Adrian Landon's Galloping Mechanical Horse

Mechanical Horse

Artist:  Adrian Landon (1989 -     )
Current Exhibition:  The Winter Equestrian Festival

Wellington, Florida
Photo Courtesy:  AdrianLandon.com

Adrian Landon of  Brooklyn, New York, sculpts to express his urge to reconnect with his family heritage with his favorite subject of inspiration, horses.  Landon's father and grandfather were expert horsemen. His grandfather commanded the French military training establishment at Saumur, The Armoured Cavalry Branch Training School.

Photo:  Saumur - École de Cavalerie - Caserne grille by Pymouss

Landon grew up in New York City and attended the Lycee Francais de New York.  After a year of industrial design at the Academy of Art in San Francisco and traveling all over the United States, he returned to New York in 2009 to join artists at the Arts Students League.

Cheval en Bronze

Photo:  Valerie Penven

His method of his sculpting is known as "repousse" where flat pieces of sheet metal are hand forged with anvil and hammer.

Galloping Horse 2

Since he began his work in 2010, Landon has sculpted more than 10 equine pieces, and spent more than a year planning on how to make the horse "real."  Click the video below to see his "real" kinetic Mechanical Horse galloping along (happily) right now in the warm weather of Wellington, Florida.  [You may want to take advantage of full screen viewing by clicking the lower right corner of the video.]

Mechanical Horse

.•°*”˜☆˜”*°•.˙·٠•●♥ Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ ♥●•٠·˙.•°*”˜☆˜”*°•.

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19th Century Romulus

This late 1800s bookplate of Romulus is from an old veterinary reference book.

Got Snow?

Under the microscope, I found that snowflakes were miracles

of beauty; and it seemed a shame that this beauty should not be 

seen and appreciated by others.  Every crystal was a masterpiece

of design and not one design was ever repeated.  When a snowflake

melted, that design was forever lost.  Just that much beauty was gone, 

without leaving any record behind. ~ Wilson "Snowflake" Bentley (1925)

Wilson Alwyn "Snowflake" Bentley
is one of the first known photographers of snowflakes.

He perfected a process of catching flakes on black velvet and blackboard in such a way that their images could be captured before they either melted or sublimated.

Bentley removing emulsion from a glass plate.

Bentley was first interested in snow crystals as a teenager on 

his family farm in Vermont.  He tried to draw what he saw through an old microscope given to him by his mother when he was 15.  

Since the flakes and crystals were so complex, Bentley couldn't record them properly before they melted.  He attached a bellows camera to a compound microscope.  After an extensive number of attempts, he finally photographed his first snowflake on January 15, 1885.  As a self-taught scientist and artist, whose singular obsession with the snowflake's infinite variety, his interests extended to how it was formed.

 During Bentley's lifetime, he captured more than 5,000 images of crystals.       

Wilson Bentley (1902)

 Bentley referred to snowflakes as "tiny miracles of beauty" 

and snow crystals as "ice flowers."

 Bentley published an article wherein he argued that 

no two snowflakes were alike.  This concept caught the attention of many

including The Smithsonian, National Geographic, Nature, Popular Science, and Scientific American.

Bentley Snowflake Micrograph (1890)

Wilson Bentley died of pneumonia at his farm in December 1931, after walking six miles in a blizzard.  Shortly before his death, his book, Snow Crystals, was published by McGraw/Hill and is still in print today.

" . . . Bentley was working with crude equipment . . .
But he did it so well that hardly anybody bothered to photograph snowflakes for almost 100 years."

~ Kenneth G. Libbrecht

Despite Bentley's fascinating work that led to significant contributions to science and photography, his name remains largely unknown to the public.  However, in Bentley's hometown of Jerico, Vermont, he is a household name.  A museum is dedicated to his life's work at an old mill that houses approximately 2,000 of his vintage images.  

Click HERE to visit the Wilson Bentley Museum

and his ability to capture "magic."

Snow in Canada

And to think you had your fill with snow this season . . . .

Sandra Boynton's Snowflake

And . . . They're Off!

Photo:  Pat Kane

And Chica is no longer the alternate ~ she was ready to roll!

Track the Stats / Locations of the Mushers as They Go

HERE

At Shipyards Park  this morning, the race 

kicked off in a balmy temperature reading of -38C (-36.4F).  

Team Wild & Free were second out the chute.

Click any of the dayglo booties above to 
watch terrific video scenes from 2014's Quest.

One Thousand Miles - The Yukon Quest

Photo:  Katie Orlinsky
Temps During Race -50C - Winds up to 80kph

It is time, once again, for the Yukon Quest which is celebrating its 31st year. The Quest is a 1,000-mile international sled dog race along an old Gold Rush trail in North America, named from the "highway of the north."  This trek travels what was once known as the Klondike Highway, the route that sled dogs used to deliver mail during the age of the Gold Rush.  Besides transporting the mail, prospectors, adventurers and supply carriers traveled between the gold fields of the Klondike and those in the Alaska interior.

The Quest's route is considered tougher than the 

Super Bowl of sled dog races, the Iditarod.

In 1983, four mushers were sitting in the Bull's Eye Saloon in Fairbanks, talking about sled dog racing and the what-ifs of it following a historical trail. In 1984, twenty-six teams left Fairbanks and over sixteen days, twenty teams arrived in Whitehorse. Sonny Lindner became the first champion, completing the race in just over twelve days.

The Quest alternates start locations each year.  This year, it's Whitehorse's turn to host the 2015 Quest run festivities.  Low temps in the Yukon are expected to approach -40 this weekend, adding an element that has been missing from the Quest's start for several years.   

Celebrations such as "Meet the Mushers" and the Start Banquet took place yesterday, allowing for final team preparation before the start tomorrow morning, February 7, 2015.

Painstaking preparations have been made by many for this race. The Yukon Quest Food Drop occurred on January 24, 2015.  Each musher must decide what supplies will be waiting for them along the trail.  Weeks of sorting dog food, winter gear and equipment are bundled up in 40 pound mesh bags, and dropped off at Summit Logistics in South Fairbanks.  From there, the bags are scattered at checkpoints throughout the race course, offering fresh batches of supplies as the mushers arrive.

The trails are clear (thanks to the Canadian Rangers) 

and the dogs are ready.

Photo:  Wild & Free Mushing

We have been following "Wild & Free" Brent Sass, who drew Bib #2 last night and is sponsored by Braeburn Lodge, home of the "huge" cinnamon bun. The local Braeburn Airport is also known as "Cinnamon Bun Airstrip" because of them.

Born in Excelsior, MN, Brent and his 60 sled dogs are based in Eureka, AK, and is also a wilderness guide, builder of custom cabins, and maintains a rental cabin neighborhood in Alaska's Goldstream Valley.                               

                              Photo:  Katie Orlinsky

The sled dogs are the heart and soul of the Quest, bred from stock that survived and thrived during the Gold Rush era.  No animal on earth can match them for endurance, dedication and ability to perform in the extreme conditions of the North. Vets examine each dog at least six times from pre-race to the finish line.  In addition checkpoints provide vets to monitor each dog's well-being throughout the race, with removal from the competition if necessary.

In the draft horse world, we know "no foot - no horse." 
The same goes in the sled dog world.

Brent Sass's working team players this year are:  Sound, Rosie, Cat, Basin, Heath, Yukon, Braeburn, Bato, Chulo, Neon, Krypton, Merc, Copper, Carbon and as an alternate, Chica. The Alaskan Huskies are a type of mixed breed that is the preferred racing dog choice.

Sass is a fan favorite due to his willingness to assist other mushers at times of need, despite losing time for a potential win.  If a musher receives outside assistance during the run, they will be automatically disqualified; however, mushers can help other mushers. Last year, Brent had to withdraw from the Quest after falling asleep, tumbling from his sled and hitting his head on the surface of a frozen lake 100 miles from the finish line. This year, he's taking precautions against another concussion and will be wearing a helmet.

Dawson City is a mandatory 24-hour layover at the half-way point. We'll be cheering the mushers on and look for Brent to hopefully achieve his first Yukon Quest win. Last year's purse was about 15,000 Pounds Sterling / 20,000 Euros / $22,674 USD, which hardly covers the costs incurred.  But as we know in the draft horse world, we don't compete for the money either.  

Keep up with the Sass adventure on his Facebook page: 

"Wild and Free Mushing."

Terrific video of the start of the Yukon Quest 2013

On the Rocks . . . Catch it While You Can!

In St -Côme, Lanaudière (Quebec, Canada), the weekend following New Year's Day, volunteers completed the difficult task of removing 700 blocks of ice (weighing tons) from Lake Lepage,   This ice becomes the canvas for ice artisans.

The 34th season of Saint-Côme en Glace (Saint-Côme on Ice) began on January 24, 2015, and runs through this weekend until February 8, 2015.   

There are approximately 50 ice sculptures along the Main Street that sparkle in the sunshine, and for the evening, colored lighting emphasizes their size and detail.

Along with the sculptures, this annual celebration provides live entertainment, ice slides, exhibitors, traditional music, sleigh rides, a fishing pond and more.

We wish we lived closer to enjoy the festivities -- especially the taffy on snow!  

When life gives you lemons, you make lemonade.

Click on the Logo Above for More Amazing Saint-Côme en Glace Experiences!

Horse Powered Snow Removal

Horse Drawn Snow Plow, Michigan Avenue, Chicago, IL (1908)

As we rush to the grocery stores, clearing shelves for a potential snow-bound day or two, or waiting for plows in our cities and neighborhoods to rescue us, we pause to reflect when modern-day conveniences had not yet seen the light of day. . .

Snow rollers were utilized to 

pack down the powder for ease of travel.

The first patents for snow plows appeared in the 1840's, but it was several years later that the designs were built and in use.  

The use of horse-drawn snow plows on snow-clogged streets were first documented in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1862.  

Photo Credit:  National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, from

"Snow Removal in New York City," in The Municipal Engineer, November 1915

The snow plows, of course, left the sidewalks and entrances to businesses blocked; therefore, horse drawn carts and shovelers hauled the plowed snow away.  The loads of snow were dumped in nearby rivers and sewers. Winter brought thousands of welcomed temporary jobs. 

Photo Credit:  National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, from

"Snow Removal in New York City," in The Municipal Engineer, November 1915

Twelve Percheron horses pulling a 

snow sweeper in the City of Toronto ~ November 21, 1891.

Horses pulling a snow plow on 

Boston Common, Park Street-side (1920)

Photo Credit:  Wilson Alwyn Bentley