Viewpoints 9

Florida is the lightning capital of the world. Inland, the summer storms are so predictable you can almost set your watch by them. Sea breezes from both coasts collide in the interior of the state and create violent thunderstorms. I grew up with these storms and they fascinate me. I love watching the clouds build, the light change and the storm arrive. Lightning is dynamic and unpredictable, thunder is bold and commanding, the rain can be astonishingly cold. When I am safe in

Mother nature is showing her displeasure in increasingly violent ways. I used paint poured textiles to illustrate the raging chaos of our unpredictable weather. The Ice Storm The textiles are creating by allowing the paint, through a fluid dynamic process similar to the behavior of our atmosphere, to assume its own patterns. I capture the images on thin material that can be collaged and stitched.

Her challenge reminded me of the cold weather in winter. On my way to summer, I worked on it, remembering last winter. Last winter, I stayed at a temporary residence downtown because of the delay in the construction of a house I had to move to. It was very different from where I used to live. I wanted to express the view of winter through the window. I am sorry I couldn’t post a response to the Weather Challenge. Thanks, Diane

Weather! A great choice, Diane! This challenge, more than most, sent my imagination off in many directions. Weather is ever present on our minds these days with super-storms and record highs and lows, displaced polar bears and migrating beetles. Weather is such a critical part of our planning, from what to wear when we leave the house to when and where we plan events. We're always thinking about it in the back of our minds - and I never really thought about that. I started to

My idea of a perfect day, weather-wise, is bright and slightly cool with a gentle breeze. The kind of day where you can be perfectly comfortable in jeans and a long sleeve shirt, maybe with a light sweatshirt. It usually happens some time in Spring, just when those first bright green leaves and buds appear. Details: 36x24 in hand dyed fabrics, hand guided machine stitching

Everyone's talking about it. Almost constantly. Sometimes it's the safest subject for conversations, allowing you to stay away from politics and other unpleasantries. That being said, discussions about the weather, the amount of CO2 in the environment, rising temperatures, the calamitous shifts in weather extremes and the like, can spark similar anxieties and raised voices. This past year our weather has truly been amazing, especially watching nature adapt to the changes.

I have enjoyed creating 'Flooding rain' , a situation that we are often confronted with in my Australian State of Queensland. A lot of debris of objects plus people's hopes and dreams are washed away in cyclonic weather.

Drought is a weather phenomenon which is caused by insufficient rainfall over a long period of time. The reservoirs are waterless and the land is cracked. Only the exuberant dandelions can survive, whereas human beings are helpless in the face of climate disasters. I create the work as a prayer offered to heaven for rainfall. It has not rained for 11 months in Southern Taiwan! The long dry season and high temperature are obviouslytheeffects of global warming and it has result

Fire was an early discovery that propelled mankind in a different direction. Water was used as a power source for a long time, in the form of streams, water wheels, pumps. Fire and water were brought together to produce a large amount of energy. The heat multiplied its energy value by producing steam. Steam, and the invention of a steam engine which was safe and relatively portable, were crucial factors in the industrial revolution and the making of modern civilization. Steam

I don't think there is anyone on the planet who hasn't been negatively affected, directly or indirectly, by the increasingly erratic weather extremes that are becoming the new normal. My son's in grad school in New England, so the severe winters they've been having are especially worrisome to me. Here he is, in more carefree days, on our balcony with his bestie Lucio.