Deirdre Kelleghan  skysketcher@gmail.com
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Action Sun at St Pauls Senior Girls School Dublin 12 - What's up for July 2012 from Jane Houston Jones

7/5/2012

 
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WOW !! this is huge in the hall
St Pauls Senior Girls National School in Greenhill’s Dublin 12 is just a few minutes’ walk from the house where I grew up.  It was fortuitous to have the opportunity to carry out my third Action Sun for a school in this area.

On June 25th 47 young girls from third class, took part in building the sun. This was a very positive group all eager to get going and get busy. Streamers of orange and red paper flew through the air in vast amounts. In a short time the photosphere began to grow in the schools courtyard.  

The activity of Action Sun supports the school curriculum in its art as it uses mixed media to create the sun. The program uses paint and paper to convey activity and explosive movement on the solar disc. Action Sun also supports primary school art as it enables children to use the characteristics of the materials to make structures and features on the solar disc. Making the sun in this way is both creative and explorative. Learning a little science through the arts facilitates the use of many kinds of intelligences.  The learning process in the making is as valuable as the finished suns. Textures and spatial   organisation also comes into the creation of this work. The girls at St Pauls School were very good at working as a group, helping each other out. They also made good decisions during the activity which showed they were an excellent team. This is kinesthetic learning, learning by doing. 

Action Sun compliments science in the primary school curriculum on several levels.   A short information talk in between making the suns features informs the children about our suns role in the solar system. We talk about the scale of the sun and the Earth. We talk about the energy of the sun and its function in relation to the other planets.  The mini talks make sure that the children understand that the sun is our main source of heat and light.  By building the sun the children learn by hands on investigation. The children literally explore the physical features of the sun with their hands in mini scale. A quick review of the evaluation sheets shows the quality of the learning. Several children not only drew sketches of the complex sun but also put in arrows to the different features and labelled them all correctly. The action of throwing the paper was very popular, signing their names was also a highlight and for some children carrying the sun into the hall was the stand out moment of the day.

When I look at the sun in my solar telescope I see a huge amount of detail and very often in the past I have shared that view with children. However it takes a long time to show this view to a large group as the sun presents as a small disc with tiny features. It is difficult for children to comprehend the enormous scale of our nearest star.  I put Action Sun together to bridge that gap and help more people achieve some understanding of this wonderful star in safety with a big fun element.

The features of the sun itself were totally new to this young group, but at the end of the programme words like photosphere, chromosphere, filaments, prominences and sunspots were all a little more familiar. We closed our eyes at the end of the build and held our faces up to the sun to feel its heat and remind ourselves that it takes eight minutes for its light to get to us here on Earth, a 93 million mile smile. Building the sun took about 90 minutes. The 7.9 X 4.9 meter tarpaulin was pre prepared at home using four litres of matte black masonry paint. During  the activity we used approx 3,500 individual pre cut  pieces of crepe paper ,15 litres of washable  PVA glue, 6 litres of yellow paint , 1 litre of red paint,  plus the energy of forty seven eight and nine year old third class girls. 

My thanks to Sarah Jayne Reid for setting up Action Sun at St Pauls and to Phil Curran for all her efforts prior to, during and post the build. Thanks to Ms Keating, Ms Daly and Principal Sr Maureen for their support during the activity.  NASA Sun Earth Day bookmarks, posters and other educational material were provided to the teachers.  The solar feature data for this Action Sun was an observation of the disc made from my PST earlier that morning.  The Solar Dynamics Observatory website was pointed out to the girls so they could continue to watch the sun safely.  
     




What's Up for July 2012 from Jane Houston Jones 

Mars Earth Merge Painting - What's Up for July 2011 Asteroids

7/10/2011

 
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As an artist I am totally fascinated by the surfaces of other worlds. I find the images taken by solar system explorers very inspiring. Many of my canvases emerge directly from my observations of a tiny fraction of an image or are influenced by an entire object.

My painting Mars Earth Merge is not so directly influenced by outside images but more by my observations of some surfaces on Earth.

Keel Beach in Achill Island is one of my favourite places to walk, its six kilometres long, with a constant roar from the Atlantic breakers.


I enjoy taking macro images of the sand, and love observing how the sea makes channels in its softness as it retreats. Often the markings are delta shaped, water etched, well defined, but delicate.  On Keel sometimes the wind whips up dry sand and sends it at great speed to wrap itself around rocks on wet sand. It’s nice to watch, but very difficult to photograph.

This painting started as a depiction of those sand deltas on Keel. As it developed I had the idea to use Martian colours often associated with false colour MRO HiRise Images. I used pallet knives to merge Earth style water erosion on a beach scale with long gone water erosion on Mars which was on a larger scale.

I further developed the link by adding a beach stone and lots of sand in layers on each side of the Mars / Earth delta. Unfortunately for me the sand I used was too perfect and I had to enhance it by introducing particles of pastel in yellow, and orange to give it some depth. The addition of a little seaweed gave a 3 D property to the work.

In hindsight this painting has taken several years to complete as my influencing walk was actually on January 1st 2009. A bitterly cold day with strong winds and huge waves, it was totally exhilarating. I started to paint this canvas several months ago.

Here are a few images from that trip that led to my painting and a video of the waves on Keel beach. Although unintentional on my part it has been said to me, that my painting reminds some people of images taken of Mars from orbit .

28 inches X 22 inches  Acrylics, Pastel, Rock , Sand and Seaweed on canvas.  


Whats Up for July  2011 from Jane Houston Jones

Two Paintings one of Saturn one of the Sun OPTICKS GAM2011 Moon BOUNCE via Radio Waves

4/4/2011

 

Moon Bounce was Live on Sunday April 10th

Deirdre Kelleghans painting of Saturn inspired by Cassini images
Any questions ?  skysketcher@gmail.com
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Image credit Bernard Kelleghan

My Saturn/ Cassini painting is inspired by many of  the magnificent images taken of Saturn by the Cassini spacecraft. In particular I really love the images in which the shadows of the rings are cast over the planet by sunlight.  Many of the black and white images are extremely beautiful impactful pure ART


This painting  is 3 feet 3 inches by 3 feet 3 inches , mixed media on canvas.
Acrylics, Pastels, Metallic Gold Fabric Paint, Metallic Gold Paint, Metallic Gold Particles
Feathers, and the Wind.

In the painting we are viewing Saturns Rings edge on , the shadows of the rings are cast over the gas body of the planet.
  Cassini has taken iconic images on its journey around Saturn. The spacecraft is custom covered in a golden protective blanket. In 2017 Cassini's exploration of the Saturnian system will  most likely end and the spacecraft will be directed into the planet.

Its protective  blanket will no longer be needed, but Cassini will leave us with a golden legacy that is unprecedented in science and beauty. My painting includes gold particles disseminated  throughout the work.  Cassini is merging into Saturn in particles , just as
Saturn merged into Cassini through its outstanding  visual exploration.

How the painting developed February  22nd - April 3rd 2011

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Image credit Bernard Kelleghan

My Solar Painting is inspired by the first light images from the Solar Dynamics Observatory in space 22.300 miles above the Earth.  The painting  is 8 inches by 8 inches in Acrylics and Pastels on canvas,one of a series inspired by different  wavelenghts expressing knowledge about our star.

The paint is used thickly and energetically in order to somehow  emulate  the energy created in and exploding out of our star. When I paint I try to be in the subject , thinking about the sun from the inside out. Thinking about the subject helps me find ways and methods to produce it in paint.
SDO images are very strong visually , they tell the story of the sun in many wavelengths many different forms of light. 

Light is so much more than it seems
Light is an educater
Light is energy
Light has particles.

Both paintings will BOUNCE off the Moon on April 10th 2011 at 7pm during a performance art event  called OPTICKS GAM2011 Read about the project here

Look deep, deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.
Albert Einstein

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    Author


    Deirdre Kelleghan is amateur astronomer,
    an artist and also  likes to write.

    "The mind is not a vessel to be filled, but a fire to be lighted"
    Plutarch

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