Ö÷²¥´óÐã

These are details from some extraordinary paintings created by Wolverhampton artist, Geoff Pope. Well actually he sets the materials up but then Mother Nature does the rest carving these patterns in the paint using frost.

All Geoff has to do is paint a sheet of glass with his secret mixture and leave it outside on a frosty night. That's the theory.

But it took Geoff over four years to get his first image after noticing a tiny pattern in a recently painted gatepost. After more than two decades of experience he still finds most of the images fail.

It's been 10 years since Geoff managed to capture anything at all because we've had a series of mild winters and the conditions just haven't been right. But with the recent cold snap he's once again been wandering around his garden in the dead of night with sheets of glass covered in wet paint.

He managed to capture some beautiful images he told me, but before the paint could dry it began to rain and the images were washed away.

Frost formation is a fascinating area of science. Frost is water vapour that condenses out of the atmosphere into solid ice without turning into a liquid dew first. If dew forms then you probably won't get frost even if the temperature drops below zero.

What surprised me is just how different all the patterns are. The shapes produced can be large or very small. Extremely regular or just a single slash of crystals across the glass. A speck of dust can make all the difference since it provides a starting point for the crystals of ice to begin to form.

This weekend the forecast is looking good and Geoff will be trying again and we wish him luck.

• Bookmark with:
• |
• |
• |
• |
• - What's this?