Our Eyes of Starlight

Fan Art
Title:	Our Eyes of Starlight
Artist:	Shelley Butler
Date(s):	1996
First Published:
Medium:
Genre/Style:
Fandom:	Star Trek: TOS
External Links:
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Our Eyes of Starlight is an illo by Shelley Butler.

It portrays Spock and Kirk.

It was printed in Worlds Apart.

Butler created a similar illo that was printed in the KiScon con zine in 2023. See Together with Flowers.

Fan Comments

I can’t stop staring at this picture. I was transfixed when I first saw it in the original propped up on a bed in [a fan's name] room during the Shore Leave party, and after four months, I’m still stunned. I’m not sure that it fits the novel, exactly, as it depicts the guys at an age we would consider them to be during the original series, and not as the youngsters they are in Worlds Apart, but who am I to quibble over such an unimportant detail? Give the WA fellows a few years to grow with their passion, and they’ll look like this. Sexy, determined, naked, holding each other, defying anyone to question their love and their right to each other. [snipped] This is one of Shelley’s best depictions of Kirk, especially within the last year. The shading on his face doesn’t make him look old, just a little sad. Although maybe the fullness of his cheeks is overdone a bit. The Spock is right on, in my opinion, especially his slightly parted, defiant lips, and the tension in the arms he has wrapped around Kirk’s waist The first thing I notice when looking at the picture are, of course, the faces. But then my eye slips down to Kirk’s arm, muscled, clearly defined, very strong. Although it is resting lightly on Spock’s shoulder, the overall impression that the arm gives to Kirk is strength and determination. The arm flavors the impression I receive from the face; it allows me to re-interpret Kirk’s expression so that the sadness is overlaid by will. An examination of Kirk’s arm leads naturally to his hands. Darn, Shelley is exceptionally good at hands and fingers! and imbuing them with specific purpose. Kirk’s hand wrapped around Spock’s neck is gentle, and yet again, there is nothing tentative about the possession of very finger, or the absolutely delicious way the forefinger is slightly separated from the others so that it fits beneath the curve of Spock’s ear. As if Kirk were naturally trying to maximize the physical contact between them. Oh, that finger sends shivers through me, because it says so much about the man’s state of mind. A caress of the soul as well as of an ear. Who would have thought so much could be said by such a small element in this entire composition? Notice that the grip Kirk has on his lover is not a complete circle, there’s a space on Spock’s shoulder between Kirk’s hands that is open. By comparison, the grip that Spock has on Kirk is complete, one hand overlapping the other around the side of Kirk’s waist. Spock’s body language speaks of desperation, and a fierce determination Not To Let Go! Also, Spock’s gaze is turned outward, to some threat or person outside the picture. He is alert, ready to defend, ready to tighten his grip on his lover even more. Kirk’s gaze is turned down, with the hint that it’s turned inward; he’s perhaps contemplating all that he will do to ensure that the two of them can stay together, but he’s not worried enough to be constantly scanning the horizon for threats to their love. Kirk’s strength of body and will allows him to give Spock some space, he’s the surer of the two. And of course, that attitude, for both characters, fits beautifully with the novel the picture illustrates, but it also happens to work for me with the classic characters as well."

And then to casually glance down at the bed at Robin’s Friday night party, and see the cover of Worlds Apart in the original.... The copy on the zine is wonderfully done, but in the original the guys seemed to be really there, staring out at me with their arms wrapped around one another, measuring me, slightly defiant, saying "this is our right."