This is one of a couple paintings that I’ve been holding back because it was on hold for a show in Joshua Tree. Well, it didn’t get picked up as the winner, so now I can show it to you.
I’m going to add the caveat that I think that’s the dimensions…. in the silence since I last posted my laptop was ill and I’ve yet to recover my database to give the exact measurements, and I’m not at home to go measure it again!
The other night we were sitting outside watching the meteor show, and between falling stars I was making up constellations. This came out of this!
The Dandelion Constellation.
Above the roof
The dandelion constellation
Grows from the southern horizon
The stem bending to the west
The cluster of stars forming the crown
That could so easily have been rearranged
Taller to form a tulip
Or flatter to describe an umbrella.
Below the moonless sky
The dandelion constellation
Grows as if there is no time
We can comprehend
Only the eons in which
a nebula’s kiss blew at its crown
creating our skyfull of stars
blowing in the galactic wind.
I wrote this one a few weeks ago while watching the Orionids meteor shower. Next shower is December 13th.
Shooting stars
It’s in our hears to wish upon a star
that falls to earth, as if heaven had thrown
a penny in the fountain from afar,
thinking to make a wish all of its own.
Astronomers predict the meteors,
a stone’s throw from a passing comet’s tail.
Perhaps they wish upon them too, like us.
I wonder if they’re sad when wishes fail
to fall into their hands, and wonder why
the luck burned up with space’s Molotov
evaporating in the heat of sky,
leaving a streak for what we’re dreaming of.
Fall slow, fall fast, each shooting star a wish,
a hope, a joy, a heaven’s little kiss.
I never could see the man in the moon, except when the Apollo program was running. And yes, I’m old enough to remember it – but also young enough to have wished that I’d been ten years older to better appreciate it.
I always saw the rabbit in the moon. So, I decided to paint it, seeing as I had an aging bucket of gesso and some craft paints that needed to be used or lost. I thought it would be good to get this done while it was still cool enough to paint outside, and I just got finished in time. The sad part is that whether or not anyone is happy with it, it’s now going to be too hot to paint outside in the light, so Salton City is stuck with this one until October.
The Rabbit in the moon.
….. there went the link. The link to the actual youtube video. No, I have no idea what happened in the mailchimp world, but here is the actual functional video link!
#1260 Nightstorm II. Mixed media on shaped solid pine panel, 24×11″. $250.
Here’s another foray into differently shaped canvases. A very abstract piece for that slender space that just needs a pop of color. However despite looking quite narrow, the curve means the panel is actually 11″ wide. This is one of three ‘siblings’ made from a single 18×24″ watercolor of a starfield, but presented as a dark swirling storm.
#1257 Aurorae #3. Mixed media on panel, 14×11″, $180.
This is a slightly different treatment of Aurorae #2. The refractured watercolor pieces came from the same parent watercolor painting, but I did not fill the entire panel with refractured watercolor, but finished it off in acrylic. They’re also the same size but I chose the other orientation. I thought also I would show it to you on the wall with oblique light. One of the hardest things about selling my work other than in-person, is getting people to appreciate this aspect of it.
Aurorae #3, full front view
I’ve long wanted to see the Aurorae, but cost and logistics have always prevented it – plus that pesky old unalterable – the cold! Nevertheless I can be inspired by the photos that others post. The tough one about painting the aurorae is that it’s light on blackness – something that can’t be easily done in watercolor, and the soft swirls can’t be done easily in acrylic. So this is one of my most impressionistic skies.
If you love it – it’s small enough to ship easily, still gift sized and ready to go on the wall. Others that I’ve posted recently were from a batch of matted pieces.
#1256 Aurorae II. Refractured watercolor on flat panel, acrylic edges. 11×14″, $180.
September 7th
I loved those dark September nights
sitting on the swing
remembering your first delicious kiss
like it would ever happen.
We looked up at the diamonds
spilled on night’s blue-black velvet
so we could choose which ones
would go in our wedding bands.
I loved the last smudge of milky way,
a thumbprint on heaven
before the rabbit brush bloomed.
I loved those damp September mornings
hanging onto pre-dawn
with a cloud full of anticipation,
a present as gray as an area of future.
We looked into each other’s eyes,
mutual sapphires of the soul
and listened to the silence
as if it were the only space between our heartbeats.
You took my hand and promised to speak to the council
within the month about our future together.
Like it would ever happen.
“Moon on Water” 10×8″ acrylic on loose canvas. On eBay.
One of the delightful offshoots from the Big Bear storm, is that I met with Michael Faitl, owner of Desert Sun Gallery in Crestline. I will be taking work up to his gallery on Thursday, to start a small show to run through some time in September – we haven’t firmed up that detail yet.
I will be taking oils and acrylics to this gallery, and have been busy making some additional small paintings for this show. Michael is a photographer – I have only seen his work online – he got rained out of Big Bear faster than I did!
Also – had a little time this afternoon to put some of the newer collages up on the website – check them out! And some new items on eBay.
Skyscapes for the Soul - Jeni Bate 