About 4 years ago (2013) into my art journey I became aware of how much I loved the sky and how it changes moment by moment with the treasure of images that cannot be captured by a photo or a memory. It literally moves with the power of God’s hand and paints pictures that only HE can and images left to the imagination of the viewer.
As a child growing up on a farm in rural Central Mississippi, my summers were simple; making clover chains in my Dad’s fields, carving out hideouts in the woods, laying in the grass and looking up and making stories up about the clouds and what they seemed to be. My cousins and I thinking and dreaming of worlds beyond the farm and small town realities.
Long before I began to think or believe I could leave this farm and small town attitudes and fly among the clouds to far away places……………………
The mere thought of that often spurred negative comments from those that I dared to tell my dreams and hopes to; thinking that they would give me the encouragement to pursue them……… How wrong I was. My inspiration was my Mom, who gave me the freedom and the courage to go for it. So I did. I somehow with my brother’s help found a way to go to college with loans from the Federal and State (which I paid back in full) and the jobs that I had on campus and during the summers.
” I Looked at Clouds from both Sides Now”
Interesting in 1969, Joni Mitchell recorded a song about clouds, that she wrote in 1967 that was sung first by Joan Collins. I graduated from USM 1969, and began a journey that would take me to many places around the world, as a Delta Stewardess/Flight Attendant. Words from the song” I Looked at Clouds from Both Sides Now” take me back to memories of dreaming and not knowing but somehow believing these words…..”It’s clouds illusions I recall , I really don’t know clouds at all”.
Painting clouds is a challenge, as the artist tries to capture the image that is reveled in the formation of that cloud knowing that it will not stay the same for long………. One cannot truly put on canvas the ever-changing clouds placed in the sky above by God the creator.
This painting was one of my first attempts to capture what I saw in the clouds. Perhaps after a few years of painting and having a little more experience, I will return to the magic of the sky and try to capture an image that only last for a moment.
The sky and clouds are always in transition of change………Treasure the ones that you view and dream the dreams of what clouds can reveal to you…..
Hoping that you will be inspired by the art that the sky reveals everyday, moment by moment, changing and revealing a canvas of beauty and inspiration.
What do you see in the clouds today….. in the sky above YOU?????????
Looking up for inspirations,
Martha
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Martha, thank you for the story. I, too, have always had a fascination with clouds. My brother and cousins, and I used to lie in the shaded ditch along the dirt road in front of our grandparents house in Mississippi, deciding what shapes we saw in the ever-changing clouds. During my 35 years of flying, the clouds never failed to fascinate me. I have taken photos for many years from planes, mountains, beaches, on every trip I have gone on, and my yard and finally put together a small book of my favorites several years ago and used Joni Mitchell’s wonderful song to open and close it. I love discovering new/old connections with people I know. Thank you for sharing your art and your life with us.
June
Martha,
I am enjoying your posts and getting a glimpse into the inner you.
Carolyn