Sunday Quilt Inspiration: Sun and Sky

In gratitude for the beautiful, sunny days we've had (despite the ice storm), I thought I'd share some gorgeous photos of sunrises and sunsets and let those be inspiration for the week.  Prepare for some miracles in the sky!

Know how to tell whether the photo is of a sunset or a sunrise?  It's actually relatively easy: look at the sky around the sun.  If the sky is mostly blue, you're looking a sunrise; if it is mostly in other colors

--reds, purples, oranges, pinks--then you're looking at a sunset.  

This is because when the sun rises the sky are relatively clear...the pollution has cleared overnight.  By the time the sun sets, the skies are polluted and hazy from dust and dirt, and this causes the light rays to refract.  At both times of day sunlight has to travel a longer path to get to us. 

All of those conditions affect how we see the light. The sky doesn't actually change, what changes is how we see it.  Which, of course, implies that when you look at a sunset say 500 miles away from me, we see the same sunset but the colors can be different depending on the conditions.

Of course, clouds come in to play with the sun.  They can change everything about our view of sunrise and, especially, sunset.

With such beauty always available to us, humans are surely to be inspired to create art based on the beauty create by our view of the sun. Here is a sampling of the quilts I found on Pinterest in only a few moments. 

Another piece of art based on the rays of the sun.  I'm not certain, but I think it's polymer clay.

Here's hoping you see many beautiful sunrises and sunsets this week.