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art creative writing poetry

Wax Horizon

gouache on wood panel in yellow ochre and brown
Gouache on wood panel (wet/processed photo)

Ad septentrio video
haec ceram caelum clara
supra mare stella Martis

 To the North and I hail
in full this wax horizon
bright across
a Martian sea*

Vignette
(Original; starting point of a colour study)

Meaning: Dust yourself off and try again. Notes: I didn’t realise until Thursday afternoon that the painting resembles the horizon as seen from Victoria Crater, Mars. *As you know, Mars is dry; however, 19th century areographers used “sea”, “lake” and “ocean” while mapping the planet. Thank you so much for viewing.

By ΠιCΘLΞ

Life is short, so let’s be decent.

165 replies on “Wax Horizon”

Thanks for this comment. No, it is not a wax painting. The original is wet acrylic on wood, hence the waxy sheen. Then, I processed the photo about six times with two image editors until I got something interesting. xo

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I really like these – they are so simple, yet so evocative. I’m trying to decide if it’s the text that makes me see them as landscapes or of it is something in the images themselves. I don’t think they need to be considered landscapes to be beautiful – as abstract images they are equally stunning.

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That’s lovely of you, Susanne. Thank you. I appreciate that very much. I loved the images as they were but I saw the landscape after staring at the original for a while. That inspired the title and more staring inspired the poem.

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The image feels uncanny and unnerving to me. Certainly a lot going on, I wouldn’t have guessed it was gouache. Thank you for your recent comment on Life & soul. I dropped my phone whilst reading and managed to lose the connection to it. However, comments are very precious so I cut and paste from the email notification and put it in quote marks from you and answered – just in case you thought I’d ignored it. 🙂

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Thank you! I use my phone a lot so I know the unique problems that can arise. Like right now autocorrect is undoing my sentences. The wet paint with filters created some interesting results. I’m happy you enjoyed that.

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I haven’t gone commercial with the paintings published on my blog, thank you for asking. I’m occasionally asked to work on commissions. I’d love to reproduce a few of my paintings on wooden doors. Dare to dream.

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Breathtakingly beautiful…the both of them. Love the layered depth you achieved with the paintings and the emotional feelings they evoke from the viewer and quite possibly invoke from the cosmos. The paired verse is also beautiful and brings with it yet another mysterious, evocative layer. A visual and emotional delight.

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Thank you so much for your beautiful words. I am very happy you felt it as an invocation to the cosmos. I can only enjoy a painting when I feel it. I am also happy you noticed the thick layers. I was amazed at the two toned result as there were so many tones in there.

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Thank you so much for visiting. I am glad you enjoyed the presentation. I wondered if anyone noticed the new blog style. (Most people are in Reader) I wanted to change the atmosphere a little bit and I am very happy with the new fonts. Have a great Sunday and a lovely week. ❤

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I like both of these versions. Very soothing. I wish I knew more about the Latin, but for now I’m content to say it aloud to myself in the way I imagine it is supposed to be pronounced 🙂 I hope you’re enjoying your macaron project that you mentioned the other day!

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Thank you so much, Cynthia. The alliteration was to create a stomping/clomping effect. Macarons are ongoing. Thank you for asking. I finished a few sketches in watercolour crayon. The canvas concept is ready, too, so it is just a matter of time.

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Yes, it does resemble that part of the Martian surface.

I have some old DEM’s of Mars. I should have a look to see if any of them are of the Victoria Crater. I might be able to generate 3D heightfields.

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Thank you so much. I will try to have a good time. Have a great weekend, too. I am glad you caught the play on words for planet Mars. Latin is apparently a dead language so the grammar presents interesting challenges. Thankfully, it’s a poem so I had a license to k-i-l-l.

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Thank you so much. I only saw the film and it was so heartbreaking and funny. But that force of will was what moved me. I think I’ll grab a copy of the book, too. 💜💓❤️

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