Exploring My Tools: Snowflakes

Some artists use paints and brushes on canvas. Others use chisels on stone. What turns my crank is weather and in particular snow and rain. Now, my understanding of snow is quite basic. I’ve been taught and told:

• That each snowflake is unique – no two are every the same.
• Eskimos have over a hundred words for snow
• Don’t eat the yellow stuff

I’m not certain about the first two but I’m almost a hundred percent on that last one. Arg, hold up, I’m getting ahead of myself here. Let me back up a bit.

It all started a couple of weeks ago. Karen and I were riding the chairlift at a local ski hill. It was an overcast day and little snow was falling. As we were chatting I looked over at her and on the lens of her goggles, a snowflake had landed perfectly flat and intact. What I saw was simply beautiful. The detail and shape of this thing had me marveling until we got home that night.

So with snowflake fever I do what most people do these days when they want to learn more about something. I boogie over to Google and see what I can turn up.

What I discovered along the way was a website by Kenneth G. Libbrecht, dedicated to the humble snow flake which featured some killer photography. The images are featured in three different photo galleries and the site contains along with tons of other neat information. From the highly geeky “how to make your own” to snow activities with kids. Awesome site and I highly recommend checkin’ it out.

Snowflake photos from the very cool SnowCrystals.com.

“How full of the creative genius is the air in which these are generated! I should hardly admire more if real stars fell and lodged on my coat.”

– Henry David Thoreau, 1856