacock feathers"

(oil painting on canvas, 16X20, 2005)

"Despite my thirty years of research into the feminine soul, I have not yet been able to answer the great question that has never been answered: What does a woman want?"
Sigmund Freud

"The pride of the peacock is the glory of God."
William Blake

I’ve always been fascinated by the peacock feathers, because for me every feather is like a little reminder that there is something greater than us, something that is capable of effortlessly creating incredible beauty, while we have to struggle to achieve what we perceive to be perfection. Obviously, there is also an exotic aspect contributing to my fascination. I literally can’t think of “Arabian nights” without automatically picturing peacocks. Well… To be honest, I also picture harems with eunuchs and concubines, but the peacocks are always there as well. And then of course I picture Roxolana, a woman who makes me proud to be Ukrainian.

Her life is a real-life Cinderella story, which she was able to achieve through her intelligence, rather than looks. A slave captured by the Tatars she became an official wife of the Ottoman sultan Suleyman the Magnificent, which is a great accomplishment in itself considering she was a foreigner and a slave. What is even more astounding is the fact that she also became her husband’s advisor in foreign affairs. “His Majesty the Sultan loves her so much that, as they say, he has refused to be with any other woman but her; none of his predecessors had ever done that and such a thing is unheard of among the Turks who have a custom of sleeping with many wives,” wrote Dominico Trevisano (Venetian ambassador to the Ottoman court) about Roxolana.

I’ve always believed that an intelligent woman can accomplish whatever she wants to, regardless of the time and circumstances she lives (lived) in. If a Slavic captive can become a powerful force in the 16th century international politics without any kind of Concubine Affirmative Action, there are no limits to what a modern woman can achieve. I also don’t see anything negative in encountering difficulties on the path to your dreams. Difficulties build character. I think it feels better when you achieve your goal despite off something rather than because of something.