My interest in The Cosmos

I am not aware if any of my friends know just how interested I am in the stars and planets. So here is my confession.

I have always had a fascination with the stars, the planets and "outer" space. I look at the night sky and see these tiny points of light that I know come from far away. Even more amazing is that when I see some of them, they no longer exist. The light of some stars has traveled so far that it has outlived its source.
Is there life out there? Will I ever know?

This I do know, I will be getting a telescope delivered (hopefully) this week. Each of the celestial beauties will be seen a bit closer.

Oh yes, the painting- I was working on this "start" and posted it on my art blog in "sharing a start" http://artbygene.blogspot.com/2007/12/sharing-start.html
I posted the original and where it went next. Now, here is where it seems to be going. This is only a section of the painting. I am getting glare when I photograph it. So I just used a portion that came out okay.

Sharing a Start

Wow, it has been over a month since I posted a new blog entry. Yes it is the "busy" time of year known as "the holiday season" So in the spirit of giving, my original art mentor and dear friend, Gloria Ivy, and I decided to swap. We each made a painting "start" and swapped. I see that look in a few eyes. You ask, "what is a start?" I am so glad you asked.
A start is made by taking the white watercolor paper and doing something to it. A start can be colors put on paper, textures applied, whatever, anything that says, "Now make something of me."

For this start, Gloria painted the entire sheet with black gesso. Then she took white gesso and made texture on the sheet. Notice the great variations in shading. Mmmmm....

Now it is my turn. I have barely begun, but here is my first addition to the start. From black and white to vivid.

I used a triad of primary colors. My intent (and you know that can change) is to use only those three colors along with black and white to mix every color I use on this piece. For me that is a real challenge.

I will let you know how it goes. Right now that silly muse is off eating chocolate covered cherries or some such holiday treat. I hope to see her, and you soon!

Mountain High

I was recently at an art workshop. The class was in experimental art. The main thrust was non-objective work. Of course my best work turned out to be objective. So I am posting three mountain-scapes for you to view.
The long one is 10" by 30" and the second is 10" by 10" and the third is 8" by 10"
They are all done on archival quality art illustration board. I had a difficult time getting good photos of them. I do apologize for the photo quality.

Land of Fire

This is actually just a start of a painting. I started it last night and did several layers of transparent acrylics. I intended to paint a second in a series similar to "Forbidden Crossing"

That didn't happen. As I was painting the muse led me in a different direction. I suppose I could still do something like "Forbidden Crossing" from this, but I won't. Rather I plan to refine this painting and start yet another painting with the intention of making a series following the colors and format of "Forbidden Crossing"