Red sky at night, sailor’s delight.
Red sky in the morning, sailor take warning.
Mother Nature is not a force to be reckon’d with, as the old saying goes. I had just finished a small collection of paintings named “Red Sky” right before Hurricane Harvey hit. Then Irma was right on his tail. Now Jose and Maria. My heart breaks for everyone who has lost loved ones, their homes or pets. The devastation left in the wakes of these storms is heart wrenching. I’ve always thought Nature was the most powerful thing on this planet. Until now. Know what I think is the most powerful thing on this planet?
L O V E
Despite political opinions, differences in ethnicity and the many current challenges here in the USA, during the last few weeks we have become one. One group of people helping another group of people. Neighbor helping neighbor. Stranger helping stranger. Because when it comes right down to it, at the core of our human “being” is love and we can’t help but show it when the chips are down. It’s in our DNA.
“There is one spectacle grander than the sea, that is the sky.
There is one spectacle grander than the sky,
that is the interior of the soul.”
~ Victor Hugo
As the sky turned dark, fierce and angry with the approaching hurricanes, it affirms the awe-inspiring majesty of what stands above us. The sky above us is more than water vapor, clouds and ozone. For centuries fishermen, farmers, sailors, even pirates, have learned to read the sky to predict on-coming weather to plan their work & navigations. Artist paint the sky on canvas in all it’s glory or darkness.. Children watch the clouds and dream. Poets & writers have looked skyward for inspiration since time began.
Autumn brings the season of beautiful sunsets as the air along the rays of sunlight is more clear. A;though it is a scientific explanation for a red sky, it sounds like magic to me to say that rays of sunlight split into colors as they bounce off of water vapors in the sky. Pure magic.
“There is a harmony in autumn and a luster in it’s sky,
which through the summer is not heard or seen,
as if it could not be, as if it had not been.”
~ Percy Bysshe Shelley
The rhyming “red sky” proverb has become known very well by sailors but it has also been used in sheep herding….’shepherd’s delight”. A variety of references to the sailor’s proverb can be found throughout history, one as early as the Bible. Shakespeare even wrote of the warning in “Venus and Adonis” in 1593.
“Like a red morn that ever yet betokened,
Wreck to the seaman, tempest to the field,
Sorrow to the shepherds, woe unto the birds,
Gusts and foul flaws to herdsman and to herds.”
I created these small artworks while thinking of that magical moment when a shimmer of golden sunlight dances across droplets of water high up towards the heavens painting golden ruby hues across the sky. The poetry of nature is a magnificent thing to behold. Poetry of both lightness & darkness, hope & shadows. Always larger than life.
My hope is that these small paintings will bring light & inspiration in to your home, bringing with it the idea of looking upward and finding the every day miracles we all have in our lives no matter how simple.
“Art washes away from the soul
the dust of everyday life.”
~ Pablo Picasso
I will be donating 20% of the sale of this collection of paintings to the hurricane relief efforts.
Pop over to the shop here to have a look!
