"No Sky Could Hold So Much Light"

acrylic on canvas,framed, image is "44 x 56"

No sky could hold

so much light--

and hear comes the brimming,

the flooding and streaming

Mary Oliver 'Harvest Moon'

A lot of times when I am out on the beach during a full moon, I experience this strong sensation of needing to lie down and look up. There is something about the light, the moon and waves, that literally 'knocks me off my feet'. Does that happen to you?

This painting to me, isn't really only about the moon. It's more about what it does to the water and sand. It's about the shoreline and the way the waves are spilling themselves upon it. I can feel the shine of the sand and water in my heart.

I struggle with these night ocean scenes. There is a part of me that wonders if they belong on a velvet canvas for sale at the Exxon station on the corner along with those ones of Elvis. Using iridescent paints which are so difficult to capture with a camera only heightens my anxiety. But they still insist on being painted and they are beautiful to me. Who among us has stood on the shore under a full moon and not marveled at the extraordinary brilliance of the night time sky? The sand glistens, the little ghost crabs are out scurrying everywhere. The light, goodness the light, seems to absorb everything, even our voices. They sound distant, almost cottony. The ocean looks like it has been washed in glycerin and there is no telling where the horizon meets the water or where the aura of moonlight leaves off and the blackness of the heavens begins.

I believe that moonlight over the ocean exists in part to remind us of our place in this world. We are not as in charge as we would like to think. Thank goodness.