"The cosmos is within us. We are made of star stuff. We are a way for the universe to know itself." - Carl Sagan

Two of my earliest memories involve what have become lifelong devotions: art and the universe. As a toddler lying in my crib gazing out the window at the night sky, I thought to myself about the word “star” that I may or may not have even been able to speak yet. When I was around three years old I became fascinated by the show Star Trek and almost simultaneously discovered the wonder of making marks on surfaces with crayons, pencils, and whatever else I could get my little hands on.

Over 30 years later I am still giddily and wondrously making marks on surfaces. My medium of choice these days is colored pencil; my surface of choice, black paper. I was first introduced to this combination by my high school art teacher. By this time I was regularly visiting a local astronomy club, still just as captivated by the night sky as I was as a toddler. Eventually I made the connection that colored pencil on black paper was a perfect outlet for me to channel my devotion to art and the universe. While I still dabble in other mediums and subjects, this is my true love, what I keep coming back to.

“We are night sky, we are God’s eye” - Dax Riggs

In an extraordinary twist of fate involving meeting my birth mother and befriending an astrology enthusiast, my deeply skeptical space-nerd self decided to delve into the world of “woo” for a bit. I braced myself and checked out what was essentially a taboo in astronomer circles - astrology. This was partly out of curiosity, but mostly to “disprove” it. What I learned through that journey surprised me. Astronomy and astrology seemed to be two different ways of celebrating our connection with and place in the cosmos. One a science, the other an art. The love and wonder however, is evident on both sides of this peculiar coin. While my true love is indeed astronomy, my experience exploring “the dark side” touched me and gave me a deeper appreciation for the many ways in which our tiny human selves seem to be so naturally inclined towards loving devotion to the cosmos and that which is greater than ourselves, even if it is entirely intangible and at times barely comprehensible.

I love us. I love this world and this universe. My art is a testament to several decades of this loving devotion and I hope to continue devoting myself to it all for many more. Thank you for being here and thank you for being. I am very grateful for you being a part of my creative journey.

<3 Morgan