SAFFRON SPICE

Saffron Crocus sativus, a King of spices, used for centuries 

in culinary dishes, also noted for it's medicinal properties.

© John R Arrowsuch

In Art, Saffron has been utilized, for the distinctive colour

found in the stigmas growing within the flowering head.

The colour dye from Saffron, was commonly used for dyeing 

cloth, you can see from the next image, the intense 

colour from the stigmas.......... 

here is the Wiki link;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saffron

The image to the left represents 0.4g, price wise it works out to about £1 British pound per 0.1g !!!!. Making Saffron the most expensive spice, per gram.
Note; price based on supermarket prices.

Some of the oldest records of Saffron's use, date back

over 4,000 years. One record notes, that 50,000 years

ago Saffron pigment was discovered in depictions of prehistoric places, in Northwest Iran.

Closer to home (UK), Saffron Walden in Essex, was a big producer of Saffron, in the sixteenth century.

But things come and go, Saffron is no longer grown on a large scale, in Saffron Walden.

But fear not, in Caergwrle in Wales. a Saffron grower is having great success, in cultivating Saffron  Crocus sativus, see the link; http://www.britishsaffron.co.uk

Saffron used in Art may have limitations 
Here's why; if you buy any

reputable Saffron, look at the use label. It nearly always states" keep

out of direct Sunlight" or "keep in an airtight container", both drawing the conclusion, to the fact that Saffron, starts to degrade in Oxygen, so

any dye or colour derived from the Saffron, will over time change.

Colorists or pigment makers, refer to this as permanence, so it might

be a good idea not to use Saffron as a dye or pigment.

medicinal properties of Saffron are well known 

 today research indicates

Saffron may provide anti cancer properties, it's also an antioxidant.

Yet other research has evidence of protection against eye problems, macular degeneration for one, in fact it even reversed to a degree, eye disease in test patients with established eye conditions. Follow this link; http://www.news-medical.net/news/2009/05/17/Saffron-could-stopping-blindness-and-cure-eye-disease.aspx

How easy is it to grow saffron?. 
I do plan on growing my own, but there are a few things that make it more successful, the soil needs to be a neutral pH 7 and the soil needs to be very well draining, the corms need to be planted 6" deep, deeper than other varieties of crocus, and last of all they must be planted in a full Sun position. For every corm you plant, you get ten corms after four years, is that not a great return!.

Something different to view; http://amethystlandphoto.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/geminids-and-light-pollution.html

UPDATE; 27/10/2014   I grew my first crop of Saffron this Year, they flowered in fits and starts
but produced what will be a flower from every bulb, next two Years
 should double the population of planted bulbs, my brother photographed the harvest;
he used a background of Autumn Blueberry leaves, to make a great photo set.

© John R Arrowsuch

 See more of John's work and images here; http://www.amethystlandphoto.com/

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THE PENCIL'S HIDDEN SECRET

The tool, Artists have used for hundreds of years. The humble

pencil, it's interior made of graphite and clay invented by Nicolas-Jacques Conté in 1795.

Around  1500 to 1560 a enormous amount of graphite was discovered, at  Grey Knotts

Grey Knotts. credit; Mick Knapton

 by the hamlet of Seathwaite in Borrowdale parish, Cumbria, England.

The Cumbria  area has a tradition of pencil making, dating back many decades.

The Derwent pencil factory, in Cumbria England was one of the first to manufacture and make pencils, in the UK. I have used their pencils for years. It's a pleasure to purchase a product made here in the UK, and gives employment to local people, in the Cumbria area.

It is a pity many capitalist in this country, use labour in other countries, to make vast profits from exploiting very low payed workers. Many unemployed people here in the UK, are labeled "work shy", mainly by governments blaming the unemployed, for their own misfortune, because our governments, don't really have any ideas on how to persuade firms and companies to employ UK citizens. Which is why so many people are actually forced out of work, due to greedy, selfish capitalists who's, agenda is not to pay income tax and keep all their money, off shore.

It has been said, if the current government, made more effort to investigate tax evasion, the deficit, would be payed off twice over!. What are governments all over the word waiting for?.

Rant over, for now.

Back to a great company, The Derwent pencil factory, sadly the only large, pencil

manufacturing company left in the UK. Have a look at the following video.

I'm thinking we need to get back to "Buy British".

The Derwent pencil factory

 


My Brother John, uses pencil(s) to sign his limited edition, Landscape images.
You can see his work here;www.amethystlandphoto.com
The advantages of using pencil are that, the mark left will be unaffected by UV
 light, and it should never fade, not to mention the pencil flows on
the paper as if it were lubricated. In fact  the graphite has that ability to detach
and slide over itself. So this brings us to why the pencil hides a secret.

Graphite may hold the key to faster computer chips, flat/flexible
 TV  screens, and be able to conduct electricity, much faster that copper.
One more property is it's strength, stronger that steel and very lightweight. 
Turning graphite into this super Material, requires the graphite be made only
one molecule thick, this material has been named Graphene.

In 2004 two scientists Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov at the University of Manchester, utilizing Graphite they were able to create for the first time, a
 single atom layer of Graphene. They went on to make many discoveries, and
in 2010 they were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics.

If you have the right app on your choice of mobile device, scan the QR Code below
to listen to Radio 4s archived science program; In our time "CARBON".
Alternatively click the link below the QR Code. 

 Intesting radio 4 programme "In our time" Carbon. Click here to listen

Here you can find more information on Graphene; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graphene
Almost every few months new uses for Graphene, are being made. Only time will
tell if Graphene is the new revolutionary material.

As for Artists, they know what mysteries Graphite contain.

BILBERRY A POWERFULL ALLY

BILBERRY

Bilberry  ( Vaccinium ) has been used by herbalists
for Centuries, it grows in  Northern Europe and North America it's a plant that likes poor acidic soils, and grows
best in light shade, favours old wooded areas and heath and moorland.
A map of Bilberry around the UK

WINTER RAVAGED BILBERRY

 Looking battered by the winter, my containers of
Bilberry's have suffered. Grown from seed
picked on the Long mynd (only pick the seed NOT the plants), it's taken over five years to grow to a mature
size, I'm hoping they will produce fruits this Year?.

Update July 2013 ; Half my Bilberry plants have died but travelling up to the Peak district
we found a large area of wild Bilberry berries, ready for harvesting. I will be planting seeds
from them to see if they are more successful, than the seeds from the Long Mynd. 

  wild Bilberry © John Arrowsuch

Medicinally Bilberry has some very interesting
history, used for centuries to treat eye problems.
Native American Indians have used Bilberry to treat 
cataracts, diabetes and diarrhea the latter with dried berries, a comprehensive list of proven benefits are;

• Antioxidant properties...............................
• Anti-inflammatory...................................... 
• Protective effects on blood vessels...........
• Increased blood flow in eyes..................  
• Repairs blood vessels........................
• Regulate blood glucose levels............
• Reduce bad cholesterol............

The component responsible for Bilberries legendary
status, are called anthocyanins, compared to their
close relatives Blueberries, Bilberries have four times
 the amount of anthocyanin.
Cell damage caused by oxidative stress, is prevented
by the large amount of anthocyanins  within the bilberry.
 At the same time protecting cardiovascular function, and possessing anti-inflammatory properties.
For eye health, bilberry offers protection against cataracts, macular degeneration and glaucoma.  
I have read that after three months of consuming Bilberries, your large and fine vascular system, becomes coated with a non-stick coating, this would account 
for the vascular protective nature of this little berry.
   
  Bilberries also help keep platelets from clumping together, which, helps thin the blood preventing clotting, and improves circulation.
Why this is not prescribed by Doctors, to prevent illness
is a mystery ?, but Doctors are there to prescribe, to people who are sick, they rarely recommend herbs and berries, that prevent illness. Unfortunately drug companies would not be able to make vast amounts, of money out of what
is a common widely grown, wild plant.    

A very interesting and more detailed read here, NCBI    
  
I will update the above information as it develops?  

FIGHT CANCER -- PLAN B

Cancer, that feared word every person dreads to hear. Very recently two of

my close older friends passed away, both had cancer. I felt helpless,while they

were ill, I cannot describe the anger I felt that I did not have the knowledge

or wisdom to pass on to my friends.

So I started to investigate all the various treatments, available for cancer.

It is VERY SPECIALIZED for each type of cancer, some of the 

modern day medical treatments are very advanced, no doubt they work, but

sometimes the treatment fails or the cancer returns.

I soon realized it would take me years of study, to even understand all the

varieties of treatments available today.

Then one day I stumbled upon an on line article, all about a elderly gent who was told

by his cancer specialist, his treatment was no longer working, and he should

go home and tell his family to prepare for the end. But...............Windsor oncologist,

Dr.Caroline Hamm asked if he would try one more thing?.

Link to the Dandelion article

The Dr. Hamm said she had  patients try

to cure themselves with a plant remedy, and indeed had patients showing

up cured after taking it. That plant was DANDELION ( TARAXACUM ). 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taraxacum

Photo credit; John R Arrowsuch

So the patient returned home, and made Dandelion tea, and drank the tea for

three month's, he returned to the hospital, who had told him three month's

earlier he was about to die, only to be told his cancer had vanished, he was cured!.
     

Dr Hamm passed her findings on to a fellow research Biochemist Dr.Pandey.

biochemist

biochemistDr. Pandey

He was surprised to find when he extracted the Dandelion ingredients out, and

placed cancer cells into the solution, the cancer cells died, but when they

placed human cells into the Dandelion solution they were untouched and remained viable.

Which would mean this could potentially, be a very safe treatment for people.

Dandelion has been consumed and eaten for centuries, the root for coffee or tea, and the leaves

for salads and even the stalks. It may be that the weed Dandelion, that every

gardener has dug up and weeded out, turns out to be, our most precious plant.

______________________

Dandelion plant parts


 The Dandelion clock

Be sure to look at this link to see what vitamins and minerals
Dandelions contain. 

Many others have also found a cure from the Dandelion. In history the Irish used to
regularly eat the wild Dandelion, and cancer was less common in their communities.
But now in modern times cancer is much more common. It could be a good
indicator of how powerful this plant really is, It may be time to look at this plant again.

But if your cancer treatment is not working for you, and you are told there is nothing else left to do, it could be time for plan B or plan DANDELION.

It grows in all the UK, but make sure you identify it correctly before you consume any.

Always ask your Doctor before you take it, Dandelion can react with certain drugs, so

best to ask your Doctor or chemist if in doubt.

If you cannot harvest Dandelion yourself from your garden, try this supplier;  http://www.healthysupplies.co.uk/dandelion-root-roasted-50g-sussex.html  they sell dried Dandelion root, but i would try to get it as fresh as possible, out of mother Earth.

 Remember Dandelion is not a cure for all cancer, Indeed it does not work for every one.
But it could be your first and last line of defense,use it throughout your life.
I have been taking it for some time, it has more vitamin A than beef liver!, so is great for
eye sight, so it is a good all health plant. It is said to cover a very broad spectrum of minerals and vitamins.
Tip; If you decide to grow your own, it is best to pick after two years of growth, and then harvest  in the spring. That way the root and leaves are less bitter, there are brands of Dandelion coffee available on the high Street, but........they only contain about 8 percent Dandelion, and the other ingredients are glucose syrup, not enough to have any effect in battling cancer or supplementing your vitamin, intake.  

I will always tell my friends about the remarkable plant that is the DANDELION.

Your Doctor will tell you it's still being researched. But why wait it is only a culinary

plant with possible curative properties, it will do no harm and has been eaten as salad and drunk as coffee or tea for centuries by many cultures.

Always remember cancer needs to be treated by a qualified Doctor.

If you need to tell your Doctor about the Dandelion treatment then

show them this link http://digitaljournal.com/article/323433

The above article is in no way medical advise, seek a diagnosis from your Doctor as to what your illness and treatment might require.
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This old tree sums up a sentiment shared in my family and possibly yours as regards health and stubbornly hanging on to life? never giving in.

Falling but hanging on. by John Arrowsuch ©

Follow the old tree

" Fall to Nene"

link here for the full article written and photographed by John Arrowsuch............

Please let me know if the links above are broken.

ART MATERIALS - NEW IDEAS

If your an Artist just setting out don't sell yourself short, by that I mean buying cheap

materials. It will return to haunt you. Cotton canvas is not a long lived material. It's

great for the hobby painter but if you plan to become recognized and hopefully

remembered, then leave it off your materials list.

I can hear you say" how am I going to afford the best materials", especially if

your a student with no living wage. These are tough times, but......you could look for
student discounts or pool your resources by bulk buying, with your fellow students.
But if you have an ambition to create fine work, it must stand the test of time. 

Your first works will be scrutinized as will your later work, and if the earlier work

has not survived old father time, all your first work will have been to no avail.

Here is my first oil painting on board???, as a result it's not a keeper, and it was my

first serious attempt with Oils, Painted in my early teens 1972. It depicted night fishing

with lamps and hand nets!, those fishermen knew what real hard work was.

14"x 10" my phone on the lower right for reference

In 1972 I found a great inspirational book in my local library, on the way home from school.
The title was " Painting the Sea " by Philip G Shumaker, the above night painting appealed to me, it had everything, the dark sea, the luminous lamps, the surreal atmosphere.  
  I was naive in thinking if I could paint the Sea I could paint anything??.
 I soon realized what a fine painter Philip G Shumaker was,
sadly he is no longer with us, but what a legacy he left, his paintings
 rarely come up for sale and there is very little history
on the internet. But I have noticed over the years, some of the finest artist's
in the world don't need popular public appeal, or even wide spread publication of their work to attract a following, their work sells before the paints dry.

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   A few years ago I thought I would buy a large roll of fine Artists linen ( flax ) canvas, with the hope it would spur me on to take up the brushes again.

So where to buy the not so common linen, the Internet was my first line of inquiry.

One suppler stood out. A mill up in Bradford http://www.whaleys-bradford.ltd.uk/index.htm sold linen on rolls, both fine and coarse varieties right off the loom.

The old adage "more for less" applies here. Buy a larger cut of linen and the price

is reduced on a sliding scale. This appealed to my dwindling bank funds thank you
Mr. Cameron and Mr. Clegg, your VERY HIGH petrol tax and 20% vat and your don't give a dam about it's people. Back to Art & Science maybe we can create or invent
a way out of this austerity, no wait, austerity stops creativity and invention.
  Rant over, for now.

I have been studying Art materials and conservation, what would make for a good
long lasting surfaces and supports.Artist have always experimented with
supports and grounds, it's been taking place for centuries, most of the information is widely available in books and on the net. Back in 1989 I purchased several books
mainly Art materials types;

"The Materials and Techniques of Painting" by Jonathan Stephenson
&
"The Artist's Handbook of Materials & Techniques" by Ralph Mayer.

The Ralph Mayer book has been extensively adopted, by Universities and 
Art establishments for many years, it was fist published in England 1951
and was revised and expanded as late as 1991.  

Most Materials books will give new and ancient techniques, that have been tried and tested over many decades. Rabbit skin glue has been traditionally used to size
canvases, but the organic nature of this size, is susceptible to moisture, and
bugs love to munch on it!!. So what would a conservation
material substitute be for the canvas size?.
It surprised me, PVA polyvinyl  acetate. It has to be specially made for Artists, you will know it as used in pva wood glue, but this is a non reactive type.
Raw canvas is sized to make a barrier to prevent the oil paint rotting the canvas
over time.

PVA SIZE

Gamblin make PVA size specifically for Artists, but here in the UK you can find
conservation PVA in other brands, beware; do not buy the reversible type 
as it's water soluble!! so it can be reversed for repair purposes.
You require the permanent PVA for Artist's.

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Once you have applied your size, you will require a ground that will give you
a surface to apply Oil paint, again I turned to new materials, I have a preference
for not using any ground that takes 6 months to dry??.
So my choice is Gamblin's Oil painting ground.  

Oil painting ground

I will put a demonstration of how to apply all the above materials in a future article.
But try this link to Gamblin's own product videos.
http://www.gamblincolors.com/oil.painting.techniques/grounds.html

And remember once your painting has left you, it will have to take care of it's self.
It can only survive the harsh world, if you have used the best materials you could
find to create it.

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HYDROGEN ECONOMY....

Hydrogen the most abundant element in the Universe, if you could find an efficient way to 

extract it out of water, economies all across the world would benefit.

1 =Hydrogen water bonds

Many people in many countries are experimenting as you read this page.

They are not exclusively main stream scientists, some are ordinary, science
interested people, but not with qualifications or degrees.

Amateurs have no preconceptions, they are not hindered by fixed ideals, so 

maybe they will stumble upon ( as do many main stream scientists ),
 new outside the box ideas. 

several methods are used to break the Hydrogen/Oxygen bonds.

Electrolysis is a good method, but...... it uses a lot of energy to break the covalent

bonds of Hydrogen H2 and Oxygen O.

Animation by ;Brian0918/ Wikipedia

 Even our DNA have bonds that use Hydrogen

A typical setup for extracting Hydrogen and Oxygen, the operating voltage should be around 1.2 volts DC. If you recombine the Oxygen with the Hydrogen you will have
a VERY volatile mixture, that is more explosive than Hydrogen alone. It can be used
in a car ( I don't endorse use in a automobile) either directly into cylinders or to fuel a fuel cell. This combined mixture is called "browns gas", in this form it should NEVER be
stored under pressure, as autoignition occurs at about 570 °C (1065 °F).

B.Arrowsuch 2013

I do have a plan in the future to assist the Fuel consumption in my own car ( not on the Road )
but it can not be used in cars with computer controlled engines. Or EMS (Engine management systems). My car is very old and does not even have a exhaust catalyzer, so
It will not effect the set air/petrol mixture entering the engine.
My design is based on an multi stainless steel / Electrolytic cell, with a PWM (pulse width modulator) to drive it. See My assembled unit below. But not yet wired or tested.

I will post any test results I gain in a future post.

In the news recently is a new method of producing Hydrogen, without using Sun light/electricity or chemical additives. It would make it
more efficient (Maybe?)than current methods. It uses spherical silicon particles
in water to produce Hydrogen, the silicon is only 10 nanometers in diameter!, a human hair is approx 90,000  nanometers wide so
10 nanometers must be smoke particle size, so its going to take a fare amount of
energy to make silicon spherical's that small, but if you could produce enough
Hydrogen to self loop the process of making the spherical silicon particles, with
energy in reserve then it would be a top technology. Original story from; http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/01/130122143224.htm
So get inventing solve this problem, solve world energy needs.

ART & SCIENCE WHAT CONNECTION?

The Title of this Blog "Art Enginuity", the Enginuity came from the Iron Bridge gorge museum, http://www.ironbridge.org.uk/our-attractions/enginuity/ I was told about the 

Enginuity museum by a friend, i have yet to visit, but the title fitted

my Blog title exactly. It also fits the description of a lot of Artists, past and

present. Leonardo Da Vinci is one of those Artists, his ingenuity and his

Enginuity are a common thread running through his work.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Science_and_inventions_of_Leonardo_da_Vinci 

Leonardo was Artist, Scientist, Mathematician, Engineer.

Even the way he constructed his works of Art, he used all his knowledge 

of Science and Engineering, to create fine historic works of Art.

Here is one of his many drawings, which clearly show his association

with science and invention.

His study of light and shade on a sphere

Look closely at Leonardo's drawing, he clearly used  Mathematical

calculations to work out angles and graduation of shadow.

So this is just one connection of science used in Art, and the construction

of tone and shade in relation to Illuminated objects, giving a three dimensional

look to drawings or paintings and ultimately realism.

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  Johannes Vermeer another fine Artist to possibly incorporate optical
Science, to aid his understanding of light and perspective.
Although there are only  hints to Vermeer's use of
a optical devise called a "Camera Obscura", there is no definitive
evidence he actually use the lens to aid his work.

Even so the Camera Obscura has and will no doubt still, be a useful
aid to perspective. I suppose the modern day equivalent would be
a digital projector ( still using a lens ) to project an Image
onto a surface, but unlike the Camera Obscura, the digital Image
would have the advantage of projecting an Image, the
 right way up and left & right correct.
No lens yet invented can be truly optically correct, it's just not
possible yet, but there is a ray of hope recently in "ePHOTOzine"
http://www.ephotozine.com/article/ultra-thin-lens-could-change-camera-designs-19984

My brother is fully aware of the limitations of his lens kit, he often
has to correct his Images in post production, to get rid of lens
distortion, fortunately his lenses are all able to be corrected
via software, some of his Images Here.
It may well be one day soon, he will be able to pick up a lens with
no optical distortion, the problem will be the Bank loan to pay for it.

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I leave you with this quote from John Constable;
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   "Painting is a science and should be pursued as an inquiry into the laws of nature. Why, then, may not a landscape be considered as a branch of natural philosophy, of which pictures are but experiments?"