A Spider Drops in to Visit

At some point Affinity became the go-to place for spiders and Nightjar continues this tradition with a wonderful set of photos taken at dusk.

I’ve noticed a lack of spiders on Affinity lately and since there is one currently living right in front of my bedroom window I thought I would share. I’ve only seen it after sunset, I think it’s one of those spiders that only sit in the middle of the web at night. I got home late today, saw it and went inside to grab the camera to get some silhouette shots against the evening sky, but the light faded too quickly and I had to resort to using the flash for a few more photos. The flash really brings out all those hairy and spidery details, making the last photos particularly unsafe for arachnophobes I think.

All photos are posted under the fold.

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Tree Tuesday

 

This week we have an incredible tree from Down Under that’s full of big, bright, colourful flowers, courtesy of DavidinOz.

The first 3 are of a huge Bottle Brush tree, an Australian native that has been exported to other climes.Look closely in 2 & 3 and you will see bees had at work.

4 & 5 are of a different tree, but all the better to see why they are named …. Bottle Brush.

Cheers, David

©David Brindley, all rights reserved

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A Painting

Sorry for being so quiet lately. I could explain, but there is no point to it. Sometimes I genuinely do not have the time, but mostly I just cannot muster the strength. Inspiration got away with the sun.

So today for lack of better material, here is one of my paintings from way back when I still had the strength to actually do something and managed to follow through. It does not have a name (none of my paintings has) because I do not like to prompt people what they are supposed to see and how to interpret it.

Distemper on HDF coated with bone-glue based gesso, lacquered, 610×485 mm.

©Charly, all rights reserved. Click for full size.

Let’s Start the Week with Roses

More photos of the famous Ruston Roses courtesy of DavidinOz.  The pink roses at the end look so fresh and fragrant that I wish there was “smell-o-vision.”

Some photos showing the scale of the garden at Ruston’s Roses. You can also see the potential if the new owners succeed.

 

©David Brindley, all rights reserved

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I got Mail: Treasures from Across the Sea

Dear voyager sent me a parcel full of wonders and I’m going to share at least the images with you.

various goodies

All the wonderful things in one place, except for the lavender, which was stolen ba my kid.

chocolates

First of all, chocolate. I’m only going to eat this once my cold has gone completely.

magnets

Unicorn magnets. If the kids behave I will share. I’ll probably put some into their advent calendar.

maps

Postcards and a roadmap from voyager’s summer residence. Now I can check where Jack walked.

bone

A bone disk, I think. It says “fill me with resin and make me a pendant.” I think I need to work on an idea here.

beach findings

Sea urchins, snails and a sanddollar. How did voyager know I was working on an underwater landscape?

leaves

The wildlife guide is full of leaves from Jack’s walks. I have a pretty good idea as to what to do with them, but I won’t say anything yet. As I expected, #1 was very interested in the wildlife guide as such…

Seaglass and seashell fossils(?) I have an idea here, too…

Not pictured: a little matrioshka keyring that went directly to my keys…

Thanks you so much, voyager. Receiving your lovely gift was better than Christmas.

David Ruston’s Roses

From Lofty, the story of the man behind Australia’s famous Ruston’s Roses.

This is a statue of David Ruston in a park in Renmark, a tribute to the man and his contribution.

… Ruston’s Roses in Renmark, once Australia’s biggest rose garden. David Ruston began working here at 18, and developed a life long passion for roses. He became world renowned, and was for a time President of the World Federation of Rose Societies.  He built his father’s original collection of 500 rose bushes in to over 50,000 bushes. But he didn’t just grow roses, he was also an expert floral arranger.

Sadly, his health declined, as did the gardens, although they are still open to the public and with new ownership I hope the garden will return to its previous splendor and supply roses to the world once again.  The garden currently has a contract to supply rose petals to the Nineteenth Street Distillery in Renmark for use in their Gin.

David had a fall a year ago, and although he was present for the opening of the Renmark Rose Festival he was unable to participate.

I like the use of hard steel to display a man of flowers.

©David Brindley, all rights reserved

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Frozen Bubbles

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.

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Imaginary Experiments in Transgenics

I have a colleague who has a pet horse and also a pet spider.

This is the card she got for her birthday:

I haven’t worked out the internal anatomy. That’s an issue for an actual geneticist, I’m just the conceptual artist!
©rq, all rights reserved.

It’s a bit rushed because I totally forgot that I had to have it done for that day, but I had the idea all set up in my head. And mostly got it right.

Roses

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

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Metal Magic – part 5

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

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Working Iron

I’ve noticed metalworking is a bit of a theme around here (thanks to Charly, kestrel and Marcus), and so it’s no coincidence that I discovered a new fantastic personality in the field of Women Blacksmiths:

Her name is Elizabeth Brim and she’s made her name forging and inflating playful, elegant, and unexpected objects out of iron, a decidedly indelicate material. Bourdain travels to her home in North Carolina to meet with the pearl-wearing master metalsmith, first as she meticulously fashions a flower and then as she spreads knowledge to her students at the Penland School of Crafts.

“I was brought to believe that I needed some man to take care of me and to pay the bills and to make sure the oil in my car was changed and my tires were good… and so I’m really proud that I was able to pay that house off by selling my work,” Brim says to Bourdain when they talk about the aftermath of a failed marriage. She’s just so, so great. Bourdain himself even says she’s the type of woman his own daughter will grow up to be.

The video at the link is her interview with the late Anthony Bourdain. It’s worth a watch, she seems such a fantastic character and I would love to spend a day with her, in her forge or elsewhere.

Loreena McKennitt has a nice song about a blacksmith, but he’s a two-timing, gaslighting liar, so here’s Ani DiFranco instead:

The Soundtrack to My Life

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.