Crepuscular Rays
This painting originated in May 2023 at a family dinner celebrating several birthdays. The view unfolded just as we finished up to make our way home. It was a dramatic end to a beautiful, warm day. The cloud colours were more akin to a winter evening. We took several images, and even though I have witnessed many sunsets with crepuscular rays, this one was outstanding. Its power stuck in my head and had to appear eventually on canvas. The legs of the sun march across these islands in the Atlantic.
Legs of the Sun
Cosa na Graine is Irish for The Legs of the Sun. The painting resembles legs of light strutting their stuff, which has an amusing nuance. It also reminds me of the lights shining from the Tripods as they walked over the landscape in War of the Worlds 2005. Their dark and threatening advance on the human race. But let us all appreciate the rays of the sun punching through thick cloud gaps to fill our hearts and minds with the beauty our planet offers us occasionally.
Light from afar
I used gold leaf to emphasise the richness of the light coming through the clouds that evening. Our star sent its light 150 million km ( 93 million miles) to randomly interact with our atmosphere, producing a visual spectacle like this. These columns of light also penetrate the oceans. They create dazzling light shows for divers and bring life to creatures dependent on its bounty. Except for those lifeforms who comfortably live outside the sun’s touch in our ocean’s deepest trenches.
Mars
Could crepuscular rays be viewed on other planets in our solar system? To my joy, the answer is yes. However, they can only be seen for the moment if you are a lucky camera on a rover on the surface of Mars. Or if you look at Curiosity’s images of these wonderous rays in the Martian sky. Back in November 2011, I had the great honour of being at the launch of The Mars Science Laboratory, aka Curiosity. I wrote about it some time back. What a remarkable job this rover has done so far. Perhaps in the future, visitors to Mars will see its crepuscular rays with their eyes.
I was very energised when creating this little painting, so a few months ago, I started a larger one with even more details. The original hangs on the wall where I paint and write. The sun’s rays often bounce off the gold leaf, making it glint and come alive occasionally.
