A previous Lunar Eclipse

A while ago we had the chance to observe a lunar eclipse just like the one which happened yesterday for much of the west-coast US and pacific regions. It was the middle of winter here when the event was to unfold and I decided to make a "net" of icicles to see if I could frame the eclipsed moon somehow. I went to the lake and collected hundreds of long icicles, some almost 5 ft long, and brought them to the site I had designed. I knew the moon would be high in the sky, so I needed to get "under" the net somehow to capture the eclipsed moon in the net. Since I built this at night, under the light of the full moon it has a mixture of order and randomness that really pleases me, visually speaking.

This photograph is quite deceptive because you don't get to see how this net is suspended out over the space below...the space I had hoped I could place my camera in and take photos of the moon as it was turning red in the shadow of the earth...the photo also gives no clue as to the scale of this thing...but one could put a large couch in the middle of this net and have plenty left on any side, it was that big...and, it is completely rigid since it is made of single icicles, stuck together.
Well, I was very happy with the sculpture, but the experiment was limited by my (at the time) low-tech camera...it simply was unable to capture the low light scene sufficiently when it was in full eclipse mode. So, I just enjoyed the show instead.
The next night, which was also clear and cold, the sculpture was more or less still there so I tried to get the full moon photographed against the crystalline web and this time, with the increase in light, it worked.


Some of the icicles had fallen down, but as luck would have it, the hole that was created was actually where the moon ended up being, so it all worked out just fine.

I decided to re-post this sculpture for a couple of reasons. One, to celebrate the eclipse that just happened and was visible to so many...and two, because it reminds me that even when we make our best plans, sometimes things happen that we cannot predict, giving our human limitations....but, sometimes things also work out in spite of our human limitations too...sometime great things.

As I continue to work on my book, and share my images on calendars and cards (thank you to everyone who has been able to make a purchase...every bit helps truly!) I want so much for this work to continue. There is magic here and this artificial world we humans have created for ourselves does not feed my soul the way Nature does...and I suspect I am not alone in this. So, somehow, some way, I want to keep this stream of work burbling along, even if it means revisiting older works from time to time along with new pieces that I know will still get created. And perhaps, in this way, the flow might take the work forward to find new resources and outlets which would support me enough for me to keep making more environmental sculptures. In the meantime, there is certainly much to celebrate in terms of what has already been created.

Next week I will have a special gift for all my readers, so stay tuned!

Bright Blessings all around you and yours!