Indigo

Galaxies, Helix Nebula - the God's eye, night sky - all rushed into into my mind with this colour. I was sifting and selecting for quite sometime to decide which one of these could underpin my indigo theme before I finally zeroed on in the night sky. And on that, it's hard to imagine anything more dramatic than the brilliant ripples of tremulous auroras. This was further boosted by a friend's photography of the dancing colours from plane while he was travelling - a fortuitous frame for him and a muse for me.

All red auroras are apparently not quite commonplace. But red upon green, depending on oxygen atoms at different altitude from earth's surface, are widespread. I chose the wine-red and green instead of just the viridescent ones on indigo for its sheer grandeur. 

Red on cosmic canvas is portentous, often seen as a harbinger of trouble and vengeance. In Game of Thrones, a red streak emerged across the sky right after the dragons hatched. It assumed different meanings and names for different people thereafter. In real life too, auroras are inextricably entwined with the unforgiving icy wrath of the wintry dark poles. But for me, mixing the warm and cold shades from the comfort of home was nothing less than rendering glimmering trims lacing a shimmering flouncy frock of femme fatale wavering sensually up there.

Dona, Sydney, March '22