Happy Friday to you,
You are almost at the weekend finish line. This week I have had that cold that I expect lots of you have had too as it seems to be making the rounds, I hope those of you are sick feel better soon! On the up side, it gave me some time to look over photos and sketches and take stock of my trip. I have printed so many photos and stuck them on my studio wall to try and mentally digest the colours and ideas. Today I would love to show you some of the geothermal wonders I saw…
Geothermal Hot Springs
If you haven’t ever seen a Geyser, I recommend checking the video out above (00.53). It’s a mad geological phenomenon and there are only 1000 in the whole world. I love them because they are a story rage and fury ;)
What are they? A geyser is a vent in the earth’s surface that erupts water and steam.
How do they work? A bit like in a percolator or a kettle - water heats up below the ground when it meets a magma chamber. However, unlike your percolator or kettle, the water is frustrated and pressure builds up because it wants to turn into steam, but cool groundwater above it is preventing that. The battle between the temperatures of water build up until eventually, the temperature is high enough and it erupts out of the ground in rage and victory.
On our last day we went to the Haukadalur site in the South, where according to historical writings from 1294, the geysers were activated by earthquakes. Only one geyser was giving a performance that day (every 10-12 minutes). But as you can see, it was a good one! All around the site were roped-off trickles of steams marked ‘100 degrees, cross at your own risk.’ Sounds painful, no thanks.
Side note- To make the eruptions more reliable, soap was pumped into the geysers in 1981, which damaged the geysers long term activity. Oops :( But, Stokkur still erupts to heights of 30 meters!
Artwork inspired by the geothermal sites is still in the early hatching stage, if you have any ideas though, I’d love to hear them :)
Painting With Drops Of Water: David Bayo
I recently discovered a French artist called David Bayo who paints with water on paper first before dropping ink on the page. The results are so beautiful and minimalist, if you have 2:25s to kill, this will transport you in a magical land for a few moments…
Artwork Of The Week: Jagged Ground
This week I finished this painting, I used texture paste and sand and started working with some green tones. One painting down, many more to come ;)
Thank you for reading and wishing you all a wonderful weekend,
Lydia x