Smoky Moon

We're had enough rain to reduce the fire hazard, but smoke still hangs in the air from the wildfires that are still smoldering.  The smoke added a richness to the evening sky that almost glowed.

I painted this from memory.  I caught sight of the setting moon when we were driving back from the Oregon coast two days ago.  There was no opportunity to point it then, so I painted from memory.

An African moon - Maree

Black ink sketch using Pilot Calligraphy Lettering pen and Artline200 black fine-point pen on DaleRowney 220gsm heavy-duty sketching paper

It was full moon last night and when I switched off the garden lights, my garden was bathed in a golden glow… and I could’ve sworn I saw the fairies hiding under the mushrooms... 

One website explains the full moon thus, “The moon and sun are on a line, with Earth in between. It’s as though Earth is the fulcrum of a see-saw, and the moon and sun are sitting on either end of the see-saw. Thus as the sun sets in the west, the full moon rises. When the sun is below our feet at midnight, the full moon is highest in the sky. When the sun rises again at dawn, the full moon is setting.”

::

Quick Trip back to the Klamath Basin

Aspen make me smile.  They have a clever little trick.  Their stems are flattened, vertically -- and that means they shimmer and shake in the slightest breeze, as if they are waving to me.  

Dale and I have been enjoying camping in the Klamath Basin this fall. When we first reach the edge of the Basin, the transition zone between forest and marsh, we are greeted with groves of quaking aspen, probably my favorite tree.  Even their latin name speaks of their wonderful ability to simmer and shake in the fall sunshine, Populus tremuloides.  At this time of year whole groves are bursts of yellow.  Other groves have already been stripped bare, waiting for winter.  

   

In the morning the moon rides high in the sky, the smooth part facing upwards towards the sun.  No Sexy Lady there.

The Crescent Moon, Earthshine and Venus

Earthshine?

Best seen during Crescent Moon phases (the one to five day period before or after a New Moon), Earthshine is caused by direct sunlight on the earth that reflects onto the Moon which creates the smoky glow of the shadowed portion of the moon.

Click on the Earthshine link above for great information from NASA including these goodies:
Scientists in recent years have found that Earthshine is most intense during the northern spring months of April and May.  I could only see a milky glow even through binoculars.  But during the spring, you'll be able to see the Moon's features :)

Leonardo Di Vinci explained this phenomenon nearly 500 years ago!

This sketch by Leonardo is part of the Codex Leicester, written by Da Vinci between 1506 and 1510!  Oh, the mind this Renaissance artist had. Leonardo's journals and notes show what an "unquenchable curiosity" and "feverishly inventive imagination" he possessed.

After sunset tonight, take a peek at the sky to see Venus, the Crescent Moon and Earthshine for your very own. Venus will be to the lower left tonight.  Happy viewing and hopefully painting!!

Just before Full Moon - Maree

“How sweet the moonlight sleeps upon this bank.
Here will we sit, and let the sounds of music
Creep in our ears; soft stillness, and the night
Become the touches of sweet harmony.”
- William Shakespeare

At the moment, here in the Southern Hemisphere, we're in a Waxing Gibbous moon, 97% lit, and full moon will be tomorrow on the 10th Nov at 8:18 PM. Last night the moon was huge and bright and cast an eerie glow over our next door neighbour's property. I was SO wishing for an owl in one of the trees! lol!

Spring Tide - Pam Johnson Brickell

Spring Tide, a photo by PJBee on Flickr.

The tides have been especially high the last few days. There's a full moon tonight and it's really been pulling some force with the sun on our ocean waters! Spring tides happen at the time of the full and new moons and high tides are extra high and low tides can be extra low.

The marsh grass is greening but last season's dead purple shoots are all you see at high tide. Beautiful colors in the marsh these days - especially at low tide.

Full Moon Wonder - Maree

“Tell me what you feel in your room when the full moon is shining in upon you and your lamp is dying out, and I will tell you how old you are, and I shall know if you are happy.”

- Henri Frederic Amiel

The full moon from my studio window at 5am on the 21st January 2011.

The ‘Super Moon’, so dubbed by astrologer Richard Nolle in the 1970s, was the closest to Earth it had been in 18 years – only 356 577km away! 7 600km closer than usual, and of course, the moon is the same size it’s always been (about 2,150 miles in diameter), but it appeared about 15 percent bigger and 30 percent brighter than usual because of it’s passing so close to Earth. This was a rare sight, because of the phenomenon coinciding with a full moon in South Africa.

Blue Moon 31st December 2009 - Maree

“May you have warm words on a cold evening,
a full moon on a dark night and
a smooth road all the way to your door.”
- Irish Blessing



Last night the "Blue Moon" rose over the horizon in a blaze of yellow and gold - it seemed to be double the size of normal full moons, and I had to wait almost an hour for it to get high enough so that I could see it over the trees. We had a flawless, windless night, with only a few clouds and bright, sparkling stars.

About an hour later I observed the partial eclipse which, in the Southern Hemisphere, was at the bottom, left corner.

Here's wishing everybody a flawless, bright and sparkling 2010!

Moon - Waning Gibbous

Moon - Waning Gibbous 5th Dec 2009 - South Africa, Southern Hemisphere

The moon was 84% of full last night, and waning, peeking through the rain clouds after a lovely downpour. I decided to try and sketch it, but substituted half of the black tree-lined foreground with water, as it appeared very black. This was my first attempt at sketching at night and quite a new experience for me! And I certainly need to do a lot more of this to get the correct atmosphere. Any suggestions anybody?

Shine On Harvest Moon - Pam Johnson Brickell

Spent a lovely evening enjoying our friends and the Harvest Moon, at their home on the May River, Bluffton, South Carolina.

Waxing Gibbous...Cathy Johnson

The moon affects us in so many ways. Of course it is both mysterious and romantic, despite all we have learned about it, scientifically, since the mid-20th Century. It captures our imagination and illuminates our nights. Sometimes it is bright enough to read by; sometimes it casts deep shadows. You may see a ring around the moon that foretells weather. You may even, on some rare and delightful occasion, see a moon-dog, a faint prismatic bar of color caused by the moon's light reflecting off particles of frozen moisture. (Read more about moon dogs HERE and other moon-related phenomena HERE.)

Once upon a time in a galaxy far away (ok, not really, but it might as well have been--it was 1989!), when I was writing natural history books, I got to do one entitled The Nocturnal Naturalist: Exploring the Outdoors at Night. It's long out of print, of course, and available only as a used book. But the time I spent outdoors at night for a full year, watching the changing of the guard between wildlife that is active in the daylight hours and their nocturnal counterparts, smelling flowers that open only at night, and listening to ice form...it was as if I'd discovered another country, at once alien and inviting.

All the illustrations are scratchboard, and it was SO much fun learning to use this strongly graphic medium--you can see one of the pieces on the cover, below.



The moon's power affects the tides; a basic explanation can be found HERE.

A friend who worked in the emergency room of a huge hospital back east tells me it also affected US, and not for the better. The full moon seemed to bring out the craziness in us, and they saw more accidents, overdoses, drunks and victims of violent crime on full moon nights than at any other time.

I've painted the moon many times over the years, from full to waning to gibbous, as it is right now--these are a pair of tiny ACEOs, 3 1/2" x 2 1/2", done on gesso-coated watercolor paper. The top one is "Winter Owl"--you can read more about it on my Fine Arts Gallery blog, HERE.

(Playing-card sized ATCs are "artist trading cards," and that's how the phenomenon started out--but many people who were not artists wanted to collect these little jewels, too. So ACEOs were born--still the size of a playing card, but "artist cards, editions and originals" to meet this need. Some ACEOs are prints and some are still original, as are these.)

As you may have noticed, I added a moon-phase calendar to our blog here, in the sidebar. I love knowing where we stand in the lunar cycle. The widget is free, but you can buy some fascinating software from the website that tells you past and future moon cycles and much much more. Click HERE to see much more!

Smoky Moon

Smoky Moon

Tuesday evening the moon was a brilliant yellow-orange crescent in the sky, colored and softened by the recent fires along Alligator Alley that have filled our atmosphere with smoke and haze. The fire was ignited the previous Tuesday by a lightning strike and burned about 34 square miles of land, to both the north and south sides of the Alley.

Contrary to its name, Alligator Alley is not a small road, it’s also Interstate 75. It crosses the state of Florida in an east-west direction linking the cities of Naples and Ft. Lauderdale. Last week, state officials closed the entire Alley because of this fire for several days, and just recently reopened it.

I live in Naples, and all week we’ve smelled the burning and squinted through the hazy brightness. Last Thursday I watched feathery flakes of ash fall around me as I worked outside. The ash was carried by winds aloft. We are not in danger, but it’s a remarkable thing to hold the possible remnants of a cypress tree or slash pine in your hand, and wonder if it’s from the Big Cypress National Preserve several miles away.

Fire is a part of the natural ecological cycle in Florida, and this is a vulnerable time of year. Factors like dry winds, low humidity and low water tables join with extremely dry vegetation to create the perfect environment for combustion. All it takes is a source of flame. This time of year a motorist will be ticketed for throwing out a cigarette butt from a car window.

This sketchbook painting is a composite of scenes: my memory of that vivid waning moon and the hazy skies, and a setting from a recent visit to the Cecil B. Webb Wildlife Management Area.