Sunny

In the American South, Haints are believed to be restless, evil spirits of the dead that take the form of humans and refuse to move on from the physical world. Southerners traditionally painted their porches and doors Haint blue, a pale blue-green, to ward off such spirits. I was reminded of the word Haint when watching the recent horror film, Sinners, and remembered this Southern practice I'd learned about years ago.

I became curious about the actual shade used as protection and discovered so many different shades. I fell in love with the color I used as the background for this painting and instantly wanted to depict my own version of Haints as low contrasted grey figures with glowing eyes, donning bright accessories in an attempt to blend in with the humans they plan to haunt.

However, I feared that it wasn't the correct color, hence, my titling the series (Not Quite)Haint Blue. Later, I was told the paint was mixed on sight by whoever intended to paint their home, so that resulted in so many different variations. Sherwin Williams eventually made a proprietary blend for the shade. So, alas, the shade I mixed very well could be used to ward off these stylish devils or just capture them perfectly on canvas.