The Concise Oxford English Dictionary helped me with today's blog.  The definition of solstice is "each of the two times in the year, respectively at midsummer and midwinter, when the sun reaches its highest or lowest point in the sky at noon, marked by the longest and shortest days."  We, in the northern hemisphere, will experience that shortest day this Friday, 21 December.  Since New Mexico and the southwestern United States as a whole are experiencing a stretch of sunny weather, the shorter days are not quite as noticeable as they are farther north where it might be snowy, rainy, and generally overcast.  In those areas where the sunlight is evident for only 4-6 hours a day, every point of light is cherished.  No wonder the ancients celebrated the time of year when days, once again, became longer, and the cold of night receded into the relative warmth of a winter day.

My father had a Sochard Fotoclock, made in the 1940s.  It was a trifold wonder, crafted of leather, with the clock and works in the middle section, and two side wings attached, each capable of holding a photograph.  It was a wind-up clock, no quartz works in the day, and it was extremely noisy.  So when we found the need for a new clock, Fred and I both decided to utilize the face from the Fotoclock, encased in a brass frame.  For a relatively inexpensive clock at the time, the face is a lovely example of art deco design, which would be nicely complemented by arts and crafts woodwork. Fred went to work on a design, and using hand tools and oak, along with a new quartz clockworks, he built what I am calling a "solstice clock."  In the images below, it seems to rise from the adobe into the sky, a little like the standing stones in Stonehenge and other stone circles in Europe.  As you can see by the time on the clock (a little less than two hours before sunset here), it was perfect for these still life shots. rendering good, solid light, giving me the ability to capture some of the architectural details.

Solstice clock 1

Solstice clock 3

Solstice clock 4

Solstice clock 2  

Beginning on Saturday, I hope you find the tiny addition of sunlight each day exciting.  Thanks to Terry, Steve, Jean and Sam, Pauli, Wayne, Veronica, Barbara, Catherine and Connie for your kind comments about last week's blog, and to all of you who follow my work throughout the year.

until next Monday,

DB

a passion for the image@