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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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?"

FUTURE ARTICLES

Art and Science, they sound different disciplines, but...........are they?. I feel drawn to both, in my honest opinion you cannot have one without the other, they are entwined as

Ivy round a Tree.

So what's this blog site Archiving?. It will feature Articles of interest, in Art & Science.

I have a few projects going as i write this, which i will reveal in future posts.

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In a shed, somewhere a person is inventing or creating, a historic artifact, it

will be totally useless, or an ingenious device that could save the planet.

If i set your mind on fire, with an idea i hope your able to

develop it to it's ultimate conclusion.