Invisible Rainbow Forest / Baskets of Light

Ice abstracts, confections made of ice, and beads, and light. . . .

It had not been that cold overnight, so my morning ice was thin and spindly. We brought in two different ice pieces from outdoors: the cat's round stainless steel water bowl on the front porch, and the square Pyrex bowl that we use to put water out for the birds.

Both were mostly water, with just a very brief layer of ice. The ice was crystalline and clear and shiny, but it disappeared quickly. My first set of ice, from the cat's bowl, had irregular edges that looked like trees to me, but maybe invisible trees. They lit up nicely with the colors of the beads. So above is what I am calling my invisible rainbow forest.  :-)

The second piece, from the square Pyrex bowl, had a nice, sturdy ice layer on top, with some crystals beneath. But my crystals along the edges were melting quickly, and crumbling under my fingers as I touched it. A photographer must move very fast at times like these!

I dumped out the water, grabbed the top ice layer, turned it over, put beads beneath it, and then quickly tossed all of my crumbling crystals on top. I snapped a number of photos that in the end reminded me of those Renaissance paintings of bowls of things - vegetables, flowers, maybe - but in this case, all of my items were made of light. So in the extras you may see one of my photos of what I am calling a basket full of light.

We need some tunes, and here are two. My husband asked for this one: Jethro Tull, with Skating Away on the Thin Ice of a New Day. And here is one I picked, that I heard first on Criminal Minds: Allman Brown, with Ancient Light.