Blustery Day, Susan Nangle, 023, gouache, 5 x 5 in. / 12.7 x 12.7 cm.

Celestial Symphony: Northern Lights Paintings by Susan Nangle

March 27, 2026 Gavin Coates

Featured image: Blustery Day, Susan Nangle, 023, gouache, 5 x 5 in. / 12.7 x 12.7 cm.

In the Celestial Symphony series, artist Susan Nangle explores the atmospheric spectacle of the northern lights through intimate, small-scale acrylic paintings.

Susan Nangle creates atmospheric acrylic paintings inspired by natural light phenomena, combining fluid paint pours and traditional techniques to depict luminous landscapes.

Working with a hybrid technique that combines acrylic pouring and traditional brush application, Nangle captures the luminous movement and chromatic diffusion that characterize auroral skies. The three works, Celestial Symphony 1, Celestial Symphony 2, and Celestial Symphony 3, translate a personal experience of observing the northern lights from the artist’s backyard into expressive visual studies. Each piece investigates the shifting relationship between sky and landscape, balancing abstract color fields with silhouetted natural forms to convey the quiet drama of nocturnal illumination.

Celestial Symphony 1, Susan Nangle, 2025, acrylic on canvas, 10 x 10 in. / 25.4 x 25.4 cm.

Celestial Symphony 1 presents the aurora as a sweeping atmospheric current stretching across the canvas. Layers of poured acrylic create translucent veils of pink, lavender, and muted gold that move diagonally through the sky, suggesting the fluid energy of charged particles interacting with Earth’s atmosphere. Small specks of white punctuate the composition like distant stars, reinforcing the celestial context. In contrast, the lower portion of the painting anchors the scene with dense silhouettes of trees, their dark forms grounding the luminous sky above. The interplay between controlled brushwork in the foliage and the unpredictable flows of poured paint mirrors the tension between the stable earthbound landscape and the dynamic forces of the upper atmosphere.

Celestial Symphony 2, Susan Nangle, 2025, acrylic on canvas, 6 x 6 in. / 15.24 x 15.24 cm.

In Celestial Symphony 2, the composition expands outward to emphasize the horizon line, allowing the auroral glow to spread broadly across the sky. Gradations of blue transition into soft pink and radiant yellow-green, echoing the color shifts often visible during auroral displays. The acrylic pour technique produces delicate, feathered textures that resemble atmospheric currents drifting across the night sky. A central tree silhouette rises from the horizon, acting as a visual anchor while also establishing a sense of scale. By placing the viewer at a distance from the light phenomenon, the work evokes the contemplative experience of standing outdoors beneath a slowly shifting celestial canopy.

Celestial Symphony 3, Susan Nangle, 2025, acrylic on canvas, 4 x 4 in. / 10.16 x 10.16 cm.

The smallest painting in the series, Celestial Symphony 3, approaches the aurora with a more immersive perspective. Dark foliage frames the composition from multiple edges, creating the sensation of looking upward through a clearing in the trees. The sky itself becomes a field of pale, swirling light, where subtle streaks of yellow and blue move through milky layers of poured acrylic. Small bursts of turquoise punctuate the surface, suggesting momentary intensifications within the auroral glow. The framing vegetation heightens the sense of enclosure, transforming the painting into a moment of quiet observation, an upward glance into a luminous and ever-shifting sky.

Together, the Celestial Symphony paintings form a meditation on the relationship between natural landscape and celestial phenomenon. Through the combination of fluid pouring techniques and deliberate painted elements, Susan Nangle captures both the unpredictability and serenity of auroral light. The silhouetted trees serve as recurring visual anchors, situating the viewer firmly within the earthly environment while directing attention toward the expansive sky above. Across three distinct compositions and scales, the series reflects the quiet awe of witnessing the northern lights, an encounter where atmospheric science becomes a moment of visual poetry.

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