Night Magic— Now at West End Gallery
The appearance of things changes according to the emotions; and thus we see magic and beauty in them, while the magic and beauty are really in ourselves.
–Kahlil Gibran, The Tempests (1920)
I had someone ask why some of my new paintings had several moons in the night sky. You would think I would have been prepared for that question, but since I honestly hadn’t given it a thought, the only answer I could muster was a simple one: Why not?
I’ve been thinking about that question a lot recently and still don’t have an answer that is any better than my first.
I just don’t know why they appear and why I find something in them that gratifies some part of me.
Maybe there really are multiple moons above us all the time that we cannot see? Perhaps they are just a half dimension away and our scientific apparatus cannot yet detect them?
Maybe it is merely the magic of emotion and imagination. Perhaps it is a case where only those fully equipped with the finely tuned equipment of emotion and imagination set to the right frequency at just the right moment are treated to a night sky filled with several moons?
I don’t know.
I do know that those who see this as implausible or even crazy will never be fortunate enough to have the pleasure of seeing such a sight. They just don’t have the right equipment.
I was a bit under the weather last night and this morning and wasn’t on planning on writing anything. But the habit of doing this and the little bit of magic I see in this painting make me now feel a bit better. My equipment must be working okay even though my body is a little off. I find that reassuring.
Let me add one more little thing to this painting:
And that night the Council of Moons showed themselves in full and decreed to all that, by their power and that of the citizenry, every day and night thereafter shall be recognized as No Kings Day.
And peace and joy spread across the land…
To quote Yul Brynner in The Ten Commandments: So let it be written; so let it be done
Redtree Times 