Tag Archives: sky

Blue

I was enthralled last night with the deep blue of the late evening sky. Blue seems to be a color that in itself, uninterrupted, unpatterned, is profoundly engaging. I think that certain shades of ochre strike me that way, too. But considering green I thought that green is most amazing when it is in company with other shades. Like emeralds set in a piece of jewelry, or the myriad shades of green in the expanse of a forest or meadow. It’s the interrupted green which is most engaging. And in a single shade – a lime green wall, a kelly green dress – it seems dull. Gray is another that seems most engaging by it’s variation, such as in the layered clouds of a tumultuous day, or the stained rocks of a cliff-face.

Painting the Heavens

Medieval illuminations often have interesting things going on in the sky.

Little angels peeking over the edge of heaven.
Patterns of blue-on-black foliage fill the sky.
The faces of dozens of angels looking upon Christ and the saints.
God the Father and an array of little angels worked in tiny golden brushstrokes.
Some beautifully worked foliage patterns in the sky.
The angels are obvious, but there is also delicate white filigree filling all the blue of the background and sky.
This one is full of obvious angels, but a closer look reveals myriad half-hidden angels, too.
Here the choir of angels frames an ordinary sky full of stars.
And here some rather cute angels peak down at the Virgin Mary from a sky full of stars.