Crepuscular Rays

Spotlight by Jo Bradford

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It is interesting that the Ancient Greeks believed that sunbeams drew water into the sky (an early description of evaporation) and so they called this phenomena sun drawing water. Looking at this picture I took recently, you can see why they might have thought that!

These sunbeams are technically called Crepuscular rays. Rays of sunlight that appear to radiate from a single point in the sky. These rays stream through gaps in clouds the columns of sunlit air are separated by darker cloud-shadowed regions. The name comes from their frequent occurrences during crepuscular hours (those around dawn and dusk), when the contrasts between light and dark are the most obvious.

Paradise In A Dream

...Sometimes members of the public at large commit random acts of kindness that really make this artists day... for example, these lines were some of the snippets of classic poetry that were left under some of my art in my Dawanda Gallery today, by a lady called Gerdi, who is a crafter, art buyer and poetry lover from Münich, Germany. I thought I would pass it on.......

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"If a man could pass through Paradise in a dream,

and have a flower presented to him

as a pledge that his soul had really been there,

and if he found that flower in his hand when he awake -

Aye, what then?"

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~Samuel Taylor Coleridge~

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p.s. Gerdi has a Dawanda shop called HoneyfromThe Hive where she sells lovely little lavender posie pockets and handmade bags.

The Evening Beam that Smiles the Clouds Away

Evening Beam by Jo Bradford

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“Be thou the rainbow in the storms of life.

The evening beam that smiles the clouds away,

and tints tomorrow with prophetic ray.”

~ Lord Byron ~

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I guess that you may be starting to know me well enough by now, that you will know that I am an incurable romantic and arduous fan of Byrons words.

And the winner is.........

Build Me Up Buttercup by Jo Bradford

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All the names went into my wide brimmed sun hat yesterday, and a name was duly drawn. Congratulations go out to LittleLovelies, the lucky winner of my April Pay-It-Forward Free Art Giveaway.

Nadine of LittleLovelies chose "Build Me Up Buttercup" as her favourite picture in my Etsy shop and so I am glad to make her wish come true. She can now look forward to receiving her artwork, usually priced $30 in my online shop, hand printed by me at Green Island Studios on beautiful fine art watercolour paper.

I look forward to hearing how Nadine plans to continue to pay-it-forward herself. And as I have enjoyed being part of this pay-it-forward thing so much, I think I will do another one soon. It seems like a good idea to just start generating pay-it-forwards for the pure pleasure of it, sending them out round the planet bringing happiness and good cheer, and more importantly, to encourage others to get involved in paying good fortune forward wherever they can.

Contented Me Feature

Thanks to the Chicago based interior design and fashion inspiration blog, Contented Me for featuring my Spring Greens picture today.

Contented Me is packed full of wonderful inspirations from interior designer Kristin.

I wholeheartedly recommend you stop by and look at all the lovely things she has found and shared, I am definitely inspired!!

Deeply Inserted into Existence

Beneath the Trees by Jo Bradford

I am reminded today of the wisdom of John Berger.
Bergers' writings were required reading for my photography degree many moons ago, yet much of what he says still resonates with me as I roam the world armed with my camera....
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“That we find a poppy beautiful means that we are less alone,
that we are more deeply inserted into existence
than the course of a single life would lead us to believe.”
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Thanks to Dava, who featured Green Island Studios as one of her Etsy shops of the week, on her blog "Treasures From Hawaii" today.

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In the Olive Grove

In The Olive Grove ~ by Jo Bradford

The memory of lying in the dappled sunshine in the Olive groves of the Andalucian Mountains taking these pictures is still fresh in my mind... {sigh}

This is the newest listing in my Etsy shop

Dialogues with Flowers

Nuance by Jo Bradford
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The artist is the confidant of nature, flowers carry on dialogues with her through the graceful bending of their stems and the harmoniously tinted nuances of their blossoms,

Every flower has a cordial word which nature directs towards her.

~ Auguste Rodin ~

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A Cordial Word - By Jo Bradford
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Well I can hardly believe that May is knocking on the door already, time is flying by in 2009!
These are a some of the brand new pictures in my Etsy shop today.
Enjoy
xoxo

Auguries of Innocence

Heaven in a Wildflower ~ by Jo Bradford

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"To see a World in a Grain of Sand

And a Heaven in a Wild Flower,

Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand

And Eternity in an hour. "

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Poetry taken from "Auguries of Innocence" by William Blake

Creature Of Craft Feature

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Thanks to Jenny Mackintosh of the lovely Creature of Craft blog located in the Greater Boston area of the United States Of America. She just me know that she featured one of my Green Island Art pieces in her blog post today, "Etsy Wonders Wednesday".

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Creature Of Craft is a great place to see some inspirational art and craft work, it's a blog about crafts, the people behind them, and the insights that Jenny gains on her own crafting journey.

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Check it out, it's well worth a visit!!

Earth Day 2009

Earthrise by Jo Bradford

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Happy Earth Day!!

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This is one of my recent luminograms (a.k.a. light paintings) which I make in my darkroom by filtering coloured lights, and then painting with the remaining colours directly onto light sensitive photographic paper.

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The resulting visual art is located somewhere between photography and painting as it borrows heavily from both practices but results in something altogether different.

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This work is part of an ongoing series of work made over the past five years called Constructing Space, which explores the way we receive information about space images and space science.

High in Andalucia

Cortijo by Jo Bradford

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I have been high in the hills of Andalucia for a while, visiting my Mum.

Days filled with sunbathing by the pool, walking in the mountains, shopping in the old cobbled streets, and of course, taking hundreds of photos.

In April, the Cortijos (farmhouses) are surrounded by fields of wildflowers, which carpet the floor between the olive trees, such a beautiful sight.

Free Giveaway from Green Island Studios...

The free print giveaway I am hosting this month is gathering names daily.

If your name is not down yet and you want a chance to be entered into the free prize draw then click here to be transported by the magic of the wonderful web to the sign up place.

Almond Blossom

Almond Blossom by Jo Bradford

My Mum lives in the Andalucian Hills with views across the sea to Africa. Her home is high up on a hilltop and the slopes of her mountain top home are thick with almond and olive groves.

When the Almonds are in full blossom, the wonderful scent hangs thick in the warm Spanish evening air, as the birds and the bees buzz around gleefully collecting their pollen and nectar.

FREE GIVEAWAY

Blue Beach Days by Jo Bradford

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Here's your chance to WIN one of my giclee prints for free!!

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I got lucky today, as I was one of the fortunate people to win a prize of a free print in the Kate Boyce giveaway. In return she asks that the winners of her prints "pay it forward". For those of you not familiar with this concept....
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pay_it_forward ...

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All you have to do to be in with a chance of winning any one of the 8"x8" prints in my shop is to have a look through my Etsy store and see which is your favourite print, then leave me a comment here telling me which one you would like to win and keep your fingers crossed for a result. I will draw a name out of a hat on the 1st May.


I will send the lucky Winner one of my prints and in return I would love it if you decide to continue to do the "pay it forward" thing and do something yourself to Pay It Forward to some other lucky folk out there in the big wide world, but that's totally up to you.
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Sea Pinks by Jo Bradford