Mars Science Laboratory, Curiosity

Recently, I was commissioned by a lady to create a canvas painting that depicted a moment for the Mars Science Laboratory Rover, Curiosity, when it was being dropped off on Mars by the newly developed Sky Crane deployment craft. The landing is to happen this evening.

The lady contacted me several months ago and wanted to have this painting to give to her husband on his 50th birthday a few weeks ago, as he was one of the scientists and engineers at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory who worked on designing and building Curiosity and the Sky Crane. We decided on a good size, good price and that it would be an acrylic on stretched canvas painting rather than my traditional reverse glass painting (mostly given the short time constraint - glass paintings take a lot longer to dry between painting sessions).

So I set out to do the research so that I could make both the Sky Crane craft and the Curiosity rover as close to accurate as I could, given that I wasn't able to take reference shots before they were launched. We had visited the MSL lab at JPL, where the sister rover is, some months earlier and did take some shots but this commission had yet to come along, so the angles didn't match what I wanted to paint.

I found a number of reference photos and from there could piece together what the two craft would look like in the composition that I had. Then came the fun part of actually painting the piece! Since it was a large canvas, 36" x 22", I needed to have it set up on my easel rather than on my drafting board. And using an easel meant I could move it into the living room or out on the deck (for airbrushing) whenever I needed.

Silicon Working on Martian Rocks

Here you can see one of my kitties helping me apply the rock texture to the Martian landscape. Lots and lots of little rocks, and she was a big help!

Working in so many different media, it is really nice to be able to switch the gears in my head and go from one to the other. It gives parts of my brain a chance to rest and renew while the other parts work. I haven't had the opportunity (see what I did there? LOL) to work on a canvas painting for quite a long time, so having this chance really buoyed my spirit (LOL). But seriously, it was a delight to be able to sit and physically move around the rich lustrous paints and feel the canvas giving way under my brush. I don't get to feel that very often as when I'm working on glass, the paints can't be thick and gooey, and of course there is no "give". When I'm working with blown glass or cast glass sculpture, I often can't physically touch the pieces at all since they're at such a high temperature. This felt almost like a vacation, as I could sit on the couch and have on a marathon of Doctor Who while I worked. And it showed me that I really need to do more painting.

I sent the finished piece down to the client and she presented it to her husband, who was overjoyed at the composition, the detail level and the beauty of it. He took it into the Lab to show his team and that made me very happy indeed. Here is the finished piece and there are signed prints of it available here: http://glassnebula.com/curiosity-sky-crane.html

6 Meters To Touchdown
36" x 22" acrylic on canvas painting of the Mars Science Laboratory, Curiosity, getting dropped off in Gale Crater on the Martian surface via the Sky Crane.

It is a beautiful piece and I'm very happy with how it turned out. Yes, indeed, I will be doing more painting soon.

Peace, Joy

More Little Watercolors

I've gotten a great response for the little watercolor I posted of Shadow, so here is another one I did a bit ago. This is of Larry, our beautiful Maine Coon tuxedo boy. He is from a kaboodle of 5 abandoned kittens we rescued (yes, we're suckers for cuties....)

This piece is only 6 inches wide, and really captures his eyes. I really like the super closeups, if I can get them to pose for that long, but Larry happens to be one of the most easygoing cats I've ever had, so it's easy. I just have to tell him he's adorable, and he flops down and goes into some really cute pose.

Since my watercolors are only personal projects so far, I don't often get time to work on them. Paying jobs come first. Today, it's raining and dreary though, so maybe I'll take some time, get a mug of cocoa, put on my slippers and lose myself in some little paintings.

Yes, that sounds like a really good plan.

Please post a comment here and on facebook. I'd love to hear what you think, suggestions....

Peace,
Joy

A Rocket is Born!

I got the rocket carved for the Orrery that we're making!!!! Yay!!! It was cold though, but not raining. You can see me all bundled up. I actually have three shirts on and two pairs of sweatpants, and gloves. I'm coated with sawdust, as is everything else. It gets in my hair, up my nose and under my contacts, but it's actually a lot of fun to get so messy and see something come out of nothing.

The section I'm working on is the top of the rocket. The wide section to my right is the part where the fins will come out. I haven't carved them yet. The dark lines that I'm cutting in the photo is the separations of the sections. I carved the smooth shape of the rocket first and then put in the marking of where the rocket will be cut into 10 pieces.

Why cut it? There's the base piece - the fatter part that the fins will attach to, and then the very top cap which holds the rod to the Sun globe. The other eight pieces are for each of the planets. Each piece will have a rod coming out of it that goes out to hold the planet. You can see that in the website picture.

So after the rocket is carved and sanded, then it is cut into the pieces that can rotate on their own. I'll then take each one of the pieces and drill a hole in the center to hold the tube that goes down to the gearing. Complicated huh? Yes, it makes my brain tired if I think of too many sections of it at a time. I'll most likely start carving the fins tomorrow and figuring out the gearing system (yikes!).

If you like these, please become a follower here.

Peace,
Joy

Fire Line

Just went out onto the south porch to see if I could see the front through the smoke. The closest section, on Uncle Sam, is in places half way down the portion that we can see over the top of Elephant Mountain. This isn't much of a change from its position on the 6th (Sunday evening). When the fire is backing down the hill, it moves a lot slower. Advancing up the hill is another story. It feeds on the fuel that is being heated in front of and above it and it is supplied with an unobstructed flow of air from below; a perfect scenario, so it moves very rapidly. This is one reason why we are so concerned.
The ridge line to the NW from there and a short ways to the SE is all ablaze, subtending an angle of 45 degrees. I was taken aback when I first saw it. Each time I go out, I am hoping that somehow it is going to be better. Never is. At times, an entire tree will burst into flames, shooting them hundreds of feet into the air like rock concert pyrotechnics, although it's not fun to see.
A separate section farther to the SE at nearly that angle is still on the other side of the ridge but is very bright, lighting the clouds for quite a distance from the site. Seeing nearly 90 degrees of fire is not a happy feeling because you know you are at the middle of it.

I feel so sorry for all of those life forms out there who cannot move to get away. At least this has happened at a time of year when young animals and birds have grown enough to be able to flee and not perish. Those species who are able to move but not move quickly enough are not so fortunate. I can't bear to watch for very long. I feel for them all, deeply.
One of the endangered California Condors that was missing was located and is in fine shape. We expect to see increased wildlife populations here as the fire progresses in our direction. This will of course mean more, Foxes, Bobcats and Mountain Lions, so we have to be a little more careful. If they are pressed for food, they do come around here. Pressed for territory and food, we'll have new neighbors for a while. Bird population is already up; different species, too. We ran out of bird seed today filling the feeder. Tomorrow's trip into town to get the needed parts will include a stop to get another 40 lb. bag of seed and more suet.

This thread -IS- space related after all, though I'll leave the title as it is. I made an analysis with the topo map tonight and our fire hose will reach from our tanks on the NE corner of the property up to the observatory that sits ESE from us, so we can defend it as well. (I KNEW I wanted the tanks over there for some good reason. Didn't really dawn on me until tonight--even having thought about clearing around it. I'm so stressed.)
There's a hydrant up there but, as I said earlier, it's little more than a wishful thought when this many chips are down. We'll have to re-configure to get that far. One 300' section won't quite make it. This will mean a lot of running, dragging a 1.5" 400' single jacket fire hose full of water up that hill. I don't know if we could even pull it full of water. It'll take more time but we may have to drain it on something useful and pressurize once we're up there. Either that or find something that will hold that volume temporarily. I'd hate to waste our resource. If you need one more gallon and you don't have it.... We may opt to get another 4 sections, if only to save our bodies and time.
I'd like to find a Y fire fitting. Then we could use all 600' -- 400' up the hill and two 100' sections off that to get around both sides. Each hose will have less pressure when they are both running but we can cover a greater area. If one of us needs more distance, we can shut the other off temporarily and get the pressure back.
If the fire happens to advance first up our section of the property that is out in front of the dome and we can defend the observatory, it will make our job of defending the studio easier. We'll see how the finances are after we're set.
Hmmm, I had better go over there tomorrow and see if the louvered ventilation windows are closed. Wouldn't be good to defend on the ground, only to have airborne brands fly in through the vents.

Gotta run as many scenarios as you can--while you can--in relative calm, so you will be less surprised when it all goes south in a way that you didn't think of.

Time to try to get some rest. Temp at this hour is still 87 degrees. At this altitude under these conditions it doesn't drop much like it does in the valley. The fire loves it. Tomorrow will be another 100+ day; the last for a while, thankfully. We can get through the day by looking forward to a 68 degree night. Should trickle down to 88/55 by Sunday and the relative humidity is creeping back up out of single digits. Yaaay. That will slow the fire down... if it isn't going up another mountainside by then. Timing is everything.