FULL MOON IN TAURUS is the last painting completed during my Fall 2020 Joshua Tree residency - painted on October 31st, 2020, a day that saw a full moon falling on Halloween. The moon, especially a full moon, is a common motif in my paintings. While I am always taken by the moon, a full moon in the desert is something special. While literal, this painting evokes the contrast between light and dark and the depth that each one gives to the other. In astrology, TAURUS is the first Earth sign of the Zodiac and is represented by a bull. I find the image of the airy moon sitting in the sky contrasted with the strength of an earth bull particularly evocative and inspiring!

Regardless of your view on astrology, you might find something of interest by Chani Nicholas, about the full moon on this day in particular.

“While full moons come and go, Taurus does not. Full moons tend to have us feeling the expansiveness of our emotional state, our spiritual situation and our psychological status. Taurus drops an anchor in the fluctuating tides. Taurus is that anchor.

We can be all kinds of talented. We can be all colors of the rainbow. We can be as bright as a thousand full moons. But if we are not able to hold our charisma, to land it, to ground it, to put it to use, our gifts can get the best of us. Our gifts alone cannot get us through this life.

It’s too easy to be strewn about these badlands.”