Friday, January 29, 2010

Wolf Moon


My Ostraka:  History IV: I  watercolor and gouache on paper

Tonight is a full moon, what Native Americans called the 'Wolf Moon.'  It is the first moon of the new year. This wolf moon will be special in that it is closer to earth than normal, given the elliptcal orbit of the moon, so it rose as a saucer above the horizon at sunset.

Right now the moon is shrouded in clouds here where I live.  I have my paints ready for a break in the visibility, hoping to see the moon before midnight. I have been painting full moons since August, 1999, when I had a sabbatical and inaugurated it with an invitation to paint on Prince Edward Island.  I will show some of these moons in future posts, they being formatted in the archaic form of slides.

The first image of the Amarna Period Royal Fragment, which I did some years back and which is being featured in a show upcoming in Japan, reminds me of such a wolf moon rising above the horizon.  We need to step outside more, even if it is cold outside, and view nature, the moon, our world.

Saturday, January 9, 2010




Weekend Watercolor Intensive
Saturdays, 1 – 4 pm
April 24 – May 8
3 sessions, $120 (supplies not included)
Register Online
http://www.newberry.org/programs/currentschedule.html#arts

If you ever wanted to paint watercolors but felt they were too difficult, now is your chance to find out otherwise. Watercolors can be fresh and spontaneous or complex and carefully developed. Learn watercolors anew or, if an experienced painter, brush up on drawing, composition, and color mixing while making personal still lifes. Use heirlooms, travel mementos, or homegrown flowers to create meaningful paintings. Supplies are inexpensive.
Cynthia Kukla is a Professor of Art at Illinois State University and a member of the U.S.A. Watercolor Honor Society.