CATCHING ORDINARY FISH AND RARE CLOUDS
Oil on canvas 18 X 29 private collection
I was about 5 or 6 years old when I realized there was a fantastical world awaiting me whenever I looked up. Clouds…so magical and back then there were horses and rhinoceros, fish and dragons to be seen in those fleeting moments. I guess that’s when my clouds spotter mania started. Once I began to learn the names of those elusive creations I could predict the weather based on what was hovering overhead, which was handy for a young sailor before technology arrived. 'Fluctus' is the Latin word for "billow" or "wave" and this may also be used to describe the cloud formation, though that most often occurs in scientific journals. The clouds are named for Lord Kelvin and Hermann von Helmholtz.* When I saw this in books and later online, and even later thanks to the Cloud Appreciation Society, a membership organization in the UK, (https://cloudappreciationsociety.org/) I have been scanning the skies hoping to see one and suddenly, there it was on a clear day in middle Florida. My friend thought I was totally crazy as I was melting down, snapping pictures on my phone and chattering about Kelvin-Helmholtz. The scenery under the clouds was not as exciting, however, and a 9 year-old photo in my picture file allowed me some very nice photo editing possibilities. For my local friends this was taken on the Lutz-Lake Fern Road. I decided on a “Golden Rectangle” for the size of the canvas because the elongated width seemed appropriate. It was so much fun to paint this one!
* https://www.thoughtco.com/kelvin-helmholtz-clouds-3443792
