And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said Let there be light: and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Sunday, April 13, 2008
Look and Thou Shalt Find
At the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University's graduate school of the history of art, Walter Friedlaender (1873--1966), the great art historian, had posted the saying 'LOOK AND THOU SHALT FIND' in the room adjacent to his office. I have never forgotten this maxim; it has guided my historical research and I have found it applicable to the pictorial study of nature.
Examining the image of the yellow flower after a nighttime rain, I discovered a drop of rain attached to a bloom: that drop had optical effects comparable to those depicted by seventeenth and eighteenth--century Dutch still-life painters, especially in pictures of glass vases half-filled with water. The effects include reflections, inversions, refractions, and more.
The "artful" rain drop is at the lower left.
How miraculous nature truly is; if only we could see it.
Examining the image of the yellow flower after a nighttime rain, I discovered a drop of rain attached to a bloom: that drop had optical effects comparable to those depicted by seventeenth and eighteenth--century Dutch still-life painters, especially in pictures of glass vases half-filled with water. The effects include reflections, inversions, refractions, and more.
The "artful" rain drop is at the lower left.
How miraculous nature truly is; if only we could see it.
Friday, April 11, 2008
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Monday, April 7, 2008
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
The Pussy Willow: the male development, April 2, 2008
once the male catkin splits open on its side it blossoms, exposing its stamens and the pollen carried on their "heads."
Pussy Willow, April 2, 2008
The Weeping Willow and the Pussy Willow are members of the salix family: both produce nature's "aspirin." The pussy willow is dioecious, that is, there are female and male plants. The female's bud or catkin is white, the male's is red. In the photograph of the female catkin the protective scale has split and the catkin emerges. The male no longer has its protective scale; it displays a "furry" covering over smaller "buds."
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