Night Sky

Plainview Night Sky Study Katherine Kean 2014
oil on linen 6 x 6 inches

“The sky grew darker, painted blue on blue, one stroke at a time, into deeper and deeper shades of night.” - Haruki Murakami, Dance Dance Dance

This isn't the first time I've painted this sky, this view, and I suspect I will keep on exploring. I'm amazed by the indescribable hues of this sky at dusk. I'm not talking about the vivid reds and oranges that are also breath-taking, but the other ones, the tarnished gold, the muted plum, the softly tinted grays. I wonder if it's an effect of being midway between an ocean and a desert. In the moments when the sun is all but gone and the darkness hasn't completely taken over I can see with my eye so much space and depth and subtlety of color. One day I hope to get closer with paint to what I sense with my eyes.