TRANSFORMATION -Crystalline THC from cannabis
NEWS FROM THE STUDIO/LAB:
WHAT'S TRENDING IN PHOTOGRAPHY OF CRYSTALS
WHAT'S TRENDING IN PHOTOGRAPHY OF CRYSTALS
I am excited and very pleased to announce that I have been named Phoenix Magazine's: Best of the Valley 2022 in the categories of Best Artist and Best Photographer.
It is truly an honor to have taken home not one, but two first-place awards in the 2022 Reader's Poll and my most heartfelt thanks go out to all the wonderful folks who voted. Ten semi-finalists were chosen in each category during the nomination phase in April before the final voting began in early May 2022.
I am so grateful to have such a loyal and supportive following for my photography of crystals and I want you to know that you all get my vote for being the best as well.
It is truly an honor to have taken home not one, but two first-place awards in the 2022 Reader's Poll and my most heartfelt thanks go out to all the wonderful folks who voted. Ten semi-finalists were chosen in each category during the nomination phase in April before the final voting began in early May 2022.
I am so grateful to have such a loyal and supportive following for my photography of crystals and I want you to know that you all get my vote for being the best as well.
“You can't depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus.” -Mark Twain
MIRACLES-Crystalline THC from cannabis
ART AND SCIENCE: ARTISTIC VISION -MONET'S CATARACTS
It was 1912, and Claude Monet had a problem. It wasn't artistic recognition, and it certainly wasn't money, for he was not lacking for either. This master of light and color and the founding father of Impressionism was slowly, inexorably, going blind.
When writing to a friend, he despaired that he was “...no longer capable of doing anything good…Now I’m almost blind and I’m having to abandon work altogether.” Monet was suffering from cataracts, and the prognosis in the early 20th century was anything but reassuring.
CLAUDE MONET -Giverny, France
Cataracts are the result of the clouding of the normally clear lens of the eye. The result is a blurred, darkened and often discolored view of the world. Monet complained to a friend that ‘colors no longer had the same intensity for me’, and that ‘my painting was getting more and more darkened.’ To avoid choosing the wrong colors, he started to carefully label his tubes of paint and keep a strict order on his palette.
With his condition worsening, Monet traveled to London to consult the opthalmologist Richard Liebreich. Liebreich himself had a keen interest in art and had published an article on the effect of eye disease on the painter J.M.W. Turner. Dr. Liebreich recommended cataract surgery. Monet refused.
His hesitancy is understandable; surgical success was far from guaranteed, with numerous complications and a long and uncomfortable post-operative recovery. Monet was also aware that his fellow Impressionist painter Mary Cassatt had undergone five such operations with no relief and had been forced to stop painting entirely.
Finally relenting, he underwent surgery on his right eye in 1922, and after a long and difficult recovery, he was painting again by the fall of 1923, but Monet’s confidence was shaken. An overall blue cast replaced the yellow cast the cataract had caused to his world. He proposed entirely giving up the government commission he was preparing for display in the Musée L’Orangerie. Fortunately for us all, his sight recovered enough to return to painting, and he completed the panels destined to become some of the most influential artworks of the 20th century.
Musée de l’Orangerie -Paris, France
My most recent eye exam revealed the same issue confounding Monet in 1912. A cataract has become a problem in one eye, most likely triggered by a torn retina ten years ago. Although any comparison with Monet ends there, my use of camera and microscope as tools of my trade requires a finely tuned focus and at least a passing ability at color recognition, so repair work will be needed.
Fortunately, cataract surgery has come a long way since Monet's time. Today's procedure allows for removing the offending lens and replacing it with a new clear lens, with one's vision likely to return better than it has ever been. I can only imagine what new creative visions and discoveries await.
When writing to a friend, he despaired that he was “...no longer capable of doing anything good…Now I’m almost blind and I’m having to abandon work altogether.” Monet was suffering from cataracts, and the prognosis in the early 20th century was anything but reassuring.
CLAUDE MONET -Giverny, France
Cataracts are the result of the clouding of the normally clear lens of the eye. The result is a blurred, darkened and often discolored view of the world. Monet complained to a friend that ‘colors no longer had the same intensity for me’, and that ‘my painting was getting more and more darkened.’ To avoid choosing the wrong colors, he started to carefully label his tubes of paint and keep a strict order on his palette.
With his condition worsening, Monet traveled to London to consult the opthalmologist Richard Liebreich. Liebreich himself had a keen interest in art and had published an article on the effect of eye disease on the painter J.M.W. Turner. Dr. Liebreich recommended cataract surgery. Monet refused.
His hesitancy is understandable; surgical success was far from guaranteed, with numerous complications and a long and uncomfortable post-operative recovery. Monet was also aware that his fellow Impressionist painter Mary Cassatt had undergone five such operations with no relief and had been forced to stop painting entirely.
Finally relenting, he underwent surgery on his right eye in 1922, and after a long and difficult recovery, he was painting again by the fall of 1923, but Monet’s confidence was shaken. An overall blue cast replaced the yellow cast the cataract had caused to his world. He proposed entirely giving up the government commission he was preparing for display in the Musée L’Orangerie. Fortunately for us all, his sight recovered enough to return to painting, and he completed the panels destined to become some of the most influential artworks of the 20th century.
Musée de l’Orangerie -Paris, France
My most recent eye exam revealed the same issue confounding Monet in 1912. A cataract has become a problem in one eye, most likely triggered by a torn retina ten years ago. Although any comparison with Monet ends there, my use of camera and microscope as tools of my trade requires a finely tuned focus and at least a passing ability at color recognition, so repair work will be needed.
Fortunately, cataract surgery has come a long way since Monet's time. Today's procedure allows for removing the offending lens and replacing it with a new clear lens, with one's vision likely to return better than it has ever been. I can only imagine what new creative visions and discoveries await.
