I sometimes settle on the title of piece when I decide on a map. It gives me something to work toward. This one came early after I manipulated the map in Photoshop. I boosted the vibrancy and saturation to really bring out the yellows and reds. I also used a filter called “oil paint” to give it that liquid look. It almost looked like a photo of the roiling surface of the sun. The look really shouted Red Sky at Morning from the old mariner’s rhyme “Red sky at night, sailors delight. Red sky at morning, sailors take warning.” This made me think of the Raven; a bird I’ve wanted to paint. The title seems fitting given Ravens, in some cultures, are symbolically linked to wisdom and prophecy.
The map had been applied to the panel two summers ago before I finally decided to continue on it this past winter. I had forgotten about it and uncovered it during a studio reorganization. It was finished in a rush of activity in January. It is funny how a piece, although not linked, can be tempered by current events. A month after it was completed, Russia invades Ukraine and along came speculation about the possible use of weapons of mass destruction.
I’m a child of the Cold War. I was born and raised in the shadow of Eglin Air Force Base, Florida. Eglin would have been one of the first handful of primary targets the Soviets would’ve taken out either in a first or a retaliatory strike. Who knows, maybe the Russian’s still have it in a strike package. My Dad worked at Eglin as a Computer Maintenance Manager at a radar installation that guarded the Southeast U.S from submarine launched ballistic missiles. He didn’t soften the possibilities if hostilities ever escalated. The thought of nuclear war was terrifying and as a newly minted teenager wrote to President Reagan pleading for nuclear disarmament.
So thirty years after the end of the Cold War, here we are again with the same posturing. It’s a familiar feeling; balance slightly off-kilter. If I close my eyes I’m back in 1983 staring across Choctawhatchee Bay at Eglin, hoping the old men in power will use better judgement. Here’s Red Sky at Morning for this moment in time. A warning to beware the folly of men, but also hope for better judgement and wisdom for mankind.
