Esther's photos with the keyword: metal

The National Museum of Egyptian Civilization AIMG 7710

"Kokopelli ... is a fertility deity, usually depicted as a humpbacked flute player (often with feathers or antenna-like protrusions on his head), who is venerated by some Native American cultures in the Southwestern United States. Like most fertility deities, Kokopelli presides over both childbirth and agriculture. He is also a trickster god and master braider and represents the spirit of music. " en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kokopelli The Sunday Challenge: The five elements (earth, wood, fire, water, metal) refer to a Chinese philosophy that says that the five elements constitute everything in our universe. These elements do not just stand on their own but also have specific interactions and relationships with each other. It is a huge philosophy and used in Chinese medicine, feng shui, fortune-telling, and martial arts. You are welcome to focus on one of the five the elements, a combination of two or more of the elements or of the interactions between the elements. A20220306 104311

The Saturday Self-Challenge: take a shot of one of your favorite mementos and tell us the story as to why it got to be that way. This is a segment of a lamp with a clarinet as its base. A number of years ago, I was in charge of finding a farewell gift for our band conductor of many years. He was a clarinetist, so I thought that he might like a clarinet lamp. I found some old metal clarinets that were up for bid on eBay and placed bids on them, expecting to only win one auction. I won both auctions. I made a lamp for him and one for me. I like this clarinet lamp because it reminds me of good times playing under his baton, it was something that I made (with help from my husband after I discovered that the design of the base had to be changed to prevent the lamp from tipping over) and it is a remnant of a time before plastic when cheaper instruments for students or outdoor playing were made out of metal, rather than wood. Here's a photograph of the lamp in its entirety. www.ipernity.com/doc/esther/41760442 . The clarinet is silver colored, but the camera color temperature meter was fooled by the indoor lighting and it appears to have a golden color in the latest photograph. I liked the color shift, so I did not correct it. TSSCIMG 3973

The Sunday Challenge: Artistic Metalwork TSCIMG 8717

At the Worcester Museum of Art The Sunday Challenge: Legs TSC20180623 120728

Artifacts from the Gustavianum Museum of Uppsala University in Sweden on display as part of a Vikings exhibit in Mystic Seaport in Connecticut. AIMG 5496

Artifacts from the Gustavianum Museum of Uppsala University in Sweden on display as part of a Vikings exhibit in Mystic Seaport in Connecticut. AIMG 5498

The elephant is from India. The plate might be from Morocco. TSCIMG 4093

The Sunday Challenge: Metal TSCP1000229

Silver Clarinet Lamp Metallic silver clarinets had their heyday in the early to mid-twentieth century before the advent of plastic. The best silver clarinets could compete favorably with their wooden brethren, but the majority of silver clarinets were manufactured for outdoor or student use and were of lesser quality. The cost to overhaul these old beauties far exceeds their value as musical instruments, so many of them are finding new life as lamps. I acquired this clarinet for a song on eBay. I bought a lamp base on the web, a lamp kit at the local big box hardware store, a lamp shade at a lighting store and voila! TSCRepurpose Collage 2

The Sunday Challenge: Playing with the white balance. A Nepali wall hanging of Ganesh made out of stamped metal and wood appears much warmer when photographed with the "wrong" white balance. TSCIMG 7998

This is a portion of the barrel of a metal clarinet that was probably manufactured in the early 20th Century. Before the advent of plastic, metal clarinets were popular with students because they could be played in marching band without fear of cracking due to weather conditions, unlike clarinets made from wood. They could be mass produced more easily than wooden clarinets and they were shiny like flutes, which appealed to students. Although there were some metal clarinets made that were of professional quality, many were student models and are not worth the cost of restoration. I made this one into a lamp base. The Sunday Challenge was Metallic. I did not have good light when I shot this photo, so I resorted to processing techniques - namely solarization - to make it more interesting. MIMG 4473

Trogir, Croatia is a medieval town on the Adriatic coast of Croatia. AIMG_4296

The grillwork on the door is spectacular. Photographed in Nice, France. IMG_2946

This is by far the most ornate street lamp that I have ever seen. Photographed in Nice, France IMG_2950

Lion door knocker in Florence, Italy. This shot coud have been much sharper, but Ilked it anyhow. AIMG_2978

Ornate door knocker in Florence, Italy AIMG_3089

Saint Paul de Vence is a charming hilltop fortified village in Provence, France. It is one of the oldest medieval towns on the French Riviera. It is known for its architecture, art galleries, boutiques and sidewalk cafes. About 300 people live within the walls of the village, yet 2.5 million tourists visit each year. AIMG_2840