Sights never seen, and lost colors

On spaceships

We (specifically America, but also humans in general) had two firsts last week: a successful first crewed flight of Boeing’s Starliner capsule, currently docked at the International Space Station on June 5; and the first successful launch AND landing1 of SpaceX’s Starship and Super Heavy Booster on June 6. Both were thrilling to watch; the latter more so because of the livestream reentry, never before seen by human eyes. More on that in a sec.

Since I was watching the Starliner launch with some trepidation2 , this painting was part celebration, part silent prayer for the astronauts’ safety.

Happily, all went well, and if you haven’t seen Sunita Williams entering the ISS while dancing ecstatically, may that be your pick-me-up for today!

As for June 6th’s Starship IFT-4 test, the wow factor is best summed up by the video feed of reentry, showing the buildup of plasma on the spacecraft. (We saw a little of this with IFT-3, but not to this extent.) Those of you who remember any spacecraft landing prior to Starship know of the communications blackout during reentry (due to the plasma.) The spacecraft is wrapped in a cocoon of hot gases, while Mission Control, family and friends sit helplessly waiting and hoping for reacquisition of signal. Last week, humanity watched this phenomenon in real-time, thanks to Starlink.

My husband and I watched the live stream, transfixed, as the colors of mind-boggling heat danced across the spaceship, and had some fun with one of the flaps (the Little Flap That Could, the real hero of IFT-4. Look it up on social media, there are memes galore.) I will definitely be painting some plasma in the very near future. Love the almost purple glow in the above photo.

Speaking of purple…

On color

I have a mild obsession with color. (And in other breaking news, hi, I’m an artist!!) My favorite book on color is (surprise) COLOR by Victoria Finlay. It was there I first read about the shellfish origins of purple (my favorite color) and why, due to the expense of producing Tyrian purple, it was a color reserved for royalty. The recipe for this celebrated hue was lost somewhere in the 1500s. And though some are on the path to rediscovery, the color may remain beyond us, due to the near-extinction of some components.

One of my fascinations with paint is how many different things can lend themselves to pigment: minerals, critters, even soil. I love the mineral and soil aspect, coming from a geology background. Almost any original painting I’ve done contains a small amount of gemstones, thanks to Daniel Smith’s PrimaTek paints!

Actually, maybe I’ll expand on that in a dedicated post. “How Danielle was lured into watercolor painting by a shiny display of mineral specimens.” (It is somewhat embarrassing to admit how often “shiny!!” factors into the decisions I make in my personal life. Magpie much?)

In art news: my work schedule changed to a swing shift, but I’m finding it to be a schedule that allows for more making of art, and capitalizes on my best creative hours of the day (mornings.) Watch this space! (For plasma!!)

I may be changing website platforms soon, for a better shopping experience, but I’ll give plenty of warning if so. I want to have more information available—deep dives like this one on the origins of a painting, as I’m able to write them. I put this off a while, but feel more and more compelled to change things up.

— Still tripping the light plasma fantastic, Danielle