The Great Gig in the Sky

Celebrating the Night - Part 3

It was the summer of 1975.  I had just graduated high school and I had just become aware that I was falling in love with the young man I would eventually marry. We spent much of that summer huddled together in the bed of his Ford Ranchero gazing up at star filled skies and listening to 8 track tapes of Jethro Tull, Bruce Springsteen, and Black Sabbath among others.  My favorite was Pink Floyd, "Dark Side of the Moon", and I recall listening to the entire album as we sat cocooned together as one under a quilt against the cool, damp, country, night air.  This journal spread was created in that memory.

I began this spread by applying a layer of  first black, and then dark blue craft acrylics to the background.  I let it dry and then rubbed in 2 or 3 subsequently layers of blue paint to lighten and add depth.  I flipped my journal vertically and using a white pencil, I wrote about all those first summer nights that we shared under the stars.  I rubbed in more blue paint over the writing, then added the stars and moon.  I added the black silhouette of the trees and then the highlights.

Here it is 33 years and 2 sons later and we're still married. "Dark Side of the Moon" is still my favorite album of all time and when I think of it, "The Great Gig in the Sky" is the song that automatically starts playing in my head.  We don't live in the country any more, but when I'm not "Happy Creating!", you'll still find us sitting out at night under a starry sky.