Overview Oil, 24 x 24 in, 2020

Happy Earth Day! The Overview Effect is a cognitive shift in awareness reported by some astronauts while viewing the Earth from space.

From space, the Earth is immediately understood to be a tiny, fragile ball of life, hanging in the void, shielded by a paper-thin atmosphere. The conflicts that divide people seem naive and parochial. National boundaries vanish, encouraging a sense of unity with all of humanity and life on Earth. We are reminded that we are one. The need to create a cooperative planetary society with the united will to protect this planet becomes both obvious and imperative. We really are all in this together.

“When we look down at the earth from space, we see this amazing, indescribably beautiful planet. It looks like a living, breathing organism. But it also, at the same time, looks extremely fragile … Anybody else who’s ever gone to space says the same thing because it really is striking and it’s really sobering to see this paper-thin layer and to realize that that little paper-thin layer is all that protects every living thing on Earth from death, basically. From the harshness of space.” -Ron Garan, Astronaut

Prints (includes moon to scale): https://robrey.storenvy.com

Solar Eclipse Oil, 7x7 in, 2017

"If you want to know when the next eclipse of the Sun will be, you might try magicians or mystics, but you'll do much better with scientists ... They can routinely predict a solar eclipse, to the minute, a millennium in advance ... Think of how many religions attempt to validate themselves with prophecy ... There isn't a religion on the planet that doesn't long for a comparable ability - precise, and repeatedly demonstrated before committed skeptics - to foretell future events. No other human institution comes close. Is this Worshiping at the altar of science? ... Far from idolatry, this is the means by which we can distinguish the false idols from the real thing." -Carl Sagan The Demon Haunted World, Science as a Candle in the Dark

Prints: https://robrey.storenvy.com

Stardust VI Oil, 20 x 16 in, 2017 “The nitrogen in our DNA, the calcium in our teeth, the iron in our blood, the carbon in our apple pies were made in the interiors of collapsing stars. We are made of starstuff.” -Carl Sagan

It’s one of the most poetic truths of our scientific reality: the heavy elements that we are made of weren't created at the beginning of time. Only hydrogen, helium, and lithium were immediate results of the Big Bang. The rest of the elements were created in the nuclear furnaces of earlier generations of stars that have since exploded and spread their material across the universe. We are literally made of stardust.

"The most astounding fact" (video): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kl0J6Le5MpM&list=PL-X1SCsAOuioxWbgkXBpxmy8k4QoS87mS&index=5 Prints: https://robrey.storenvy.com

Bioluminescence Oil, 18 x 24 in, 2015, First in the Bioluminescence series. The light of life and the natural world. In all the vastness of space, as of yet, we know of only one planet that supports life. At least within some great distance from here, life is rare. Each organism being the exquisite and detailed product of billions of years of evolution, life is precious. This point of light and inspiration stands in contrast to the lanterns and lights that are historically thought to be sources of illumination but are now dimmed; mythologies and superstitions humans have created as we struggled in the dark of ignorance to understand our world. But the process of science has revealed a luminous, living planet, more amazing than we could have ever imagined. Where the intricacies of biology are miracles of evolution and our consciousness is a gift of natural processes that allow us to experience what it is to be alive. Prints: https://robrey.storenvy.com

Cassini Spacecraft Oil, 18 x 24 in, 2018 In our pursuit to understand the solar system we find ourselves in, we sent an explorer on a billion mile journey to the Saturnian system. The Cassini Spacecraft sent back amazing new data and images of Saturn and it's 62 known moons, 46 of which were unknown when Cassini left. We learned that the moon, Enceladus, may have everything it needs to support life deep in it's global ocean, Titan has a liquid methane sea, and so much more.

In 2017, low on fuel after twenty years in space and so much information gained, Cassini took several dives between Saturn and it's rings to learn a little more before it's mission came to an end. To avoid possible microbial contamination of any of Saturn's moons, Cassini dove and burned up in Saturn's atmosphere, while sending back it's final data. Prints: https://robrey.storenvy.com

The Magic of Reality 6 x 8 inches, Oil on Panel, study for a larger painting

Available tomorrow, 2/20/24, on Every Day Original! https://everydayoriginal.com

In stories we fantasize of having the power to control invisible energy, of having a magic wand to harness that energy and affect the world in mysterious ways. However, having these powers can simply be a matter of perspective. All around us, through us, invisible electromagnetic energy is flowing. Radio, microwaves, and infrared transmit information which, with the proper preparation, we can and do use to affect a multitude of things. Like magic wands, our phones and other remotes can cast spells that open garage doors, illuminate rooms, send secret messages, conjure food to our door, and make most of human knowledge available to us with just a few magic search terms. Reality is more magical than we could have imagined. To live the life of a witch or a wizard you only have to realize the energy all around you and the power you wield.

Fathom Oil, 24x20 in, 2016

Traveling at the speed of light, it would take 87,000 years just to get from one end of our galaxy to the other. With 100 billion stars in a typical galaxy and 100 billion galaxies in the visible universe, the vast depth of space and the multitude of worlds, stars, and galaxies is nearly impossible for our minds to fathom. We didn’t evolve to comprehend such large numbers, but it's an awakening experience to attempt.

The universe is an amazing place to be. We are, of course, very small, but at times when we feel overwhelmed by life here on Earth this perspective can help us to realize that our troubles are also not as big at we might have thought.

And though we may be small, we are also amazingly intricate. An average human cell is estimated to contain 100 trillion atoms and the average human body is estimated to contain 32 trillion cells. We truly are, as Richard Feynman wrote, “a universe of atoms, an atom in the universe.”

Prints: https://robrey.storenvy.com

Bioluminescence : Altruism Oil, 16 x 12 in, 2020

The light of life and the natural world. In all the vastness of space, as of yet, we know of only one planet that supports life. At least within some great distance from here, life is rare. Each organism being the exquisite and detailed product of billions of years of evolution, life is precious. We inhabit a luminous, living planet, more intricate and amazing than we could have ever imagined.

This point of light also represents one of our human traits that gives us hope for the future. We have an evolved capacity for altruism because we thrive when we work toward our mutual benefit. Let us keep the future bright.

Prints: https://robrey.storenvy.com

Source Oil on panel, 24 x 18 inches, 2016 For thousands of years, multitudes of agricultural societies have worshiped this bringer of light and warmth, knowing it's critical (if magical seeming) role in growing their life-sustaining crops.

Our sun is the engine that powers our solar system. With slight exception, all the energy we use came from this star. Temperature variations on the earth's surface drive the winds. For billions of years, organisms have been photosynthesizing it's light and storing the energy that we now use as fossil fuels. Our atmosphere traps the sun's heat and keeps us from freezing to unlivable temperatures every night. We have evolved in a stable balance of atmospheric insulation, but now, as we burn billions of years of stored solar energy, we risk breaking that balance.

Luckily, we have found the technology to directly harness the sun's energy without altering our atmosphere. We only need make broad use of these technological (if magical seeming) solar panels to praise our source by laying them out to absorb her light.

Prints: https://robrey.storenvy.com

A Galaxy Within 24 x 18 in, 2019

We are each a little galaxy of our own. It's a mind-bending exercise trying to comprehend the 100 billion stars found in a typical galaxy. Yet, each of us has roughly the same number of neurons in our own brain, performing a symphony of consciousness. Similar too, is the number of atoms that write out our DNA code. We are a staggeringly complex and unique collection of natural components, come together for a short, precious moment.

Large numbers are difficult to fathom, but to be disappointed in the realization that we are “just” collections of atoms moving in accordance with the laws of physics, is to misunderstand the depth of this astonishing complexity, and the billions of years it took to evolve.

“We are the miracle, we human beings. Not a break-the-laws-of-physics kind of miracle; a miracle in that it is wondrous and amazing how such complex, aware, creative, caring creatures could have arisen in perfect accordance with those laws [of nature] … Our emergence has brought meaning and mattering into the world ... It bequeaths to us the responsibility and opportunity to make life into what we would have it be.” -Sean Carroll, The Big Picture

The print shop is back up and running! 

Magnetosphere Oil, 30x24 in, 2021. An homage to Fumée D'Ambre Gris by John Singer Sargent.

In addition to the beneficial warmth and light we receive daily, our sun expels a constant barrage of dangerous charged particles called the solar wind. When solar storms occur, flares and coronal mass ejections can be thrown our way at speeds of millions of kilometers per hour. Luckily, movements within earths molten metal core generate a protective magnetic shield around our home planet. Without our magnetosphere to protect us, the solar wind may have long ago stripped away our atmosphere, leaving Earth looking much more like Mars looks today: barren, dry, and lifeless.

Human wellbeing has been shown to benefit greatly from the experience and practice of gratitude, whether that gratitude is directed toward someone else or not. Most of us don’t spend much time thinking about our magnetosphere, but it’s one of the many extraordinary things that make life possible on our little world. This can serve as a reminder to take notice of other things we may be taking for granted in our lives.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Magnificent Universe 24x18in, Oil, 2017

Happy birthday, Carl Sagan.

"Perhaps the most wrenching by-product of the scientific revolution has been to render untenable many of our most cherished and most comforting beliefs. The tidy anthropocentric proscenium of our ancestors has been replaced by a cold, immense, indifferent Universe in which humans are relegated to obscurity. But I see the emergence in our consciousness of a Universe of a magnificence, and an intricate, elegant order far beyond anything our ancestors imagined. And if much of the Universe can be understood in terms of a few simple laws of Nature, those wishing to believe in God can certainly ascribe those beautiful laws to a Reason underpinning all of Nature. My own view is that it is far better to understand the Universe as it really is than to pretend to a Universe as we might wish it to be. Whether we will acquire the understanding and wisdom necessary to come to grips with the scientific revelations of the twentieth century will be the most profound challenge of the twenty-first." -Carl Sagan

Original painting available. Print shop temporarily on pause for upgrades.

Observation 24 x 20 in, Oil on Panel, 2014

Science is more than a body of knowledge, it’s a way of thinking.

Early philosophers used to believe we could understand the world simply by thinking about it, that what made sense to us must be true. But, Observation showed us that the universe often does not conform to our expectations or desires. It doesn’t matter how much we wish something to be true, how beautiful a theory is, or who came up with it. To find out what is true we have to look and pay attention to how the universe really works.

The methods of science have pulled humanity out of dangerous superstitions and entrenched ignorance. They have allowed us to find real solutions to stubborn problems from hunger and disease to communication. In the scientific method, Observation leads the way. We may not always like what we see, particularly if it runs against our cherished beliefs, but if we accept it with humility, we will find ourselves better able to confront the problems we face.

Origins : Complexity Rising 18 x 24 inches, Oil on Panel, A new painting from an earlier study.

We tend to think of evolution as a biological process of rising complexity that began with single-celled organisms here on earth, but the universe has been undergoing a cosmic evolution of growing complexity from the very beginning.

Before there could be cells, there needed to be complex molecules and an array of elements to make them. The earliest known events of the universe generated only a few of the lightest elements: hydrogen, helium, and trace amounts of lithium. Until the first stars formed and began fusing protons and neutrons into larger nuclei the universe was devoid of heavier elements, including the carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen of which we are made. Other processes took these elements and bonded them into basic amino acids and other molecular building blocks of life as we know it.

Biological evolution on our planet is thought to be nearly as old as the Earth, but the complexity that made it possible has been accumulating since time began.

_______

In this painting, the thread of gas and dust that grows from the left and reaches a crescendo at the right represents the growth of complexity through time. Also featured is a developing galaxy, early massive hot blue stars fusing higher elements, a supernova explosion spreading higher elements into space, a new star and protoplanetary disk enriched with elements, and a newly formed earth-like planet in the bottom right. The figure, an allegory of rising complexity, wears a necklace featuring a carbon atom and her hairpiece is a model of a basic amino acid that has been found abundantly in outer space. These are the building blocks of life ready for biological evolution to begin!

Solar Eclipse 7 x 7 in, 2017

Don't forget to go out and look at the annular solar eclipse tomorrow! ...With proper eclipse-viewing eye protection, of course.

"If you want to know when the next eclipse of the Sun will be, you might try magicians or mystics, but you'll do much better with scientists ... They can routinely predict a solar eclipse, to the minute, a millennium in advance ... Think of how many religions attempt to validate themselves with prophecy ... There isn't a religion on the planet that doesn't long for a comparable ability - precise, and repeatedly demonstrated before committed skeptics - to foretell future events. No other human institution comes close. Is this Worshiping at the altar of science? ... Far from idolatry, this is the means by which we can distinguish the false idols from the real thing."

-Carl Sagan The Demon Haunted World, Science as a Candle in the Dark

Prints: https://robrey.storenvy.com

Eclipse Viewing Information: https://science.nasa.gov/eclipses/future-eclipses/eclipse-2023/where-when/

A couple of details of a new painting that I'll be bringing to the IX Art Show in Reading, PA next weekend! Come check it out. It's a great show for traditionally painted imaginative realism. Stay tuned for the full painting!

A new study finds a positive connection between well-being and a spiritual experience of science. A connection not found with trust in science alone.

"This research addresses this unique component of science attitudes—spirituality of science: feelings of meaning, awe, and connection derived through scientific ideas. Three studies (N = 1,197) examined individual differences in Spirituality of Science (SoS) and its benefits for well-being, meaning, and learning. Spirituality of Science was related to belief in science, but unlike other science attitudes, spirituality of science was also associated with trait awe and general spirituality (Study 1). Spirituality of science also predicted meaning in life and emotional well-being in a group of atheists and agnostics, showing that scientific sources of spirituality can provide similar psychological benefits as religious spirituality"

"As Carl Sagan (1996/2011) wrote, 'When we recognize our place in an immensity of light years and in the passage of ages, when we grasp the intricacy, beauty and subtlety of life, then that soaring feeling, that sense of elation and humility combined, is surely spiritual.'"

"science is more than cold calculation; it reveals the nature of the world and ourselves, the interconnection between living things, and yields awe-inspiring discoveries and theories that create meaning, feelings of connection, and wonder... Not all people feel spirituality through science, but those who do may reap some important benefits."