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The story behind my early space paintings with the same name.
Since I was a child, the vastness of space has
always captivated me. I grew up on the edge of the
desert, where summer nights were spent sleeping on the
roof of my parents' home. Out there, the cool desert
breeze made it far more comfortable than indoors.
I lay awake in bed many nights, eyes wide open,
marveling at the clear, star-studded skies. The Milky
Way arched above, from one end to the other of the night
sky, like a celestial river of stars and mystery so
clear that I felt I could count all the stars. I
wouldn't dare blink, afraid to miss a single shooting
star or meteoroid streaking across the heavens. In awe,
I had no clues or knowledge of what I was looking at
other than what little I had read in an old Encyclopedia
Britannica.
Those nights were filled with mythical tales
about the Milky Way, adorned with a cloud of gases
weaving tales among the stars, said to be the pathway to
the heavens.
Inspired by these enchanting nights, I immersed
myself in painting fantasy space scenes. Back then, as a
young man working as a graphic artist, I was assigned as
one of NASA’s primary artists long before the era of CAD
and digital art. My brush brought technical space
visuals to life, depicting the grandeur of the Space
Shuttle and an array of satellites against cosmic
backdrops.
Then, a day I eagerly awaited arrived - July
11th, 2022. NASA unveiled the James Webb Space
Telescope, a marvel capable of peering back to the very
birth of our universe, the "Big Bang." Its initial test
images were mind-bending, hinting at even greater
discoveries to come.
These strides in human achievement serve as a
humbling reminder of our place in the vastness of the
universe. We are fortunate to witness such
groundbreaking technology, a stark contrast to the world
of just a few decades ago. Less than 40 years ago,
humanity dwelled in a technological analog era vastly
different from today's digital world. The cell phones
our children hold in their hands now contain over a
billion transistors, making them more powerful than the
most advanced computers of yesteryears. Truly, we live
in an age of wonders, where the mysteries of space are
unveiled before our very eyes.
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