Vernal Equinox : Spring Planting

Happy Equinox! My next small painting goes live for sale on Every Day Original tomorrow morning (3/21) at 10am EST. If you're interested, be ready, the last four have sold within the first hour. http://www.everydayoriginal.com/

For me, the spring equinox is a time to reflect on human history and life before science brought us the relatively luxurious lives we lead today. It's also a time to celebrate the human ingenuity that developed science and our current relative abundance!

Before clocks were common and printed calendars were purchased every December at Barnes & Noble, the sun, moon and stars were the time keepers we lived our lives by. Today we only associate the zodiac with the mysticism and magical thinking that it was undoubtedly part of, but we forget that for thousands of years the sun and his twelve zodiacal constellations also served a very practical purpose as the annual twelve month calendar. From the neolithic agricultural revolution about 12,000 years ago until the industrial revolution of the 1800s, when almost everyone's occupation was farming, these celestial bodies were vital indicators of the seasons and when to plant the crops that sustained our lives. Poor timing in planting could have dire consequence, so the skies were watched with great care and imbued with great meaning. Our ancestors may have taken the equinox as a time to reflect on the sacrifice made by the sun as it gave it's light to grow their sustenance.

The subtle ornamental design in the sky of this painting is intended to symbolize the daily and annual path of the sun.

Oil Color Study, 6 x 8 inches