Friday, February 25, 2011

into glass


the winter landscape hangs in balance now,
air alters into glass and the whole sky
crimped like fern in the quartz atmosphere



words excerpted from "prologue to spring" by sylvia plath

these images were taken at night.
one of my students gave me a small glass sculpture with coloured lights.
i removed the coloured lights and digging under the ice at the back door i placed the lights
in such a way as to illuminate the accumulated ice.
as the thickness changes, the quality of light and the tiny speckles of colour also change.
at

32 comments:

  1. ElisabethFebruary 25, 2011 at 1:46 AM

    The ice here looks to be melting Steven, and perhaps not simply from the heat of those lights. Beautiful images as ever.

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  2. Caroline GillFebruary 25, 2011 at 4:10 AM

    Extraordinarily unusual photos, Steven. Love the quality of blue light.

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  3. Reya MellickerFebruary 25, 2011 at 8:04 AM

    What an exquisite work of art you've created, Steven.

    And Sylvia, oh my ... late February is the perfect season for the beautiful, fragile way your mind worked.

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  4. The Weaver of GrassFebruary 25, 2011 at 10:29 AM

    Beautiful photograph Steven. I realise what you mean about the long Canadian winter when I saw a programme last evening on TV about the ice on the river in Ottawa in April!

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  5. ValeriannaFebruary 25, 2011 at 11:01 AM

    Beautiful! Reminds me of the NOVA film about the ice.... and the guy who takes incredible risk to photograph that blue-ice color. Can't remember the name, I'll try to check back with it... well worth a viewing!

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  6. Linda SueFebruary 25, 2011 at 11:31 AM

    Well that is utterly cool! Lights and ice- I think that during winter lights should be strung up everywhere not just for holidays. Long winters would be made more fun and tolerable if we made it one long festival...let's start something- you first.

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  7. JoFebruary 25, 2011 at 12:48 PM

    Isn't it interesting how the ice looks so differently when the light eminates from it, rather than reflecting it?

    Fascinating and beautiful, Steven. I want more!

    Plath's "Prologue to Spring" is one of my all time favorites.

    Thank you.

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  8. agujaFebruary 25, 2011 at 1:23 PM

    These images certainly evoke Sylvia Plath; the light and the dark, the whole mood, in fact.

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  9. MeriFebruary 25, 2011 at 3:03 PM

    Brilliant idea --no safety issues, I hope.

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  10. HilaryFebruary 25, 2011 at 3:52 PM

    What a great idea.. that's beautiful.

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  11. FrikoFebruary 25, 2011 at 5:38 PM

    Like Hilary I have to say what great idea.
    The lights make the ice look magical.
    Still, I hope you will not have to put up with ice much longer.

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  12. tattytiaraFebruary 25, 2011 at 6:06 PM

    Oh those are just stunning colors.

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  13. hopeFebruary 25, 2011 at 6:07 PM

    What beautiful colors!

    By the way, today's blog was dedicate to you. :)

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  14. steveroniFebruary 26, 2011 at 12:41 AM

    What you did with those lights, put under the ice--you ARE artistic...and a romanticist. I like....

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  15. *February 26, 2011 at 3:28 AM

    Perfect collision of Plath and ice, the quality of light in the last photo is mesmerizing.

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  16. stevenFebruary 26, 2011 at 8:11 AM

    elisabeth - the weather is in its spring is approaching cycle which means that it fluctuates in temeprature quite dramatcially so one day six above the next day fifteen below. it makes for lots of ice!!! steven

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  17. stevenFebruary 26, 2011 at 8:14 AM

    hi caroline! i love glass and the way light and colour pass through it. ice is very similar and can be reshaped as you wish so easily. i love the way colour breaks up inside its forms. steven

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  18. stevenFebruary 26, 2011 at 8:14 AM

    reya - what beautiful words to describe sylvia's mind! steven

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  19. stevenFebruary 26, 2011 at 8:15 AM

    hello weaver - yes the winter, even this far south - remember canada goes north of where i am sitting along couple thousand kilometres - is long. it's at the very earliest stages of being on its way out though. steven

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  20. stevenFebruary 26, 2011 at 8:16 AM

    valerianna - now i'll have to dig that up. i have books on water and ice i'm that in love with it but films would be truly aesome. steven

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  21. stevenFebruary 26, 2011 at 8:17 AM

    linda sue - i leave my christmas lights up just so when it snows or if there's freezing rain or even fog, i can see the colours and what they do in those kinds of weather. what a freak! steven

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  22. stevenFebruary 26, 2011 at 8:18 AM

    jo - i'm a child when it comes to playing with colour and light. i know exactly where it all comes from as well. a bus ride into manchester, england when i was a little boy and seeing christmas lights for the first time reflected in the rain puddles...... steven

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  23. stevenFebruary 26, 2011 at 8:18 AM

    aguja - i was concerned the images were too dark actually. i took them at night and the bottom one makes me think of an asteroid. steven

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  24. stevenFebruary 26, 2011 at 8:19 AM

    meri - nothing too shocking!! steven

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  25. stevenFebruary 26, 2011 at 8:19 AM

    hilary - thankyou. i love to play with nature almost as much as she loves to play with me! steven

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  26. stevenFebruary 26, 2011 at 8:20 AM

    hello friko! ice in this form is entirely loveable. the stuff on the roads and paths helps keep you on your toes - and sometimes off them! steven

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  27. stevenFebruary 26, 2011 at 8:20 AM

    tattytiara - it's so cool isn't it!!! steven

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  28. stevenFebruary 26, 2011 at 8:21 AM

    hope thankyou - it's so flattering - then when i got there. wow! really wow! the clouds are unbeleiveable. thankyou s much. steven

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  29. stevenFebruary 26, 2011 at 8:21 AM

    steve e! it's all about play. steven

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  30. stevenFebruary 26, 2011 at 8:22 AM

    terresa - thankyou. that last photograph is the one i find most interesting. i'm hoping to mess with the lights in other locations just to see what appears. i think it's like a rorscach - you'll see what you need to see. steven

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  31. ValeriannaFebruary 26, 2011 at 6:12 PM

    steven - here it is: NOVA/Extreme Ice... so, its about climate change and ice, but the man who photographs the ice is in love with the beauty of it... the film starts by saying he "has a near fatal attraction to ice". Its intense but amazing, both/and.

    http://www.wgbh.org/programs/Nova-16/episodes/Extreme-Ice-12063

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  32. Golden WestFebruary 26, 2011 at 6:32 PM

    This has a real Jules Verne vibe - 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea!

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