He was not the greatest artist in the world, nor the greatest writer, but in mixing, mashing, mauling, manipulating, masticating, mutilating, and mystificating a moderate mastery of both, he was able to charm the socks off children, parents, and teachers alike for the better part of two generations. His name was Theodor Seuss Geisel. And since his father always wanted him to become a doctor, he wrote under the name, Dr. Seuss, preferring to save his "real" name for more serious literary efforts. He needed have bothered. There never was a more serious literary goal than teaching young people to love to read. And even today, nearly ten years after his death, he's still the best-selling author of children's books in the world.
The good doctor of juvenile letters was born in 1904 in Springfield, Massachusetts, the son of the curator of the Forest Park Zoo. There's no record that the zoo ever housed Grinches, Yertles, or cats wearing hats, but there's little doubt young Theodor was intimately familiar with their zoological inspirations. Giesel graduated from Dartmouth in 1925 and immediately set sail for Oxford hoping to satisfy the dreams of his father in acquiring a doctorate in literature. Instead he met and married a Miss Helen Palmer before returning to the US to work as a cartoonist and writer for "Judge" magazine (kind of a 1930s version of 'Mad"). His work also found it's way into more upscale versions of "Life," "Vanity Fair," and "Liberty."
In 1936, while on the boat to Europe for a vacation, Geisel became fascinated by the rhythm of the ship's engines. He wrote his first book, "And to Think That I saw It on Mulberry Street." The book was published in 1937, having gone through rejection by no less than FORTY-THREE publishers (other sources set the count at 29) before a friend put up the money to see it printed. It didn't make any bestseller lists but enjoyed moderate success. The war years saw Geisel working in Hollywood for Frank Capra's Signal Corps Unit where he won a Legion of Merit and two "Oscars" for such blockbusters as "Hitler Lives" and "Design for Death," both documentaries for the military. His cartoon, Gerald McBoing-Boing also won him an "Oscar."
Dr. Seuss' first big success in publishing came in 1954 when he became aware of just how BORING most children's book of the day really were. Using a list of 223 Dolch Reading List words, he penned the words and illustrations for his immortal "Cat in the Hat." It was an instant success. In 1960, in response to a bet from humorist, Bennett Cerf, that he couldn't write a book using only fifty words, Seuss cooked up a batch of "Green Eggs and Ham." Cerf welshed on the bet. No matter, Dr. Seuss didn't need the money. A Pulitzer Prize in 1984 and a total of forty-four children's books to his credit pretty well cemented him a place in the literary hall of fame. Fortunately for all the parents and others who have had to read them aloud, the books of Theodor Seuss Geisel are loaded with grown-up wit and satire set to a catchy, if somewhat quirky, rhythm that fascinates at least through the twentieth reading. I know. I've used them dozens of times in the elementary classroom, reading aloud while my meditating munchkin moppets mull their own manifestations of Seuss' sagacious sonnets.


Chapter VI - Visual Characteristics of the Piedmont Savanna
Unfortunately, no pictorial images of the Piedmont savanna landscape are
known to survive from the colonial period. Colonial art work dealt mainly
with identifying and categorizing detailed aspects of the flora and fauna,
not with the landscape as a whole (Weekley 3). In such illustrations by
Bartram, Catesby, White and others, landscapes occasionally appear as background;
however none of them were found to be Piedmont landscapes. Artistic exploration
of southern landscapes in paintings did not begin until after settlement.
Therefore, recreating an image of the savannas will depend on the written
accounts of explorers, visual attributes of remnant eastern North American
savannas, and the ecology already discussed in Chapter V.
Early explorers seem to have found the Piedmont savanna a "salubrious"
environment, much to their liking. Other adjectives they used in describing
Piedmont savannas include pleasant, fine, beautiful, charming, rich, and
desirable. Such an appreciation may have been due to reasons similar to
those discussed in the section on landscape preference, although there were
also other motives. In a time well before the advent of modern medicine,
peoples of the seventeenth, eighteenth and nineteenth centuries struggled
continually with diseases and epidemics. Low, wet, warm environments, where
air did not circulate, were justly considered unhealthy and undesirable.
The "good" air of the open woodlands and savannas of the elevated Piedmont
presented a wholesome and preferable climate:
The Countrey here, though high, is level, and for the most part a rich
soyl, as I judged by the growth of the Trees; yet where it is inhabited
by Indians, it lies open in spacious Plains, and is blessed with very healthful
Air,... (Lederer 24)
Besides their healthy quality, savannas also presented a bucolic aspect,
easily recognizable to European arrivals. Foote recreates the scene in North
Extensive tracts of country between the Yadkin and the Catawba, now waving
with thrifty forests, then were covered with tall grass, with scarce a bush
or shrub, looking at first view as if immense grazing farms had been at
once abandoned, the houses disappearing, and the abundant grass luxuriating
in its native wildness and beauty, the wild herds wandering at pleasure,
and nature rejoicing in undisturbed quietness. (Foote 189)
Perhaps it is best summed up by Bartram as "a beautiful landscape diversified
with groves and lawns." (313)
Some Midwestern savannas provide a glimpse of the potential appearance
of the presettlement Piedmont savanna. As fire-dependent communities, Midwestern
savannas are scarce in today's landscape, so their current appearance may
only be a shadow of the past. Perhaps it would be appropriate to keep in
mind James Fenimore Cooper's description when viewing these remnants:
Although wooded, it was not as the American forest is wont to grow, with
tall straight trees towering towards the light, but with intervals between
the low oaks that were scattered profusely over the view, and with much
of that air of negligence that one is apt to see in grounds, where art is
made to assume the character of nature. ...the variety is produced by their
distribution. In places they stand with a regularity resembling that of
an orchard; then, again, they are more scattered and less formal, while
wide breadths of the land are occasionally seen in which they stand in copses,
with vacant spaces, that bear no small affinity to artificial lawns, being
covered with verdure. (Cooper 10-11)
In the lower Piedmont, pine may have dominated many savanna landscapes.
Visual representations of these savannas might be found in images of pine
savannas in the Coastal Plain and Sand Hills or even in the managed pine
woodlands of the Piedmont National Forests.
Figure 6.1 Oak Savanna at Illinois Beach State Park (photo by author).
Figure 6.2 Pine savanna near Thomson, Georgia (photo by author 1997).
Figure 6.3 Burkes Mountain savanna (photo by author, 1997).
Figure 6.4 Post oak savanna in near Edgefield, South Carolina (photo by
Within the Piedmont, there are only a couple of modern "natural" landscapes
that may possess the visual characteristics of the former savannas. Burkes
Mountain (Figure 6.3), a very rare community, offers some of the aesthetically
preferred appearance of savanna structure in a Piedmont setting. The post
oak savanna in Saluda County (Figure 6.4) is also representative, though
it is undergoing restoration and will take many years to fully regain the
visual characteristics once common in the Piedmont.
While the presettlement Piedmont savanna was not by any means an undisturbed
landscape, it could be seen, when compared to today's levels of disturbance,
as a "natural landscape". In his 1966 paper "Aesthetics of the Natural Environment,"
Dasmann identifies four characteristics typical of an undisturbed landscape
that contribute to our perception of beauty: order, diversity, health, and
function (Morrison 168). Holding these up to the Piedmont savanna gives
support to its description as aesthetically preferable. In the Piedmont
savanna order is provided by the graminoid stratum; diversity is provided
by the variations of topography, drifts of ground layer vegetation and by
the various arrangements of canopy vegetation; health, attested to by explorers,
is evidenced in the lush growth of cane and grasses and the "salubrious
breezes"; and function is shown by the abundance of animal life preferring
its edge-like environment.
Patterns and Structure
The potential appearance or visual characteristics of the Piedmont savanna
can be revealed by examining its patterns (distribution) and structure (form).
Potential relationships and specific characteristics can be examined at
both a larger landscape scale and at a finer community and species scale.
Figure 6.5 Burkes Mountain, 1941 and 1967 (USDA JO 3B 08, USDA JO 4HH 78).
Persistence over time as a topo-edaphic climax savanna community is demonstrated
where, on the upper south slope of the hill, almost the same density of
cover occurs in 1967 as in 1941. A personal exploration of the site found
similar cover present in 1997.
Landscape Patterns and Structure
Much understanding of the potential "natural design" of the Piedmont savanna
can be discovered by examining its horizontal patterns and structure at
a landscape scale. Such an examination will describe relationships and changes
in canopy vegetation distribution over the landscape as it relates to topography.
As an example, the horizontal distribution patterns of the blackjack oak
savanna on Burkes Mountain (Figure 6.5) can be observed in aerial photographs.
A table and corresponding illustration (Figures 6.6 and 6.7) have been
drawn to describe Piedmont savanna canopy distribution based on the major
controlling factors of topographic setting, soil condition, and fire regimen
as informed by this thesis. Figure 6.8 is a section representing the vertical
structure the canopy might have across a given landscape. While the information
on the table and illustrations reflects a summarization of research and
not quantitative analysis, it does offer a logical comprehensive cross section
of potential savanna landscape situations throughout the Piedmont.
Usually, well defined edges would be hard to find in the savanna, since
grassland and forest patterns grade into each other gently. For instance,
tallgrass prairie can grade for many miles through thickening oak savannas
before it becomes woodland. Abrupt boundaries, however, might be found along
rivers and places of rapid soil or topographic change (Risser et al.115).
It seems reasonable that edge definition would be weakest on flat or gently
rolling uplands of the Piedmont savanna where few sharp changes in topography
or soil take place.
The patterns of canebrakes in the landscape would have expanded and contracted
with the moist soils along drainage ways. They might have merged imperceptibly,
or transitioned sharply into meadow or woodland. The definition of canebrake
edges would have depended on soil moisture change and patterns of fire.
Whether related more to soil conditions or the play of fire on the landscape,
tree distribution in the Piedmont savanna could be described as having taken
the form of a few scattered individuals, groves of various sizes, peninsular
incursions into open space, or more or less evenly distributed trees. These
various scenarios can be seen as they relate to various topographical and
pedological conditions in Figure 6.7.
Vegetation distribution patterns often corresponded with vegetation structure
across the landscape. Figure 6.8 illustrates this relationship. The stunted,
potentially very old, low trees on uplands seen by Byrd and Hawkins appeared
primarily as scattered individuals or groves. Better developed "high forest"
trees, such as pines and white oaks, were probably more evenly distributed
on lowlands or uplands with better soil. The Revolutionary War Battle of
Cowpens in South Carolina was fought in such a savanna landscape. Actual
battle documentation can be interpreted to show in Figure 6.9 about 16 trees
with 50 ft diameter canopies just touching to occupy one acre (Westmacott
9). Where Indian agriculture opened large patches of tall lowland forests,
remaining trees would be distributed as the groves and forest appendages
often described by Bartram. Grove formations, whether short and stunted
or tall and full, would have been a key element in the aesthetic richness
of the Piedmont savanna, and are highly valued aesthetically by many people.
Many place names in the Piedmont, though not necessarily all of settlement
origin, include the word "grove," usually preceded by "oak" or "pine," and
many old farm houses can be found situated amidst groves of sometimes even
Horizontal Patterns Of The Presettlement Piedmont
Vegetation distribution related to; soil condition, fire frequency, and
The table used is drawn from conclusions made in this thesis and is organized
according to the major controlling factors of topographic setting, soil
condition, and fire regimen. It offers a generalized comprehensive cross
section of savanna landscape situations throughout the Piedmont.
Figure 6.6 Vegetation canopy distribution table.
Horizontal Patterns Of The Presettlement Piedmont
Vegetation distribution related to; soil condition, fire frequency, and
Illustration is keyed to Figure 6.6
Figure 6.7 Vegetation canopy distribution illustration.
Vertical Structure Of The Presettlement Piedmont
Vegetation structure related to; soil condition, fire frequency, and topography.
Illustration is keyed to Figure 6.6
Figure 6.8 Vegetation structure illustration.
Figure 6.9 Sixteen canopies just touching in one acre.
Figure 6.10 Grove near Ila, Georgia (photo by author)
Community Patterns and Structure
Darrel Morrison in Landscape Restoration in Response to Previous Disturbance
(169, 170) describes unique aesthetic characteristics which are typical
to the tall grass prairie ground plane which may serve as a model for the
Piedmont savanna. These characteristics include lines, texture and movement,
color, drifts, and edges. Lines, texture, and movement are evidenced in
the abundant grasses: vertical to arching lines are prevalent; there is
a fine textural quality; and movement is seen in the wavelike motion of
grasses, both symbolically and in breezy conditions. Of color, the stratum
of grasses provide a background of bright greens in the spring, to yellowish
to blue-greens in the summer, to tan, bronze, and purplish tones in the
fall and winter. Within this framework flowering forbs provide flecks of
mainly pastel colors: pinks, blues, yellows, and whites in the spring and
more dramatic golds and purples later in the season. Drifts, resulting from
microenvironmental conditions such as soil texture and moisture, and plant
reproductive strategies such as wind blown seed (Morrison, Landscape 170)
reflect the gradation of dominance of one or another species through a given
area. Edges, for similar reasons, reflect a more rapid transition from one
dominant species type to another. For instance, the "drift" of dandelions
in one's lawn reflects the prevailing westerly wind blowing them from their
source in the neighbor's weed patch; but their inability to sprout in the
driveway creates an edge. In the Piedmont savanna drifts and edges might
be revealed as purplish "drifts" of big blue stem, and as canebrakes edging
a stream. Drifting patterns of color and texture seen in the prairie (Figure
6. 11) demonstrate the patterns once found in the savanna ground layer.
Figure 6.11 Drifts of prairie flowers in a pasture near Flint, Michigan
(photo by author).
In a given plant community, certain species have a visual presence that
defines the essence of the community (Morrison, Landscape 164). Early explorers
made descriptions of Piedmont savannas that often referred to particularly
remarkable species. While their descriptions are informative, however, they
were made in the spirit of landscape as commodity, so it cannot be assumed
that the species most remarkable to them were "visual essence" species.
Even Bartram's descriptions, which are much concerned with species diversity,
do not necessarily reveal "visual essence" species. Hawkins, in descriptions
of the Black Belt Prairie and the western end of the Piedmont, reveals the
relatedness of visually key species and the commodity of rich land while
also providing a starting point for determining visual characteristic:
In the wooded parts the growth is generally post oak, and very large,
without any under brush, beautifully set in clumps. Here the soil is a dark
clay, covered with long grass and weeds, which indicate a rich soil. (Hawkins
The growth of timber is oak, hickory, and the short leaf pine; pea-vine
on the hill sides and in the bottoms, and a tall, broad leaf, rich grass,
on the richest land. The whole is a very desirable country. (Hawkins 20)
With tall grass prairie as a model for the savanna ground plane, it may
be reasonable to assume that the seed stems of the bluestems, broom sedge,
Indian grass, and plume grasses might be considered "visual essence" species
in the fall and winter season, while Baptisia and other forbs might visually
dominate the early growing season and Helianthus the later season. Of course
different species, such as switchgrass, Joe Pye weed and cane would have
been visually dominant in lower, moister savannas.
Trees of any species would be visually important to the savanna because
of their contrasting relationship to the grassy ground plane. Which canopy
species were of a greater "visual essence" might depend on the type of savanna
and the time of year. Longleaf pine would obviously visually dominate the
longleaf savannas. In situations where oaks are mixed in with pines, pines
might dominate in the winter as evergreens. On the other hand, where post
and blackjack oak occurred they may have been visually important, especially
in the winter, due to their unique branching pattern.
Tree form is particularly important in the savannas, since trees are set
off and strongly contrasted by the grassy ground plane. Generally savanna
tree form would reflect development in a full sun environment, meaning savanna
trees would have a more open, spreading form than trees of forest habitats.
Trees unable to grow above the reach of fire would have a perpetual bushy
look, while trees able to mature and grow old in spite of the disturbances
of the savanna environment may have taken on unique characteristics. For
example, on the glady, steep slopes and poor soils of the Ozark Plateau,
post oaks dominate the canopy. These stunted, ancient, trees (up to 300
years old) are characterized by twisted trunks, dead tops and branches,
exposed root collars, hollow voids, few thick limbs, leaning trunks, branch
stubs, irregular bark, and fire and lightning scars (Stahle 334). It is
unclear if post oaks dominating much of the Piedmont savanna were able to
reach such ages, but it does not seem unlikely. In some ways the low oaks
of Piedmont upland savannas may have resembled the burr oaks of the Midwest.
The trees were of very uniform size, being little taller than pear trees,
which they resemble a good deal in form; and having trunks that rarely attain
two feet in diameter. (Cooper 10-11)
That trees of upland Piedmont savanna settings did not reach great size
is suggested in many explorers' descriptions. Hawkins many times refers
to the upland trees, including oak, hickory, and shortleaf pine, as "all
of them small" (19), while Byrd also describes trees "fit for little but
fuel and fence-rails." (284) Coincidentally, The Audubon Society Field Guide
To North American Trees describes the uses for post oak and blackjack oak
as posts and cross ties (Little 367, 409). While Hawkins' oaks, hickories
and shortleaf pines did not attain great size, the long leaf and loblolly
pine stands along the lower Piedmont uplands probably did. These open pine
forests may have displayed a "sameness and uniformity of appearance" (Wells
116-117) as their many straight unbranched trunks marched unobscured into
the distance. Lowland trees were probably also quite tall and
Figure 6.12 Savanna tree forms. well developed, except where forest succession
over old Indian fields was relatively young. In an open plain of the Oconee
river valley, Bartram describes a "flourishing grove" as an "appendage of
the high forest we had passed through" (307).
It is quite possible and probable that savanna trees were generally "limbed
up" to some extent by browsers and/or fire. Deer may have contributed greatly
to creating a browse line with the help of buffalo. A discussion with Dr.
Frank Golley of the University of Georgia Institute of Ecology supports
personal observations as to the sometimes well- defined browse zone of deer.
Such a browse zone would probably not have been as pronounced as those seen
today where cattle, grazing and browsing intensively in pastures, create
a very clean line of open understory at about six feet (Westmacott 14).
This is in part because browsing pressures may not have been as high where
fences did not restrict movement of herds and because buffalo may have been,
as they are on the plains, primarily grazers. Also, deer can stand on their
hind legs to reach higher branches, thus reducing the likelihood of a very
clean line. Fire also may have somewhat randomly killed lower limbs, as
it seems to do in young modern pine stands.
Other Visual Characteristics
In general, the open landscape of the undulating Piedmont savanna offered
both wide and long prospects. In the open woods of the Cowpens Battlefield
soldiers could be seen at a distance of 500 yards (Westmacott 9) while "prairies"
of North Carolina offered virtually unobstructed views. Bartram encountered
many vistas in his fall line travels and even described a prospect reaching
"to the utmost of sight" (316). In contrast to the forest view, savanna
openness provides ability to read the often undulating topography, to view
distant features, to perceive atmospheric perspective, and to see a great
deal more of the sky and its displays. The relationship to landscape preference
that such a prospect affords is included in the discussion in Chapter III
regarding the studies by Kaplan and Kaplan and Appleton's theories.
The Play of Light
The play of light on savanna surfaces and through the savanna atmosphere
is greatly enhanced due to the openness of the environment. Two lighting
effects, one warm and one cool, are of particular importance in enhancing
the visual aspect of the savanna. The first, spoken of often by Bartram
as "illumined green fields" (307), happens when the sun is low in the morning
and evening. The resulting effect is strongly back-lit bright yellow-green
grasses contrasting with the dark shadows of tree trunks, limbs, and leaves
and the dark shapes of limbless tree trunks. Second and equally important
is the effect of light passing through moisture in the atmosphere. Viewed
over the distances found in the savannas, objects such as receding clumps
of trees appear hazier or bluer as more moisture-laden atmosphere comes
between the objects and the viewer. All things considered, the visual effects
once found in the Piedmont savanna constitute a landscape that would appeal
strongly to our human aesthetic disposition.
Figure 6.13 Dark trunks and backlit grass at Illinois Beach State Park
savanna, Illinois (photo by author).
back to top


Hydrogen in metals attracts interest from scientists since many decades. It influences the properties of various materials significantly, which is essential for almost all industrial technologies. One of its features that fascinates scientists is: it can enter the molten metal and remain in it after solidification.
Only one hydrogen atom per hundreds of thousands of metal atoms is enough, whereas other impurities can cause some harm in much higher concentrations.
But there is a problem, a small concentration of hydrogen is difficult to fix, thus often gets difficult to directly measure its content in metals, especially its distribution within micron-thick metal layers. Commonly indirect measurements are used, in particular, the time of saturation with hydrogen is normalized.
Scientists from Peter the Great St.Petersburg Polytechnic University, along with the Institute of Problems of Mechanical Engineering of the Russian Academy of Sciences, have examined the distribution of hydrogen in metals in the process of standard testing for hydrogen cracking.
Their outcomes demonstrate that there is a surface effect that does not let hydrogen enter the metal. Thus, it causes errors in industrial quality control of material, and to fundamental errors in terms of scientific research of hydrogen embrittlement.
Construction materials are tested before use under hydrogen saturation conditions. The most common ones are the electrochemical saturation of metal samples in an electrolyte solution and saturation in a neutral salt solution while passing hydrogen sulfide. It is usually considered that these methods provide universal saturation of the samples similar to natural conditions.
Scientists wanted to check if this is true. For that purpose, they conducted the study on a highly sensitive industrial mass spectrometric hydrogen analyzer.
The analyzer detected the surface effect.
It based on the fact that an abnormally high concentration of hydrogen arises in the thin layer of metal at the surface of the sample, which is hundreds of times higher than the internal hydrogen concentration. This surface layer of metal, with a thickness of about 50 microns, creates a kind of a “shield” that prevents the entering of hydrogen into the metal. A theoretical model was also developed in terms of the mathematical description of this phenomenon.
Vladimir Polyansky, professor of SPbPU said, “This is a new look at the industrial testing of the hydrogen resistance of metals, applied in many standardized methods of quality control. It turns out that it is not equivalent to the actual hydrogen saturation that occurs during metal part exploitation. This causes errors in evaluating metals properties. It is important to understand that modern high-strength alloys are highly sensitive to the influence of hydrogen, so additional testing and the development of new methods of industrial testing are required.”
“We plan to study how much the surface effect we discovered is manifested in real constructions subject under thermomechanical loads, and what is the relationship between model hydrogen saturation and the brittleness of metals that occurs during real industrial exploitation.”
The finding was published in the International Journal of Continuum Mechanics and Thermodynamics. The Russian Science Foundation grant supported this research.


Every fall and winter, windstorms cause extensive damage, including the loss of electricity throughout the Pacific Northwest. By taking action now, you can save lives and reduce the damage caused by windstorms and other weather-related hazards.
What to do before a windstorm
- Contact your local emergency management office or the National Weather Service to find out what types of storms are most likely to occur in your community.
- Assemble a disaster supply kit.
- If you have a home generator, make sure you know how to use it safely. Follow all instructions and contact the vendor, if necessary. Improper use of a generator can cause carbon monoxide poisoning.
- Find out who in your area might need special assistance, such as the elderly, disabled, and non-English speaking neighbors.
- Check with your veterinarian for animal care instructions in an emergency situation.
- If you live on a coastal or inland shoreline, be familiar with evacuation routes.
- Know what emergency plans are in place at your workplace, school and daycare center.
- Conduct a home safety evaluation to find out which nearby trees could fall in windstorm.
- If you have an electric garage door opener, locate the manual override.
What to do during a windstorm
- Don't panic. Take quick action to protect yourself and help others.
- Turn off the stove if you're cooking when the power goes out, and turn off natural gas appliances.
- Never use a gas stove for heat.
- Never burn charcoal indoors.
- Never us a generator indoors or in a garage or carport.
- If you are indoors, move away from windows or objects that could fall. Go to lower floors in multi-story homes.
- If you are outdoors, move into a building. Avoid downed electric power lines, utility poles and trees.
- If you are driving, pull off the road and stop away from trees. If possible, walk into a safe building. Avoid overpasses, power lines and other hazards.
- Listen to your radio for emergency instructions.
What to do after a windstorm
- Check yourself and those around you for injuries.
- Evacuate damaged buildings. Do not re-enter until declared safe by authorities.
- Call 9-1-1 only to report a life threatening emergency.
- If you smell gas or hear a hissing sound indoors — open windows and leave the building. Turn off the gas source and call your gas company. Do not use matches, candles, open flames or electric switches indoors.
- If the power goes out, keep refrigerator and freezer doors closed to keep food frozen for up to two days.
- Provide assistance to your neighbors, especially the elderly or disabled.
- Try to make contact with your out-of-area phone contact, but avoid making local telephone calls.
- Monitor your portable or weather radio for instructions or an official "all clear" notice. Radio stations will broadcast what to do, the location of emergency shelters, medical aid stations, and the extent of damage.
Other languages (All files are PDF.)
DOH Pub 821-042
Revised - March 2008


Shastradhara Hevajra | Hevajra Main Page
Subjects, Topics & Types:
- Shastradhara Hevajra Description (below)
Shastradhara (weapon holding) Hevajra is described in the Samputa Tantra - a shared explanatory Tantra of the Hevajra Root Tantra. Aside from the Samputa Tantra, the most common reference and ritual source for the Shastradhara form of Hevajra is the Vajravali text of Abhayakaragupta.
The only difference in the appearance of this Hevajra is that the Shastradhara form (Samputa Tantra) holds a variety of weapons and the more common form of Hevajra (Hevajra Tantra) holds sixteen skullcups containing a variety of animals and gods. (See Hevajra Forms).
There are two main differences between the Hevajra Tantra form of the deity and the Samputa Tantra form of the deity. The first difference is the mandala configuration where the Hevajra Tantra version is called a nine deity mandala and the Samputa version is a seventeen deity mandala. In both cases the Hevajra and Nairatmya figures at the center are counted as one. In the Samputa Tantra, to account for the larger mandala size, eight additional retinue figures are described: four door keepers and four intermediate direction figures. Second, the retinue goddesses in the Hevajra Tantra each have two arms. In the Samputa Tantra the goddesses have four arms each.
The principal Tantric practice of Marpa Chokyi Lodro (1012-1096) is said to have been the deity Hevajra and specifically the Shastradhara form. The Shastradhara form was available through other sources of lineage transmission in Tibet and the Himalayas prior to the introduction of the Vajravali text in the 13th century.
See the essential components of a Hevajra mandala with numbered and labeled figures and colour coded sections.
Jeff Watt 8-2010 [updated 9-2017]


French engraver and draughtsman. Jacques Callot went to Italy when he was in his teens and, working in Rome and then in Florence at the court of the Grand Duke Cosimc II (1590-1621), he learned to combine the sophisticated techniques and exaggerations of late Mannerism with witty and acute observation into a brilliantly expressive idiom. Returning to France in 1621 he became one of the chief exponents of the bizarre and grotesque which came into vogue in the reign of Louis XIII (1601-43). Most of the remainder of his career was spent in his native Nancy, but he also worked in Paris and the Low Countries. He made a specialty of beggars and deformities, characters from the picaresque novel and the Italian commedia dell'arte. In this respect he comes close to Bellange, also active in Nancy, but Callot's style was more realistic. His last great work, the series of etchings entitled the Grandes Miséres de la Guerre followed the invasion of Lorraine by Car Richelieu in 1633, and is a harrowing depiction the atrocities of war; its themes and imagery were used as a source by Goya. His output was prodigious; more than a thousand Callot etchings and drawings by him are extant, and some of his plates are large, featuring scores of brilliantly arranged figures. Jacques Callot was one of the greatest of all etchers and one of the first major creative artists to work exclusively in the graphic arts.


FRANÇOIS DECORCHEMONT (1880-1971)
François Décorchemont was born on May 26, 1880. His father was a sculptor and an art teacher at the National School of Decorative Arts. His mother was from an artist family, so naturally François Décorchemont was interested about art. In 1900, he graduated from the National School of Decorative Arts. Ceramic and color fascinated him. He realized many objects in molten glass that brought him fame . Painter, ceramist , glassworker , he created all of his works, from drawing to finishing.
He developed in the early twentieth century the art of fine glass paste, thick and translucent. He also invented a new material, the molten crystal.
As a Christian in his village’s church, which had beautiful stained glass windows of the Renaissance, he had the idea to apply his technique to the art of stained glass in the 1930s . After few panels, in 1935, Décorchemont received a huge order and must perform 300 square meters of stained glass windows for the church Sainte- Odile in Paris. The windows of the church of Saint Odile did not bring him lots of money, but allowed him to be recognized as a master glassmaker. He later received numerous orders for churches in the department of Eure, whose windows had been destroyed during the war.
His work where aesthetics extol, is characterized by a minimalist design, with simple lines and luster, transparency and brightness of colors.


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of this people group.
Map Source: People Group data: Omid. Map geography: UNESCO / GMI. Map Design: Joshua Project
|People Name:||Saryara (Muslim traditions)|
|Christian Adherents:||0.00 %|
|Online Audio NT:||No|
|People Cluster:||South Asia Muslim - other|
|Affinity Bloc:||South Asian Peoples|
Most Saryara people of India are Hindus by faith. A small group of the Saryara converted to Islam during the days of the Muslim based Mughal Empire. The Saryara claim Rajput status. Yet at the same time they have been granted a Scheduled Caste designation. This allows them to obtain public jobs and special university admission.
The primary language of the Muslim Saryara is Kashmiri. Many also speak Urdu, which allows them to communicate with millions of Indians and Pakistani.
Unlike their Hindu counterpart, the Muslim Saryara live in both Pakistan and India. Most live in Jammu and Kashmir, in northern India.
The Saryara were traditionally a community of agricultural laborers, and many are still involved in their traditional occupation. Many more are now employed in the construction industry.
The Muslim Saryara marry within their group but not within their particular clan. Families arrange marriages. A man may have up to four wives if he can support them.
Sons inherit property upon the death of their father. Most Saryara live in multi-caste villages in their own sections.
The main foods of the Saryara are wheat, lentils, vegetables, maize and dairy products. As Muslims, they will not eat pork.
Muslim Saryara people are Sunni, the largest branch of Islam. They believe that the One, Supreme God, Allah, spoke through his prophet, Mohammed, and taught mankind how to live a righteous life through the Koran and the Hadith. To live a righteous life, you must utter the Shahada (a statement of faith), pray five times a day facing Mecca, fast from sunup to sundown during the month of Ramadan, give alms to the poor, and make a pilgrimage to Mecca if you have the means. Muslims are prohibited from drinking alcohol, eating pork, gambling, stealing, slandering, and making idols. They gather for corporate prayer on Friday afternoons at a mosque, their place of worship.
The Saryara need to see people living out their faith in Christ in practical ways. They need access to modern medicine. Illiteracy is high among Saryara women. The Saryara would benefit by learning new job skills. Most of all, the Muslim Saryara need to hear and respond to the message of Isa or Jesus Christ. He alone can forgive their sins and get them right with the one, true God.
Pray for networks of believing Saryara families and fellowships that will throw the doors open for others to follow Jesus.
Pray for the Lord to bless the families among the Saryara people with his presence and mercy.
Pray for believers among this people group to disciple others who will disciple still others.
Pray for Bible believing fellowships and churches among the Saryara people.


Cape Dorset is located in Nunavut on West Baffin Island with only 1300 inhabitants. Nevertheless, for over 50 years the city has one of Canada’s most productive art environments. In the city is the atelier Kinngait, which is the inuit name of Cape Dorset. The art of this exhibition comes from this workshop.
Arctic animals and nature are the traditional motifs that characterize the art of Cape Dorset, but most often with a graphic expression; stylization, interpretation or a distortion. The motives are immediate and with color surfaces to accommodate the graphic technique, which creates both thoughtful distortions and romantic stylizations of the motifs.
The studio in Cape Dorset was founded on an idea of James Houston, an artist and Canadian government’s Northern Service Officer.
In 1957 he and some Inuitian men began working on experimental presses, and on a trip to Japan Houston studied woodcut and was inspired by the process of translating an artist’s drawing for a professional printmaker. He brought this model back to Cape Dorset, but instead of carving in wood it was implemented in a local material and the carving in stone. Through the years other printing techniques were included – stencil, mono print, lithography etc.
Each artwork from Cape Dorset has 2 artists behind it. An artist creates an original drawing. The studio selects which drawings are best suited for printing. A printer (the other artist) transfers the drawing to an appropriate printing technique.
The graphic work was an art form which Houston thought lay in direct extension of the inuitian craftsmanship with the carving in bones, rocks and teeth as technique, as one could work in the artwork to a higher artistic level and sell outside Cape Dorset; not as tourist art or souvenirs, but targeted toward art world galleries.
Same ides was used at the art school, Kunstskolen, in Nuuk, which was founded in 1975 called Grafisk Værksted (Graphic Workshop) with the graphic work as a turning point and with Cape Dorset as a model.
In 1959, the printmaking studios, which today are atelier Kinngait, was established. Since 1959 a print collection has been published annually. In 1979 the studio received a marketing department and currently has galleries outside Cape Dorset.


To his great excitement, Lartigue discovered color photography at the age of 17, first through the technique invented by Lippmann, and later through another marketed by the Lumière brothers, Auguste and Louis. “Monsieur Aubert [my math teacher] showed me a color photo! I nearly became dizzy thinking about my photos. If only I could make them that way… “.
The following year, he did just that: he took his first photographs with his Nettel 6 x 13 Autochrome camera. “Before, whenever a photograph was too pretty or the weather was too beautiful, it almost made me sick, with a mixture of wonder and desperation. But this morning I have color plates, ‘Autochromes.’ I set up my tripod and my camera in front of the large, motionless trees in the blue haze, and I’m happy! As well as completely calm … ” (Diary, July 1913).
But his happiness at being able to “seize color” was mitigated by the weight of the device, which requires a relatively long exposure time and therefore the use of a tripod. Lartigue abandoned the Autochrome process and stopped taking color images in 1927, taking it up again when newer color techniques appeared in the 1950s.


fourth and last of the Genoese Wars with Venice,
called the War of Chioggia, Genoa assembled a powerful host of allies.
The King of Hungary, having previously wrested control of Dalmatia from
Venice, gave sanctuary and support to the Genoese fleet. By 1379 the
Hungarians also threatened Venice by land from the north. At the same
time the forces of Padua, under Carrara leadership,
cut off Venice's communications to the west. By miscalculation, the
Venetians had dispatched one of their large fleets on an expedition
to raid and harass Genoese shipping and installations in the eastern
Mediterranean, leaving Venice itself with greatly reduced defensive
and unexpectedly, the Genoese fleet appeared and established a blockade
of the entrances to the Venetian lagoon. By mid-August 1379 the Genoese,
Hungarians and Paduans had Venice encircled. Attacking swiftly at
the south end of the lagoon, Genoa brought her fleet into the channels
of the lagoon and, with her allies, stormed and captured the major
settlement at Chioggia. The capture and sacking of Venice seemed just
one step away. Curiously, however, the Venetians soon exposed the
assault on Chioggia as a fateful error that would lead to disaster
for the Genoese.
of darkness on December 22, 1379, the Venetians, after launching a
diversionary attack on Chioggia, managed to sink obstructions closing
every channel by which the Genoese fleet might escape from the cul-de-sac
at Chioggia. The Venetian galley fleet that had been on a raiding
expedition in the Mediterranean returned to Venice January 1, 1380;
suddenly it was the Genoese who were encircled. Months of skirmishes
ensued as the Genoese sought desperately to clear the barricades in
the channels and the Venetians to defend them. Finally, in June 1380
the entire Genoese fleet -- near starvation -- surrendered.
Venetian's fabulous victory at Chioggia, the peace treaty signed at
Turin in the following year favored the Genoese. Venice's prize was
not victory, but survival.


When it comes to digital production for animated movies and games, one of the most essential production processes focuses on how to add stylistic yet accurate details to your digital assets – from the characters to the environment and objects that will be in the animated feature. That process is known as Look Development and this article will give you an in-depth review of the process and what it entails.
What is Look Development?
Look development is the process of giving the final appearance or style to art production, like a video game or animated movie. Look development is essentially about “developing the look” of the characters, assets, and scenarios included in the production.
The main purpose of this process is to create a consistent look and style for your characters, environments and props throughout a film or video game to give you an idea of how they will look on screen. Essentially, look development helps give to models in an animated feature the final look and feel concept artists had initially established for the whole production.
Differences between Look Development in 2D and 3D
Modern animated features come in different varieties, one of which is the medium – 2D and 3D. Because of the differences in medium, the look development process also differs in both cases. Below, we are going to analyze the various elements of differences between look development in 2D and 3D digital art.
The look development production process varies depending on if the digital art is on a 2D or 3D medium. The look development process in 2D digital art uses digital programs and is more related to concept art. Basically, establishes the general style for the designing of props, characters, environments and other assets that will make the animated film or game.
With 3D digital art on the other hand, the look development process is more focused on texturing, rendering and shading. The goal of look development here is to determine rendering choices and stylized digital designs. The goal is to match as much as possible the style established by the concept artist during the pre-production process.
- Development Phase
The look development process happens at different stages depending on if the production is in 2D or 3D. If the production is set to be in 2D, look development will be carried out in the earlier stages of the production process, while the concept artists are still in the process of creating of concept art. This is because the concept artists designing the digital assets – characters, environments, and props – typically work in 2D and effecting look development in that stage, while they are still at work will make it easier to translate the style and look to the final production.
On the other hand, for a 3D production, like in a 3D animated movie or a video game, the look development process is pushed to a further stage of the production process. It is typically carried out during the texturing and lighting of the environments, characters and other assets. In 3D productions here, the essence of look development is to capture and translate to the 3D models the style created during the concept art phase in the beginning of the production.
- Visual Realism
If you are after more detailed concept art with realistic visuals, working on 3D mediums typically produces better results than what you would get on 2D mediums. For instance, character look development on 3D art assets covers more details including skin, hair/fur, and clothing. This also depends on the type of characters the animated movie or game will need. Creating realistic characters will be a more time-consuming process as you will need to pay more attention to the fine details of digital art.
For stylized characters on the other hand, the job becomes easier as you can simply use a layered shader to represent skin or clothing. If you are creating a character based on a real-life person, then you would have to capture the face of the person in question via a scanning light stage. This will serve as a reference that will help you create an accurate digital double.
On the other hand, if it is a fictional character not based on a real person, then the production artist can experiment with ready-made options like texturing.xyz. Apart from character look development, there’s also environment and object look development. Typically, look development for environment and objects is a lot easier and more accommodating than character look development.
Which software do you need for 2D Look Development
There are quite a number of digital art software that you can use for look development in 2D digital art. These digital design software are used for the chief purpose of creating high detailed digital art, be it digital paintings or concept art. Below, we are going to briefly go through the industry tested software used for 2D look development by most digital artists.
- Adobe Photoshop
Adobe Photoshop is the most commonly used digital arts software. From beginner artists to professional digital artists, Photoshop is the industry standard for everyone. The feature rich software comes with a ton of filters, brushes and painting tools. It is supported on Mac and Windows Operating Systems and comes with a monthly subscription.
Krita is especially good for digital artists who are into illustrations, cartoons and concept arts. It is compatible with Mac, Windows, Linux operating systems. Apart from the fact that it’s free, the software supports PSD files which will allow you move your art between Photoshop and Krita with ease.
- Clip Paint Studio
If you are on a budget but you still want a great digital art software, then Clip Paint Studio is a cheaper alternative to Photoshop. The software is optimized for producing comic books and manga artwork. Clip Paint Studio is supported on both Mac and Windows Operating Systems.
Which software do you need for 3D Look Development?
While digital painting programs can make do for 2D look development software, digital content creation software are better for 3D look development. The software for 3D digital art are typically more advanced and complex than what is used for 2D art. Software like Autodesk Maya, Autodesk 3DS Max and Cinema 4D are the industry standard software for 3D digital arts used in most studios.
- Autodesk Maya
Autodesk Maya is 3D simulation, modelling, and rendering software. The program is great for creating realistic effects and shaping 3D objects. It comes with a variety of engaging and intuitive modelling tools that you can use to bring create worlds and bring your characters to life in the look development process. Maya is compatible with Windows, Mac and Linux Operating Systems.
- Autodesk 3DS Max
Also from Autodesk is 3DS Max. This software enables 3D rendering and modelling for animated films and games. 3DS Max comes with a robust design tool kit with various rendering and animated tools motion graphics artists can use to define and shape detailed characters, environments and props. If you want to create compelling virtual reality experiences with 3D arts, then use 3DS Max®. The software is supported in Windows OS.
- Cinema 4D
Cinema 4D is an intuitive and versatile design software every digital artist should have in their collection. Cinema 4D is compatible with both Windows and Mac Operating Systems.
While the above mentioned software are good, they are nonetheless digital content creation software not created specifically for look development. If you want digital design software that will put you on par with professional digital artists and animators in the industry, then you might be more interested in the programs that are specially created for look development and designed to accommodate quick iteration, a common feature in the look development process. Software such as Clarisse, Katana and Keyshot come highly recommended.
Once you are done with the look development, the assets will need to be rendered first so that artist can get a good idea of what will give the best end product. For the rendering process, there are two software to use: Autodesk Arnold and Chaos Group V-Ray.
- Autodesk Arnold
Arnold is an advanced 3D rendering and animation software specially created to for visual effects production. Because of how advanced this software is, it can only be purchased by educational institutions who own a license. Professional artists and students who want to use the program will have to access it by purchasing another Autodesk developed software which comes with the Arnold package, typically Maya or 3DS Max.
- Chaos Group V-Ray
V-Ray is a biased-render software engine by Chaos Group. The application is used for visualizations and computer graphics and is designed to be used as a plug-in for third-party 3D digital arts software applications. Maya, 3DS Max and Cinema 4D are some of the 3D applications supported by V-Ray.
Which skills do you need for 2d and 3d Look Development
Now, as with anything, having great tools to do the job can only make it easier but it can not get the job done. What gets the job done is your ability to do the job, in essence, your skills. That said, the skills needed for 2D and 3D look development do not differ that much.
As a 2D digital artist, being a skilled graphics artist is not enough. This is mainly because the concept surrounding 2D art is quite repetitive so your ability to do the job wouldn’t matter as much as your ability to bring in new ideas that will transform a regular concept to amazing 2D digital arts. So for aspiring and beginner 2D artists, as important as it is to work on your craftsmanship, you must also develop the ability to sharpen your creativity for incredible ideas on how to develop different variations of the same concept.
While the art of look development might be relatively straightforward in 2D arts, it is a lot more complicated and technical in the 3D medium. This complexity arises from the fact that the process of look development in 3D arts uses multiple applications which are also more complex and advanced than the average 2D digital design software. There are also unique processes involved in 3D look development such as optimizing renders and developing material presets using procedural nodes or image textures.
Material presets are usually created to represent assets like dust, rock and wood which do not have any particular specifications. Creating material presets that will produce visually realistic effects can be a difficult skill to master especially for digital artists who are just starting out in production. Nonetheless, it is a skill that can help you craft mind blowing art that will leave everyone impressed.
All in all, as a 2D or 3D digital artist, in your work, the most important thing is to aim for a balance between harnessing your creativity and crafting visually realistic arts. Pairing your technical and creative techniques with the right digital design software can help you create impressive pieces that will enhance your portfolio as a digital artist.
In all, look development is a bridge between the concept artist working in 2D and the final 3D models used for the final product. And regardless of the medium, the whole point of look development is to set the final style of the production.
However, as exciting and rewarding as it can be to see your story begin to fall into place as your model takes shape, it is important to understand that look development can be a daunting and iterative process. This means that you may have to keep revising a particular look until you find that perfect style that suits your creative sense and fits the style of the production as a whole.
Nonetheless, knowing that you are a crucial part of a process that will contribute to the final look of a production should bring you enough satisfaction.


This item has been added to the Database within the Explore Islamic Art Collections project. Information is available in: English.
The Chester Beatty Library
Hegira 741 / AD 1341
CBL Per 110
Coloured pigments and gold on paper
37.5 x 30 cm
These folios are from a copy of the Shahnama (‘Book of Kings’) made in the city of Shiraz in south-western Iran in AD 1341. The manuscript was produced for Qiwam al-Din, a vizier of the ruling Injuid dynasty. The illustrations are in a horizontal, rather narrow format dominated by large figures executed in what appears a rather unsure hand. Backgrounds are red, gold or unpainted, and vegetation consists of oversized and simplified forms. The manuscript is now dispersed with folios from it held by many museums and libraries.
"Shahnama" in Explore Islamic Art Collections. Museum With No Frontiers, 2019. http://www.discoverislamicart.org/database_item.php?id=object;EPM;ir;Mus21;19;en
MWNF Working Number: IR 19


Winter is both a wonderful and terrible time of the year. As a result, it’s easier to discuss the negative impacts of the winter time once we’re away from it! While you might be thinking of the snow painting white landscapes and the snowmen appearing gradually in each front garden, there is also another side to winter. Winter is a cold season that endangers the safety of your home, the survival of the wildlife, and – even worse – human survival too. It would be unfair and irresponsible to only think of hot chocolate, a battle of snowballs and Christmas decoration when too many lives are fighting to go through winter. As a result, it is now time to consider what you can do to prepare for the colder months and to improve your home, the wildlife’s chances and the life of the many people who don’t have a roof over their heads.
What Are You Doing At Home?
The problem with winter is that it is a season of high natural risks that can damage your home, or simply infiltrate through a weak structure. For instance, water is not only about snow. Rain too can join the party and cause serious damages to your home, especially if your roof is holey. Unfortunately, a holey roof is noticed only when the first winter rain creates a drip inside the home. In other words, it’s best to get your roof checked in advance! Additionally, if you live in a region that is renowned for its cold winter, you might want to ensure that your pipes don’t freeze. This could destroy your water system, and cause your home to be cut off from the water supply until the repairs can be done. So if you are looking for ways to avoid such issues, Heat-Line is a good name to bear in mind. It is a Canadian company that has developed freeze-protection solutions to withstand the coldest climates. It’s not the kind of expertise you want to live without if your home is in a cold region.
What Are You Doing For The Wildlife?
Even the wildlife has a hard time in winter. Therefore it is important to give it the best help you can. This starts by letting your garden go wild so that animals can hide and hibernate safely. Additionally, if you have a water feature, remember to break the ice so that the fish or frogs that hibernate at the bottom can survive. Additionally, make sure to leave food for the animals. Birds, especially find it difficult to feed themselves in winter, so providing a range of peanuts, seeds, and table scraps will prove very useful. If you have a big garden, feel free to leave food for other visitors, such as bread and boiled potatoes for foxes, nuts for squirrels and even cheese for badgers.
What Are You Doing For Others?
There are hundreds of thousands homeless people in every country. Too many die during the winter; they freeze to death. It is a horrible way to go. While you can’t find them a home, you can certainly help them to survive dire winter months. You could choose to distribute food, toiletry supplies, and warmer clothes to help those who sleep outdoors to survive. Often warm socks, sleeping bags, and blankets can make a huge difference when the weather is cold. So what can you give to save another life next winter?
If you like what you’ve read here, please let others know of this post, blog, and site.
And thanks for reading! 🙂


Chem Demo Team
The Chem Demo Team consists of a group of Notre Dame students who demonstrate hands-on activities for Indiana school-children to encourage and develop their interest in science. They share significant research, conduct experiments for them to observe, and oversee the children's participation in their chemistry activities.
Celebrate Science Indiana
DNA Learning Center
A hands-on science center devoted to modern biology education, the DNA Learning Center will prepare local elementary through high school students to thrive in the gene age. This advanced science education center will be the ideal teaching tool to inspire young students to pursue careers in science and to build a knowledge base that will extend into their educational and post-educational careers. As a licensee of the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory DNA Learning Center in New York, the Notre Dame DNA Learning Center utilizes teaching methods, Internet technology and intellectual property of DNALC such as specialized DNA learning kits that include reagents, supplies, equipment checklists, lab instructions and manuals for learning modern biology.
Digital Visualization Theater
The Digital Visualization Theater in the Jordan Hall of Science is a state-of-the-art projection facility in a 50-foot-tall dome that is used for instruction across the University. Throughout the year, there are also presentations for the campus community and for the public, including a Christmas star program in December.
Rare Disease Day Symposium
The Center for Rare & Neglected Diseases hosts an annual public forum on providing emerging experimental therapies led by local rare disease patients and their physicians. Updates from Notre Dame faculty and visiting researchers/clinicians on the latest research in lysosomal storage disorders, rare cancers and more broadly in rare inherited syndromes is presented and there is a poster session featuring Notre Dame student and faculty research in rare diseases.
The St. Joseph County Public Library’s Science Alive! program is going into the 23rd year in spring 2014. The event attracts STEM exhibitors from around the county for a day of hands-on learning open to the entire community. The University of Notre Dame has been consistently represented by individual faculty as well as groups from the College of Science. The Joint Institute for Nuclear Astrophysics, Quarknet Center, and CHEM Demo teams are regular contributors.
Science Café offers a monthly casual gathering in downtown South Bend to promote scientific interest and literacy in the community. The events introduce new topics in science and engineering and invite audience participation.
The Experiencing Technology and Hands on Science (ETHOS) Center in Elkhart, Ind. holds an annual STEM outreach event where exhibitors provide hands-on activities geared toward kids grades K-12 and open to the general public. The Joint Institute for Nuclear Astrophysics, Quarknet Center, and CHEM Demo teams are regular contributors. For current event information visits


Francis O. Morris
FRANCIS ORPEN MORRIS, Irish born (1810-1893)
Author, teacher, naturalist, Rev. Francis Orpen Morris fascination with natural history was evident as a young man. While a pupil at Bromsgrove School, young Morris began to collect birds nest and butterfly specimens. He earned his degree in the Classics in 1833; however, much of his time as a student was spent studying of natural history. During this period, he also met noted entomologist James Duncan, author of British Butterflies, and gave his time to the Ashmolean Musuem, helping to arrange its insect collection.
Morris decided to enter the church, becoming the curate at Hanging Heaton near Dewsbury, then being ordained as deacon by the Archbishop of York in 1834. By 1844, he had married Anne Sanders, and became vicar of Nafferton, a small parish in East Yorkshire, where he served for nine years. His next assignment to a larger parish in Nunburnholme allowed him more flexibility, greater income and the opportunity to return to his study of nature.
In 1834, he began his association with Benjamin Fawcett, a local printer who was a very skilled wood block printer. Their business relationship would endure for the next fifty years, Morris would take on the texts while Fawcett would finance and print them, applying the advanced system of coloring that utilized wood blocks in place of manual labor. Morris' first acclaimed work: A History of British Birds was published in monthly parts over a seven year period, from 1850 through 1857, the final six-volume work containing 358 colored plates. Its' popularity prompted Fawcett to move his operations to a larger space to accommodate demand. Additional titles followed: A Natural History of the Nests and Eggs of British Birds, A History of British Butterflies and A History of British Moths.
For all his life, Francis Orpen Morris was known as a champion of wildlife. He despised fox hunting, a popular and traditional English sport, and was an outspoken critic of British biologist Thomas Huxley, whom he considered brutal for his practice of vivisection. Morris encouraged and advocated conservation early on, and was instrumental in founding the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. After a long marriage that produced nine children, he died in 1893, and is buried at Nunburnholme.


There is no doubt that the number of electric vehicles being sold over the World is growing rapidly fast, but one of the main struggles with electric vehicles is how long it takes to recharge the car batteries, even using the latest cutting edge fast-charging systems.
BP has invested $20 million in Israel’s start-up StoreDot. StoreDot’s is a Tel Aviv-based firm which is working on a solution to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in its operations. Its innovative battery technology powered by organic compounds and nano materials can charge electric vehicles in five minutes and it will pave the way for wider adoption of electric vehicles.
StoreDot co-founder and CEO Dr Doron Myerdorf said, “Working closely together with a global energy leader is a significant milestone in StoreDot’s direction of strengthening the EV ultra-fast charging eco-system.”
According to Ravi Manghani, senior director of energy storage at GTM Research, StoreDot is commercializing the use of polymers instead of metal oxides in lithium-ion batteries.
“This technology has great promise. I don’t really know how quickly it can be commercialized, though,” said Manghani. “There’s always a gap in battery technology R&D between lab or pilot results and actual manufacturing at scale. We project polymer-based chemistries have the potential to become mainstream sometime in the 2030 time frame.””Ultra-fast charging is at the heart of BP’s electrification strategy,”
Tufan Erginbilgic, chief executive of BP’s downstream business, said in a statement. “StoreDot’s technology shows real potential for car batteries that can charge in the same time it takes to fill a gas tank.”
According to StoreDot officials, the new car batteries contain an eco-friendly electrolyte which is stable at high temperatures and allows an electric car to travel for more than 300 miles on a single charge.
StoreDot’s new technology shows real potential for electric car batteries that can charge in the same time it takes to fill a gas tank.


FREMIET’S BEAR AND GORILLA
Text by Robert G. LA FRANCE, Ph.D., curator of pre-modern art, Krannert Art Museum, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, www.kam.illinois.edu
The French sculptor Emmanuel Fremiet (1824-1910) is best known as an animalier, a specialist in the subject of animals, and a professor of zoological drawings at the Jardin des Plantes, the natural history museum, zoo, and botanical gardens in Paris.
The bronze sculptures of a Bear Crushing a Stone Age Man and a Gorilla Carrying Off a Stone Age Woman display Fremiet's knowledge of animal anatomy and paleontology, as well as his preoccupations with struggles between animals and early humans. A plaster model for the Bear was exhibited in the Paris Salon of 1885, and the plaster for the Gorilla won the Medal of Honor in the Salon of 1887.
These two bronzes have fascinated and disturbed viewers for more than a century. The human-like behavior of bears and apes, and folk beliefs concerning their affinity for humans, captivated audiences after the publication of Charles Darwin's Origin of the Species in 1859 and The Descent of Man in 1871. Hollywood movies like King Kong (1933, 1976, 2005) and the debate over teaching the theory of evolution demonstrate that these subjects continue to preoccupate the public today.
Fremiet's sympathies clearly lie with the animals in these battles between primitive humans and their closest ancestors. Both the gorilla and the bear have been wronged and seek revenge or retaliation. At first glance, the male gorilla appears to have snatched an innocent cave woman. But a gash in the gorilla's left side, next to the broken-off shaft of an arrow, indicates that it is the gorilla that has been under attack. A closer look reveals that the woman has tied half of a gorilla jawbone in her hair, suggesting that she is a member of a clan of gorilla hunters. The jawbone enhances the viewer's understanding of the gorilla's actions.
In Fremiet's Bear, the prehistoric man's weapons, animal pelt, and bear-claw necklace identify him as a hunter. Fremiet also hung a bear cub from a noose tied to the man's waist and inscribed the base, "DENICHEUR D'OURSONS", literally "snatcher of bear cubs" or the Bear Cub Thief. Thus, the bear's rage is revenge for the murder of its young.
The small bronze of a Gorilla Carrying Off a Stone Age Woman is a reduced replica of the prize-winning plaster. The small version retains the arrow piercing the gorilla's shoulder and displays a black patina over the gorilla's coat, which add drama and make the figures more lifelike.
LORADO TAFT AND EMMANUEL FREMIET
Since its opening in 1988, the monumental glass entrance of the Kinkead Pavilion has housed The Blind, a colossal bronze cast from a plaster model by Lorado Taft (1860-1936), the most famous Midwestern sculptor of the early 20th century and a graduate of the University of Illinois (B.A. 1879, M.A. 1880). From 1925 until Taft's death, Fremiet's Gorilla and Bear flanked the entrance to Midway Studios, Taft's Chicago atelier. Today, they greet the visitor at the entrance to Krannert Art Museum.
Fremiet cast both bronzes in 1899-1900 for Congressman Benjamin T. Cable (1853-1923) of Rock Island, Illinois (Democrat 11th District, 1891-1893). Although Cable planned to give them to his alma mater, the University of Michigan, they were displayed instead at the American Museum of Natural History in New York until his widow, Maria Benton Cable, sent them to Lorado Taft in Chicago.
Mrs. Cable had heard Taft lecture and visited his studio, where artists and prominent Illinois art lovers met. Taft died , the University of Illinois purchased the entire contents of his studio and shipped them to Urbana. Even though the Fremiet's sculptures were not part of Taft's estate, they were included in the shipment. Soon afterward, Cable's son, Philander L. Cable, granted the university the extended loan. Around 1954 they joined the outdoor sculpture in Robert Allerton Park in Monticello.
In 1959, Martha Barcroft Cable Rankin, Philander's widow, formally donated the Fremiet bronzes to the university and in 1977, Krannert Art Museum became their official owner. In 1980 they toured the United States as part of the blockbuster exhibition The Romantics to Rodin, organized by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Despite their national recognition as masterpieces, the bronzes were not displayed at Krannert Art Museum until eight years later. Following controversy in 1989 (see below), they returned to Allerton Park until 2006, when the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C. included them in the exhibition, Henri Rousseau: Jungles in Paris. The museum plans to exhibit the bronzes until funds are raised for their permanent installation at Allerton Park.
SEXIST AND RACIST?
In February 1989, a group of four University of Illinois artists called CCx4 (Constructive Criticism Times Four) exhibited a work in the annual faculty art show that attacked the museum for privileging dead white male culture, declared Fremiet's Gorilla and Bear sexist and racist, and demanded the bronzes be melted down. While their charges were grounded in a history of reduced opportunities for women and minority artists, CCx4's radical call to destroy art triggered accusations of censorship in the local and national press. Others maintained that the high quality of the bronzes, their position within the context of the reception of Darwin's theory of evolution, and the sympathy Fremiet showed towards animals, justified their display.
The statues' defenders ultimately argued that the same freedom of artistic expression that protected CCx4's protest piece also applied to Fremiet's sculptures. Krannert Art Museum continues to perform its duty to protect, display, and interpret works of art, both those of Fremiet and CCx4.
Robert G. LA FRANCE, Ph.D.
Curator of pre-modern art
Krannert Art Museum, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
1. Emmanuel Fremiet (1824-1910) (ph. Wikimedia, Nadar for Félix Potin Chocolate)
2. Emmanuel Fremiet, Bear Crushing a Stone Age Man, Champaign, Krannert Art Museum, 1960-3-1 (ph. Krannert Art Museum)
3. Emmanuel Fremiet, Gorilla Carrying Off a Stone Age Woman, Champaign, Krannert Art Museum, 1960-3-2 (ph. Krannert Art Museum)
4. Emmanuel Fremiet, Gorilla Carrying Off a Stone Age Woman, Champaign, Krannert Art Museum, 1995-6-1 (ph. Krannert Art Museum)
5. The American Museum of Natural History, New York (ph. Wikimedia, ingfbruno)
6. The sculptor Lorado Taft (1860-1936) (ph. Wikimedia, Library of Congress, ggbain.07250)
7. Lorado Taft's studio on the Midway in Chicago (ph. Wikimedia, Antonio Vernon/TonyTheTiger)


the mountaineer reaches a high ridge, a ghostly figure towers out
from the mist, its head sheathed in shimmering rings. This at one
time unnerving apparition is the "Spectre of the Brocken",
so named because of sightings on the Brocken, the highest peak of
Germany's Harz Mountains.
Nik Szymanek (astrophotography
site book )took
this photograph high on La Palma in the Canary Islands.
©2002 Nik Szymanek, shown with permission
The Brocken Spectre appears when a low sun is behind a climber who
is looking downwards into mist from a ridge or peak. The "spectre"
is the shadowy figure - the glow and rings are of course a glory centered
directly opposite the sun at the antisolar point. But how
is the ghostly figure produced? It is no more than
the shadow of the climber projected forward through the mist.
All shadows converge towards the antisolar point where the
glory also shines. The sometimes odd triangular shape is a
perspective effect. The Brocken Spectre is a similar effect
rays and cloud
The spectre sometimes appears to be huge. This is probably caused
by the presence of the glory and the mist obscuring more familiar
reference points with which to judge its size.
More Brocken spectres.


The statue evokes the decisive moment in the love story of the god Eros and Psyche, a mortal girl. Psyche is awakened by the kiss of the god, after she had fallen into a fatal slumber, like Sleeping Beauty in the fairy tale. In the end, she was accepted among the ranks of the Olympian gods. The young god is naked, the girl is wearing a mantle from her hips down. The statue was very popular in the neoclassical times that followed its discovery, resulting in a number of modern adaptations. It was also significantly reworked: the head of Eros is ancient, but it did not originally belong to the statue.


Abstract textile design is not new. If fact, few elements of human culture are older. It is hard to say exactly how long textiles have existed, since unlike pottery or stone tools woven cloth disintegrates easily over time. But current evidence suggests our primitive ancestors wore clothes as early as half a million years ago. The practice of weaving is at least 40,000 years old, and the oldest dyed fabrics yet discovered date back 36,000 years. It is notable that every culture on the planet has a textile history. And every culture has also ultimately arrived at some kind of abstract textile design tradition. To understand our own global, contemporary abstract textile traditions, it is important to go back and explore their ancient roots. As Anni Albers, the undisputed master of Modernist abstract textile design, stated in her seminal book On Weaving: “Beginnings are usually more interesting than elaborations and endings. Beginning means exploration…I find it intriguing to look at early attempts in history, not for the sake of historical interest, that is, of looking back, but for the sake of looking forward from a point way back in time in order to experience vicariously the exhilaration of accomplishment reached step by step…This is learning.”
Although textile use in general dates back much farther, the beginnings of most global traditions of mass produced textiles date back to between 7,000 to 12,000 years ago. Though few examples of those original textiles still remain intact, we still have a relatively close idea of the traditional patterns and practices that developed in various areas since many of those traditions are still followed today, and have deviated little from their ancient roots. For example, in ancient South America, weavers 12,000 years ago developed a distinct language of abstract forms based largely on angled geometry, making use of triangles, squares, rectangles, chevrons, Xs, and checkerboards. This stands in stark contrast to Australian aboriginal traditions, which developed more toward a language of dots, circles and flowing, biomorphic shapes.
Meanwhile, throughout Africa a great number of unique, abstract textile design traditions evolved. Chief Nike Davies-Okundaye, a contemporary Nigerian artist, has sparked a revival of ancient weaving traditions in her culture by creating new works based on the ancient Nigerian textile designs, and by teaching the techniques and designs to a new generation of textile artists. The visual language of what she calls Adire patterns is diverse, and seems at first entirely abstract. But in an interview with Okay Africa, Chief Davies-Okundaye provided a translation of some of the traditional Adire designs, demonstrating there is much more to learn about the many other global ancient abstract textile design traditions as well.
Comparison of ancient Peruvian (Left) and Australian aboriginal textile design (Right)
The roots of contemporary abstract textile design can be traced back to the earliest days of Modernism. One of the ways misogyny manifested in the art world in the early 20th Century is that female artists were often expected to focus on textiles rather than other fine art mediums. Even at the otherwise progressive Bauhaus School, women were steered into studying weaving rather than pursuing other types of art. But we oddly have that backwards thinking to thank for one of the greatest gifts to 20th Century art: Anni Albers.
After being forced by the Bauhaus to study textiles, Albers embraced the medium and through it developed theories of making, teaching and studying art that remain some of the most progressive in the world today. Thanks to the contributions of artists like Anni Albers, and to the ancient global traditions of abstract textile art, contemporary abstract textile artists are able to explore innumerable forms and techniques. Here are just a few of the influential contemporary abstract textile artists working today, who are continually expanding and refreshing this timeless medium.
Anni Albers - Untitled abstract woven textile, 1948, linen and cotton, photo courtesy of the Albers Foundation and the Museum of Modern Art, New York
Sheila Hicks first discovered her interest in textiles and fibers while painting in Chile on a Fulbright Scholarship. She has since become a leading international voice in the world of contemporary fiber and textile art. In addition to her remarkable oeuvre, which includes a vast assortment of two and three-dimensional fiber and textile objects, Hicks has founded educational workshops in multiple countries. She has previously worked in Morocco and India, and currently lives and works in Paris and New York.
Sheila Hicks with her work Mighty Mathilde and Her Consort, at the 2016 Glasgow International, Linen and pigmented man made fibres, bound treasures, fish and pigeon nets, Photo © zanartu
In between earning her BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design and earning her MFA from Yale, Julia Bland took advantage of a fellowship to travel to Morocco, where she studied Sufism and Islamic art and learned traditional textile weaving skills. Her large-scale abstract works combine painted canvas with hand-woven fabrics. The work blends a contemporary visual language of geometric abstraction with traditional forms and techniques resulting in imagery that feels at once intuitive and symbolic, ancient and contemporary.
Julia Bland - Winter, 2015, Linen, wool, canvas, velvet, ink, bleach, and oil paint, 87 x 85 in, photo © Julia Bland
Chilean-born textile artist Josefina Conchae receives inspiration from the forms and objects she encounters in nature, including hair, skin, animals and plants. The intricate, dynamic layers of tension that build up in her textiles arise in an intuitive process that develops out of her constantly evolving relationship with her materials.
Josefina Conchae, Cuerpo Zurcido VIII, 2012, Stitching on canvas (Left) and Detail of the piece (Right)
For the Norwegian artist Ann Cathrin November Høibo, textiles are only one part of her multi-disciplinary practice, but they lend a great deal to the overall sense of emotion she builds in her exhibitions. Her textiles remain in a state of unfinished bliss, offering a glimpse of both hope and despair, and creating an opportunity for transcendent contemplation of what it means to be complete.
Ann Cathrin November Høibo - Untitled, 2014, Hand woven polyester in ashwood loom (Left) and Untitled, 2013, Wool, silk and nylon tapestry (Right), images courtesy Standard (Oslo)
Baltimore-born Shinique Smith derives her inspiration from found and discarded consumer products. Her use of textiles often manifests as stunningly complex and colorful accumulations. Transforming existing textiles into raw material, she creates new abstract forms that possess dual identities: part formal exploration of texture, surface, color and form, and part biomorphic, anthropomorphic entity.
Shinique Smith - Arcadian Cluster (detail), 2006
In addition to mainstream, or fine art traditions in abstract textile art, there also remains a strong self-taught tradition in this medium. In fact, it seems ironic, and somehow wrong that we should even separate the two. Why apply such a term as outsider art to the practice of making textiles? The historic roots of the medium are grounded in self-teaching, experimentation, and the one-on-one handing down of skills and techniques. Schools of textile art are new inventions. It is ridiculous to automatically grant a professional artist more respect than a self-taught textile artist with no formal education. Respect should come from the quality of the work alone. Consider the following two so-called outsider abstract textile artists, whose work beautifully proves this point.
Born in Mississippi in 1898, Marie Roseman lived to be 106 years old. She came from a diverse cultural heritage of African, Native American and European descent. She was raised to be an herbal healer, and was also trained at a young age to make quilts. In the 1970s she innovated a new approach to her quilt making, using found materials to create vibrant, complex, abstract embroidered textiles. She would often add three-dimensional elements to the works as well, including her signature dolls. Roseman died in 2004, and her work is now receiving fresh consideration.
Exhibition catalogue cover for Marie Big Mama Roseman solo show, image courtesy of Intuit - The Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art
We’ve written about Judith Scott before. Born deaf, mute and with Down Syndrome, this textile artist did not begin making art until she was in her 40s. To construct her biomorphic, abstract textile sculptures, Scott collected found objects then wound them with textile fibers, cocooning the objects within new woven forms. Scott embodied the ancient tradition of contemporary abstract textile art, as she began each work with something old and transformed it into something startlingly new.
Fiber-cocooned abstractions by Judith Scott (Left) and Judith Scott with one of her creations (Right)
Featured image: Anni Albers - City, 1949, Linen and cotton pictorial weaving, Photo © Albers Foundation, Tim Nighswander / Art Resource, NY / Albers, Anni (1899-1994) © ARS, NY
All images used for illustrative purposes only
By Phillip Barcio


Author: N / A
Created: late 19th century.
Material / technique: wood carving, polychrome.
Dimensions: sculpture of Jesus high - 63 cm; sculpture of St John the Baptist high - 36 cm.
The Baptism of Jesus is a narrative, which reminds us of the event in Jesus’ life, which is a reference point for His mission on earth as the Saviour. According to the Bible, the Prophet of Conversion, John the Baptist, announced the news that people were living their last days, because God was angry and would soon destroy His enemies and create the world afresh. Repentant people rushed to the river to get rid of their sins and to convert. During Baptism, the sins of penitents are washed away with water. The works of art show Jesus immersed in the River Jordan being baptised by John the Baptist.
The Saviour as a grown man of 33 started the work for which He had been sent by His Father to earth. Then Jesus came from Nazareth to the Jordan to be baptised by John. When He came to the river there were many people listening to St John preaching. Jesus asked John, ‘Dear John, baptise me.’ But John recognised the Saviour and replied, ‘I need to be baptised by you, and you, the Son of God, come to me, human being to be baptised?’ Most beloved Jesus replied, ‘Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfil all righteousness.’ St John consented and the Saviour went into the River Jordan and was baptised. As soon as Jesus was baptised, He went up out of the water and prayed. At that moment the heavens opened, and He saw the Holy Spirit descending like a dove and alighting on him. And everyone at the Jordan heard a voice from heaven say, ‘This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.’ This is how the Holy Trinity was clearly revealed to the people – the voice of God the Father was heard, the Holy Spirit could be seen as an innocent dove and the Son in God’s body was praying by the side of the river. The baptism of the Saviour was the introduction of the Sacrament of Baptism for the release from sins. (Motiejus Valančius, „Žyvatas Jėzaus Kristaus Viešpaties mūsų“, Raštai 3, p. 345)
Reference: "The Lithuanian art collection of Jaunius Gumbis". Museum and Collector - 6. Vilnius: National Museum of Lithuania, 2016, Kat. No, P. 52.
Exhibition: Exhibition of the collection of Lithuanian art of dr. Jaunius Gumbis "Collected and Preserved", September 2016 - January 2017, National Museum of Lithuania, Vilnius.
Published: "The Lithuanian art collection of Jaunius Gumbis". Museum and Collector - 6. Vilnius: National Museum of Lithuania, 2016, Kat. No, P. 53; "The traditional folk sculptures collection of Gediminas Petraitis". Ed. Marytė Slušinskaitė. Vilnius: National Museum of Lithuania, 2012, P. 70.