Winslow Homer, The Sky, and the Glory of God



Breezing Up by Winslow Homer first exhibited in 1876

We have all experienced at least a few times in our lives, I hope, a sky so vibrant and stunning it nearly took our breath away. My first year at sea I found myself entranced watching the sun melt into the water on the horizon. Every day after working in the engine room it was typical for the black gang to emerge and stand on the deck just watching the sky, the water and the way that the two created unique harmonies based on the mood of each. And on more than one ocassion in the perfect stillness of the Med I would take my pillow and sheet to the bow of the ship and sleep outside under the stars just aft of the forward anchor windlass.

So stunning, in fact, were the sky-scenes that I bought a video camera just to capture these scenes before I set out for my second year. I shot hours of sunrises, sunsets, and cloud scenes. It was a rude awakening, however, as I popped in tape after tape once I got home that my efforts had been futile. In fact, based on that experience, I have always assumed that trying to capture the beauty of the sky was impossible--until this week that is. . .

I happened upon a Leo Tolstoy work this week, "The Raid," in which he starts Chapter Four this way:

"The sun was midway across the sky. Its hot rays piercing the incandescent air, beat down upon the dry earth. Overhead, the dark blue sky was completely clear, although the base of the snowy moutnains was already draped in white and lilac clouds."

Lilac clouds. Can't say my "sky-palette" had lilac. And yet--I could see it perfectly in my mind's eye. On a drive home later in the week I mentioned this to the family and Calvin said that Homer Winslow also had particular thoughts about the sky. He was referring to an article he recently stumbled onto in a back issue of National Geographic (Dec 98). Here is what he read:

"Homer painted in daylight long before it became standard practice. Others painted blue skies. "It looks like the devil," said Homer, who avoided them, filling his skies with gray, yellow, pink, white--anything but solid blue. Others depicted the horizon with a straight line. "Horrible," said Homer. He broke his horizons with dots of light, giant waves, plunging boats, and mountains."

The ancient prophet David has taught me to look at the sky and confess that the Heavens Display the Glory of God. The modern artists Tolstoy and Homer have reminded me how to look . . . frequently . . . deeply . . . and with an eye for detail at the display. In honor of artists like Winslow Homer (whose birthday is today, February 24th, 1836) take a step outdoors today. Even if its raining or snowing--especially if it's raining or snowing. Add another another color to your palette. Contrary to the cliche, the devil is not in the details--he's in the monochromatic view. God is in the details.