Nebulae

Living in Arrowtown, where the night sky is clear and encrusted with millions of stars has piqued my interest in what lies beyond our world. I have been studying Nebulae. The myriads of dust clouds throughout space that appear in the different stages of star evolution. It is amazing to think that a Nebula like the Crab Nebula was first observed in 1054 and is still visible to us although its form has almost certainly changed. 

With the aid of modern telescopes, I have been introduced to emission, reflection, absorption and planetary nebulae and supernova remnants. These amazing dust clouds can be  mind bogglingly large, trillions of years away from us and infinitely different. It is hard to understand what we are seeing but this makes the subject all the more intriguing to me.

I have focused on interpreting my thoughts and feelings in paint. Technically this has presented a real challenge. I have embraced this using colour layering, both light on dark and dark on light to try to create the effect of a semitransparent cloud swirling and changing. Sometimes the sky is dark and sometimes light because these clouds can emit or absorb light energy. The colours relate to the types of particles in the clouds and the forms are infinitely variable. The subject is endless and I am just beginning my journey exploring it on canvas.  

Ultimately this is about life, death and regeneration of stars and possibly even other life forms light years away.