Here and Hereafter

Here and Hereafter 15X38 Pastel on paper

Here and Hereafter is based on Irish composer Turlough O'Carolan's George Brabazon First Air, played by Ronn McFarlane on his album Celtic Lute. The melody of this fiddle tune rises and falls like bird song above the other elements of the music.

The colors of this composition are enhanced with a composite image of the Ring Nebula, known as Messier 57. The Ring Nebula is created by the explosion of a dying star. The text in the drawing traces the melody and relates it to a description of Northern Mockingbird song in Walt Whitman's poem Out of the Cradle Endlessly Rocking.

The figures on the drawing are the shapes of actual Northern Mockingbird calls.

I, chanter of pains and joys, uniter of here and hereafter,
Taking all hints to use them, but swiftly leaping beyond them,
A reminiscence sing.
- Walt Whitman

Composite by Ring Nebula Team - NASA, ESA, CSA, JWST Ring Nebula Team - processed by Roger Wesson