As I mentioned earlier this month, I am replacing my 2022 year-long project with a flurry of creative projects this year—including a couple of different online classes and programs. One of those programs is Effy Wild’s Moonshine 2023 program—and these are my first two moon paintings!

The full moon was January 6th and I had barely begun the program for the full moon so this painting was entirely off the cuff. Simply a figure traveling by the light of the full moon

A few weeks later for the new moon on January 21st, I began to dive into some symbology. I used shades of violet because I learned that this a color often associated with the January new moon—something I didn’t know when I painted the girl’s hair two weeks earlier in violet!

The tree beside the river is a loose interpretation of the Rowan tree, known for its red berries in late fall and winter and has a long mythological history in many cultures and times. I like the idea that it can represent a threshold between here—and there. In my painting, the tree is letting go of its berries across the river from the coyote who is gazing but not howling at the moon—and the river flows under the bridge and beyond. All pieces of me.

I hope to make a moon painting for each new and full moon this year as a way to creatively and symbolically explore one subject (the moon)—but also and more importantly, as a way to make deeper connection with, mythology and folklore, nature and my own intuition and spirit. After all, this is the moon we’re talking about!