The Art of the Night Sky

The art of the night sky

For years I’ve been painting subject matter that inspire me, most often glorifying the natural world. In the last four or five years I have come to specialize in two particular subject matters, water as a regular staple-its’ clarity and reflective quality and more recently the silence and mystery of the night sky.

I think both venues are mysterious in their own way and I think that is the aspect of nature that inspires me. I aim to capture the quiet, peaceful moments that are haunted by some intangible presence, those less than comfortable shadows where we are intrigued as much as we are unnerved. I aim at capturing the silence that speaks louder than words and the awe of a sunset where we watch in a silent pause.

 

The night sky is both complex as it is deep and mysterious. There is a temptation to go too dark or too bright-I have strayed between the two junctions in painting this subject matter. The night sky has just as much, if not more than the landscape in daylight. I started with exaggerating the light and darkness and have recently found my happy medium.

I’ve noticed from a recent camping trip that the depth of the sky is  composed of barely discernable blue stars, a mid range of mildly bright stars and then the foreground stars that set off the entire sky with light. I have noticed how the eye moves through the scene and the stars twinkle as stars become visible and other stars fade into the darkness. The next step is how the light reflects on the landscape and the water. I want the viewer to watch the sky and get lost in the silence of stars-the title of my latest painting.

I intend of mixing the two venues in the near future by adding water to the darkness-some new paintings on the sketch pad is the ocean peir at night, the ocean surf at night and a fountain that is lit up by the light of natural and manmade processes. I will continue to bend the movement of water and the light and dark, creating a statement about nature, it's mystery and the secrets of the evening sky.

To artists and collectors-how have you found your subject matter and how did it develop over the years? For the collector-what paintings or pictures capture your interest and why do you think it captures you interest?