Blood Moon Arc

This giclée print–edition of only 3–is a composite of photographs of the “blood moon” eclipse, taken by the artist over the course of one night. The eclipse occurred between 2 and 5 am, and Peterson carefully plotted out the course of the moon’s transit, planning where he would need to drive to keep up with it and have an unobstructed view. The image was composited and the faces digitally drawn, before being printed on metallic paper and mounted on aluminum. The image is then coated with acrylic on the facing.

About the Blood Moon Arc:

It is well known that cultures from all over the world celebrate the beauty of the moon. It serves many significant roles in mythology. Some groups revere the Blood Moon as a sign of the ‘end of times’ or reigning in great destruction. This view is quite opposite of cultures in the Northwest Coast. In particular the color red was perceived by the Coast Salish to signify healing and long ago was worn on the face during times of celebration.

In regard to the Puget Sound Salish, the Moon is known as dak^wibaɬ (Changer/Transformer). The mythology knows the moon as a man born from a mother of earth and a father sky being. His youth was spent on the earth where he earned his name as changer for he changed many things forever in favor of the human beings. He returned to the sky world taking Frog woman as his wife and watches over the people from above.

This is my third print to make use of compositing an actual photograph of the moon with the art.