At 94, Richard Davies is a legend in his hometown of Altadena.

He spent 35 years as a self-described “space scientist” at the California Institute of Technology Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena while being involved with the area’s art community.

His paintings have been shown in a number of group exhibits, including at the Armory Center for the Arts in Pasadena, where they were featured with the works of his friends, physicist Richard Feynman and artist Jirayr Zorthian. But for the first time, Davies will be spotlighted in a solo show.

‘Heaven’s on Earth’ art show

“Heaven’s on Earth” will be presented at McGinty’s Gallery at the End of the World in Altadena Dec. 4-Jan. 9. A retrospective, the show will chart Davies’ artistic career with a focus on his spacescapes, along with a selection of pieces never previously displayed.

“Helena (Davies) planted the seed about wanting to do a show for her dad,” McGinty’s Gallery owner Ben McGinty said. “This was a while ago, and it hit me that Open Studios is having its weekend tour and this would be a great kickoff to be a part of Open Studios and to honor Richard.”

The Open Studios Art Tour is a self-guided event throughout Altadena and Pasadena set for Dec. 5 and 6.

McGinty has presented contemporary group shows at his prior art spaces. His current gallery is devoted to vintage and antique art and items, but for “Heaven’s on Earth,” only Davies’ work will don the walls.

“Not a lot of artists can capture the heavens like Richard can,” McGinty said.

Davies paints the stars

The bulk of Davies’ canvases boast stars, planets, nebulas and other objects that can or could be seen in space.

“One of the nice things about doing astrophysical stuff is you can be abstract if you want to,” Davies said. “When I’m painting, the idea behind it is the cosmos, but I’m not trying to paint for anybody but myself. If the end result comes out and I like looking at it, it pleases my eye, then I’m satisfied. Now if somebody else looks at it and they like it too, that makes it even more fun.”

From seeing stars to painting them

The astrophysicist first began to create art at the insistence of his late wife, Gwenda Davies, an artist, teacher and the curator of education at the Pasadena Art Museum before her death in 2006. In the mid-1960s, she hired the artist John Altoon to teach drawing classes at the museum and encouraged her husband join them, but he begged off, stating it was “too advanced” for him.

“I took the class at her insistence, and he rather liked the way I drew and tried to talk me out of staying in science and becoming a draftsman, a painter. Well, I knew better than that; I had a good thing going, but I did keep working at it and finally after doing drawing for a while I decided to do some painting,” Davies said. “I started to build up some momentum. My wife said I was like the sorcerer’s apprentice — you couldn’t stop me.”

From then on, Davies began to create figurative pieces and landscapes; by the mid-1990s, his spacescapes became a regular subject.

Davies’ techniques

Davies’ main style is pointillism, which involves creating a painting by applying tiny dots of color onto the canvas. It can take weeks to create a piece, and he often works on more than one painting at a time.

“It’s natural to do it pointillist if you’re doing a landscape or whatever-scape full of stars,” Davies said. “I don’t paint with a brush. I paint with a shish-ka-bob stick.”

He uses his fingers to apply the paint as well.

“I consider myself a painter; not an artist, but a painter,” he said. “Artists have a different orientation from somebody in the sciences or engineering. They want to express themselves.It’s a little hard to know exactly what they’re doing, because it’s a very individual thing with each artist. Artists want to get across to the viewer something and have some psychological effect. That’s what thrills them. I’m more selfish, I just want to please myself.”

If you want to go to ‘Heaven’s On Earth’

When: 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday and by appointment Mondays Dec. 4-Jan. 9. Opening reception 6-9 p.m. Dec. 4, closing reception 2-4 p.m. Jan. 9.

Where: McGinty’s Gallery at the End of the World, 869 E. Mariposa St., Altadena.

Admission: Free.

Information: 626-794-4477, https://www.facebook.com/McGintys-Gallery-at-the-End-of-the-World-1503176936609007/.

If you want to go on the Open Studios Art Tour

When: 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Dec. 5 and 6.

Where: Throughout Altadena and Pasadena, interactive map online, plus maps available at each stop.

Admission: Free.

Information: www.openstudios.gallery, http://www.facebook.com/AltaOpSt.