The Night Sky Ceiling

This ceiling is a barrel vault, fourteen feet high at the top.  I had to work off staging.  Miserable.  But at the same time, I loved it.  Such a special project.  The homeowner and I had already agreed that it needed to be a night sky, but I wanted more direction.  When I paint for you it’s very detailed and specialized.  So I asked her, ” Is there a date that is special to you?”  She looked puzzled as to why I would ask such a question, so I explained that I could look up the configuration of the stars on any day, from anywhere on the planet, and from any year.  She gave me a date.  I looked it up and that’s what’s up there on that ceiling.  She had been widowed four years before.  She and her husband had built this house.  And the date she gave me, it was their wedding anniversary.

The quatrefoils in the borders and compass rose above the chandelier are also all designed and hand painted by my little hands.