The night sky is filled with stars and wonder. The night gives us the opportunity to dream about the future.
Looking up at the stars and thinking about the constellations triggers the imagination. I have fond memories of my son sitting on my lap in the early morning as I drank a cup of hot coffee during the winter months and watching Orion move across the horizon.
I think one of the challenges of being an artist is to continue to see stars in the daytime in order to access our imagination and creativity. Being able to see beyond the limitations of what is obvious and to visualize the possibilities of what might also be present is an important creative skill that helps us face work and life challenges.
Last summer while my wife and I were camping at Priest Lake I started to make photographs of these purple flowers. As I watched the pastel blue water ebb and flow in the background I realized that the sparkling light on the water was from our own star that is closest to us.
I began to experiment with purposely under exposing the image in the camera to see if I could see stars in the water as I reduced the glare down to small pin points. The image below is one of the photographs I made that day and has not been altered in any way. I enjoy the way this image juxtaposes the near and the far and helps me feel more connected to the universe.
