Sky Watchers

I have always loved looking at the sky, not just as a barometer of the weather, but as a moving, infinitely varied landscape of colour and light. It is every watercolourist’s dream: hazy pastels, borderless clouds, colours bleeding imperceptibly into one another. At times, it is framed by my window; at others it expands until it abuts with land or sea. And it seems, I am not alone in this obsession. Many of my friends are equally absorbed by the heavens as they transform throughout the day. We are the sky watchers.

This post is for them and to showcase some of the many, beautiful images they have shared with me.

Dawn

One of the main advantages of winter is that it is possible to witness the dawn without having to get up too early. As someone who needs their sleep, I fully appreciate that. Some of the dawns we have had recently have been truly magnificent and I regret not having a camera on hand to record them. For a few days, the sky was tangerine – stunning and uniform in its orange glow. Most days, it is more subtle: pale peach and yellow segueing into pale grey-blue.

Day

Recently, the skies have been a uniform grey, heavy with clouds pregnant with rain. Sometimes, I’ve been unable to see the clouds for the rain or the deep mists that sometimes engulf us here on the coast. Sometimes, our venturing out in such weather is rewarded. After a spectacularly wet, windy walk along the promenade when the rain was intermittently replaced by hail, we made it back to the car only for the rain to stop and a brilliant, arching rainbow to bridge the sky. We couldn’t help but smile and feel our blustery walk had been well worth it. A friend had a similar experience and, unlike me, had a camera ready to capture the magic.

And sometimes, the sky even manages a Hockney blue. When this happens, we can enjoy the clouds in their endless manifestations. Here’s a wonderful one, where the cloud looks like a stretching swan’s neck or a tear in the sky’s fabric.

Sunset

The sky’s show stopper is sunset. In this final blaze of glory, the sun washes the sky with colour before darkness descends. Sometimes it is a magical play of candyfloss pink and blue – a celestial baby shower as here:

Or it is a fireburst:

Or a preview of the night to come. As the moon rises, the sun sets and sometimes we get to enjoy both.

Night

And I am equally enamoured of the evening and night skies, though I am yet to master the art of photographing them. I love the purple feel of dusk, the black silhouettes of trees and buildings, the papercut outline of bird or bat.

And deep night is especially magical. Since wee Hermione often has late evening walks and even later trips to the garden, I can often be found staring up at the constellations and the moon, tracking its shape and size as it works through all its phases. A friend is equally enchanted and we text each other when a full moon or an especially beautiful one appears.

The sky is liberal with its beauty. We need neither special equipment or location to enjoy it. All we need to do is look up.