top of page
Writer's pictureEric Clark Jackson

The color of Ice Melt

Temperatures broke enough for me to take my studio assistant out for a few hours today. I've been working on some more prototyping of the shirts and the design, and wanted to use some water samples. So we teamed up and went to the closest water access (which also happens to be the closest playground), down the hill at the Breton Bay Wharf.




I brought my official (as of now) water collection bucket, and scooped a few samples along the shore. The shoreline here is only a few hundred yards, but the shoreline structure is significantly different across 3 different areas, so I was curious if there'd be any noticeable difference. This was all just difference in water clarity of course, I'm not actually conducting any water quality tests of pH, salinity, dissolved oxygen YET (stretch goal?). With the recent snow and warming temps, I was expecting a crystal clear water, and boy was I right. I scooped this water sample from the kayak launch area.



It's hard to tell the color from this photo, but the clarity of the water (and I'm assuming the time of day) gave the water a slight blue tinge, which was eerily reminiscent of that ice melt salt color. So I deemed this water sample "Ice Melt Blue". Now, I'm NOT implying that ice melt was affecting the color of the water. It's not. I actually wondered if there were a few stray dye flecks that were staining the sample, but this bucket hasn't been used for dye in weeks. I imagine the angle of the light, the winter clarity, and the reflections around gave it such an unusual tinge. Needless to say, the water was significantly clearer than the other water samples I've collected over the past few weeks. Wondering how it will affect the color of the next sample!



17 views0 comments

Recent Posts

See All

On the Shore at New Point Comfort

The road to New Point Comfort Lighthouse seems to go on forever. But inevitably, it will only take you so far. Here, in the middle...

On the Shore at Fort Monroe

If you’re a child of the 80’s, when someone sends you on a mission to find a pet cemetery, it’s probably best to walk the other way. ...

Comments


bottom of page