The photograph of the earth, rotating in the middle of a beautiful sunbeam, was first taken by NASA on Valentine's Day: Feb 14, 1990. It tells a beautiful love story of how we are all connected, all together, all one. It reminds us to pan out, see the bigger picture, remember that the stressors of our one situation, our one spot on the planet, our one lifetime is part of a way bigger picture where we are spinning through space all together on the same beautiful but delicate planet.
In Carl Sagan's book "The Pale Blue Dot" [Random House, 1994] he wrote:
"Look again at that dot. That's here. That's home. That's us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there - on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam...."
"...It has been said that astronomy is a humbling and character-building experience. There is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world. To me, it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly with one another, and to preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, the only home we've ever known.”
I love both the photograph and the quote so very much that I wanted to paint it -- in a way that makes the earth more clearly visible -- so that we could see all the continents, the waters, the nighttime of half the world and the daytime half, all connected on one planet spinning through the mystery of space.
If you need a reminder to pan out, see the bigger picture, stress less, enjoy more, stay in the present moment, and remember the larger community of humanity all in the same place and same time in the same majestic universe.... this artwork us your reminder.
I painted it using acrylic paint on a 16" x 20" deep gallery wrapped canvas (with painted sides, no need to frame unless you desire to) and painted beautiful iridescent rays of sunshine enveloping our planet, gifting us warmth and light. Those rays glisten on the canvas -- you can see the blue and purple iridescent nature of the paint in the product pictures where I have angled the canvas a bit.
I also have prints of this artwork, both without the quote as well as with the first part of Carl Sagan's quote on it, in two different styles, see product images 2 & 3.
Original Painting Details:
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Acrylic paint on 16" x 20" gallery wrapped canvases
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No need to frame (gallery wrapped canvases with painted edges)
- Signed by the artist Dr. Laura Koniver MD
- watermark does not appear on canvas
Giclee Print Details:
- available with quote in 2 different styles or without the quote, select from below
- available in multiple sizes, select from below
- available on multiple mediums, including archival paper or archival canvas surfaces, select from below
- watermark does not appear on prints
To being centered in the present moment while you spin through space with me...
xoxo, Laura Koniver MD
