the seventeen suns project
Over a period of seventeen years, from 1826 to 1843, on every clear day, the Swiss astronomer Heinrich Schwabe made detailed drawings of the Sun. These accumulated in his notebooks, now held in the Royal Astronomical Society Library in London. Schwabe’s observations of sunspot activity led directly to the discovery of the solar cycle. To celebrate this feat of astronomy and the start of a new cycle, I was invited by Mayes Creative to lead an accumulative social media project called Seventeen Suns, based around the idea of solar observation, as part of their Measuring The Universe creative engagement programme.
Since the start of the project I have painted every sunrise with an immediately visible Sun, in keeping with the tenacious spirit of Schwabe’s immense achievement. These have been completed live, mostly from the window of my studio in St Ives, some from other locations. The discipline required and the illuminative nature of the subject have made me see things differently, and have changed me.
Warm thanks go to the project funders Heritage Lottery Fund, Arts Council England and Feast Cornwall.