Celebrating the Heritage and Practices of Traditional Fine Arts Worldwide
Mars: An Artistic Mission
Exhibition Dates: February 18 – May 31, 2021
Most artwork featured in this exhibition is framed and available for acquisition. If you are interested in learning more about how to place an inquiry, please consult our Terms of Sale. Works that are not available for purchase are labeled as “NFS”.
This exhibition was made possible, in part, by a grant from the Cultural Affairs Division of the City of Pasadena.
“Flyover Canyons of Mars” was inspired by thinking of how the dust in the Martian atmosphere would lend itself to beautiful hazy light effects that are the perfect subject matter for watercolor.
In the distant past, the surface of Mars was crisscrossed by massive rivers and oceans, which then evaporated. Today, Mars is a planet that is slowly dying and we can only imagine it as it would have appeared a billion years ago. The reddish appearance of the ocean is due to what would have been the ferrous nature of the water on Mars edge with blue ice, and the white strip that cuts through the sky is the Milky Way seen from the planet’s surface.
Iridescent and Interference Acrylic, 48" x 48", $3600
The layered use of iridescent and interference paint causes the painting to change greatly according to the light source location, and as one moves around it. Thereby suggesting the marvelous mysteries of the Heavens.
Fusion crawlers inch across the frozen landscape, deploying forward feelers, grinding heads, and communication arrays to transmit their discoveries back to Earth.
While researching this fantastic subject, it was the possibility of water that intrigued me.
Scientists have sited that ancient geologic evidence - 3+ billion years ago! - of past water includes enormous outflow channels carved by floods, ancient river valley networks, deltas, and lakebeds; and the detection of rocks and minerals on the surface that could only have formed in liquid water!
– Lynn Berkeley
Karen Winters
NASA and JPL – Bringing Worlds Together
Oil, 12" x 24", $2500
We've lived in La Cañada Flintridge since our family was young - and both our children worked at JPL while in high school and college.
I have often thought about painting JPL in its arroyo setting. Upon hearing of this show, I decided to incorporate the lab into the Mars discovery story.
This science fiction treatment of the theme fancifully expresses how dedicated scientists are closing the information gap between the planets, bringing worlds together.
I truly enjoy painting planets and all aspects of space. ‘Mars in Rouge’ is a piece that explores introspection as well as expectation. The darker background slowly enveloping the red planet plays on those themes and hopefully sparks a bit of wonder and awe.
Coasting above Mars, the sunrise streaks across the cold background of space. With little atmosphere the contrast of light and dark colors are both harsh and beautiful; alien and appealing.
“Martian Moon” was painted to celebrate the historic landing of Perseverance on Mars. The crescent moon, included in the painting, adds a sense of familiarity to an otherwise alien landscape. A study in red, the Martian landscape has a striking beauty with canyons that dwarf our own Grand Canyon.
As the Sun sets on the Martian landscape at Jezero Crater, a massive sandstorm looms on the horizon, on the verge of obscuring the setting Sun. Amber hued, Carbon Dioxide filled skies reflect off the dwindling remnants of a once water-filled Jezero Crater. The global water loss on Mars is theoretically the result of a massive meteor impact event, approximately 3.8 billion years ago. Mars then lost 99% of its warmer atmosphere, giving way to the planetary arctic temperatures there today.
Two meteorites can be seen entering the thin atmosphere and impacting the red planet's surface. Similar meteorites aided in the transformation of Mars geological surface.
As a way to celebrate the landing on February 18th of the Mars 2020 spacecraft - Perseverance - I chose to do a painting that depicts the separating of the two parts of the spacecraft which cruised for months on its long journey. Here's NASA's description of the process-- "Ten minutes before entering the atmosphere, the spacecraft sheds its cruise stage, which houses solar panels, radios, and fuel tanks used during its flight to Mars. Only the protective aeroshell – with rover and descent stage inside – makes the trip to the surface." Creating this piece required some research, and I very much enjoyed learning more about this amazing mission, particularly the level of precision required to get the rover down safely. It's quite a feat!
– Nanette Biers
Christopher Slatoff
When I Consider the Heavens; homage to Ray Bradbury
Resin, 10" x 20" x 20", $9800
The greatest thoughts of humanity have all been conceived in solitude, staring up at the heavens. Be that literary, scientific, or theological. The night sky remains that singular visual reference that conveys the infinity of creation. The magic of Ray Bradbury was that he could stare up into the night sky of the 1950’s and imagine something unique. Though it is the astronomers and engineers who get the credit for space exploration, I believe that we would not be landing on Mars without the creative genius of writers like Ray Bradbury and Jules Verne.
The painting was initially inspired by the Hubble Telescope’s image of Mars. As I was discussing the project with my boys they talked of visiting Mars as if it were a real possibility. Watching them use the telescope and discover the mysteries of the night's sky led to the surreal idea of Mars rising, and the children watching from afar. Someday, they imagine to visit Mars.
Secret Garden is a celebration of the wonder, grit, ingenuity and promise that drive extra-terrestrial exploration. Secret caches of water appear to lie deep beneath the surface of the Red Planet, making us dream of the life it supports—a life radically different than ours.
In a world seemingly turned on its head, the values and colors of the flower are inverted. Atmospheric infusions of minerals and dust deliver brilliant pinks, oranges and reds, offset by fiery blues and greens of sunset in the remains of the day. A once-familiar backdrop becomes fragmented and changes with light—or dark, the sweeps of winds over dunes, the sliding of gullies, and the pressure and tumult of shifting, long-buried ice. She has an ever-changing kaleidoscope of fractal patterns, both familiar—and not.
Secret Garden emerges from the depths of a long ago hidden salt-pool, a riotous sweep of color… and a siren’s call to wander and explore. She is radically different from any flora we’ve known, unapologetically bursting to new life on Mars as a radiant, energetic and resilient transformation of her ancient self.
