TM8309 In the Vicinity of the Lotus Nebula 36×36 oil on panel

The oil painting In the Vicinity of the Lotus Nebula is both real and imaginary. The painting is inspired by photographs from the Hubble telescope, but with a strong element of artistic license.  The Rosette Nebula was the direct inspiration, with its opening flower form and red tones. But I started the painting with dark blue greens, and because I rely on chance-filled monoprint techniques for the initial gestures, my rose became a lotus – appropriate since my last painting was dedicated to Ravi Shankar, the great Indian musician of the sitar, and master of musical meditation.  So here we are again, with Ravi in this light-filled corner of  the cosmos, meditating, and perhaps entertaining the idea of naming the constellations we just happened to find here. Enjoy!

Below are enlargements of parts of the painting.

TM8309 In the Vicinity of the Lotus Nebula -detail from lower right

TM8309 In the Vicinity of the Lotus Nebula – detail from lower left

Technical painting notes – While the painting’s final tones are middle to light in value, the initial layer of paint was a dark blue/black, which was manipulated with mineral spirits, rags, and paper towels to create the basic composition. When this stage was dry, many layers of glaze (both transparent and semi-transparent) were brushed on, and the details of the stars and constellation either highlighted or painted in. The decorative spirals along the left and right sides (symbols of energy and of spiral galaxies) were achieved by removing layers of glaze.

TM8305 Parallel Universe #1 30×36 oil on panel

There is a universe everywhere I look, and the deeper I look, the more they all seem to overlap. With that in mind, I present Parallel Universe #1, a painting that collides and overlaps the cosmos with a close-up of turbulent water. Patterns of droplets/patterns of stars, clouds of abstract gas, vapor, and dust – all controlled by gravity and other unseen forces.  Why the split? The story is in the technical painting notes below. Enjoy!

Technical painting notes – The painting began in my usual way – dark transparent oil paint was rolled onto the panel with a soft gelatin roller. Mineral spirits were dripped onto the surface, then blotted away, and I used a soft rag to wipe away some lighter areas for the nebula. I then used a plastic bag and mineral spirits to again create textures on the panel. I used the roller (16″ wide) to roll over the these textures, hoping they would lift and roll down in an interesting pattern. Since the roller is only 16″ wide, I had a series of vertical lines, wide on the ends and with a narrow band up the middle. Well…not exactly what I had in mind, but then it was an interesting effect…so I kept the lines. The more I thought about the separate parts, the more they seemed to echo my readings about utilizing chance and transparency.

When the paint layer was dry, I glazed the left side, worked some color into the nebula, and added stars. I then decided to develop the right side as white water, providing stark contrast to the dark cosmos. I used a chip brush and white paint mixed with Liquin medium to create gestures suggestive of turbulent water. I let the panel dry, then taped the edges of the center strip (to protect work done on the sides). I brushed a blue glaze over the center, accentuated the painterly gestures that were already there, and added a spatter of stars.

With the tape removed, I continued to develop the constellations and star patterns on the left, then took a palette knife and more white paint and medium to really exaggerate the turbulence on the right. As I worked the knife, I followed it with a smooth wash brush to soften the edges. A spatter of white paint was added.

TM8305 Parallel Universe #1, detail of lower right corner

The final steps were connecting a few more drips to form partial constellations – nature is always becoming, never at rest, lastly I  added the fine violet and rose lines that help to define the center “strips.”

TM8305 Parallel Universe #1, detail of lower left, with mystery constellation

By the way, can you guess the name of the largest constellation? Or do you have a suggestion?

TM8264 A Few the Greeks Missed 24×24 oil on panel

The ancient Greeks saw and creatively thought about so much of the natural world, one can’t help but be impressed with their results. Of course there was only so much they could see – the rest was left to us. In the spirit of (playfully) filling in the gaps, I present to you a new painting with speculative constellations, a developing spiral galaxy, and one big black vortex for your enjoyment. Do you see the constellations? What would you name them? Enjoy.

TM8264 Detail of star birthing region on right

TM8264 Close-up of lower half, with second spiral developing

Technical painting notes: I chose to work on a birch plywood, alkyd-primed panel because the smooth, hard surface would facilitate the monoprint techniques used to start the image, and also because I wanted to include sharply detailed fine line work and pin-prick stars. The image began by rolling on a very thin layer of blue/black oil paint, then taking a scrap of plastic bag (touched with paint thinner) and wiping in the grand gesture of the vortex.  I then proceeded to use the plastic and some paper towels to blot and wipe the surrounding areas, with the goal of lightening the tones for later glazing. It felt much like wiping an etched plate.  I then dripped solvent from a brush onto the panel and blotted with Visa paper towels. Standing back and looking at the results, I felt I should add some spatters of colored blue and white stars at this stage, then leave it all to dry for a few days.

Returning to the dry painting, I brushed on several layers of transparent blue and green glazes, added more stars, and began to think about which star clusters could be mapped as constellations.  As soon as the glazes dried, I started painting the lines with my smallest brush.  Once these dried, I added more red/violet and warm green glazes, let them dry, then layered in more stars.  Some of the stars were accentuated by dabbing paint (the same color as the star) with a splayed brush over the star, thereby softening the hard edges and allowing the star to “breathe” or twinkle. I used dark blue glazes to deepen the tonal value of the vortex.

TM8264 Detail of right side with additional stars and reflection cloud