Monday, March 15, 2010

Nebulae: the Veil Series

The Veil Nebula is part of the Cygnus, or Swan constellation. This nebula is the remains of a supernova that exploded between five and eight thousand years ago. What we see now are the wispy leftovers of this explosion. It is a dark place, veiled with bright streams of multicolored light, difficult to see and wonderful to behold....

My interpretation of this nebula is a series of mixed media pieces in which I used modeling paste, acrylic paint and collage on gessoed paper. For me, the gold lines and shapes represent the human intrusion into space--into all of nature.


"Veil Nebula One"
acrylic and collage on gessoed paper - 18" x 22 1/2"



"Veil Nebula Two"
acrylic and collage on gessoed paper - 18" x 22 1/2"





"Veil Nebula Three"
acrylic and collage on gessoed paper - 18" x 22 1/2"




"Veil Nebula Four"
acrylic and collage on gessoed paper - 18" x 22 1/2"



"Veil Nebula Five"
acrylic and collage on gessoed paper - 18" x 22 1/2"


I'm happy that recent repairs to the Hubble telescope will make it possible to capture more of these wonderful images. My paintings are a far cry from the original Hubble photos, however. For me, the photos are only a starting point. I hope they capture a bit of the feel of that amazing, long ago time when there was a clash of energies and the Veil Nebula was born.




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