View allAll Photos Tagged MISTLETOE
The Mistletoe Market in Tenbury Wells which held every year. The crop goes to auction having been blessed by an order of Druids.
Part of my Christmas Cards 2011 series. Blogged at mpfotoblog.blogspot.com/2011/12/under-mistletoe.html
I was fascinated to find this Mistletoe (Amyema sp.) seed on this dead limb of a River Red Gum. Clearly the Mistletoebird who excreted it had no thought for the seed's chance of survival! You can see a tendril that has emerged from the seed, seeking to take root in the limb, which (being live) it would normally penetrate with ease. However, the hard surface of this dead branch has been impossible to penetrate and the tendril is being deflected along the branch. Sadly this is one Mistletoe that won't survive.
Mistletoe Tyrannulet - Zimmerius parvus - Малый москитолов
Rancho Naturalista, Turrialba, Caribbean slope in the Cordillera Talamanca, Costa Rica,11/03/2014
Plicosepalus curviflorus (Benth. ex Oliv.) Tiegh. (Loranthaceae)
Acacia bushland, alt. 340m
Tana River, Meru, Kenya
“Under the Mistletoe” by Norman Rockwell (1919)
With this painting, Norman Rockwell initiates his tradition of having a Christmas cover on the cover of The Literary Digest in December.
Under the Mistletoe was only one of 47 Norman Rockwell Literary Digest covers.
It portrays an old couple in the middle of an embrace, looking lovingly into one another's eyes. They are about to enjoy a kiss.
The man wears his tuxedo and bow tie. He is wearing his best cuff links. He is carressing the face of his wife with his right hand.
The lady is wearing a fine black dress with white lace collar. Her left hand is resting on his lapel.
Judging by their dress, they are attending a Christmas party. The mistletoe overhead is allowing them to kiss in public.
The painted frame around the main part of the picture features holly leaves and berries, another plant used in traditional Christmas decorations.
Parasitic mistletoe growing on corkscrew mesquite, quite dense plants on the winter-barren mesquite, with bright white mistletoe berries seeming to mix with the corkscrew pods of the mesquite
Pendant / Brooch combination. Link chain necklace with hand fabricated links which can also be worn independently.
Vitreous enamel on copper; sterling and fine silver, hand fabricated setting. Spring steel pin. Vesuvianite (idocrase), peridot, Canadian jade (nephrite), tourmaline.
The Mistletoe collection is obviously inspired by colonies of parasite Mistletoe plants, their surreal circular shapes seeming to float among the branches of the trees they colonise. Its status among humans has ranged from sacred plant to pest, but the truth of it is that, as with everything in nature, it is an ecologically important plant that offers food and refuge to wildlife.
The first two pieces date back to 2010, and I gave them new sterling frames in 2021. As most of my collections, I come back to it time and again, producing more pieces.
Something that didn’t dawn on me until much later is that my subconscious had driven me to design all of these as little gates or portals, through which a backlit view of spring appears, dappled sun glittering though the new, yellow-green leaves sprouting from branches. Thus the full name of the collection is Mistletoe: portals onto spring. The theme of greenery, fronds, roots, branches and particles floating in the sunlight spills out onto the frames.
The enamel is always in yellow-green to emerald green shades typical of spring, with a combination of techniques used ranging from wet-packing, dry sifting, over-firing and, always, painting on enamel with vitrifiable paints. Multiple firings are necessary, ranging from 910 to 810 °C. For this collection I use a range of stones in green shades, from the waxy opaque yellow-green of serpentine to super glittery, transparent micro-faceted vesuvianite… peridot, nephrite, green spinel, emerald-coloured chrome diopside… Sometimes I add a contrasting touch of warmth with, for example, garnets.