EPHEMERA -Photomicrograph of crystalline THCA found in Cannabis. -NEW!
NOTES FROM THE VASHON STUDIO/LAB:
As the halcyon days of summer on Vashon Island wind down, and splashes of fall color begin to appear along the road to town, my studio/lab has been buzzing with new experiments. Recently I’ve been exploring the fascinating challenge of turning crystal growth into moving pictures. Some of these “crystal movies” unfold over many hours, captured as time-lapse sequences that require multiple overnight exposures. Others happen in real time, where the crystalline patterns expand and shift before your eyes.
It’s a steep learning curve—balancing light, focus, and the unpredictability of crystal formation—but it’s also exhilarating. These short films feel like windows into a hidden world, and once I refine the technical side, I can’t wait to share them with you. For me, it’s another way to celebrate the ever-changing beauty of crystals and bring the marriage of art and science into motion.
Cheers,
Lee
Vashon Island — August 2025
BIG NEWS: Photography of Crystals has been selected as part of the permanent art collection located in the new residence hall at the Herberger Institute of Design and Art, Arizona State University in Tempe, AZ, opening this fall (2025), and I’m honored that my work will have a lasting home in such a vibrant, creative community.
WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM MY FRIENDS:
A big thank-you to those who left reviews this past month—your feedback means the world to me. While only a handful came in, they were all ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐, which is deeply gratifying. If you’ve collected a piece of my artwork and haven’t yet shared your thoughts, I’d love to hear from you. Your words not only help me grow but also guide new collectors in discovering the work.
VALLEY VIEW -Photomicrograph of crystalline tartaric acid found in wine. -NEW!
“I found I could say things with color and shapes that I couldn't say any other way--things I had no words for.” -Georgia O'Keeffe
GARDEN PARTY -Photomicrograph of crystalline THCA found in Cannabis. -NEW!
ART AND SCIENCE:
Chickens and Art through the Ages
"You must temper your colors always with yolk of egg,” Cennino Cennini instructed in his craftsman’s manual, Il Libro dell’Arte o Trattato della Pittura (The Book of the Art of Cennino Cennini), “[and] always as much yolk as of the colors which you temper with it.”
We all know that fresh eggs have a relatively brief shelf life but mixed with color pigments and painted onto a wood panel, they can last close to 2,000 years. Although Cennini's is the oldest recorded recipe for how to make egg tempera and is believed to have been written around the turn of the 15th century, its use is thought to go back to the artwork of ancient Egyptians.
What remains elusive is the science behind egg tempera's most endearing quality, the fact that paintings made so long ago still maintain their bright colors. When researchers from the Sorbonne University in Paris studied the chemistry behind the mixture they showed that the pigment colors form bonds with the proteins in the egg yolk -creating a flexible network on drying. Combined with its quick drying time and translucent qualities, it was a must have in the Renaissance artist's studio.
Although egg tempera was gradually replaced by paints made with linseed oil as the emulsifier, chickens did make an artistic comeback after a couple hundred years with the advent of photography.
Albumen prints, first introduced in 1850 by Louis Désiré Blanquart-Evrard, marked a turning point in 19th-century photography. The process relied on egg whites—coated onto paper, combined with salt, and then sensitized with silver nitrate—to create a surface capable of holding remarkable image detail. When exposed to light, these treated sheets produced photographs with a depth of tone and clarity that earlier methods couldn’t match. For more than fifty years, albumen printing remained the standard of the photographic world.
My personal homage to our feathered friends-of-the-arts is a small black and white photo I took of a white egg on a white background. It was required to create and submit this challenging photographic subject as part of my application portfolio for admission into photography school. Fortunately, I didn't crack under the pressure.
LOOKING AHEAD
While I’ll miss seeing many of you in person at art shows (with the exception of a few shows here on the island) this shift allows for deeper focus and more creativity. You’ll continue to see regular updates in this newsletter, on my Instagram and Facebook pages, and of course on the website.
If you’ve ever thought about adding another piece—or introducing someone else to this unique intersection of art and science—now is a perfect time. Your support is what keeps this journey going.
Thanks as always for being part of it.
—Lee
|
|
