Mainly about light moments and rainbows

 

On our morning and afternoon we have been experiencing quite a few darker, cloudy and rainy times. Still even such times can offer startling skies such as on one afternoon a few days ago - see above. Though cloudy there are moments when the sea lines are strong - below.

Following are images of various rainbow moments. I say moments because literally the light and the rainbows can last but 5 minutes.

One of the benefits of moments of light and rainbows is that they can invite you to lift your eyes and enjoy the broad sky canopy.

Accidental art and other matters

 

Some folk will be aware that recently I have been playing with melting metal that supposedly is pure silver or has a high silver content.  I had reported that a melt I did produced a bronze hard metal (see below) - probably silver over brass; and another produced a very hard silver coloured metal but not really able to be rolled into wire. 

So I put the metal from the two melts together and added a bit of pewter to see if it would result in a softer metal; but no - it resulted in the wild beautiful rainbow metal in the opening photo and below.

This metal is very crystalline, almost glass like, as you can see in the before and after photo of the wire straws I poured in the photos below.  The straws broke when I tested a simple bend!!!

So instead of using this metal for jewellery I have made some gorgeous rainbow hull forms such as in the opening photo and below. You can also see that the metal had run out of rainbow puff by the time I poured the third hull in the middle.

I tried to create a circular form with the original bronze wire; but as you can see from the photos below this just did not work - again too crystalline.

The lesson? If you want pure metals start with known pure metals; but if you are happy to accept accidental art then have a play.

Finishing metal cottages and boat hull form

 

Before travelling to Scotland I finished grinding and polishing 7 small melted metal (pewter) cottages that were hand formed in a graphite mould I carved. The cottages are about 3.5cm long, 2.4cm high and 2.1cm wide. I love how quite a few of the cottages ended up with a slight rainbow colouring as you can see in the photo above and below.

I also finished grinding and polishing a pewter boat hull form. I just love the rainbow colours on both the top and underside of the hull form.

I still experiment with adding other metals to the pewter to see what effect I get - creative fun - most often not able to replicate consistently.

Preparing rainbow backgrounds for peace

 

Recently I have printed a couple of mini-posters (A5) - one on change and one on weariness. I decided I wanted to print a peace poster in time for International Peace Day - 21 September.

I set myself the task of creating a rainbow background for the poster. This involved using seven rollers and inks for the job. Each A5 sheet of paper was rolled on a sheet of recycled A4 computer paper.

I have made 12 background hoping the I will get 7-10 good mini-posters. The ink will probably take about a week or so to dry before I can overprint the rainbow with the word peace.

I haven't decided if I will overprint in white or black yet. I have been thinking that white would be more peaceful. I will be printing using wood type - tallest letter is about 5cm.

Rare sight and other fragments

©2020 Barry Smith - Birdwing Butterfly catepillar having a good meal.

I open the post with a reasonably exciting photo - a rare and endangered Birdwing Butterfly caterpillar on one of the vines we have planted down the back.

The morning started dark after rain over night. We thought about checking out the comet this morning but it was overcast when we woke at 2am.

©2020 Barry Smith - Dark light but you can see the Brisbane CBD lights to the right of the mountain.

I set off on my walk thinking I'd make it home without getting rained upon - but that was a hope too far. Even Trish's dog I met on the walk looked a bit bedraggled - great coat though.

©2020 Barry Smith - Bit the way I felt - wet!!!

Still the sun shone through now and then.

Add caption

And the rain left puddles and refreshed fruit, flowers and plants.

©2020 Barry Smith - Lilly Pilly berries after rain

©2020 Barry Smith  - Tree reflections in road puddle

©2020 Barry Smith - Roadside Marigold with droplets

©2020 Barry Smith - Snow-peas getting a go on

We were rewarded by an excellent rainbow soon after coming inside after the walk and F's exercise.

©2020 Barry Smith - Love the intensity of this morning rainbow

Of edges and light

©2019 Barry Smith - Defined morning moon in an inky sky

The moon on Tuesday morning , very early, was stunning such clarity - the edge where it drifted into darkness was so well defined.

©2019 Barry Smith  - The edge of darkness

I loved how the early morning light pushed from the east and seemed to driving the darkness westwards.

©2019 Barry Smith  - Lucious light drifting in from the east

Talking about edges - this small rainbow cut across the ruffle on one of F's tops - meandering its way over the ruffles and edges.

©2019 Barry Smith  - Rainbow weaving

And this little visitor was ruffling its features to pick up the warmth of the sun.

©2019 Barry Smith  - All fluffed up for the morning sun

Another book in the wall and other matters

©2019 Barry Smith - Fungi in sunlight on the book wall

I did walk this morning; and I did take some photos of the darkening winter light which I will share along with a gorgeous photo of rainbows reflections through the water in the kettle.

But first I thought I'd share a few photos of the ageing book wall. The book wall was created as a functional-art wall some 6 years ago. It was made in response to the number of hardcover books including year books, science books, coffee table books and encyclopaedias that were all being sent to the rubbish tip; and we needed a retaining wall.

When I made the wall I knew it was ephemeral and would need periodic top-ups. Recently I was given a full set of year books - some 50-60 books and a full set of encyclopaedias. This was on top of some boxes of books I had stored in the garden shed - other donations. I thought it was time to refresh the wall. You can see from the photos below it was in need of repair.

©2019 Barry Smith - A degraded section of the book wall

©2019 Barry Smith - Whilst sections are degraded they can look gorgeous - the lower layers gradually returning to the soil from whence they came

©2019 Barry Smith - Love the lines and how insects have made burrows in the book

But with the addition of additional books the wall will look strong again - go course with its waves and wrinkles.

©2019 Barry Smith - New layers to the wall

I spied a little pod amongst the leaf litter above the wall.

©2019 Barry Smith - Tiny seed pod that has lost its outer coating

Some photos of this morning's light.

©2019 Barry Smith - Winter frangipani at dawn

©2019 Barry Smith - Looking across the valley towards Brisbane 

©2019 Barry Smith - Lone street light in Treehaven Way

And that gorgeous rainbow light through the kettle.

©2019 Barry Smith - Waves of light and reflections through the water in the clear glass kettle