Buckshot Dot, AKA Dee Strickland Johnson, wrote this poem in 1940 when she was 9 years old. The image we’ve chose to accompany it is by Linda Holtby, Member 20,966, of faces in the clouds over the Hamble river, England.
THE OLD OLD MAN
His beard is so long it touches his toes.
If I were to paint him, he’d have a red nose.
He does not talk, nor gather a crowd,
For this old old man — is only a cloud.
© Dottie Jean Strickland* 1940, age 9
Dan Barstow, Member 41,557 introduced us to the ‘Earth Music Theatre’ which he curates. Each week he features a new movie. As part of the Earth Serenade series, this music is by Dwayne Haggins & Friends accompanying beautiful images of Earth taken by the crew of ISS 65. The song “I Get Sad” evokes honest emotions as we watch the dancing aurora and night clouds. “Where it Wants” follows rivers, mountains and a hurricane.
Justin Auld, Member 29,902, is an artist working in Portland OR who specializes in painting clouds and their ability to suggest images and faces. Hispaintings are named Quantum Paintings for the tie in that he explorse about how, in the quantum environment, nothing exists without an observer. He told us “I use clouds as a vehicle to create a recognizable foundation for the viewer to engage with a seemingly normal cloudscape, but then by inserting faint suggestions of faces and forms within the viewer is then compelled to search for more imagery that is created by their own minds“
He can see more of his work on his website – justinauld.com
Rebecca Hosking, an Australian photographer, filmed this timelapse video along the Great Ocean Road, Fairhaven, in Victoria, Australia.
Zaina Saif sent her latest watercolour, Cumulus congestus. These clouds are also known as ‘towering cumulus’ and develop from cumulus clouds, sometimes prior to a thunderstorm.
Dan Barstow, Member 41,557 introduced us to the ‘Earth Music Theatre’ which he curates. Each week he features a new movie and this one is a montage of photos and music, celebrating One Earth – all in shades of blue. Astronauts took these serene and beautiful photos during December 2023, on ISS Expedition 70. All shades of blue, yet so diverse. For the music, Steve Thomas crafted his dreamlike Guitarscape, resonating with these mesmerizing views.
Holly Payne-Strange, Member 52,979, from New Jersey was enjoying the clouds at Thanksgiving in 2023 when she dreamt up this poem. We’ve paired it with an image of a Circumzenithal Arc over Broadway, NYC, US by Judy Schramm
To Have the Honor of a Cloud
Ice crystals in the sky,
Reflecting sunlight, conjuring shadow
An ever moving gallery of whimsy.
It sounds like magic.
Surely it should be, by all rights
This beauty we ignore, day by day.
I think it’s because they’re so far away,
Glory and valor we assume is out of reach.
There’s a certain proud nobility about them,
Stately and serene.
It all seems so easy, slow, even boring.
An illusion fostered by distance and assumption.
I can’t help but think
That if only we looked,
Really looked, and noticed, and appreciated,
Then maybe grace could be an everyday occurrence.
Maybe we would notice.
Lofty ideals, unencumbered and honest,
Could curl above us
Natural as the wind.
Maybe generosity would need no excuse
And sincerity would be easily accepted,
Suspicion and shame falling like shadow,
To some distant terrain we can’t imagine.
I have to say,
When I think of you,
I only see the clouds.
© Holly Payne-Strange
Christian Ehrig, Member 63,882 contacted us about an exhibition “So Close to Heaven” that is running from 24th May to 2nd November 2025 at the Kunsthalle, 26721 Emden, Germany. The exhibition focuses on the clouds with works from various eras and genres on display, from classical landscapes to contemporary installations.
You can see more about the exhibition on the Kunsthalle website
Illustration: Heiner Altmeppen, North German Landscape , 1980/81 (c) VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2024
Freedom Chelan Sabiston, Member 63,518, told us this painting was great fun as the watercolours bloomed across the paper just as clouds across the sky.
Don Hatfield, supporting member 42854, recently proposed ‘Move the Clouds’ by Shadowfax for the ‘Music to Watch Clouds By’ section of our website.
Haruko Greenberg, Member 65,103, submitted this photo of her “cloud mugs” which came out of the kiln early in April 2025.
She told us, “These ”cloud mugs” are my latest design. Thanks to Cloud Appreciation Society, the constantly changing sky became my inspiration. I look up at the clouds every day, feeling how beautiful this world is and feeling the connection to all the wonderful people I’ve never met who are doing the same in the different parts of the planet”.
Li Zeyou, Member 65,190 from Jiangsu province, China, sent us his cloud inspired poem. We’ve paired it with an image by Nicholas Jiang of a silver lining moment over Daning Park, Shanghai.
The clouds are lonely,
They often walk alone in the vast sky.
When we are on the road and look up –
How carefree they are.
The clouds are lively,
They always cling together and form a whole.
When we stand on the mountaintop and look down –
They are like the sea.
The clouds are free,
They are always so unrestrained.
When we sit in the garden and observe –
They change endlessly.
The clouds are complex,
They always cover one another.
When we fly through the clouds in an airplane –
They are layer upon layer.
When you are at leisure,
You might as well look up at the sky.
The clouds – these interesting things,
Surely they are worthy of our admiration.
© Li Zeyou, May 2025
Dan Barstow, Member 41,557 introduced us to the ‘Earth Music Theater’ which he curates. Each week he features a new movie and told about this one –
Inspiration4 was the first all-civilian mission to orbit Earth, resulting in these powerful photographs by Chris Sembroski who served as humanity’s eyes. The video was captured by astronaut Matthew Dominick from the ISS during Expedition 72. Earth’s images are set to music composed and performed by Hiroshi Ebina, a Japanese sound artist creating electronic/ambient music.
Ann Kraus, Member 48,329, sent us her painting “Holgate” which is part of an exhibition of her cloudscapes show “I Collect Clouds” that opened on 2nd May 2025 at the Hunt Library in Falls Village, Connecticut. She told us “the town is literally next door to the town where Eric Sloane painted his clouds and that you wonderfully highlighted recently in the Cloud-a-Days“.
You can see more about Ann’s work on her website
Hubert Klotzeck, Member 47,689, has a photographic exhibition, “Love of the Clouds” at the Bauerngerätemuseum Ingolstadt (Bavaria) running from 5th April to 31st October 2025.
The exhibition website page tells us –
The special exhibition “Cloud Love” presents impressive photographs by the Eichstätt cloud estimator Hubert P. Klotzeck. All the works on display were filmed in the Altmühl Valley around Eichstätt affiliated. With its 360-degree panoramic view, the Jura plateau offers ideal conditions for observing the sky and invites you to look up to the sky. In his photographs, Klotzeck captures a wide variety of cloud formations – from filigree veils and dramatic thunderclouds to delicate feather structures and monumental skyscapes. These unique snapshots of textures and light reflect the incredible diversity and dynamics of the sky. The exhibition invites visitors to take a closer look at the often overlooked beauties above our heads. Because sometimes all it takes is the courage to look up to discover the ephemeral splendor of the clouds.
Angela Winter, member 53,244, release an original song in September 2021 – one that was inspired by a quote that was shared in one of our regular newsletters.
Cecilia Temeperli, Member 64,974, created this watercolour of a sunrise in the Simpson Desert, Australia. She told us “I have been dabbling in watercolours for several years now and am still learning. This was one of my first small artwork of a sunrise in the Simpson Desert and it still resonates with me, since 2014, I have been joining yearly treks with pack camels in the Simpson Desert in Australia. On this occasion, we put our swags on top of a sand dune, and I woke to a stunning morning sky. I painted this from a photograph I had taken, and this watercolour conveys the mood of this sunrise so much better than the photo.”
Julia Hexsel, Member 61,634 sent us her video taken from her father’s apartment in Curitiba, Brazil.
Jan Boles, Member 13,316, sent us his humorous cloud related limerick. We have paired it with an image of a curtain of precipitation falling from a storm system over Charlo, Montana, US by Ruth Quist.
A cloud spotter, known as Horatio,
Was keen on words rhyming with “ratio.”
He often would sigh,
Looking up at the sky,
“That’s not ‘rain,’ it’s ‘praecipitatio.’”
© Jan Boles February 2024
Dan Barstow, Member 41,557 introduced us to the ‘Earth Music Theater’ which he curates. Each week he features a new movie and told about this one, “As we fly over Earth, clouds provide beauty, harmony, drama, and reveal Earth’s stories. From orbit, even night clouds offer their intrigues, as in this flight, with clouds dancing over Europe at night“.
This music is performed by Steve Thomas featuring the vocals of Patty Barkas.
Kathleen Wilson, Member 58,037 wrote to tell us about an exhibition by Andy Eccleshall which is running at the San Juan Islands Museum of Art until the 2nd June 2025. Andy is a fine artist with a fascination with the sky, light and atmosphere. The website tells us “Andy Eccleshall’s large-format oil paintings bring the sifting moods and vast panoramas of Western Washington to life“. You can see more about the exhibition on the museum’s website.
You can also visit Andy Eccleshall’s website to see more of his work.
Jose Romeo Pina, Member 38,319, recently sent us this timelapse video showing the movement of clouds over the mountains.
Buckshot Dot, AKA Dee Strickland Johnson, sent one of her more recent poems. The image we’ve chosen to accompany it is a sunrise over Terrassa, Barcelona, Spain by Lourdes Sanches Munoz
A BRILLIANT SUNSET
I saw a sunset, just this evening.
Out the window of my den.
‘Twas so lovely, so inspiring
I ran to fetch my camera in.
Vermillion clouds –
a dozen of them, ‘gainst a sky
deep turquoise blue!
By the time I’d found my camera, tho’,
alas, the show was through.
Still, I know I’ll keep it always
in the lens of my mind’s eye:
Those amazing brilliant
orange pink clouds
dancing in a turquoise sky.
Buckshot Dot* © 2020
Lambrouleo Estharoe sent his composition for our Music to watch Clouds by section. He recommends this for not only cloud watching, but also Meditation and Bipolar Disorder.
Sue Hendry, Member 60,264, submitted her oil on canvas paintings, the one above is called “Dawn over Mossel Bay, South Africa”
Massimiliano Squadroni shared a new video of his project “Over the Clouds”. It was filmed from the Alps to Apennines on 25th January 2025
Melody Serra, Member 56,638 from New York City, sent a poem she wrote about her membership and receiving our Cloud-a-Day emails. Image: A Circumhorizon Arc over Colorado, US. © Keelin
Subject: Cloud-a-Day
On August 29, 2021 I became a cloudspotter
member 56,638 of the Cloud Appreciation Society!
everyday since then, an email with a photo
taken by another member, of the sky, lover of blue
to think that we are all part of the same sun-filled dome
to think that with our creative minds we can build shapes out of
condensed water vapor
it all gives me chills ( the good kind )
close to 600 emails have
brought me closer to
skyscapes, landscapes, and seascapes around the world
have taught me the difference between cirrus, cumulus, stratus,
cumulonimbus
fluctus, asperitas, noctilucent, lenticular
have taught me that the beams of light that shine through the gaps
in clouds,
like ladders of light reaching down to us, are called
crepuscular rays
maybe i too will see the green flash one day
or the fluffy cumulus clouds reflecting on salt flats in Humahuaca
or the optical effect, stunning color play, pearlescent
called circumhorizon arc
for now i count myself so lucky,
each sky greets me and beckons me
“what cloud do you see?”
© Melody Serra
Dale Wayne suggested ‘Pareidolia’ by Buck Meek, for the Music to Watch Clouds by section of our website
Verena Foxx, Member 4,836 from Canada, sent us this photograph of the cloud art she has hanging in her home.
George Preoteasa, Member 41,445, was in the Yukon in September 2024. He told us This video is a compilation of the best shots I took during this vacation. The landscape is fantastic and clouds add drama. But the real treat is the northern lights which we saw both on moonless nights as well as on nights with an almost full moon. The latter look unreal, the sky is blue like in the daytime.
Antonio Martínez, a calligrapher from Spain is passionate about clouds. He told us, “I have dedicated 5 collages to Goethe’s poems in the original language, celebrating the work of Luke Howard: Atmosphäre, Cirrus, Cumulus, Stratus, Nimbus. They are handwritten in gothic script, with a square-tipped metal nib and ink on Strathmore toned gray A4 paper”. The image above is “Stratus” by J W Goethe.
Dan Barstow, Member 41,557 introduced us to the ‘Earth Music Theater’ which he curates. Each week he features a new movie and in this one, astronaut Sultan Alneyadi, shows the scene from ISS Expedition 69 on August 20, 2023, beginning with sunrise over the Atlantic clouds, then on to Europe, Saudi Arabia and dusk over the Indian Ocean. The movie is set to the inspiring music of the choral group Seraphim and composer Timothy C. Takach, recorded live in Chestnut Hill, MA. Recorded on 08/20/2023.
Sienna Gates, Member 64,436 sent her painting ‘Sky Seahorse’ that was inspired by a view from her car window. She told us, “I woke up to snow the next morning because of a cold front, so he was the last cloud I saw for several wintery snowdays away from school. I was experimenting with some acrylic paint and am really happy with how it turned out!”
Gary McArthur, Member 5,353, captured this two hour timelapse video of the sky over Tasmania on 27th January 2025. He told us “it shows the mesmerising effect of shadows from an upper altocumulus floccus layer projected onto a lower layer of stratocumulus. The added interest is that both layers are moving in OPPOSITE directions. It amazes me how much we can learn about clouds from time lapse – the only way you could ever detect this effect…”
Cloud enthusiast, Simon Rickman, sent us this Haiku and accompanying image. Seeing everyday objects in clouds (and other objects) is called Pareidolia and he told us this picture is a good example of a head in the clouds.
Cloud Face
it is no wonder
they call me ‘the daydreamer’
my head’s in the clouds!
© Simon Rickman
Addy Linz, Member 64,475 suggested “Marvellous Clouds” by Cosmo Sheldrake, a UK-based composer, producer and live improviser. Running through all his work is a belief that the living world is a noisy and musical place with the power to change how we think, feel, and imagine.
Merry White, Member 64,916, sent us this painting by her brother, Henry Isaacs. It depicts a cloud over Casco Bay, an inlet of the Gulf of Maine on the coast of Maine in the United States.
You can see more of Henry’s work on his website
George Preoteasa, Member 41,445, was in the Yukon in September 2024. He told us, “this video was shot in Dawson City, the heart of the Klondike gold rush. Next to the town there is a mountain, Midnight Dome, with a road providing easy access to the top, which is 2000 feet higher. Waking up in the morning, I could see grey stratus clouds and I sensed an opportunity. I jumped in the car, drove up the mountain and, sure enough, I broke through the clouds and the fog, and I found myself above it. I was happy to see the gently waving undercast. Broken altocumulus covered the rising sun, but at some point the sun peeked through a gap and a magic glory appeared on the stratus clouds below. Soon after I could also see a cloudbow. They did not last long“.
Chris Tetley, Member 10,338, sent us his recent poem and photograph. He told us, “given the excessively dull and dreary weather we’ve had so far this season in the UK, the poem is a plea for winter cloud to be a little more considerate“.
Fairweather Friend
Clouds, I thought you were a friend,
But at present, I’m not so sure.
With cover and dullness slow to end,
And sunny hope you long obscure.
For why on many a winter’s day,
Do you stubbornly stay the same?
A landscape of endless gloomy grey,
And world trapped listless in your frame.
Then where your kindly clumpy mounds,
And their benign fair-weather wool?
When in summer sky, their sort abounds,
With these delights seems ever full.
I view this as a sky-drawn curtain,
The stage behind it being prepared.
And though duration looms uncertain,
It helps me through when I’ve despaired.
Yet I know that soon when all is set,
And brighter scenery is revealed.
I’ll my every complaint then forget,
As to the year’s new glory yield.
And I appreciate clouds need to gather,
To discuss, agree and plan.
But can you please reduce the blather,
For of this cloud, I’m not a fan.
© Chris Tetley
Sienna Gates, Member 64,436 suggested Above Clouds by Jhove for our Music to Watch Clouds by section. She told us “A beautiful, cozy, and warm Lo-Fi beat somehow perfectly expressed by the album’s cover art. It’s very sleepy, but chime-y and unique. I listen to a 24/7 Lo-Fi radio in the background sometimes, and this one always sticks out as a favourite”
