Ice-framed Moon

Credit: Sally J. Smith

This beautiful photograph is featured on SpaceWeather.com today — a crescent moon as seen through an ice sculpture by Sally J. Smith:

Yesterday, March 17th, nature artist Sally J. Smith of Wadhams, New York, created her last ice sculpture of the 2009-10 winter season. “I set it up before the sun went down and hoped it would be in good alignment to catch the crescent moon,” she says. Indeed it was [...] “The winds were warm and the sculpture melted faster than I anticipated, but in the end all was well. Even Venus made it into the scene. A few seconds later the top part of the sculpture fell off.” And so winter comes to an end…

Here’s how the sculpture started out:

Credit: Sally J. Smith

Such a creative idea! It reminds me of something in a book I picked up recently, 101 Things I Learned in Architecture School — “Frame a view, don’t merely exhibit it.” This is a perfect example of why framing matters. I’m not an architect, nor am I in architecture school — I just love architecture — but I found a surprising amount of tips in that little book, perfectly applicable to web and graphic design. I find it helpful to step outside my own “industry” and get inspiration from other sources. You never know what “unrelated” thing may help you solve a problem or prompt an idea!