Rondini

 

'Rondini'
- digital art composition for acrylic on canvas to follow
- George Roberts June 2025

Each and every day, on holiday in Sicily, we would swim in the hotel pool. The sun shone brightly on the water, which bubbled, moved and sparkled in the light. Overhead swallows wheeled and banked to snatch insects on the wing and take them back to their nests, which hung festooned from eaves and balconies. In these moments it is not hard to imagine what heaven might look and feel like for us mere mortals. 

As I was swimming, I decided that on our return home, I would create an image, which held the moment. This is the first stage in the process. I will use this digital composition, put together from photographs using Affinity Photo software, as a starting point and guide from which hopefully my painting will over time evolve.

Stromboli by enhanced moonlight.

 

'View of Stromboli at night from the Boat' - Kurt Thrust and the JPO Team,
Digital Art, June 2025.

"And hand in hand, on the edge of the sand,

   They danced by the light of the moon,

             The moon,

             The moon,

They danced by the light of the moon".

Kurt Thrust 'goes forth' in Sicily

 

Image Credits:
Lulu Boon and Alan 'Al' Eye.

A rare image of the astronomical Director of the Uk's most easterly Observervatory, 'The Jodrell Plank Observatory'.

Kurt may be seen in this image, on the slopes of Mount Etna during the recent major eruption. 

For many years Kurt has been investigating the hypothesis first aired by the late Joe Roberts (Maidstone) that "many seismic events can be associated with the presence of swans".

"The jury is still out" - Kurt Thrust 15th June 2025

I look at clouds from both sides now.

 

View of clouds from above
as seen from a Boing 737

It struck me how strange clouds looked when viewed from above. They appear to float on the bluest of seas! 

June 2nd 2025: Etna has its biggest eruption in 25 years.

 

"Mount Etna is very very big in area and 3.5 kilometres tall. Even from 12 miles away in Giardini Naxos from where the above images and video clip were captured, it looks very very big. When it erupted on the 2nd of June, it was both awesome and terrifying to witness".

As the side of the caldera blew out, a pyroclastic cloud grew in size geometrically and reached the stratosphere in 30 seconds! When you watch the speed at which the pyroclastic material flows you can understand the loss of life at Pompeii and Herculaneum "

The Temple of Athene Syracuse

 

A wonderful example of recycling - Syracuse Cathedral. Originally before Christ, a temple dedicated to the Greek Corinthian Goddess Athene, then a Byzantine Basilica, for a short while it became a mosque and then finally a Catholic Cathedral. The Temple plan was reversed by the early Christians who added the doors shown in the below image, and an altar where the temple entrance had once been. A large statue of Athene once  stood where the main Cathedral doors are now located. The original Greek Doric fluted columns still support amore recent and higher replacement roof.

Light on water

'Light reflected on water' - digital image George Roberts, June 2025.

Etna Lava Curtain

'Lava curtain' - watercolour sketch - George Roberts, June 2025.

 "Lava flows where my rosemary grows" 🤣

Syracuse archaeological park

 

'Tower on a bluff'
- pencil & watercolour sketch
George Roberts, June 2025

Archimedes lived and died in Syracuse. He invented the Archimedes Screw and no school boy of my age will ever forget his principle.

" A floating body displaces it's own mass" I demonstrate this principle whenever I take a bath."

Etna Eruption 02_06_2025

 

Image captured with a SeeStar S30 late morning. The volcano erupted suddenly and with little warning. A wonderful but scary event to witness, even from a distance!

Pyroclastic cloud.