"Young stars burst forth from a nebula, like seeds spreading through the galaxy. Just as seeds grow flowers that make more seeds, nebulae form stars that eventually form new nebulae. Cosmic cycles of life and death are apparent at all scales.
This painting was the inspiration for the dandelion motif that runs through the TV series COSMOS. Carl Sagan did not want his "spaceship of the imagination" to have a realistic, technological feel, and this painting brought forth the idea that the spaceship, when seen from outside, resembled a seed, blowing through the cosmos."
-Artist Jon Lomberg
Artist Jon Lomberg was Carl Sagan's favorite painter and still collaborates with NASA today, as featured on Symbiartic previously.
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Starseeds by Jon Lomberg
Acrylic on board.
You can see more about this painting and purchase prints at Jon's website.
All through September, we’re bringing you new science-art of the day, challenging ideas about science communication.
The views expressed are those of the author(s) and are not necessarily those of Scientific American.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR(S)
Glendon Mellow
Glendon Mellow is a fine artist, illustrator and tattoo designer working in oil and digital media based in Toronto, Canada. He tweets @FlyingTrilobite and is on Instagram. You can see Glendon's work-in-progress at The Flying Trilobite blog and portfolio at www.glendonmellow.com.
