The Moon and Stars

Fan Art
Title:	The Moon and Stars
Artist:	Shelley Butler
Date(s):	1997
First Published:
Medium:
Genre/Style:
Fandom:	Star Trek: TOS
External Links:
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The Moon and Stars is an illo by Shelley Butler.

It portrays Kirk and Spock.

It was printed in First Time #46.

It was the winner of a Philon Award.

It is a companion piece to Pieta.

Fan Comments

I’ve always loved the composition of that picture!

I am in awe of Shelley Butler's art! She is not only prolific, she handles her subjects with such infinite delicacy I love these drawings of Shelley's that make me imagine the story going on between Kirk and Spock. Spock is lying down, eyes closed, Kirk standing, concerned, their hands/arms clasped. Kirk seems to be leaving, but can't quite pull away. That's because of their mental link − the wonderful mind-rainbow between them. This is cool, because it's got both logical geometric design, and emotional human floral type stuff."

I love these drawings of Shelley's that make me imagine the story going on between Kirk and Spock. Spock is lying down, eyes closed, Kirk standing, concerned, their hands/arms clasped. Kirk seems to be leaving, but can't quite pull away. That's because of their mental link -- the wonderful mind-rainbow between them. This is cool, because it's got both logical geometric design, and emotional human floral type stuff.

For a long time, Shelley’s wonderful picture Pieta (where Kirk is not dead!) stood in solitary splendor. But then Robin asked for a companion piece for First Time 46 covers, and The Moon and the Stars was born. Now it’s hard for me to look at one without seeing the other...

[...]

The Moon and the Stars is a subtle reverse image of Pieta, and that shows Shelley’s growth as an artist. It’s so great to be presented with covers that are far more than the standard portrait. Here is a story that’s told, a complex work that can be understood on several different levels. In this picture it is Kirk who is aware, holding Spock’s hand. Spock appears to be either asleep or in a trance, the equivalent of the helplessness of Kirk’s form on the back cover. From the coveralls he’s wearing, reminiscent of those worn in sickbay, I vote for the trance. His eyes are closed, his face expressionless, but take a look at his hand that is clutching at Kirk’s. There’s a great deal of life in that desperate, tight grasp, an intriguing counterpoint to the silence of his face and body. And look at the way Kirk’s body is leaning, arcing over towards Spock’s recumbent form, a thematic repetition of the clasped hands. But then Shelley introduces mystery in the picture. Where I would have expected Kirk’s face and head to follow the curve of his body, hovering anxiously over Spock, instead his face is turned away. He’s looking away from Spock. His expression is almost-but-not-quite troubled. (How do artists do that?) Is he ready for what might happen? Can life pass from him to Spock? I see the artist’s answer in the arc of moons, stars, ribbons and lace that stretches from Kirk’s head, even though it’s turned away, to Spock’s head, even though he’s deep in the trance. This is a tale of the inevitable currents of life. Again, something great, mysterious and ultimately very powerful is going on here, almost without Kirk and Spock’s conscious participation.

[...]

... Shelley taps into something subtle: the running deep river of emotion, of psychic energy, of destiny that unites two men. What binds them is beyond the ordinary, beyond a common definition of love or affinity. Both Pieta and The Moon and the Stars are windows to the transcendence of love in K/S, and I love them together. They’re a real treat from a thoughtful artist.