Notes from the Studio/Lab: - Encounters with Art and Science

December 19, 2022 Lee Hendrickson

Photography of Crystals

December 2022

LEVITATION-Crystalline phenylethylamine (from chocolate
grown in Dixeebe, Oaxacan mezcal) -NEW!

NEWS FROM THE STUDIO/LAB:
WHAT'S TRENDING IN PHOTOGRAPHY OF CRYSTALS

Dreaming of a white Christmas? No snow in the immediate forecast here in the Sonoran Desert, but surprisingly Phoenix has actually seen snow on Christmas day. A grand total of three times. A trace of snow was recorded on Christmas Day in 1911, 1916, and again in 1974, so we are obviously overdue. Local lore also has it that Irving Berlin wrote the lyrics to “White Christmas” while lounging poolside at Phoenix's Arizona Biltmore Resort and Spa.

Watching snow on television is about as close as I care to come to the white stuff. Of course, snow isn't white at all. If we take a look at a snowflake under the microscope, you'll see that it's clear. So why then does snow appear white? The reason is, that when sunlight strikes that snowy scene on Christmas morning, it is reflected and refracted off the infinite crystalline facets. The different wavelengths that make up white light separate into the different colors of the spectrum due to refraction but then reflect back, recombining to create a white winter wonderland.

After having grown up shoveling snow in the brutally cold Chicago winters, I'm okay with just a trace of the clear stuff every fifty years or so. Stay warm and Happy Holidays!

"Art is one of the few careers without a mandatory retirement age." — Julia Cameron -author

- Goodyear Mayor Joe Pizillo and the Artist

A big shout out to all who attended my artist reception at the Goodyear Civic Center on October 20th. Thank you so much for stopping by. This was my first opportunity to meet Goodyear Mayor Joe Pizillo, and we had a great discussion about the future of Goodyear and the role of art and artists in our growing community.

I also want to thank all those who stopped by the booth at the recent Kierland Art and Wine Festival and the Litchfield Park Arts Festival. And finally, to those who braved the elements at the unseasonably wet and cold Tempe Festival of the Arts, my humble thanks. The weather may have been miserable but the show was great!

-Tempe Festival of the Arts 2022

Next up, the Arizona Fine Art Expo begins on Thursday, January 12th with the VIP Reception to which you are cordially invited (Please RSVP with me if you would like to attend this special event). The show officially opens to the public the following day, Friday, January 13th and continues through March 26th, 10-6pm daily, and is located under the white tents on the SW corner of Jomax and Scottsdale Rd, Scottsdale, AZ. Be sure to mark it on your calendar and plan a visit. Here is a link for more info on the Arizona Fine Art Expo.

LEE"S UPCOMING EVENTS

January 13-March 26, 2023 Arizona Fine Art Expo -Scottsdale, AZ
January 31, 2023 Hot Coffee Arts Lecture -Goodyear, AZ
February 4 and 5, 2023 Kierland Arts Festival -Scottsdale, AZ
January 31, 2023 Hot Coffee Arts Lecture -Goodyear, AZ
April 7 & 8, 2023 St. George Arts Festival -St. George, UT (TBD)
June 23-25, 2023 Utah Arts Festival -Salt Lake City, UT (TBD)

SCIENCE AND ART
ARTHRITIS, STOMACH ACHES, AND ART

When the arthritis in Anna Moses' hands reached the point where it was just too painful to continue doing her needlepoint, she started painting. It was 1927, and Anna, finally had a little free time, but those embroidered landscapes she loved doing were no longer possible. With no formal art training, she just painted what she knew best, how she knew best, often using matchsticks and knitting needles to apply the paint when she didn't have brushes fine enough for a particular task.

She entered a couple of her recently completed paintings in the local county fair in her hometown in upstate New York. She also entered her jams and pickles into the judging. Her canned goods took home several first place ribbons, but her paintings failed to attract much attention.

Anna's paintings eventually found a home at the local drug store, where they collected dust for the better two years, until Louis Caldor seeking relief for a stomach ache, stopped by the store. Caldor, a New York City inventor and part-time art collector, saw Anna's paintings and was smitten. He bought all she had on exhibit and, after arranging to meet with Anna the next day, bought up her remaining inventory.

Caldor soon found a gallery in New York City that agreed to a one-woman exhibition of Anna's work. Her paintings were a huge hit. The press dubbed her "Grandma Moses," and Anna, now 78 years old, was about to put it into another gear. Grandma Moses' bucolic scenes of rural life and holiday festivities had struck a nostalgic chord in a world still reeling from WWII. She displayed a keen eye for the beauty of nature and a deep appreciation for the comfort of home and community, and the power of tradition.

She went on to produce over 2000 paintings during the next 21 years, arthritis and all. She appeared on television, on the cover of Vogue and Time magazines, and exhibited in galleries and museums worldwide. Hallmark was to print over 50 million Christmas cards featuring her winter scenes during her lifetime.

Like so many artists before and after her, Grandma Moses had to overcome disability and a lack of both artistic opportunity and acceptance. When she passed away in 1961 at the age of 101, she had left an endearing legacy, not only of her art but of her tenacity and optimism.

Time Magazine -December 28, 1953

“I look back on my life like a good day's work, it was done and I feel satisfied with it. I was happy and contented, I knew nothing better and made the best out of what life offered. And life is what we make it, always has been, always will be.” - Grandma Moses