Turquoise Ice

Today was another winter walk in the tundra that is Minnesota in January. It happened to be the frozen falls at Minnehaha today. There is still a single stream coming over the top that trickles down the slope of what becomes a mammoth cauliflower iceberg over the course of our fierce winters. I have seen it year after year.

However this year I am taking notice of the particular shade of the ice mounds. I have seen an earlier article about the incredible Turquoise Ice Shards at Lake Baikal in the Siberian glacial area of Russia. There, because of the pureness of the water, the depth of the lake and the wild winds that whip into their season - it creates dams of literal turquoise blocks that are more gemlike than liquid. It was formed as a rift valley where the underlying plates of the Amurian and North China faults shifted and pulled away from each other leaving a huge chasm. It continues to shift to the point of adding a 1/2 inch to the Lake each year. It is also home to huge biodiversity because of hydrothermal vents at its bottom which release heat from the earth's core and high levels of oxygen. Because of this purity, the water freezes into a unique blue shade. These shards of ice are called "hummocks."

 

So I know our Minnesota rivers are not nearly as pure and perfect. But I was asking the question of how we are also able to see those beautiful shades of lavender, seafoam and aquamarine? The answer was easy to a scientist, but somewhat lost on me and my understanding of light rays and the spectrum of color absorption! In simple terms; Water, like other matter absorbs light and the color reflected back is perceived by our eyes to be a shade of blue. Somehow in the process of freezing into both snow and ice, the water becomes fragmented (as in a snowflake) and scatters back light to us which then appears in shades of white rather than the absorbed blue. Even in smooth ice cube trays, there are enough bubbles that it no longer reads to us as blue anymore. BUT, as ice becomes thicker and more dense, it obviously becomes heavy as well. As the pressure squeezes out those imperfections, it allows the light transmissions to begin again, and thus starts to show those magical shades of blue.

This is what are noticed on Lake Baikal and any large glaciers that you see in the polar caps. We are just given a very rare glimpse of these tones in the gift of a frozen waterfall here in Minnesota. And now you know more.

 

Sargent - the Master

It was just pointed out to me that today is the birth date of John Singer Sargent, infamous American Impressionist painter. Anyone with an interest in curated art will know his works, but even those without an inkling of art history can appreciate the incredible depth of his work. Over a century before our current AI generated portraits, he was shaking up society with his individual take of what a "classic" capture of a face looked like.

I first stumbled onto him in a framing store on Hennepin Ave that no longer exists. It was his controversial portrait of Madame X that remains the focal point of our foyer in a spotlight on a bright melon wall. It is stunning. The subject was French socialite Virginie Amélie Avegno Gautreau and was exhibited at the Paris Salon of 1884. What made it so provocative at the time were her very pale white shoulders on a bare torso. But amplifying it even more, was that he had painted her right shoulder strap slipping down her arm. People lauded the work, but he was chastised for the indiscretion on a society woman, so the portrait has very obvious markings where the shoulder strap was repainted - aligned on her collarbone to right the wrong. 

One of my many favorite traits of his works is the unmistakable lighting in a Sargent work. They seem to glow. It is both the way he captures sunlight and also the highlights & colors that he uses. The second works that drew me to him were seen at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. There was one called the Birthday Party with a very young child blowing out the candles on a cake. And also in Repose, a lovely female figure sprawled on a big sofa in what appeared layers of taffeta. 

Another unique detail is the attention to texture on background patterns. Fabrics, foliage, wallpaper. He starts with tiny strokes of color and detail - then as the portrait frames out, they become broad splashes of those same shades that then blur. Almost like a filter on an Instagram post.

His claim to fame are his portraits, both in Europe as well as the US, particularly Boston. But he also conquered lovely works in his Venetian and Spanish watercolors. His imprint on the city of Boston are huge murals all over the Public Library as well as other landmarks. Many aren't aware that he also dabbled in sculpture and even some architecture. There are catalogues of his drawings of many of his gay male models, one inspiration being handsome Black model Thomas Eugene McKeller whose figure is manifested in many of his mural works.

This year I was so very fortunate to see huge amounts of his work. A trip to Boston was so rewarding with his massive galleries there at the Isabella Gardener Museum. HIs El Jaleo is a masterpiece in motion and takes up an entire wall in its own room. Then we luckily timed our visit in Washington DC to an extensive showing of his Spanish works. As beautiful as his paintings are in tabletop books (of which I have many), there is nothing like seeing them spring to life in person. The colors, the strokes, the angle of the light and glow of twilight in his garden works, and the expression he captures in every face. He is indeed a Master. If you don't know his incredible legacy, find one of his works in a museum and it will be evident.

In Awe of Man in the High Castle

Since we are starting into the "Awards" season, there are many limited series that have completely taken me in over many years. Six Feet Under and Pushing Daisies are two that continue to percolate in my mind long after I have finished them. But Man in the High Castle certainly sits there among the best of them. I am NOT a binge watcher and like to take time to revisit them and let them expose themselves to me over time. With this one, I was late to the game to start with. And it has taken me a good 18 months to invest in 4 epic Seasons of the show. I am still a few episodes away from the ultimate reveal. But damn, if I don't have to take a breather and just talk about each show after I am finished with it.

The premise for the show examines what our country could/ would have become if WW II had ended much differently. It takes our American landscape with the West Coast occupied by the Japanese with their headquarters in San Francisco & the East Coast controlled by the German Reich based in New York City which has been rechristened New Berlin. In between, the Rocky Mountains operate as a Neutral Zone where renegades from the old states operate in clandestine sects. Throughout the course of the show, there are these mysterious films that emerge to show other possible outcomes where neither side actually wins. Over the course of its arc, it becomes clearer how the movies foreshadow. Japan remains staunch in their culture and traditions. Germany is resolute to be the pioneer in all technological and artistic advances. Even at the inhumane cost of purging all other races.

Let me state that so often media does not translate the written word well. In this case, the novel on which this is based is so far surpassed by this crew of screenwriters. The book featured the mainstay of the characters but was based more on the assimilation of US citizens into their cultures and the blackmail market of Americana artifacts. The political aspect was there, but not to the extent the series provokes it. Talk about a culture clash! It explores not only Japanese and Nazi cultures, but also American idealism where all three are willing to succeed at all costs. The entire scope of the show is political and spirals around courage, sacrifice and a hunger for power. 

I love literature that takes history and then commingles it with fiction. I have admired the work of Michener, Leon Uris and Doctorow for those reasons. I am currently reading All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr which also takes place during the struggle of WW II. High Castle takes the macro of a global setting and plays it out in the heavy reality of small but important lives.

For starters, they pack so much content into an hour, it takes time to process each chapter when I am done with it. It is not that they move too quickly; it is just that the density of the time period and the material is sprawling. It is written with purpose and there are no supporting characters here. Every role introduced has a major stake revealed over time. And each one is not 2 dimensional - but a deep character that is somehow ensnared with inner and outward struggles based on the world in which they live. Even more so - each one is not guaranteed a reward. Spoiler alert - the writers have no qualms about eliminating a major actor regardless of the size of the role. Those are the harsh consequences of the world they are all living in. As it spirals out of control in Season 4, it gets more convoluted but also richer. We see it play out in the next generations based on the faults of their parents and the racial outrage ignites to impact even more cultures. This list of both writers and episode directors is massive which speaks to the depth of the storyboards. It could have been a calamity with no consistency, but instead is a wealth of detail.

Too much to digest. Why yes! It is a slow burn that haunts. Tell me if you do not agree. Skip the current list of "must watches" and pull this one up for a chilling winter binge.