Its Just a Gas

Glow in the dark 3D Gas Planets Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune, complete with rings and suspended in the cosmos.

This was a very high risk creation involving many hours of research and experimentation about every conceivable element of the fabrication. The half globes are constructed from very fine hollow clay and fluid painted with glow in the dark paint. The rings are made of resin with a most challenging method of attachment to the canvas surface. It was a great relief to finally get to the finish line and I was really super proud of the result! It is really a highly unique piece of work.

This was Inspired by a trip to Franeker in the Netherlands In April 2023 where we visited the Eise Eisinga Planetarium. It is an 18th-century orrery, now a museum and open to the public. Frisian wool comber, Eisinga, built the planetarium in his own home between 1774 - 1781. He constructed a model of the solar system on the ceiling of his living room and reproduced the movements of the celestial bodies with an incredible array of wheels, cogs and weights in the attic above. His calculations were so accurate that they are still correct today. Absolute genius!

Clay planets, resin rings on stretched canvas with resin finish

40 x 101 x 1.5cm