Category: Art

Newgrange I

For my 365th consecutive post: approaching an ancient passage tomb older than the Egyptian pyramids.

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Thirty minutes headed up the M1 from Dublin Airport Pam and I arrived at Brú na Bóinne Visitor Center, gateway to Newgrange. Archaeologists classified Newgrange as a passage tomb, however Newgrange is now recognized to be much more than a passage tomb. Ancient Temple is a more fitting classification, a place of astrological, spiritual, religious and ceremonial importance, much as present day cathedrals are places of prestige and worship where dignitaries may be laid to rest.

Walking on the south bank of River Boyne we first glimpsed Newgrange on the hill above.

Bounded on the south by a bend in the River Boyne, the prehistoric site of Brú na Bóinne is dominated by the three great burial mounds of Knowth, Newgrange and Dowth. Surrounded by about forty satellite passage graves, they constitute a funerary landscape recognized as having great ritual significance, subsequently attracting later monuments of the Iron Age, early Christian and medieval periods.

Newgrange was built by Stone Age farmers, the mound is 85m (279ft) in diameter and 13m (43ft) high, an area of about 1 acre. Newgrange was constructed about 5,200 years ago (3,200 B.C.) which makes it older than Stonehenge and the Great Pyramids of Giza.

A overlook in Brú na Bóinne Visitor Center provides a view of River Boyne from the south bank. Here we are looking west.

Footbridge over River Boyne

We are on the south bank.

Queen Ann’s Lace on the south bank of River Boyne

Oh my gosh!! A wattle fence, an ancient technique.

Wattle is made by weaving flexible branches around upright stakes to form a woven lattice. The wattle may be made into an individual panel, commonly called a hurdle, or it may be formed into a continuous fence. Wattles also form the basic structure for wattle and daub wall construction, where wattling is daubed with a plaster-like substance to make a weather-resistant wall.

Copyright 2023 Michael Stephen Wills All Rights Reserved

Our Brilliant Great Granddaughter

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Sunday last we had a morning of it with a family fall apple picking event. Afterwards our granddaughter hosted us for coffee where her daughter finished her latest creation.

Copyright 2023 Michael Stephen Wills All Rights Reserved

Pam’s Photography

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Here is a sample of my wife Pam’s photography skills by way of a video with music created by her IPhone 8.

In and around Cocoa Beach and Brevard County, January and February

Copyright 2023 Michael Stephen Wills All Rights Reserved

Ad Astra

To The Stars

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A mass of lavender asters produced for a painterly, restful esthetic. Over the years I have tended beds of these wildflowers. The sunlight of late August/early September here in the Finger Lakes is especially clear and this is when these asters bloom. This were caught on a clear September evening with the sun just behind a stand of large Ash trees.

Click Me to visit this image in my fine art gallery

“Symphyotrichum novi-belgii (formerly Aster novi-belgii), commonly called New York aster. Symphyotrichum, a genus in the family Asteraceae, whose species were once considered to be part of the genus Aster. Plants in both these genera are popularly known as Michaelmas daisy because they bloom around September 29, St. Michael’s Day. The Latin specific epithet novi-belgii (literally “New Belgium”) refers not to modern Belgium, but the 17th century Dutch colony New Netherland which was established on land currently occupied by New York state (as Belgica Foederata was the Latin term for the United Netherlands at the time).“

Reference: Wikipedia “Symphyotrichum novi-belgii.”

Copyright 2023 Michael StephenWills All Rights Reserved

Juniper Sunrise

crack of dawn

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In this post we start the day of my posting “Family Trek“, July 19, 2008, when, well before the sun rose at 6:23 am Mountain Daylight Time (the Navajo Reservation observes daylight savings, the rest of Arizona does not), Pam and I were at the Spider Rock Overlook.

Most visitors to the canyon make use of a system of roads and parking lots next to strategic views.  There is the White House Overlook we visited our first day, July 18, to hike from the trailhead into the canyon.  There are also, on the south side of the canyon:

  • Tsegi Overlook, taken from a Navajo word that translates directly to “between the rocks” and usually refers to a deep canyon with steep cliffs.
  • Junction Overlook above the point where Canyon Del Muerto (see my posting “Sun and Shade, Canyon Del Muerto”, and Canyon De Chelly intersect.  There is an Anasazi ruin in the south-facing cliff across the canyon.
  • Sliding House Overlook, another Anasazi run across the canyon.
  • Face Rock Overlook, to view the eponymous formation.
  • Spider Rock Overlook, the most stunning rock formation. 
Sunrise Canyon De Chelly
Looking east from the Spider Rock overlook, Canyon De Chelly.

While getting ready I scoped out the location for interesting visual tropes.  Utah Junipers are exceptionally hardy shrubs, stressed individual plants grow into compelling forms shaped by hardship.  As the sun rose, this specimen emerged from the gloom and caught the first sun rays.

Juniper Sunrise
A distressed Utah Juniper on the edge of Canyon De Chelly overlooking Needle Rock a few moments after sunrise.

Enjoy!!

Click for the first posting of this series, “Portrait of a Navajo Guide.”
 

Abstracts: desert light and water

A Series of Nature Abstracts, macros of Reavis Creek below the falls

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These four shots are of afternoon desert light playing on limpid water flowing over colorful rocks.

All are macro shots of the falls taken with a Canon 100mm f/2.8L lens.

From my solo expedition to this location in the remote eastern Superstition Wilderness of Arizona.

CLICK ME to learn more about my work and to purchase prints.

I chose portions of Reavis Creek stream bed carefully

The time of day was essential. This was late afternoon and before the sun disappeared behind the canyon walls.

Not all sections of the stream bed were suitable. I chose elements of strong compositions.

Variation between the shots is essential for holding the viewers attention.

Click Me to visit my previous post, “Canyoneering to Reavis Falls” for more of this story.

Copyright 2023 Michael Stephen Wills All Rights Reserved

Nature Abstracts from Reavis Falls

Basalt and Water

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A Series of Nature Abstracts, macros of Reavis Falls

These are six shots of Reavis Falls from my solo expedition to this location in the remote eastern Superstition Wilderness of Arizona.

All are macro shots of the falls taken with a Canon 100mm f/2.8L lens.

“Reavis Falls Abstract V”

I took these while perched on a pile of talus beneath the falls.

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Reavis Falls Abstract XIV

Reavis Falls are 114 feet high in a canyon hidden in the folds of mountain ridges in the remote eastern Superstition Wilderness of Arizona.

Reavis Falls Abstract VI

Reavis Creek falls from a sheer basalt cliff, remnants of a volcanic eruption, cool a million years ago, a little colder today by this running water.

Reavis Falls Abstract VIII

Reavis Falls Abstract XI

Reavis Falls Abstract XV

Click Me to visit my previous post, “Canyoneering to Reavis Falls” for more of this story.

Copyright 2023 Michael Stephen Wills All Rights Reserved

Dragon Day 2013 Cornell University

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Dragon Day 2013

Cornell University Dragon Day 2013

A series of group and individual portraits from the 2013 Dragon Day Parade on the Cornell University Campus. I am happy to report this tradition resumed 2022 after a 2-year pandemic enforced hiatus. This tradition was and is celebrated for over 100 years.

Cornell University Dragon Day 2013

Copyright 2023 Michael Stephen Wills

Thunderhead Sunset 3

the rest of the story

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Here are the rest of the images captured in that August 2014 sunset.

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Thunderhead Sunset 2

a highly idealized fantasy world

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The combination of water vapor in all its forms and the sun dipping below the horizon combined to form these magical images.

Maxfield Parrish refined his art to duplicate these effects in oil.

Parrish’s art is characterized by vibrant colors; the color Parrish blue was named after him. He achieved such luminous color through glazing. This process involves applying layers of translucent paint and oil medium (glazes) over a base rendering. Parrish usually used a blue and white monochromatic underpainting.

His paintings/illustrations were unique in that they depicted a highly idealized fantasy world that was accessible to the public. Although you will rarely see a glimpse of that color in reality, he was and still is linked with a particularly bright shade of blue that coated the skies of his landscapes. And it was not an easy task for him to complete. He invented a time-consuming process that involved a cobalt blue base and white undercoating, which he then coated with a series of thin alternating coatings of oil and varnish. When exposed to ultraviolet light, the resins he employed, known as Damar, fluoresce a shade of yellow-green, giving the painted sky its distinctive turquoise tint.

Reference: “Maxfield Parrish” from Wikipedia

Copyright 2023 Michael Stephen Wills All Rights Reserved