Starlight oil painting

Starlight - oil on wood - 8 x 8 inches

Was it last night or the night before? ... I was floating in the hot-tub, the stars above me were so  incredibly bright. I noticed that around each was a halo of lilac, pink and gold.

I had begun two paintings both featuring night skies a few weeks ago, but they were languishing. I hadn't been able to connect the sky to the very dark earth below.  But...after studying those stars whilst in the tub i thought: 'why not play up the halos around the stars in my night sky and find a way to somehow connect them to the landscape using similar tones? So this is what happened here. The effect turned out rather jolly ...and(ahem!, this was a surprise...) a little like Van Gogh's 'Starry Starry Night'!   I'll bet he too, studied the halos around the stars one bright night many moons ago. 

The blue I used for the sky was "Indian Blue" which is a blue i inherited from a friends old paint box when she moved.  I've not used it before. It is very intense, but has good power for a night sky.  I'm happy because it turned a very static solemn painting into one of celebration and movement.