Back in the 80s, I was commissioned for a promotional campaign at Waldenbooks. Free to paint whatever, I invented a story about creatures living in the upper reaches of an alien gas giant. The painting L'ECHELLE illustrates one event in that story. I kept thinking that one day I would write the rest. Years slipped by before I reconnected to that world, inspired by a large brush mark found in the studio. The accompanying photos show early progress. I roughed in a horizon line where I'd peeled back masking tape. A window hid behind another piece of tape, and that's what led me to Juno City.