Would you say I have a defeatist attitude if I told you I had almost given up on one of my biggest dreams?

Maybe it's true. And I should add that I haven't given up completely. But, when I tell you that my dream is to fly in a spaceship, you might not accuse of of lacking ambition!

I have always been super fascinated by everything about space. I can look up at the stars for hours. I love to see the northern lights or view the night sky from out in the country, where everything is sharp and clear and you can see stars by the millions.

I also follow the science and the space travel events and milestones. I've been captivated by the exploits of the astronauts, especially the women, like Julie Payette (recently named Governor General of Canada). One of my favorite quotes of hers is, "The sky is not the limit."

There have been so many great achievements in space that I've followed over the years but one that has been truly impressive has been thespectacular journey of the space probe Cassini which ended in a blaze of glory in the atmosphere of Saturn a few weeks ago.

It is so crazy to think of a spaceship flying almost seven years just to reach its destination! And then for it to execute multitudes of precision manuevers over the next 12 years, splitting the rings of Saturn, flying by several of its moons and even finding seven new previously undiscovered moons!

So, naturally(!) I thought the end of Cassini's mission deserved a commemorative Painting and I took on the challenge.

refers to the final flameout of the probe down into Saturn's atmosphere and "data" is a reference to the vast quatities of information that Cassini sent back to Earth, which scientists will be analyzing for years.

There is more information about the Cassini on the painting page on my website.

Also on my site, in the abstract paintings section, you will find several other paintings that I have done on space related themes. These include "Martian Marshes", "Pluto Horizons", "Alien Outpost" and several others.

All of which goes to show... maybe I am realizing my dream after all - in my own way!