041420: Afternoon Light

Late afternoon rays of sun cutting through heavy wafting smoke in my studio. Seemed like a good opportunity to play and explore. These first five images are the result of that little exercise.

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This last one, upon completion, seemed to reflect the times – suggesting airborne toxin. And that got me thinking about my friends in Florence and the difficulties of their predicament (so similar now to our own).

So I couldn’t help but think about my times there, shooting the street shrines that always capture my attention as well as the many opportunities I have had to photograph the fossils in the Museum of Natural History.

A mollusk, a gastropod, an anemone, and lastly the skull of a whale.

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I’ll finish today’s post with a few of my favorite Florence sights – Galileo’s Tomb in the rear of Santa Croce…

The Duomo dwarfing the nearby side streets…

…and lastly the Sant’ Ambrogio Market where the best of everything can be found!

Thanks for the visit. Stay safe.

100319: All Local (Almost)

Late afternoon light landed on a shelf full of rocks and fossils here in my studio the other day. Today’s opening image is the result – a brachiopod, a mollusk, and a trilobite. That trilobite is the only fossil in my possession that I did not find myself, or rather, one that I did not dig up myself. It is from Morocco via the Sant’ Ambrogio Market in Florence (where I purchased it for a few euro.)

So, with camera now in hand, I grabbed a few more local fossils and, with an appreciation for their unique shapes, tried to breathe some new life into these ancient relics.

Sometimes even broken pieces can be intriguing on their own.

And it continued from there. Following up on last week’s post, all the remaining images are brachiopods (whole or parts) showing again a few of the many different types (15,000) that existed over a period of a few hundred million years!

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Brachiopods seem to be the most abundant local fossil here in this patch of the upper Hudson River Valley. No wonder then that they continue to find their way into my recent drawings and paintings!

Thanks for the visit.

 

091318: Nature!

A few years ago, our neighbors, Dorian and Jim, gave to me two rather large hornet nests. They had been hanging in their barn for years and thought they might be good subjects for me – a very kind gesture that I much appreciated.

Over time I photographed them enough (on the outside) and finally decided to take a look inside. These first five images were taken as I slowly broke the nests down to the honeycomb.

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Fascinating structures they are! The hexagonal pattern that defines the honeycomb is a pattern found throughout nature (See “Why Nature Prefers Hexagons.”). And it has been around for a long time.

The image above is not an old or even fossilized honeycomb. It is, rather, a favosite, more commonly known as honeycomb coral. This fossil coral is approximately 387 million years old (during the Devonian Period) and was something I dug up locally.

Brachiopod and Mollusc

“Geometry in nature” seems to be a good segue into more of nature’s designs – an image sampler of fossils, all locally founded and all as old as the honeycomb coral.

Brachiopod

Cephalopods and Brachiopods

Gastropod

Brachiopods

Tabulate Coral

I’m closing today with three mixed media drawings. I had trilobites on my mind so I created some generic versions  – each one app. 36″ x 48″.

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Thanks for the visit.

062818: Afternoon Light

Like everything else outside my studio, my deck (where I often photograph) and its railing is always covered with fossil rocks. I try to keep new finds and old favorites close and in view. Different times of day, different weather conditions, even different seasons seem to imbue each fossil with “different personalities!”

Late afternoon sun was the trigger for this week’s images. A hard, warm light catches the deck and rakes across the rocks, providing definition and a little drama.

Once again, these are all Devonian Period marine invertebrates (app. 387 million years old), all found within a few miles from my studio! As if just living here in the upper Hudson Valley isn’t enough!

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I’ve been busy in several directions lately. So I thought I’d include a couple of mixed media pieces from the week past.

Thanks for the visit.

032218: Fossils From the Neighborhood

Today’s first and last images are colorful bookends to the latest group of fossil images. This strange, lyrical image (above) is the result of playing with a glass paperweight. Contained within are various stringy objects that act as design elements. The fun in creating an image like this is in the use of various color reflectors and lights of varying color temperatures. A simple desk object now suggests other worlds – something that I plan to explore further.

In the meantime, enjoy the mix of marine invertebrates from 387 million years ago.

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This other bookend – a dragonfly’s wings – heavily infused with color!

Thanks for the visit.

110217: A Good Autumn Day

I managed to spend some time this week back at my favorite quarry. I hadn’t been there in quite a while, so it was fun to dig around on familiar ground. Even though it might be familiar ground, that’s not to say that there are no surprises to be had. No new earth-shattering specimens perhaps but always a few that reach out of the rocks to create a little story of their own.

These two images of cephalopods were enough to already call it a good day. But there was more.

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The other reason for calling it a good day – the view from up top looking across at the eastern escarpment of the Catskills on a beautiful autumn day.

The remaining images are fossils from this quarry trip mixed in with the many piled up outside my studio (many of which came out of that same quarry).

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Thanks for the visit.

 

 

 

 

 

012617: Changes Taking Place

As I was packing up some of my fossil rocks for their journey to the new studio I ran across this colorful rock with its vibrant sprig of moss. Of course, I had to stop everything until I could photograph it.

And, as usual, one shot led to another. Before I knew it packing up changed into more shooting. Lichen, uncovered from the recent snow, offered a few more interesting opportunities.

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I finally got back to the fossils, threw a few more into the bag, and was thwarted once more. So again, more pics and less packing.

Seems like this move is going to be a long drawn out affair!

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Cindy and I made it down to the NYC Womens March last Saturday. It was a powerful event – with many more to come. In a sea of posters this one seemed particularly poignant to me.

I close today with a new piece – seemingly drawn from the new state we currently find ourselves in.

Thanks for the visit.