Leonardo Da Vinci described them as 'bodies without surface.'

John Constable (1776-1837), the well-known English landscape painter, once said that clouds were the 'chief organ of sentiment' in his paintings. He become so obsessed with the clouds that, for an entire year, he did away with painting anything else and devoted himself exclusively to painting cloud studies.

The sky and its many changing moods...as witnessed in the ever changing cloud formations... has been grist for many artists' contemplation and composition. Painters have been representing clouds in their art for centuries. From the classical period, through the Renaissance, into the present day.

For many, painting the sky does seem to be about raw emotion or expression through pure composition. April Gornik, whose painting is to the right, is a contemporary painter who openly admits that the emotional quality of her work is what inspires her, as does the physical quality of the painting/objects she represents. She was something of an idol when I studied painting--mainly because she was a painter's painter. Her work was about painting...not about social narratives, or, ahem, a bunch of polaroids stuck on the wall and called (conveniently) good art.

John Constable, painting during the period of the Enlightenment, also found this same connection, as witnessed by his quote, above. What I always found intriguing about Constable is that in this study, which is well-known, he seems so close to abstraction, which of course is another century and a half or so in coming. In his "Rain Cloud," he seems to savor the purely design weighting of the natural elements; the rain cloud reduced to a brilliant, dark swipe on the right hand side.

Vermeer's lovely cloud composition I included simply because of its sheer, clear beauty. It's one of my favorites. I studied it extensively when I was learning to paint and was leaning towards landscape painting.  It remains a favorite to this day.  Maybe the sensibility behind my photo series owes most to Vermeer and this particular work.

As for the photographs, it was rare opportunity that presented itself, and so I ran with it!  I had to escort a photojournalist up to the roof of our establishment so he could photograph an event.  The sky was amazing that day, and I took my camera, too.  If you have never been to Arizona, there is pretty much a 360 degree clear view all around you, especially in northern Arizona and the deserts.  A rare rainstorm was brewing...and I could see rain and lightning all around me.