DO THE STARS GAZE BACK by Ricky Byrne

A section of one of Commander T. J Hull's star maps first published in the 'Orient Line' It has been imposed upon a hand painted background, digitally combined and then hand screen printed. Finally, selected stars have been hand gilded in 24kt Italian Gold.

The inspiration for this print, besides Commander T. J Hulls incredible mapping of the stars, is a passage from a book called Stardust.

“A philosopher once asked, "Are we human because we gaze at the stars, or do we gaze at them because we are human?" Pointless, really..."Do the stars gaze back?" Now, that's a question.”

Written by one of my favourite and one (in my humble opinion) of the finest storytellers, Neil Gaiman.

I’ve enjoyed all sorts of tall tales told by Mr. Gaiman, in comics, literature and spoken word. I’m sure many of you have to and hopefully we will share them with our loved ones for years to come.

So here’s to the fantastic stories, the stars, the inspiration they give when we gaze up at them and possibly, just maybe, to them gazing back.