
Link:This is literally so cool.
As temperatures plummet all over the planet, lots of posts are popping up about the cold weather. My absolute favourite has to be National Geographic’s bubble freezing slowly (see below).
I see the frost, it’s just crystals of water after all- but there’s a lot to be said about that from an aesthetic point of view- leaving the house in the morning when it’s dark and frosty. The gloomy grey colour of the pavement has disappeared and the twinkling frost has coated everything.
Moisture in air has turned to ice as temperatures plummet and anything with water in it freezes. Damp washing in Chicago freezes.
Link: Nippy video from the Guardian.
Water appears to steam despite freezing temperatures. The river in the video from The Guardian is ‘steaming’ because the water is much, much warmer than the air. That tells you how cold the air is.
I wanted to paint a frosty flower, capture how beautiful frost can look on plants. Problem is, water in the leaves freezes, expands and bursts the little vessels (like your pipes), so me capturing twinkly frost on some leaf or other is quite tricky, as it’s probably wilted, or grown black and died.
So I chose the cabbages to draw Cabbageart. Not quite a rose.

I planted them last summer when it seemed a really good idea at the time then I forgot about them. It’s February and I have 2 massive , caterpillar-eaten, gone -to-seed cabbages.
I think they’re magnificent. Those darkest green, thick leaves. Veins so tough that a little overnight frost doesn’t touch them.
Given their lack of care, the fact that they haven’t been decimated by the wildlife, broken by foxes during their nighttime shenanigans and are still standing despite numerous frosty mornings, makes me take my hat off to these magnificent brassicas.
It was draw that or the garden bin- which has also improved with the frost.