Nine Planets

One universe

Nine planets

Two hundred and four countries

Eight hundred and nine islands

Seven seas

And I had the privilege to meet you.

This quote, by an unknown person (and of which there are other versions), has several very different meanings to me. It refers to the number nine, as part of the planets in our solar system, in our universe. It lists aspects of our own planet. And it refers to an encounter with somebody who means a lot.

I feel it refers, on the one hand, to my meeting with my future husband, which I described in my post of February 19, and which happened by complete chance, as we grew up in countries thousands of miles from each other. I also see it on another level as referring to my interest in astronomy, cosmology, geography, and lately in particle physics.

What do these words mean to you? The universe? The world around us? A meeting with somebody important to you? And how does the number nine fits in it?

Alicia

the Great Unknown

The first thing I thought of when I read Alicia's challenge was the billions of unseen forces that have shaped, and will continue to shape, our universe.
One of my favorite tasks I'd give to my art students was to create an animal no one has ever seen before.  It really promotes creativity, which I have always thought of as the ability to perceive what isn't there.

For the base of the work, I chose one of the painting projects I've been working on lately.  The process uses lots of water and natural evaporation to produce patterns, largely removing the human influence on design.

2 examples are below, I picked a different one to work on, which will be revealed in June.