Show and Tell: Celestia

The painting 'Celestia' has roots going back to my beginning as a serious artist. I had moved into a TINY (19 foot) camping trailer onto friends' property in the mountains. When I first acquired the trailer, everything was brown.... and I mean everything! The walls, floor, ceiling, cushions, counters, everything, was some shade of brown. I immediately set to painting the ceiling with light blues and lavenders and stencilled on gold and silver stars.

 (Click on images for better view.)

I then painted a small mural on the kitchen wall next to the stove and behind the sink. This was my first face painting (since high school) which inspired me to begin doing portraits.



 



Although it was fun living in the camper... after three years it had gotten awfully small. I had begun school and had little room for art class homework. So... I moved on, eventually selling the trailer, leaving my precious artwork behind.

Fortunately, I had photographs of my work and a few years later, I used them to replicate Celestia as an acrylic painting on 24” x 36” canvas. It has since been hanging on my wall but I am willing to let it go if someone wants to purchase it. It is currently available in my Etsy shop. It can also be purchased as an art print from my shop on FineArtAmerica.


I thought it would be fun to include some of my recent photographs of our glorious celestial moon. Luna has been very photogenic the last few months. 

(Click on images for better view.)

My Sony Cybershot camera gives me much clearer images than I was used to getting.

 










With Autumn closing in (and very welcome after the scorching summer... temps reached 108F!), the moon will not be so visible, so I treasure the photos I do have.

In the next two images, the moon appears reddish-orange. This is due to nearby forest fires. There were many going on in the Pacific Northwest and the air got pretty smoky. The weather has fortunately turned wetter and cooler. The images were not digitally manipulated. The 'fire-y' one is how it appears straight off the camera. A secret... the dark blotches are actually silhouettes of leaves of a tree in the foreground. While I was taking the photos, the moon moved behind the tree and I moved my tripod to a clearer space. I was later glad for the 'happy accident'! I thought it ironic that it looked so much like the moon was made of fire.

And the clouds finally came...