HEAD IN THE CLOUDS

WHILST RESEARCHING THIS PIECE FOR OUR SERIES ON CLOUDS, I LOOKED UP ‘SONGS WITH CLOUD IN THE LYRICS’ AND GOT A LIST OF OVER 105,000 SUGGESTIONS. KATE BUSH, ZACH SOBIECH, LSD, THE TEMPTATIONS AND LIL’ WAYNE, STING AND MORRISSEY HAVE ALL TOPPED THE CHARTS WITH THEIRS.

Composers like Mozart and Debussy have used them to create big, sweeping pieces that evoke a sense of awe and wonder. Often, clouds are used to create a feeling of longing and melancholy. But it’s not only in music that clouds make an appearance.

Literature is rich with references and one that repeats itself is that of the ‘threatening cloud’. This image often appears in works that deal with themes of danger or menace, such as Jules Verne's ‘20,000 Leagues Under the Sea’, in which a giant squid attacks the submarine Nautilus. In this case, the threatening cloud represents the danger lurking beneath the surface.

Clouds also often appear in works of fantasy and science fiction, where they can take on a variety of different meanings. In J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, for example, the dark clouds that gather over Mordor are a sign of the evil forces that are gathering there. In contrast, the white clouds that surround the island of Numenor in Tolkien's work represent the hope and purity of that place.

Clouds are also be used to represent the transitory nature of life. In Shakespeare's Macbeth, for example, the title character reflects on the fleeting nature of life when he sees clouds ‘race by’ in the sky. This image is often used to remind us that life is short and that we should make the most of it.

One early example is the painting ‘The Hay Wagon’ by American painter Andrew Wyeth, which features a wagon filled with hay bales under a cloudy sky. ‘Cloud Gate’ by Anish Kapoor, which is a large, concave sculpture made from stainless steel that reflects the clouds and sky above it, is a more recent homage.

Clouds have always been a popular subject for visual art, from the classical masters of painting to the more modern digital illustrators. Artists often capture the beauty and mystery of clouds in their work by playing with light and color. From Monet’s dreamy Impressionist canvases to Hokusai’s iconic ‘Great Wave off Kanagawa’ to the surrealist landscapes of Salvador Dali, clouds often provide atmosphere and can even be seen as part of the composition itself.

Whatever the emotion, artists have long been inspired by these majestic formations in the sky. So slide up the blind, and be inspired or just explore the beauty of nature from this enviable angle.

WORDS THAMES PARNELL