The COVID pandemic brought panic, illness, and death to our world. The catastrophic disease also ushered in a few good things: more family time, widespread acceptance for remote working, and “A Daily Cloud.” What’s that? It’s nature-inspired art! During the pandemic, an Irish artist, Chris Judge, shared with the world his quirky perspective on clouds and “A Daily Cloud” was born.
Page Contents
Pandemic lockdown
It was during the first COVID-19 lockdown (the summer of 2020) that Judge and his family began spending time in their little Irish garden. Like many RVers, the Judge family enjoyed their time together appreciating nature.
Cloudy outlook
Then, one evening, Judge noticed two pink clouds in the sky. He thought the clouds looked rather like a bear and a monkey. Impulsively, he took pictures of the clouds, added a few simple lines to his photo, and posted the result on Twitter and Instagram.
Sunny reaction
Immediately, folks applauded Judge’s efforts. Spurred on by the encouragement, the artist decided to continue photographing clouds, and posted his cloud-enhanced artwork daily online. Many people, burdened by the continuing pandemic, looked forward to Judge’s daily “cloud art.”
Today, Chris has 419,000 followers on Instagram.
Cloud Babies
Mr. Judge recently teamed up with author Eoin Colfer. Together they’ve produced a children’s picture book entitled “Cloud Babies.” The book features Judge’s cloud-enhanced photos along with Colfer’s empathy-building text. The book is about a hospitalized child who finds comfort as she spies “cloud babies” through her hospital room’s window.
Not the first
Chris Judge isn’t the first person to see and illustrate familiar objects within cloud formations. He probably won’t be the last, either. Just look on Pinterest and you’ll find many examples of folks who tried their own hand at “cloud art.”
Pareidolia?
So, what’s behind Chris Judge’s and others’ proclivity to see familiar objects in random items? Pareidolia! Pareidolia is the scientific phenomena that causes humans to see familiar patterns as they view the world. You may have experienced pareidolia as you’ve seen animals or other objects within clouds in the sky. Or perhaps you’ve discovered faces within boulders, tree bark, or rock cliffs while camping. Pareidolia is just one more good reason to get outside and enjoy our world.
Visit Chris’ Instagram, his website, and buy his new book here.
##RVT1079
