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Saturday, December 5, 2009

10 Awesome Masterpices Of Frost

When thinking of snowflakes and frost, your memory tends to give you subtle hints: it’s translucent, abstract, beautiful and short-lived. Nothing however, can prepare you for what abstract masterpieces icy nights may bring. Flourishes of Jack Frost
’s brushstrokes envelop windscreens in fractal crystal and transform into icy autumn leaves, crystal ferns and mathematical shapes. Jack Frost is an abstract artist.

Perhaps the beauty of frost lies precisely in the fact that it is ephemeral, melting into oblivion only several hours after it is created. Frost deposits form when water vapor turns directly into ice, which happens when the air temperature is at or below freezing. When the first frost crystals form a layer, new crystals will align themselves with those already there, which gives us the amazing natural patterns we see.

This amazing shot could easily be mistaken for a close-up of a crystal vase. The detail and clarity are unbelieveable. It’s actually the windscreen of a car taken from the inside. Windscreens are more prone to frosting over because they cool much quicker than the other windows in the car. Being vertical, the side windows loose heat
at a slower rate the windscreen, which is a larger surface area and points directly into the cool night air, making it a perfect canvas for Jack Frost.

Like little Christmas trees fallen from the sky, this shot looks cool in iced blue. Trees and plants cool off by a process called radiative cooling, which means they give off energy in the form of infrared radiation
. This means they retain more heat so they don’t frost over in the same way windows do.

Wonderful natural looking landscapes are created without any direction. The patterns in this photograph look like petals of a tropical flower, and are just as fragile.

The lighting on this image gives an awesome 3D quality to the frost, but one touch and it would be gone. Still, whether touched or not, the first rays of the morning sun will melt nature’s hard word in minutes. Shame.

Taken in macro, this image shows the intricacy of frost formations, and like many others looks 3D. It also is not unlike some of the great impressionist masterpieces from the 19th century.

“We had a day of hard rain and then a sudden windy hard freeze. Made for some interesting frost patterns on the windows,” says Muffet the photographer. The wind seems to have frozen the rain in upward strokes resulting in this fantastic image. Although, it also looks like the old flock wallpaper from the 70s – not so cool.

It’s uncanny how the long arms of this frost formation are repeated in equally spaced-out chunks, like a shaft of wheat. The shape of frost crystals are influenced by the type of glass they’ve formed on, and any imperfections or scratches in the surface will play a part in the final look.

Like frosted sunflowers these frost formations look as if they’ve erupted from rain drops, their icy petals growing slowly in the cold air.

This mish-mash of crystals looks like a little like a tall ship caught in a storm
. The waves to the bottom right of the image and the masts keeling sideways. Other people will probably see something different, but then that’s the beauty of art – it’s in the eye of the beholder, as they say.

Beautiful Paper Tree Artwork | paper cutting arts

A paper bag begins to evolve into a tree or an old copy of the New York Times has sprung roots as a newspaper garden.

Beautiful Paper Tree Artwork

10 Most Awesome And Incredible Natural Arches On The Earth

We humans sometimes seem to think we’ve got it all sown up as the premiere architects on this planet, but Nature is actually well ahead when it comes to constructing wonders of design emerging from the landscape. Take the arch, for example. While it was only a few millennia ago that humankind began to build these impressive structures, Mother Earth has been moulding them for millions of years.
Get your hiking boots on; we’re taking a trip to find the most amazing of these natural formations the earth has to offer, with points awarded for both size and splendour.

10. Grosvenor Arch, Utah, USA

Found in southern Utah

, Grosvenor Arch is a unique sandstone double arch that while not the biggest in this list is still hugely striking in appearance. Teetering atop stony stilts, this splendid natural formation is accessible by road, though unlike some such landforms offers no natural passageway below that visitors can walk through. As a natural arch, Grosvenor is a product of erosion, the elements having found weaknesses in the softer rock of a cliff and gradually worn them away.

9. Kolob Arch, Utah, USA

Located in Utah’s Zion National Park

, Kolob Arch is considered the second longest natural arch in the world, its span having been measured at 287 feet – just three shy of the span of the more famous Landscape Arch, of which more later. Set just 44 feet from the cliff side it frames, this imposing landmark is reachable by various hiking trails, though trekking in the summer is discouraged, as it can get hot as hickory throughout the Colorado Plateau region.

8. Shipton’s Arch, China

Shipton’s Arch, aka Tushuk Tash, meaning Hole in Heaven, is the tallest natural arch on earth. Located northwest of Kashgar, in China’s Xinjiang Province, this soaring structure, while familiar to locals, was not known to the West until its discovery in 1947 by English mountaineer Eric Shipton. The span of the arch is around 212 feet, but seen from the floor of the west side canyon, its height is estimated at a jaw-dropping 1,200 feet – about the height of the Empire State Building.
7. Sipapu Natural Bridge, Utah, USA

Not technically speaking a natural arch but a colossal natural bridge, Sipapu Bridge nevertheless makes the cut here as it does a good enough impersonation of an arch. This beautiful structure boasts a span of 225 feet, making it the second longest natural bridge after the more renowned Rainbow Bridge. Sipapu is also now the longest natural arch in the world with an active trail beneath it that visitors may pass through, affording spectacular views of its underbelly.
6. Steven’s Arch, Utah, USA

A spectacular shelter arch found it Utah’s Escalente Canyon, at its junction with Stevens Canyon, Steven’s Arch is another giant on the world stage of arches, with a span believed to measure 220 feet. Forbidding at first glance, Steven’s Arch gives the illusion that there is no way to make the climb up to it, though in actual fact the hike is neither difficult not hair-raising – just downright breathtaking. Over the Escalente River, Steven’s Arch looms like a cryptic sign from Nature.
5. Double Arch, Utah, USA

Another of Utah’s finest, Double Arch is a famous close-set pair of natural arches, and despite the competition is one of the more impressive sights in Arches National Park. This spot hit the big screen when it was used as a backdrop for the opening scene of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, in which the arches are briefly glimpsed. They were formed differently than most of the arches in the Park, the result of water erosion from above rather than the more typical erosion form the side.
4. Aloba Arch, Chad

With a height of 394 feet, Aloba Arch in Chad is the second tallest natural arch on earth, and at about 250 feet in length it is also one of the world’s longest. Yet despite its size, this magnificent landform is seldom seen due to its remote location. Aloba Arch appears to have been shaped in two stages, its upper half a buttress-type natural arch formed at the end of a slab of sandstone while its lower section is a softer sandstone layer that was subsequently eroded by a stream.
3. Rainbow Bridge, Utah, USA

Another natural bridge that snuck into our list of arches, the resplendent Rainbow Bridge, is a majestic structure that looks arch-like enough for us. A National Monument and a sacred place for Native Americans, it stands 245 feet tall, has a 234-foot span, and is 42 feet thick and 33 feet wide at its apex. This natural wonder was carved out during the last Ice Age: river waters formed a wide hairpin bend flowing around the solid fin of sandstone that would become the bridge.
2. Delicate Arch, Utah, USA

The most widely-recognized landmark in Arches National Park, Delicate Arch is depicted on Utah’s license plates and is something of an international icon too. Known to early cowboys as ‘the Schoolmarm’s Bloomers’ due to its distinctive shape, the 52 feet tall freestanding arch was the site of controversy in 2006 when climber Dean Potter made the first recorded free solo ascent of the formation – an event the led to the banning of climbs on any named arch within the park year-round.
1. Landscape Arch, Utah, USA

The longest of the numerous natural arches in Utah’s Arches National Park – indeed the longest true arch on earth – Landscape Arch is a phenomenal 290 feet in length. Just as phenomenal is the fact that at its thinnest point this slender arc of rock is only 6 feet thick. Since 1991, three large slabs of sandstone measuring 30, 47 and 70 feet long have fallen from Landscape Arch’s narrowest section, prompting the Park Service to close the trail that led beneath it. It could collapse at any time.
Tags: Trip, Utha, National park, Colorado, Heaven, Bridge, Arches, Rainbow bridge, Phenomenal fact

Ten Most Iconic Indian ArtWorks | Cool Arts

To compile a list of the 'finest' in any category is a tall order. In the case of art, it borders on the impossible. There will always be debate about which works make the cut and how some just do not fit into a top list. In order to fulfill this overwhelming task, I listed the names of the works of art from the top of my head, as they came along - this took me about under a minute. The methodology used, therefore is simple: Top-of-mind recall.

Untitled by V S Gaitonde
Gaitonde is amongst the most powerful artists to have lived and this particular work is probably the master’s finest. With its complex multilayered forms and rich earthy palette, this work offers the viewer a portal to an undiscovered ethereal spiritual realm – ever-expanding in depth and impossible to fully unravel.

Work information
V S Gaitonde (1924-2001)
Untitled # c. 1975 # Signed and dated in English and Hindi on reverse: V.S. GAITONDE 1975
Oil and mixed media on canvas # 70 1/8 x 42½ in.
Appeared in the Christie’s Modern and contemporary Indian art sale on 30/03/06
Sold for USD 1,472,000

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Very Hungry God by Subodh Gupta
Created in reaction to reports that French soup-kitchens were using pork as an ingredient to deter Muslims from partaking in the meals, Very Hungry God was a break-through piece. Though Gupta had created powerful work prior to this object, Very Hungry God turned the world’s attention in his direction. The sight of this stunning object displayed in the Eglise Saint-Bernard de la Chapelle et Square Saint-Bernard in Barbes, Paris during the Nuit Blanche (an annual all-night cultural festival) is unforgettable. This work was seared permanently in our collective memories following its placement on the Grand Canal in front of super-collector François Pinault’s Palazzo Grassi during the Venice Biennale.

Work information
Subodh Gupta (1964)
Very Hungry God # c. 2006 # Stainless steel kitchen utensils # app. 1000 kilograms
The François Pinault Collection
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Three Girls by Amrita Sher-Gil
Though I believe every work created by Sher-Gil is a gem, Three Girls is particularly special as it belongs to a period and body which mark a discovery of her own painterly expression - a shift from the trained to a personal language. The demeanor of resignation and the repressed expressions of her subjects are captured in a remarkably touching and sensitive manner.

Work information
Amrita Sher-Gil (1913 - 41)
# Three Girls # c. 1935 # Oil on canvas
The National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi Collection
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Mahishasura by Tyeb Mehta
Mahishasura garnered tremendous attention, courtesy the record winning bid for an Indian artwork in auction at the time. In this work, Mehta’s signature taut, measured lines and unconventionally balanced palette depict the slaying of the buffalo demon Mahisa by Goddess Durga.

Work information
Tyeb Mehta (1925)

# Mahisasura # c. 1997 # Signed, titled and dated on reverse: TYEB 97 'MAHISASURA' Acrylic on canvas;
Signed, dated and inscribed on stretcher # Acrylic on canvas # 59 x 47¼ in
The Rajiv Chaudhuri collection
Appeared in the Indian and southeast Asian art held on 21/09/05 at NY
Sold for USD 1,584,000

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You can't please them all by Bhupen Khakhar
Amongst India’s finest and most sensitive artists, Khakhar’s You can’t please them all was a monumental statement, offering an autobiographical insight for the viewer into his life. Though there was a tendency to slot his works into the stereotypical ‘homosexual’ category, his practice combined irreverence with a rare honesty which gave his works a powerful and contemporary edge.

Work Information
Bhupen Khakhar (1934 - 2003)
You can't please them all # c. 1982 # Oil on canvas # 69" x 69"
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Bombay Buccaneer by Atul dodiya
Dodiya is amongst the leading artists who heralded the contemporary Indian art movement – not following trends but finding their own voice and expression. His work is rooted and affected by events. Bombay Buccaneer was a result of introspection and questioning the validity of his own practice.

Work Information
Atul Dodiya (1959)
The Bombay Buccaneer # c. 1994 # Oil, acrylic and wood on canvas
The Chester and Davida Herwitz Collection, PEM
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Battle of Ganga and Jamuna: Mahabharata 12 by M F Husain
This seminal work was part of a body of 29 canvases exhibited at the 11th Bienal de Sao Paulo. It marked Husain’s first interpretation of the Mahabharata which he revisited again in 1983 & ‘90. This particular title was the cover lot in the historic Herwitz Collection sale of c. 2000 conducted by Sotheby’s.

Work information
Maqbool Fida Husain (1915)
Battle of Ganga and Jamuna: Mahabharata 12 # c. 1971
Signed 'Husain 72½'; signed again in Hindi (lower left); signed 'Husain 72½'; signed again in Hindi
Oil on canvas - diptych # 74¾ x 107¾ in
Originally from The Chester and Davida Herwitz Collection.
Appeared in the Sotheby's South Asian modern + contemporary art, 20/03/08
Sold for USD 1,609,000
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Titian’s Grandfather by F N Souza
A brilliant draughtsman, Souza’s portraits of the powerful are in my estimate the most collectable from amongst his preferred subjects. They powerfully rendered the hypocrisy and duality of the elite – expensive dressage which does little to conceal their wretched reality. Titian’s Grandfather is an epitome of Souza’s exceptional practice: brutal lines and demonized human studies.

Work information
Francis Newton Souza (1924 - 2002)
Titian`s Grandfather # c. 1955 # Oil on board # 48 x 41 in
Signed and dated in English (upper right and verso)
Appeared in the Saffronart Winter Auction 2007
Sold for USD 591,500
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The Petro Angel series by Riyas Komu
The Petro Angel series comprises 6 large-format canvases which were presented at the 52nd Venice Biennale. These works capture an Iranian actress (from ‘Circle’, directed by Jafar Panahi) in a pensive, contemplative mood. This body of work is a strong comment on the world and times we live in. The female protagonist faces multiple hardships and a defined dual-challenge: that of being a woman in an Islamic nation; which is ravaged by internal strife and turmoil.

Work information
Riyas Komu (1971)
Designated March by a "Petro Angel" # c. 2006 # Oil on canvas
6 panels, 70.9 x 70.9 in. each
Displayed at the Arsenale at the 52nd Venice Biennale.
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The Universal recipient series by Jitish kallat
This series by Kallat, who is amongst the most prodigious contemporaries present the portraits of Indian men, which carry a potent duality. His subject is the everyman whose drab existence you can read off his appearance yet the presentation is bright and celebratory in tone. A powerful body of work, these along with a selection of installations and paperwork were part of his first solo exhibition with the Haunch of Venison in Zurich in 2008.