Fresh Eyes in Luna Land

Nancy F. W. Passmore is the venerable editor of Luna Press, which has published it’s 41st annual edition of the Lunar Calendar: Dedicated to the Goddess in Her Many Guises. I sketched her after our recent visit in Boston, which I will always consider Luna Land.

I’m honored when it’s my good fortune to do the cover! These are some of this year’s sketches, done in June.

In this rough idea, I have referenced my goddess figure sculpted by Peg Astarita.

I tried a collage approach.

This mosaic of blues was inspired by the work of Paul Klee.

How about simplicity?

This is based on the real deal: full moon rises on the back shore of Peaks Island have become a monthly calibration of my rhythms.

This one got the nod, and here is the final pastel, titled “Strawberry Wave.”

I’ve been contributing to the calendar since 1983, and Nancy has become a dear friend. We try to rendezvous annually at the Museum of Fine Arts, no better place to imbibe divine forces at work. She was unable to join us, but provided passes so Marty and I could wander among the masters.

We marveled at the work of John Wilson, in a series of prints in different states.

And I never knew William Merritt Chase worked in pastel! His wife was a frequent model and bears a striking resemblance to one of my current MECA students.

In the Modernism gallery, it was startling to see the original of one of my favorite paintings ever. Reproductions don’t do justice to all the texture in a Stuart Davis work.

We also saw a super exhibit of vintage posters from the collection of Robert Bachelder, A Century of Style: Masterworks of Poster Design. The Stephen D. Paine Gallery at Massachusetts College of Art and Design is filled to the brim with decades and decades of jewels.

Why am I always drawn to eyes? And polka dots? You could hypnotize me with this one by Fritz Buhler in 1945.

This detail from Richard Avedon’s classic from 1967 remains as trippy as ever.

I love the ornate detail in this one by Franz Von Stuck in 1911.

Nancy would enjoy the moonlight in this one.

We went straight to Nancy’s house for a quick visit, amidst her cat collectibles.

She shared an article with me, where I found a revealing quote by Marcel Proust: “The only real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having fresh eyes.” Exactly!

We headed back to our island in time to welcome our own visionary girl, here looking closely at some of the zines from my junior illustration MECA majors.

During her visit my eyes felt as fresh as ever, seeing beauty everywhere. I take comfort in the eyes of nature watching over us, the goddess in her many guises.

We make our marks by being ourselves.

Thanks to Nancy and the Luna Press for the gifts of wisdom and lunacy!