Solar Art Images

Sun in the Forest

a spinning Sun image from SDO superimposed
into a forest

Very Hot Sun

Submitted by artist Kaylin Tennant, 6 years old; lives in Johannesburg, South Africa

Christmas Prominences

Space Art

Submitted by artist M. Gutierrez.

Sun Dragon

Submitted by artist Henry Roll.

"The Sun Wears..."

"The sun wears a bonnet of fairest ermine..." illustration and poem

"The sun wears a quiver of arrows..." illustration and poem

Illustrations and poetry by various adult artists. Click on each image to see a full-sized version and to read the poems.

Representations of the Sun

student's picture of the sun- by Alejandra

By student artists at Academia Juarez, a bilingual school in Colonia Juarez, Mexico

The Sun and Planets

By artist Erinmarie Overstreet, a 7th grader in Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA

SOLARWORKS
Thomas Lindsey

Artist, sculptor, and engineer Thomas Lindsey is developing a series of large solar-powered installations to promote a greater awareness and appreciation of the Earth-Sun relationship. Each of these installations would be made of a kinetic wheel, cone, or drum activated by a set of photovoltaic solar cells and would also include musical elements. Utilizing the idea of a Buddhist prayer wheel, Lindsey's work is intended to ultimately serve as a contemporary shrine or meditation garden. Learn more about SOLARWORKS.

Image courtesy of Thomas Lindsey

Metropolitan Sunrise
by Elizabeth Harris
Textile Artist
9 3/4" X 17 1/2" © 2004

"This quilt began as an exercise in using various black fabrics and was completely unplanned. After a lot of sewing and cutting and resewing, the piece was interesting but somehow unfinished. The piece lay dormant for months as I was dissatisfied with the resulting jagged city-scape. I finally realized that the yang of the black sharp-edged shapes needed to be balanced by the yin of a round warm shape. Thus, I included a hopeful, rising sun amid the oppressive blocks with some accompanying curvy sunrays. I am happy about the balance in this quilt now. This piece is currently on display at the 2006 National Small Art Quilt Works show at The Main Street Gallery located at 105 Main Street, Groton New York."

SOHO SunWorks Contest Hall of Fame

See artwork from the winners and participants in the SOHO SunWorks Contest.

SolarArt.org

This form of art uses solar energy by focusing sunlight through a lens to create images on wood. "Solar Art is the artform of focused sunlight. The glass lens is known as a magnifier within the narrow confines of classrooms throughout the world. It has another seldom emphasized yet well documented ability to bend sunlight into a single point. This pinpoint of solar energy is hot enough to burn amazing designs into wood." (http://www.solarart.org/)
Photo courtesy of Larry Shaitelman

Solar Spectrum Environmental Art
Peter Erskine

Image: Visitors walk inside a living map of the solar year. Each "Rainbow Sundial calendar" is a unique joining of astronomy, architecture, locale, and art.

Peter Erskine uses light to create his environmental art in the form of rainbow spectrums in buildings and other architectural structures. "The artist’s work is firmly anchored in the architecture and context of each locality. In this art the Sun is not only the subject of the work but the medium and energy source as well." Visit his website at http://erskinesolarart.net/.

Abstract Solar Art

"Event Horizon" by C. Marie Mackie
To read about Marie Mackie's solar-inspired abstract artwork, click here.

Art from Solar Data

Imagery by Thorbjoern Lausten and Jesper Munk Jensen, based on solar data from the MDI instrument on the SOHO spacecraft, the Wilcox Solar Observatory, and others. For more examples, and a description of the techniques, see Visual Art and Music from Solar Data

Sun Quilt Square by Bea Rogers, age 74, Central, OR

The artist was trying to capture a spinning object throwing off sparks or debris into deep space (what she calls the star pattern in the background). This could directly be interpreted as the Sun spinning and throwing off flares and/or light in the colors of the rainbow.

Materials: 100% Cotton; Padding 100% Acrylic blanket; Thread: 100% mercerized cotton thread. Made from 29 pieces: 1 Pc on back and acting as a binding, center square is 8 pieces, 16 pieces around the "Sun", and 4 corners.

Bioheliosynthesis By Brian LaRossa

Dramatic Art Celebrates Connection between DNA, Music, and Light! Digital artist Brian LaRossa has creatively celebrated the relationship between human and solar energy by using music to translate DNA into light. His exquisite imagery unites a portion of a human chromosome with selected tones and hues into a light-based conceptual whole. See and hear more at Brian's website.

(GIF version of image)

Heart of the Sun by Hua Nian

"The series Messages From Nature was inspired by my husband Steve Taylor, a composer as well as a lover of space science. He was working on a piece called Shattering Suns in which he explored the dynamic source of all manifestations of nature. Part of the piece uses a recording of the Sun's "voice," seismic vibrations recorded by scientists and adapted to the range of human audibility. When he played for me the sound of the sun's vibration, for the first time in my life I heard the voice of the sun--so close, so alive, so strong yet steady, so reliable and sincere... I felt like I was embraced by the Sun's warm breath, or inside his chest to hear his beating heart...

The common knowledge we have about the Sun and the scenery we see everyday have blocked us from having a spiritual relationship with the Sun. We all know we can't live without it; however, we take for granted what it has been giving to us generously since the earth was born. I was indifferent to the Sun's existence until I heard his voice--that made me really want to touch him and feel the blazing heat. I was stunned when listening to his voice, deeply experiencing his real existence. I was thrilled to think about the personal relationship between the Sun and nature, nature and me, me and the Sun...

Overwhelmed by these feelings, a body of watercolor/pastel paintings was made in a few days. If Steve's music is about the majestic moment of creation in space, these paintings are close-ups of the creations themselves, in which colors, shapes and lines in every corner celebrate the dynamic beauty, mystery, and freedom of nature. The messages of creation imbue the whole universe."

Watercolor and pastel, as well as text, by Hua Nian. Used with gracious permission.