"Liminal Light"
An extremely rare East Coast aurora borealis silhouettes the National Harbor of Refuge Outer Breakwater Lighthouse and the distant ship, Star Gilbraltar, departing the Delaware Bay at Cape Henlopen
'Liminal Light' by Ellen Rice
18" x 24" x 5/8" oil on canvas, sold
Prints available.
18" x 24" x 5/8" oil on canvas, sold
Prints available.
"Liminal Light" was inspired by a moment in time, August 12, 2024, witnessed by a local river pilot from the ship Star Gibraltar as it departs the Delaware Bay, the awe he felt and imagination.
My client is a man of many talents and vast interests, astrophotography among them. Two months after this moment I was able to witness the northern lights for myself, after he told me there was a likelihood they would appear that night.
Seeing and photographing these ever-changing lights helped me when I was given the challenge of painting the light he'd seen in August.
His August photographs were my primary reference, but the lighthouse and ship were a combination of his memories and our imagination. Neither his ship departing the Delaware Bay nor the lighthouse were in his photograph since he was onboard the ship preparing to disembark above the Cape Henlopen breakwater. He wanted the scene painted as if viewed from below the Harbor of Refuge Lighthouse, so that his ship and the lighthouse would be in the scene.
With his assistance, I imagined them silhouetted against the lights. I spent countless hours searching for photographs of the lighthouse at night and he provided me daytime closeups, along with photos of the ship. The trick was then getting the sky to glow the way his photograph did while being true to the shifting shapes he'd captured.
After he saw the finished painting, I asked for input for its name.
"I tried to put into words the awe I felt when I saw the lights," he said, then, suggesting Liminal Light, explained the meaning of liminal.
Liminal Light is a Celtic, mystical concept of a boundary or transitional space between realms. I hadn't thought about the lights this way, but with the shifting "pillars" of light moving suspended between the stars above and the water beneath, it fits. (The stars, by the way, are positioned exactly correct for that precise location, date and time, thanks to a star map also provided by my client.)
I hope you enjoy the colors and radiance portrayed of this special, fleeting moment in time along the Delaware coast.
My client is a man of many talents and vast interests, astrophotography among them. Two months after this moment I was able to witness the northern lights for myself, after he told me there was a likelihood they would appear that night.
Seeing and photographing these ever-changing lights helped me when I was given the challenge of painting the light he'd seen in August.
His August photographs were my primary reference, but the lighthouse and ship were a combination of his memories and our imagination. Neither his ship departing the Delaware Bay nor the lighthouse were in his photograph since he was onboard the ship preparing to disembark above the Cape Henlopen breakwater. He wanted the scene painted as if viewed from below the Harbor of Refuge Lighthouse, so that his ship and the lighthouse would be in the scene.
With his assistance, I imagined them silhouetted against the lights. I spent countless hours searching for photographs of the lighthouse at night and he provided me daytime closeups, along with photos of the ship. The trick was then getting the sky to glow the way his photograph did while being true to the shifting shapes he'd captured.
After he saw the finished painting, I asked for input for its name.
"I tried to put into words the awe I felt when I saw the lights," he said, then, suggesting Liminal Light, explained the meaning of liminal.
Liminal Light is a Celtic, mystical concept of a boundary or transitional space between realms. I hadn't thought about the lights this way, but with the shifting "pillars" of light moving suspended between the stars above and the water beneath, it fits. (The stars, by the way, are positioned exactly correct for that precise location, date and time, thanks to a star map also provided by my client.)
I hope you enjoy the colors and radiance portrayed of this special, fleeting moment in time along the Delaware coast.
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