Painted Skies

Hold the Sky

Notes on Keeping a Sky

How to find the minute that matters, what the colours of a dusk are made of, what an almucantar is, and which size suits the wall you have in mind.

  1. The Sky You Were Born Under

    A date, a place and a minute are all a sky needs, and most of us are already carrying two of the three. Where to find the minute for a birth, a wedding or the night you met, and what to do when it's a guess.

    The Minute

  2. The Colours of a Clear Dusk

    Gold at the Sun, rose above it, a blue-grey shadow rising opposite. The three twilights, the Belt of Venus and the Earth's shadow, and how a sunset print carries them.

    The Colour

  3. What Is an Almucantar?

    A circle on the sky where every point stands at the same height above the horizon: the Arabic word, the astrolabe that carried it, and the chart named after it.

    The Name

  4. What Size Star Map Fits Your Wall?

    Measure the furniture, not the wall. The sizes, the rules decorators hang by, and which of paper, canvas and framed canvas suits which room.

    The Wall

When one of them sends you looking for a minute, the studio is ready for it, and About the Stars has the method behind every chart.