Midday at Jones Creek
by Phil Chadwick
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Dimensions
14.000 x 11.000 x 1.000 inches
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Title
Midday at Jones Creek
Artist
Phil Chadwick
Medium
Painting - Oil On Canvas
Description
After completing #0959 "Jones Creek Morning", I simply turned around and faced into the sun. I had to keep moving my easel to keep sunlight on the canvas so that I could see the colours. The shadows down the slope and across the flat areas are what interested me.
A few of these snow flea rascals ended up in the painting. I tried my best to blow them off the paint but some stuck. These bugs were all over the place! Officially these snow fleas are hypogastrura nivicola, a species of dark blue springtail.
On any given summer day, hundreds of thousands of springtails can populate one cubic meter of top soil; at 1-2 mm, they largely go unnoticed by people. In the winter, however, two species of dark blue springtails— Hypogastrura harveyi and Hypogastrura nivicol—can be easily spotted against the white backdrop of snow. These hexapods may have acquired the nickname of snow fleas due to their ability to jump great distances, a feat fleas boast as well. Whereas fleas use enlarged hind legs, springtails have a tail-like appendage called a furcula that unfolds to launch the hexapods great distances. But unlike fleas, springtails are not parasites; they feed on decaying organic matter in the soil (such as leaf litter) and, therefore, play an important part in natural decomposition. Snow fleas in particular are able to withstand the bitter temperatures of winter thanks to a "glycine-rich antifreeze protein," as reported in a study published in Biophysical Journal. The protein in the snow fleas binds to ice crystals as they start to form, preventing the crystals from growing larger.
As the day warmed up, the crusty snow changed and was no longer strong enough to support my weight. I had lots of places to stick my brushes though! Tinydark hypogastrura nivicol covered the snow as well as my palette.
Uploaded
April 6th, 2016
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Comments (1)
Susan Esbensen
Amazingly beautiful! I love the texture the snow fleas added to your canvas Phil!
Phil Chadwick replied:
Thank you Susan... the painting is choked full of snow fleas... there was no saving them :>))
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