The Forum's Art Museum

[Keep Looking]

Ooh, pretty!

Reminds me of the feeling of coming home late at night and just looking up at the sky - we don't get that many stars where I live, being in the suburbs, but you can see the southern cross, and scorpio or orion depending on the season, and of course the moon is always beautiful.

[moredhel]

Here in Berlin nearly no stars are visible. Because it never gets dark here. I grew up in a less populated part of germany. There you could get real darkness with lots of stars.

[Buteo]

When my family first moved to the house where I did most of my growing up. it was still possible to see the Milky Way at night.
When I moved out, the Birds' Path had been invisible for years.

Lovely moon, moredhel.

[catbirds]

Wow! That's a great colour pencil drawing, moredhel! I get it, that's what the night sky looks like where I live, but I'd like to go somewhere where the stars look like you sneezed out glitter. Also, I love the spots on the snake! It has a good shape overall!

And Grey, the whale is very cute, I like the way it smiles! And very smart design

Buteo, weird that the milky way could just disappear... hmmm

[Keep Looking]

My brother went on a trip up to the kimberly a few weeks ago and he showed me some photos they took of the sky when they were camping at the bungle bungles (very very far from any town) - you could see the full milky way, not just hints of it, all the tones of colour and all the dark spaces. Said he lay down on the rock in the dry riverbed at night and just looked up at the stars.

(I was very jealous)

[moredhel]

Buteo, weird that the milky way could just disappear... hmmm

When I was a child it was expensive to get light on public roads an places. It was possible to see hints of the milky way even within the village where i lived. After going to the next valley where no lights were it was possible to see a lot of it. But in the last decades more and mor lights were installed everywhere and they are now much brighter so it is impossible to see the milky way.

[catbirds]

I've been chipping away at a couple other projects, but after finishing summer school, I decided to paint something kind of indulgent (also very tall...).



I've definitely made a lot of progress since I started painting like... four? ish? years ago? It makes me happy to see them compared to my other paintings in my desk drawer.

Moredhel, unfortunately, I've never had the good fortune to be young when there weren't lights everywhere But maybe one day I'll go stargazing in the deep woods or the wilderness. It's unfortunate, but at least you can treasure the memories from your childhood. Keep Looking, I hope you get the chance to too! Safely, because I've heard the Australian bush can be quite dangerous.

[moredhel]

A very beautiful painting. I like the created by the warm and cold colors.

I do remember the milky way as i saw it as a child. It can be simulated in the countryside by searching a dark valley a few kilometers away from all houses.

A geology that creates deep valleys is helpful.

[Jitter]

Catbirds, what an intriguing and beautiful painting! Is there a story to it? I love the atmosphere of, maybe not friendly exactly but non-threatening darkness. Sort f it’s dark and that’s exactly how it should be.

I also love the stars. Here in the north, the best stargazing time is in the winter, and the sky is clear on very cold nights only. Still, I very much hope to be able to arrange some sort of stargazing thing for myself and family. We went to an astronomy night in Canada and it was lovely! But not nearly dark enough for the “sneezing glitter” (great expression!) effect.

[catbirds]

Thank you I like hearing what people think of things I make, even if it's a bit vain.

I feel like I've gotten asked a couple of times if there's a story related to a painting I've made, and the answer is No but I'll steal ideas from old paintings sometimes, so they might end up being connected somewhat. And maybe one day I'll be a writer, that'd be fun.

Stargazing in the north... I was told that the sky becomes clearer in the winter because of the temperature, which I guess causes moisture to condense and fall to the surface of the Earth? I'm not a meteorologist so IDK, it's probably more complicated than that. It'd be nice to stargaze with family in the winter, when you can lie down and be cozy without bugs biting you everywhere, but that comes with its own challenges (cold). I hope you get to see lots of stars when the time comes! (I'll keep all this advice for when I eventually find someone who's interested in the sky? ...it's best to not go camping alone!)

[moredhel]

The air is moving much less when it is colder.

[Jitter]

We have clear skies in the summer too, but it’s too light to see the stars. Southern Finland doesn’t get actual midnight sun, but it doesn’t really get properly dark this time of year.

[JoB]

[relevant, though there are double and long-term exposures among them]

[moredhel]

I painted this yesterday. I think I am still making progress in the watercolor craft.

[Vulpes]

Oh wow, moredhel, that's really well done! The lighting really gives it depth.