The Art of …

… winter, by Paul Gustav Fischer

A Winter’s Day on Kongens Nytorv Copenhagen, 1888, Paul Gustav Fischer. Image from Wikimedia

The Art of …

… winter, by Caspar David Friedrich

Sea of Ice, 1824, Caspar David Friedrich

Winterfest Photofest

Welcome to the last day of our Winterfest Photofest. I know you’ll enjoy this last set of pictures that all have a quiet, contemplative quality.

First, more delicious photos by Dan Cates, who was introduced to us yesterday. I think Dan’s photos have a lovely, tranquil feel to them, and this grouping is no exception.

Next, two evocative and moody photos from the camera of Marcus Ranum (Stderr)

Finally, a serene and perfectly titled photo from JacqueG.

I’d like to thank everyone who submitted photos and made Winterfest such a success. I’d also like to thank everyone who made donations to our Winterfest fundraising campaign. If you haven’t done that yet and would like to contribute, you can do so here.

I’d also like to remind everyone that Affinity loves getting photo submissions any time of the year, so if you have any photos you’d like to share, please feel free to send them in. Our address is always in the left sidebar, underneath the colourful percolating head.

Winterfest Photofest

Welcome! Today we have 2 submissions that are all about looking at things close up, including a few birds and a wannabe bird at the end who will make you smile. Let’s go take a look.

First, a well-captured, tall bird with beautiful amber eyes from Pieter L. Harreman. It reminds me of the heron who lives in or park, but the white hghlights of this bird make him look more dapper and elegant.

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Next, a set of photos full of pattern and texture from the camera of Dan Cates. (you’ll be seeing more of Dan’s photos tomorrow on our Winterfest wrap-up)

Thanks to you both for taking the time to send these photos in. They all make wonderful additions to our Winterfest collection.

The Art of …

… history, by Benjamin West.

Today’s painting is interactive thanks to Jason Farago of the New York Times and his piece titled “The Myth of North America in one painting.” It’s a fascinating look at the history behind West’s 1770 painting The Death of General Wolfe, and why certain design choices were made. The battle the painting depicts on The Plains of Abraham is highly significant to Canada’s founding and is taught as part of our school curriculum. There were also implications for America’s founding, though, and I’m curious about how, or if, this battle is taught to American children.

Here is the link to the interactive painting at NYT, and below is the static image of the painting itself.

The Death of General Wolfe, 1770, Benjamin West. Static image from Wikipedia.

Winterfest Photofest

Welcome back. The first set of photos today is wildly creative and comes from the mind and camera of Avalus. I’ll let him explain,

I don’t have a Christmas tree at home, but in the lab, a reaction I did today provided a splendid alternative. Here are some glittery fotos. Below them, I will go a bit into the details of what you see there.

These shiny metal balls are beads of molten potassium sitting on top and inside of a potassium alcoholate/alcohol compound (the white crystalline, snowlike stuff) that slowly dissolves into the boiling hexane.

What happens here is that the potassium replaces the hydrogen of the OH group of the alcohol, forming a potassium-alcoholate and gaseous hydrogen, so the metal will slowly disappear over the next few days. In the end, the resulting potassium alcoholate will be liquid at room temperature, which is pretty cool, because most alcoholates are solids with high melting points.

This stuff will be used in my PhD research of weird alkalimetal organic complexes.

An accidental self-portrait on a liquid metal surface, warped by passing of hexane, running down the walls of the vessel.

Have a good (and maybe science-y) holiday season, everybody!

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The next set of photos today are all about texture and pattern, and they come from the camera of our own Charly.

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Lastly is a compelling group of landscape photos sent in by Peter Lindsay. Peter lives in southwestern Manitoba (Canada) and tells us that the landscape there is quite unique. Peter does photography in every season but notes that winter is a favourite time of year. They also tell us that they’re fond of loan trees, which I’m sure you’ll note in these stunning pictures. Peter has sent us a link to their pubic Flickr site, which I encourage you to check out. The collection is brimming with delicious landscapes from around the world that are well worth seeing.

Thanks to all three of you for sending in these photos.

The Art of …

… fairy tales, by William Symonds (English artist, 1851-1934)

The Princess and the Frog, 1894, William Symonds. Image from Bradford Museums and Galleries via Art U.K.

Winterfest Photofest

Today’s photographs all speak to the blanketing beauty of fresh snow.

First, we have a tranquil snow scene sent in by Kelvin L. Woelk.

Next, some a few shots of this year’s first snowfall from our very own Charly.

Finally, some quiet landscape shots full of pattern, taken in central or west-central Minnesota by Mark Hesse.

“The one titled Hoarfrost was taken in Morris, MN, home of FTB’s own PZ Myers.”

Thanks for taking the time to send in your photos.

The Art of …

… portraits, by Mirium Escofet, a Spanish painter, born in 1967, who is currently living in London.

An Angel At My Table, Miriam Escofet. Image from the artist’s website miriamescofet.com

Winterfest Photofest

We’ve been getting lots of submissions, so I have a few photos to share with you today.

First, two fascinating photos sent in by Sheila Crosby who tell us,

Just to be a bit different.

INTSnow is the Isaac Newton Telescope To the best of my knowledge it’s the biggest telescope that’s ever been moved. It opened on the south coast of England in 1968, then they shut it down in 1979 and moved it to La Palma in the Canary Islands where it reopened in 1983. It’s my favourite telescope because I met my husband in the control room there.

WHTsnow is the William Herschel telescope. When I worked there it was the biggest in Europe, with a main mirror 13ft in diameter. Now it’s dwarfed by S¡Gran Telescopio Canarias, but I don’t think I have a snowy photo of that. one.

The observatory is only 28 º north of the equator, and the Canary Islands are a winter sun destination for much of Europe, but the observatory is at almost 8,000ft, so snow is fairly common in winter – less than it was 30 years ago though.

Sheila also has an interesting website, La Palma Island, that’s full of information about astronomy and the island itself. If you have a chance I encourage you to check it out.

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Next, a beautiful home with a long driveway that speaks to the demands of winter from Suzanne Willis.

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Finally, we have a beautiful and engaging photo from Todd R. I love the look of wonder on the dog’s face.

Thanks to everyone who has sent in photos. We’ll be seeing them all over the next few days, and there is still time to send us your submission to affinitysubmissions@gmail.com. The address is always on the left sidebar underneath the colourful, percolating head.

Winterfest Photofest

Today’s photo is from PZ Myers of Pharyngula fame, and it’s a tranquil look at wintery ice crystals. Brrrr.

Jack’s Walk

I’ve been struggling to write this post for 2 weeks, but I can’t keep putting it off, so here goes.

Jack and I haven’t had many adventures over the past month because Jack’s gone lame. The problem is mostly with his front end somewhere, but we can’t quite pin down the problem, and his walking is continuing to deteriorate. It may be due in part to the return of Larry the Lump (warning – the bottom photo is gory), who has taken up residence in Jack’s Rt. elbow, but his left shoulder is also inflamed. We see the Dr. again tomorrow, and hopefully, an x-ray will give the vet a better idea of cause, effect and treatment options. He has been started on pain pills, and they allow him to rest comfortably at home, but he isn’t himself.

There is some small good news, however. We have successfully weaned Jack off of his steroidal allergy tablets and onto a plain cetirizine (Reactine) tablet, which means he’ll soon be able to take an anti-inflammatory to help with his arthritic hips and knees. Right now, it’s one day at a time, and I’m letting Jack decide how much he wants to do. On a good day, he goes to the end of the street and back, but on a rainy day like today, Jack only wants to go out to the yard.

About a month ago, when things were better, I took Jack to the wee woods for a walk and did some videotaping while we were there. I’ve put together a small youtube movie of our walk, and I’ll be releasing it on Saturday, Dec. 5th, as part of our Winterfest celebration. It’s my first attempt at videography, and there was a pretty steep learning curve, but I’ve managed to put together about a 5-minute clip that I’ll be releasing on Sat. Dec. 5th as part of our Winterfest celebrations. It’s nothing special, but I’m damned proud of myself for learning a new skill, and some of you might even enjoy it. I had hoped to add singing to the end of the clip, but Jack isn’t in the mood to sing right now, so that will have to wait for our next video. In the meantime, I’m hovering over Jack and waiting on him hand and foot. I’m also struggling with the existential crisis of figuring out what happens to Jack’s Walk if Jack can’t walk.

Winterfest Photofest

Winter is a beautiful season, as evidenced by these elegant photos of hoarfrost from VBFF.

There’s still lots of time to send in your winter photos. Our address is affinitysubmissions@gmail.com.

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