Week 14
Discussion
Snow and Pines
About Snow
Snow is comprised of masses of ice crystals (snowflakes) formed in frigid air high above the ground. It is said that no two snowflakes are identical. Here are some high resolution photos of real snowflakes.
Though all snowflakes are different, modern scientists have identified eight groups of solid precipitation, seven of which are comprised of snowflakes. Within those seven groups, there are 35 categories of snowflakes and 121 subcategories. As snowflakes form, they can start out in one category and evolve into another. The eighth solid precipitation group includes sleet, ice, hail, etc.
The study of snowflake formation is really the study of how crystals form. The knowledge gained from this has broad applications in materials sciences, biology, modern electronics, and others.
There are various names for falling snow depending on how much of it is falling, its intensity, and wind conditions. The photo below shows a snow storm. It also illustrates that falling snow is easier to capture in photos than falling rain.
Some other names besides snow storm are snow flurry, snow shower, and blizzard.
Once snow can't fall any further, it stops falling and begins piling up. Most of the time, it piles on the ground. Other things can stop the fall, too, like this poor moose. It must have been napping when the snow started falling.
Snow doesn't necessarily stay in place when it settles. The most dramatic movement of fallen snow is when it piles up on steep mountain slopes. Combined with other conditions, avalanches can occur.
Avalanches have been recorded that involve as much as 11,000,000 tons of ice and snow and that move up to 190 miles per hour.
Piled up snow rarely becomes that dramatic, but snow-covered roofs are at risk of collapsing if too much snow accumulates. That is the rationale for the steep roofs of small villages in Japan's Ryohaku Mountains. The structures are especially strong and able to withstand considerable weight when heavy snowfall isolates the villages from the rest of Japan. The steep roofs shed snow relatively, too. The entire lower level of these houses is buried in snow.
The homes in these World Heritage Site villages are called gasshō-zukuri (gassho-style), with gassho meaning "hands in prayer," inspired by the shape. Storage tiers are built above the living quarters on the ground level. Part of the upper levels is typically reserved for silk worms, the production of silk being a major industry of the area. The structures are warm and cozy in the winter and cool in the summer.
The wind influences ground formations of fallen snow. Snow drifts and other shapes can form from wind-blown snow, creating some beautiful visual effects.
Other things that can stop falling snow from reaching the ground are trees; pine trees, for example
About Pine Trees
Conifers are one of the major families of trees. Most conifers are evergreens. All bear needle-shaped or scaly leaves and grow seeds in cones. There are quite a few types of conifers. Here are some of them.
Female pine cones take from 1.5 to 3 years to mature. The large one is tightly closed, indicating that it isn't yet fully mature.
When mature, female pine cones open up, exposing seeds to the air and ready to be fertilized. The papery "wings" assist released seeds to remain in the air longer than they would otherwise be able to, enabling wind to distribute them further.
From tiny seedlings, mighty trees will grow.
Pine needles come bundled in clusters called fascicles, with one to seven needles per fascicle depending on the species of pine. Fascicles grow out of dwarf shoots, the bud scales of which often remain after the needles grow.
Pine trees have numerous commercial uses, the primary one of which is construction. For all of their usefulness, though, pines excel in beauty. Dressing them up in snow doesn't hurt.
This final photo shows that heavy amounts of snow on pines aren't necessarily required for a picturesque scene. This is Kyoto's Kinkaku-ji (Golden Pavilion) in winter.
Artwork
Maruyama Ōkyo (1733 – 1795)
Ōkyo studied with Kanō school artists but later studied Chinese art, too. He eventually combined eastern decorative painting with elements of western perspective. He was criticized for producing paintings that were too realistic, producing intricately detailed depictions of plants and animals. Ōkyo founded the Maruyama school of art. The pair of 6-fold byōbu below titled Pine Trees were painted in 1780.
Katsushika Hokusai (1760 – 1849)
Hokusai worked to master many painting styles, and he used a different artist's name for each of them that he mastered. He is supposed to have had as many as 50 artist names, though he is uniformly known as Hokusai today. He was the first ukiyo-e artist to seriously focus on landscapes as painting subjects. Mt. Fuji in Winter below is from a book he published, The Picture Book of Realistic Paintings (1814).
Utagawa Hiroshige (1797 – 1858)
One of the most famous series of landscape ukiyo-e that Hiroshige painted was the Fifty-Three Stations of the Tōkaidō. The Tōkaidō (Eastern Sea Road) connected the Shōgun's headquarters in Edo (Tōkyō) with the emperor's capitol in Kyōto. It wasn't the only route that connected the two cities, however. The Kisokaidō took a more inland route and had 69 stations. In 1835, Keisai Eisen (1790–1848) was commissioned to create a series of works to chart the Kisokaidō journey. After producing 24 prints, Eisen was replaced by Hiroshige who completed the series in 1838. The print below depicts the 47th station, Ōi.
