Spinning Yarn in Cool Antarctica:

The Artists’ Palette   

Nothing prepares you for the colours of Cool Antarctica. You will be surprised to discover a vast range of vibrant and dramatic colours that contradicts the stereotypical Antarctic white. 

Spinning yarn using fibre of vivid colours will have the same dramatic effect.

Icebergs at dusk reflect and enhance brilliant pink and orange sunsets – it looks almost tropical. The coating of snow on the icebergs and sea ice has taken on the colours of the sky. There are brown rocks, deep blue crevasses and subtle shades of blue amongst the Cool Antarctica ice cliffs. 

The Icebergs we saw up close glowed iridescent blue , as if they were lit from the inside.

The beautiful colours are largely due to the clarity of the atmosphere near the surface of Cool Antarctica. Polar explorer Edward Wilson, who traveled and died with Scott on their last trip in 1912, attempted to capture these colours in his diary. A Naturalist and Artist, his watercolours give us an insight into the Antarctica of the Heroic Era. 

The Aurora Australis is a light display that can be seen in the night sky over Antarctica, during the winter, and is caused by plasma particles from the sun (part of the solar wind) which enters the atmosphere. Taking the form of a luminous glow in the polar night sky, the Aurora shimmers over Cool Antarctica. 

Together with the almost unreal blues and cyans of the ice and snow, the colours of Cool Antarctica produce a strong sense of unreality in most people, along with a sense of euphoria in photographers. Few people will believe the colours, even when seeing them themselves. Nature photographs are more interesting when they show the best, the unusual, or a new perspective.