Black Bird on Red

Often the paintings I like best (both mine and those of others) are paintings executed in a very short span of time. There is something both original and unique about the freshness of gesture or the surprise of a quick splash of color or line chosen by instinct rather than deep contemplation. Like one's own handwriting, these works are impossible to forge.

Mural Commission for a nature center

The concept for the mural was to portray 24 hours of the sky with certain cloud formations, a night sky with the Big Dipper, and a storm/tornado. Shown below is the far right portion of the mural before it was sealed.

I wanted to have high drama with color in an otherwise mostly blue and white palette so I chose to paint a tornado at sunset. The blue painter's tape is still in place here!

The entire mural is about 25 feet in length on the outer curved wall of a small planetarium. When visitors walk in, the view below is what they see first.
The tape has been removed and the entry into the domed room is visible - as well as a portion of the night sky. Due to the curve of the wall, it is not possible to see or photograph the entire mural. My camera was giving me focus fits perhaps due to the curved surface. I'll post more photos with better acuity soon!

The final shot shows cumulus, cirrus and stratus clouds as well as the icy mare's tails or fallstreaks. I added a sun dog at sunrise just because I happened see one driving over the the nature center very early one morning.

My design won a competition to execute this mural. A great honor - and a wonderful surprise!