Happy Fourth of July!

Fourth of July is a holiday traditionally celebrated with fireworks. And fireworks come in many forms. Colorful explosions of flowers. Vibrant crayon drawings. And corn!

This is glass gem corn, a heritage variety cultivated by Oklahoma farmer Carl “White Eagle” Barnes.

Photo and story found at Seedbroadcast

Seed-keeper Carl was half-Cherokee, half Scottish-Irish, and in the course of growing older corn varieties he was able to isolate and cultivate ancestral types that had been lost to various Native tribes after their relocation to the Oklahoma territory in the 1880s. Carl’s philosophy: “The Seed Remembers.”

I stand in a radiant Glory

My roots in the heart of Mother Earth

My crown in the clouds of Father Sky

The Four Winds encircle me in spirals of Love

One going up, then down

One going down, then up

They meet in the Center of Complete Perfection—

The Human Stalk of Corn

—Carl Barnes

Buggy beauty

Fueled by a concern for nature and a scientific curiosity, Japanese artist Hiroshi Shinno creates ikimono (life/living) sculptures of imaginary insects out of metal and resin. Shinno intends for these fantastical forms to remind us of the wondrous variety that is found in the natural world. Even insectophobes have got to be onboard with that!

Shinno keeps an Insect Diary, in which he sketches ideas for future works. Take a look!

Floral magic

Arcadia, CA artist Craig P. Burroughs uses ultraviolet-induced visible fluorescence photography to capture what the human eye fails to see: the longer wavelengths of light certain plants reflect.

The result?

Supernatural beauty!

Behold the Bee Balm blossom, in all its fluorescent glory.

The Blanket Flower, baring its true colors.

Hawthorne flowers, plainly prismatic.

Ice Plant realness.

And the Kangaroo’s Paw, bold and beautiful.

Take a look at more of Craig P. Burrows’ incredible photography. You’ll never see the world the same!

All photos © Craig P. Burrows

Outsider art

Scottish sculptor Andy Goldsworthy heads into nature to create works of art by arranging leaves, sticks, rocks, and ice into dazzling patterns.

His art is transient. Wind can blow it away. Movement can scatter it. Heat can melt it. But for a short, precious time it brings beauty, order, and innovation to the wilderness.

“When I make something, it may vanish, but it’s part of the history of those places,” he says.

See more of Andy Goldsworthy’s amazing art here. And check out his books. They would make wonderful holiday presents!

Ageless art

Australian Aboriginal artist Loongkoonan was born in a time and place where births of native people were not recorded, but estimates she was born somewhere around the year 1910, which makes her 105 years old or so. She took up painting in her 90s as a way to keep busy!

Her art is inspired by her Aboriginal upbringing and the many years she spent exploring her country on foot. Traditional Aboriginal art uses dots of paint to record memories and knowledge.

Loongkoonan has created around 380 works, using acrylic paints on canvas and linen, during her career and shows no signs of slowing down. Bringing beauty and joy into the world is an ageless pursuit!

To learn more about Loongkoonan and her Aboriginal heritage, visit mashable.com, where these pics are from!

Happy Easter!

Bringing its A game to this year’s Easter festivities is…

the Automeris larra caterpillar, from South America!

Photo © Marco Fischer

This one gets all the Easter colors in one festive package…and isn’t afraid of showing it off.

Later, it brings it down a notch, changing from an eye-popping caterpillar to ride out the Spring as a simply  stunning moth. Well done, Automeris larra!

Image found at Wikipedia

Spring has sprung

Today is the vernal equinox in the Northern Hemisphere, meaning it’s the first day of spring.

Look around. Everything’s bursting into color. Oh, and the flowers are coming up, too!

Glory of the season

By now, most trees have dropped their colorful autumn foliage, but few have done it as beautifully as this 1,400-year-old Gingko tree in China’s Gu Guanyin Buddhist Temple. Believed to have been planted during the Tang Dynasty (618-907), this tree is now big enough to rule the fall with a deluge of brilliant gold.

Show-offs can be a drag, but this magnificent tree is a shining exception. Let’s hope it tries to top itself next year!

Photos found at My Modern Met

Happy Easter!

Easter colors, and one of my favorite flowers. Happy Easter, everyone!

Tiny majesty

When we think of beach sand, most of us think of this.

Photo found at the Banzai Surf School.

Nice! But nothing special.

But microscope photographer Dr. Gary Greenberg knows what beach sand REALLY looks like. This!

Pictured below, a collection of magnified beach sand from Maui, Hawaii resembles booty from a pirate’s treasure chest.

Sand grains from Okinawa, Japan include starry skeletons of single-celled foraminifera.

And these microscopic shells once housed microscopic snails.

So the next time you see a sand castle, remember, it’s a trove of microscopic riches!