I am fortunate to bring this artwork into existents.  I base it on the music, The Blue Danube by Johann Strauss II, from the movie 2001 Space Odyssey.  Luckily YouTube offers a clip of the music from the movie that still amazes me, and that captivated my imagination then.  As a kid I grew up in the space age knowing the names of the nine planets, Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto (now considered a dwarf planet).  No matter,  from the start Saturn was always my favorite.  Its name started with an S (for Scott) and those rings made the planet even more special.  I remember having a paper cutout mobile of the solar system that hung in my bedroom.

One other recall, from that time, was a Christmas wish for a telescope, that I never got.  My parents said something about the order not being sent.  I never asked either of them if there was more to the telescope story.  Throughout my life, I debated buying a telescope;  I have not.  I now live in the city that has a bright sky,  street lights, and few stars which makes a telescope an impractical idea.  And yet, I found a new connection to my past.  Our latest house is on a hill facing south towards the city.  To my surprise, I can see the moon many nights throughout the year.  An unexpected delight is finding the moon, during the night, as it moves across our bedroom windows.  Didn’t need a telescope then.  Don’t need it now.  Wonderful that on many nights the spirit of that little boy, and the space age he grew up with,  lives on.

Scott Von Holzen