It seems like a good day to spit in the eye of approaching winter with some bright and colourful spring flowers from the Renmark Rose Festival courtesy of DavidinOz.
©David Brindley, all rights reserved
Ruston’s Roses
Affinity
Art, Fun, & Nonsense.
It seems like a good day to spit in the eye of approaching winter with some bright and colourful spring flowers from the Renmark Rose Festival courtesy of DavidinOz.
©David Brindley, all rights reserved
I was cleaning out some files recently when I came across an email I’d saved from 2015. It isn’t hard to see why I saved it. The photos are gorgeous and it’s hard to believe these are ordinary, transient soap bubbles. Since we have so many talented photographers on this site I thought I’d see if anyone else is interested in this art medium. Story via Backyard Neighbour,
Soap bubbles blown in freezing temperatures turn into stunning ice crystals
- Hope Thurston Carter captured the images after blowing bubbles on several freezing days in Michigan
- Temperatures between -9 and -12C are ideal for creating the ice bubbles
In the midst of one of the most severe winters in modern American history, the 52-year-old, of Martin, Michigan, got the idea after seeing similar pictures on the Internet.
‘I was instantly curious and ran out and bought some bubble solution so I could try this myself,’ she told HotSpot Media. ‘I found out very quickly that blowing bubbles in the winter and trying to photograph them is not as simple and easy as it looks!’
Still weather with temperatures between -9 and -12 degrees Celsius is ideal for creating the ice bubbles. On such a day, Hope ventures into her back garden with a bottle of bubble mixture, blows a flurry and, when one lands intact, runs to her camera to photograph it as crystals spread.
DavidinOz has sent us photos from the Renmark Rose Festival and Oh My but they’re gorgeous. Filled with light and colour they’re a real burst of happy on these cold and dim November days. We’ll be featuring David’s photos over the next couple of weeks as a tonic to help fight winter gloom. Spring roses from Down Under, what luxury!
There are roses in this set, but the main feature is the Harry Clark fountain commemorating the 1956 floods. The main fountain structures represent wine glasses as this is a major wine growing region.
It was quite breezy that morning, so the water plays well. You can see the Murray River in the background.
©David Brindley, all rights reserved
Kestrel finally reveals her finished piece of jewelery and it’s drop dead gorgeous. Before the unveiling, though, there’s still more work to do.
I’ve come a long way with this piece of metal and now it is finally even and thin enough that I can make a piece of jewelry out of it. So let’s get started.
I’m going to use a nylon mallet for shaping. Here’s the beginning:
©kestrel, all rights reserved
Blue Rodeo at the Sanderson Center, November 23/18, ©voyager, all rights reserved
Last night a friend and I went to see Blue Rodeo at the Sanderson Center in Brantford and it was fabulous. The band has 2 lead singers who both write their own songs and they both have different styles so their music is broad. They’ve done everything from hard rock to bossa nova to ballads and big band sounds. They’ve been together since high school and became Blue Rodeo in 1984. That was the year I discovered them and in the 34 years since they’ve stayed my favourite band. They truly are the soundtrack to my life. They’re all consummate musicians and showmen and their live shows are always good. I think they sound better live than on disc. They’re in Canada’s Music Hall of fame and they’ve been inducted into The Order of Canada and their sound is Canadian.
I had a bit of trouble with the vibrations and volume making today a double gravity kind of day, but it was so worth it. Once a year I willingly sign up for this bad day and I’ll keep doing so as long as Blue Rodeo keeps touring. If you don’t know this band you should check them out. This video isn’t from last night’s concert, but they played this song and it’s one of my faves. My actual fave list is 72 songs long… 34 years = a lot of music. Sorry about the bad picture. I only had my camera phone and I’m hopeless using it.
The next installment of kestrel’s series is here and things have been getting bigger. It’s always fun when things get bigger.
Hey, take a look at this!
©kestrel, all rights reserved
A few more of the photos that Avalus took in the natural burial forest. The photos are all good, but the second one really speaks to me. It’s chock full of texture and the waves on the stump give it a nice sense of movement. Make sure to check back tomorrow for the last post of the series.
A tiny Giant in the forest. ©Avalus, all rights reserved
There is something fascinating about decaying wood. It gives life to many new things, nothing is really lost. ©Avalus, all rights reserved
Lots of pecked bulbs along the crack in the wood, but these two managed to avoid the birds. ©Avalus, all rights reserved
It’s another interesting mix of fungi photographed by Avalus in a natural burial cemetery.
It’s hard work pushing up. A still deadly false death cap pushing up. ©Avalus, all rights reserved
It’s the real Sluglife! Note the dry, dead mosses. They were like that in all the forest.
Proudly presented!©Avalus, all rights reserved
Iggi Pilz, a pun on Igelpilz (hedgehog shroom) and Iggy Pop. Don’t know why. ©Avalus, all rights reserved
You have a good eye, Avalus. So many different types of mushrooms! I’ll be sure to check back tomorrow to see what else you found.
The next installment of kestrel’s magic making is here and there are tools to ogle.
It’s time to meet some of my favorite tools, the raising hammer and the planishing hammer. The faces on them are different shapes and that helps to shape the metal in different ways. The first one I’m going to use is the one on the left, the raising hammer.
©kestrel, all rights reserved
Capturing light is where all the magic happens in photography and Nightjar is a master at it. Her latest photos come as a gift to us all at a time when light magic is scarce. Please be sure to click-through to see all the photos. They’re brilliant.
As promised, to cheer up Voyager and everyone else who may be struggling with a gloomy and gray November. All photos taken on November 10. The light is already not as warm as in October (https://freethoughtblogs.com/affinity/2018/11/09/october-light/) and when combined with raindrops it becomes magic. There are still hawkweed seeds suspended from single threads of spider silk but now they are wet. There are mushrooms and pink heather flowers. Vineyards are putting on a show. When the sun shines, November light is lovely.
©Nightjar, all rights reserved
A few more of the mushroom specimens snapped by Avalus at the natural burial forest.
Everything was totally dry and this one excreted water. I was (and still am) very puzzled. ©Avalus, all rights reserved
Tiny guys squeezing between the bark and the wood. I was fascinated. ©Avalus, all rights reserved
©Avalus, all rights reserved
Just a group of sulfurshrooms with a green sheen. ©Avalus, all rights reserved
Thanks Avalus. I really like the different perspectives that you’ve used. Each one seems perfectly suited to its subject. Check back tomorrow for the next installment of ‘shrooms.
These stunning photos are from DavidinOz and they were taken along the Murray River in Swan Hill, Victoria. David says he was fortunate to be there at the “golden hour” and I have to agree. The light is golden and tinged with just a smidge of rose. The exposed tree roots alone make for dramatic photos, but combined with that light they become something special. Thanks for sharing, David.
©David Brindly, all rights reserved
©David Brindly, all rights reserved
©David Brindly, all rights reserved
It’s an open secret that LED fairy lights were invented for me. I love lights and there’s an abundance of solar powered lights around the house in summer and (rechargeable) battery lights in winter inside. So to combine resin and lights was a natural step. Especially since Marcus sent me a crystal mould and a handmade big globe mould.
I first tried my regular resin with the crystal. I absolutely love how the colour came out and how the copper metal foil really makes it all mysterious.
©Giliell, all rights reserved
But, but, the resin clearly wasn’t the right one for such a project. It cured too quickly and with too much heat. You can see the bubbles all around.
©Giliell, all rights reserved
So back to the computer to get a different resin. This one cures a lot more slowly and with less heat and is more suitable for bigger projects.
©Giliell, all rights reserved
This one cured nicely without too many bubbles, though the longer time meant that my metal sunk down more than I like it. The opaque sheen is due to the acrylic paint I added for the colour.
©Giliell, all rights reserved
I used one of the solar fairy lights Marcus sent in this project.
Now on to the big globe. I first ran a trial freezing water and then deemed it suitable.
©Giliell, all rights reserved
The mould is not quite perfect with some bubbles at the top, but with such a project you won’t notice that anyway. This time, my metal rose to the top and there are still some bubbles, but I think they add to the otherworldly flair.
But man does that resin eat itself. I swear the mould was filled completely. It#s not a problem here, since a perfect globe wouldn’t rest nicely on my window sill, but I think it would be best to refill part of it after a day or so.
©Giliell, all rights reserved
