This is one of those images that got lost for a long time, kind of faded and darkened and than was given new life. I realize now what most effects me about the night sky, it is the silence of stars, the indifference of the universe to our tiny insignificant figures. On a camping trip with my son I recently captured the night sky just before we turned into to our tents and the silence and the majesty of light in the pitch blackness capture both of our attention. We both ended up laying down in a river bed and watching the stars, I think I will never look at the stars the same again.
After that experience of listening to the intense silence of the sky and the realization of both our place in the universe and the fact that the sky at night is a multi-dimensional landscape I have not only wanted to learn more about the stars, I’ve also improved the insight I have on painting them. I start with the background the stars, the stars you barely see and move from those to the more obvious stars in the foreground-this gives the sky a depth just like a landscape. I intend on getting the stars to twinkle off of themselves-as the eyes goes through the image, stars appear and others disappear as the eye focuses on the dimensions of the stars.
The second image is a study of the lights on the water-it is more of the reflections rather than the stars. I got this idea years ago and it has only now come to completion. The inspiration usually takes longer than the actual painting it seems.
I intend on doing a very large scene of the night sky-one that maybe covers a wall-nothing like painting on a great wall-it’s very empowering and not at all intimidating-okay depends on my mood in any given day.
