Art – Page 54 – Ellis Hollow

Belated bloom day scans

This morning, I finally had a chance to get out into the garden with enough light that I didn’t need a flashlight to see what was there. Were it not for the recent cold (seasonable, actually) weather, I thought I might actually be able to scan some things that most reasonable people would actually consider blooms. But all I found really were materials suitable for dried flower arrangements, which I usually put together over the Thanksgiving holiday, anyway.

So, this may be my final bloom day scan until March — unless we have another mild winter and we have snowdrops in January like last year.

Ornamental grass wrapped in thunbergia, lunaria, milkweed, ironweed, motherwort, bittersweet.

Heuchera, clematis, milkweed(?) seeds that happened to drift in during composition.

‘Terrain art’ by Jay Hart

Transitions by Jay Hart, used with permission of the artist.

‘Terrain artist’ Jay Hart, from just up the road in Trumansburg, N.Y., has an exhibition of his large-format prints at Cornell’s Mann Library in November and December. Jay’s art has its roots in his training in plant ecology, remote sensing, and geomorphology and decades of work using aerial photography and satellite imagery to answer scientific questions.

Apparently the beauty of this planet wasn’t lost on him either.

Across five continents my mapping experiences gave me a strong curiosity for terrain processes and for the aesthetics of landform. In recent years I have been exploring as art the countless examples of the earth’s broadscale beauty.

Visit Jay’s online gallery. Each image is fascinating in its own way. And every picture tells a story. For now, Transitions is my favorite, because it’s from my neck of the woods and I know the story.

I’ve only viewed Jay’s work online. But you can bet I’m going to see them in person because I suspect that their impact is even more dramatic in the flesh.

Update: If you like these, Pam at Tales from the Microbial Laboratory recommends the batiks of various aerial/satellite images (mostly coastlines) by Mary Edna Fraser. Visit Mary Edna’s Islands from the Sky website.

Bulb labyrinth

This afternoon, I helped Cornell bulb expert Bill Miller and his class prepare a bulb labyrinth for planting at the Bluegrass Lane Research Center. Center manager Ron White ran a sod stripper over the pattern Bill laid out yesterday. And today the students excavated the trench where the bulbs — daffodils, tulips and muscari — will be planted next week.

Unlike a maze, a labyrinth has a single convoluted path to the center. Go ahead. Trace it with your finger following the grass path that will be defined by the bulb planting. (Much easier with the larger image.) It’s an ancient, contemplative tradition. Read much more about it at the Labyrinthos website.

Update [11/13/2007]: Nice coverage of the project in the Cornell Chronicle: Student-created labyrinth plants the way for a perennial path to peace.

Garden bloggers bloom day – October scans

Things are winding down, what with a light frost Saturday morning. This month’s scans aren’t so crowded.

Fuschia (it was close to the house and not damaged), Verbena bonariensis, oregano, hibiscus buds, filipendula, thungergia stem snaking up an ornamental grass stem.

Polygonum ‘Firetail’, hibsicus buds, Aconitum, ornamental grasses.

Artist Chris Jordan on Colbert

Last month, I posted about photographer and digital artist Chris Jordan. Last night, Stephen Colbert interviewed him on the Colbert Report. What a sweet guy.