Scribble Picnic - ACROSS THE UNIVERSE

There's a lot going on out in the universe that we don't understand and probably are not even aware of.  Could there be life as we know it on some distant planet?  And if there was, what could we do with that knowledge? Staying a little closer to home, this blue planet in our neck of the universe has many mysteries of it's own that we are still striving to learn about.  How does the whole of the universe affect us here? There are many forces in our own solar system that influence events here on Earth.  So it's not hard to believe that there are forces in the universe that by entering our solar system have an effect on us in turn.  We know that the gravitational pull of the moon controls our tides and that solar flares cause magnetic impulses that can give us the northern and southern lights or aurora borealis but what else out there is controlling our planet?  What other star flares or gaseous clouds might play a part in the life of our planet?  

Looking at a recent weather map of the latest Nor'easter we've just weathered, it appeared to me to look a little like a cross between solar flares and the northern lights.  Actually, there is a magnetic storm predicted for today which might give some of you a view of the northern lights tonight. 

I've only seen them once in my lifetime here in NJ and honestly don't remember much of what they looked like because I was only about 10- or 11-years-old and had never heard of them before.  We had been visiting an uncle a few towns over and it was cold and late, but I remembered the words "aurora borealis" as sounding strange and beautiful.  Only years later would I actually learn what it was that I had seen. 

I used some Posca paint pens to recreate the weather map.  I started with some large blocks of the main colors and then added the stroke work.  I found it very relaxing as I have with the wind maps that I have done with markers in the past.  And I really love the vibrancy of the colors in this.  

I hope all the picnickers up north get a chance to see those lights tonight.  Think of me if you do.  It's going to be cloudy here so even if it were to extend this far, the clouds would obscure it.  

Speaking of the picnickers, it's time for me to head over to Scribble Picnic and see how else the universe influenced the artwork this week.  You can join me by clicking here, and should you like to join in the fun, our theme for next week is  CREAMS which I think I might have to get some clarification on.