On one level, we are all callous – hardened. Our senses grow dull to stimuli, even stimuli that is beyond spectacular.
In a sense, it is Edwin Faughn’s station in life to pierce and counter our collective “unfeeling” with reminders of the majesty that envelopes us.
The French Camp artist has been beholding the universe and ruminating on its mysteries since childhood. His parents purchased a small telescope for him when he was in the third grade. His interest was sparked for a while, but he did not realize the potential of his parents’ gift and, as a result, his curiosity temporarily receded.
“I was looking at the moon and things like that,” Faughn, who is the managing director of French Camp Academy Rainwater Observatory and Planetarium, said. “I didn’t realize that even with a modest-sized telescope I could have been seeing the rings of Saturn, the moons of Jupiter, some nebulae and clusters.”
In 1980, the TV series “Cosmos,” which featured Carl Sagan, aired and Faughn’s imagination fired once again.
“When I was a kid, I loved art,” the Arkansas native said. “For the first time, I was seeing these artists (on “Cosmos”) that were popping up at the end of the credits.
They were scientific illustrators and astronomical artists, and I was blown away.”
A handful of years later, Faughn had a moment of clarity, of sorts, in the course of pursuing a degree in graphic design at Arkansas State University.
“I noticed that I kept incorporating scientific concepts into my homework assignments,” he said. “I realized that I was really seriously interested in this.”
Soon after, he sent slides of his artwork, similar in subject matter to what he had viewed on “Cosmos,” to National Geographic magazine.
“I said, ‘Look I’m 20 years old, I’m in college and I’m interested in doing this type of art,’” he recalled. “They said, ‘Your work shows a lot of promise,’ and they encouraged me then to take as many upper-level painting classes and illustration classes as I possibly could.
“That was the best advice I’ve been given.”
Around the same time, Faughn struck up a friendship with a retired man and his wife who lived outside of his hometown of Paragould, Arkansas. The couple had a large observatory in their backyard. A relationship formed from the mutual interest in astronomy, and it led to the two men collaborating on some 70 articles, for which Faughn produced illustrations. The articles were published both regionally and nationally.
After graduation, Faughn embarked on a career path that, like his muse, is spectacular. Some (a small fraction) of highlights include a tenure as the art director at the Pink Palace in Memphis, a scientific illustrator for NASA and two monumental murals that were part of the “Titanic” exhibition. In addition, he has worked with the editors of Scientific American magazine, including a six-month-long project aimed at producing an accurate representation of Pluto, which, at the time, humankind had yet to view.
“We actually got pretty close,” Faughn said. “When the images started coming in from the New Horizons spacecraft, we were really surprised that we were able to get that close to it with the scientific data that they had given me.”
This intense captivation with the universe is what eventually drew the NASA illustrator to French Camp, “one of the last remaining dark pockets left in the southeastern United States,” according to the Rainwater Observatory website. There, Faughn coordinates educational programming, organizes exhibits and delivers lectures.
And, of course, he turns his eyes and imagination skyward, which has led back to his childhood in his most recent artistic expressions.
“I had a recurring dream about space when I was kid and I had it for years,” he said. “In this particular dream, I would wake up just before daylight and walk out the northern door of my parents’ house. I remember looking up and seeing all these giant planets and galaxies, stuff that was huge and way out of context. I would always wake up and be so disappointed it wasn’t real.
“I’ve been playing around with some of that stuff here lately. It’s not heavy science or anything, but it’s some fun stuff.”
For more information about the education ministry of the Rainwater Observatory and Planetarium, visit www.rainwaterobservatory.org.
To learn more about and view the artwork created by Edwin Faughn, visit www.edwinfaughn.com.
