Kerrie Ann Gardner
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kerriedoodles.bsky.social
Kerrie Ann Gardner
@kerriedoodles.bsky.social
Artist, writer, naturalist, photographer and wonderer. Enchanted by the natural world but angered by our treatment of it. Always happier outside. Often found gazing at the sky.


Website: www.kerrieanngardner.co.uk
Watching a cumulus congestus transforming into a cumulonimbus endlessly fascinating. As soon as the upper regions reach the tropopause (the boundary between the troposphere and the stratosphere) they start to spread out, forming an incus, the well known anvil shape of a storm cloud.
November 10, 2025 at 9:02 PM
I’m dreaming of doing this again. For the last few weeks the weather’s been too rough, but hopefully it’ll settle down soon. 🤞🏽

Soft pastel on Pastelmat.
November 4, 2025 at 6:41 AM
I haven’t created any art for a loooong time. My inner critic got too loud, causing me to abandon art entirely. But a few months ago I took up a new hobby - and whoosh! Inspiration flooded in, and I felt compelled to take up my soft pastels again. 🪂
September 27, 2025 at 2:58 PM
Before the stormy weather passed through this morning there were some fantastic clouds around. An early show of Asperitas clouds gave way to a fiery sunrise. Worth standing in the rain for!
September 7, 2025 at 3:06 PM
Gosh, I’ve been really rubbish at posting on Bluesky. Here’s a sketch of a Nightjar egg to say sorry.
May 28, 2025 at 5:31 AM
LOOK WHO JUST FLEW OVER OUR HOUSE!
March 22, 2025 at 1:03 PM
*Atmospheric Optics*

‘E’ is for Earth’s Shadow. Visible at twilight opposite the Sun, Earth’s Shadow is seen as a dark wedge on the horizon below the Belt of Venus. Its umbra extends 870,000 miles into space. It also gives us lunar eclipses. Total lunar eclipses turn the Moon bright red!
February 18, 2025 at 9:09 PM
*Atmospheric Optics*

‘C’ is for Crepuscular Rays. These are the sunbeams which shine out from gaps in clouds. Particles in the air scatter the light and make the beams visible. This phenomenon is also know as ‘God Rays’, as if a celestial being is casting them out as a symbol of hope.
February 17, 2025 at 5:34 PM
*Atmospheric Optics*

‘C’ is for cloud iridescence. This colourful optical phenomena appears on clouds close to the Sun or Moon. It’s caused by diffraction (small water droplets or ice crystals scatter the light) and is also called irisation, after the Greek goddess of rainbows, Iris.
February 16, 2025 at 9:33 AM
*Atmospheric Optics*

Today we move on to the letter ‘C’ beginning with a Circumzenithal Arc (CZA). This phenomenon is caused by sunlight refracting through ice crystals in cirrus or cirrostratus clouds. It looks like an upside-down rainbow & is sometimes called a ‘smile in the sky’.
February 11, 2025 at 12:51 PM
*Atmospheric Optics*

Still on the letter ‘B’, tonight I’m focusing on the Brocken spectre; the magnified shadow of an observer cast on a cloud opposite a light source. This shadow is surrounded by a halo known as a glory. It’s named after the Brocken, a mountain in Germany where it’s often seen.
February 9, 2025 at 8:22 PM
*Atmospheric Optics*

Time for the letter 'B', starting with The Belt of Venus.

This atmospheric phenomenon is caused by backscattering. It's a band of pink seen close to the horizon during twilight. Look west before sunrise and east after sunset. The dark blue area below it is Earth's shadow.
February 8, 2025 at 6:12 PM
*Atmospheric Optics*

Time for aurora!

In a nutshell, aurorae are produced when charged particles from the Sun interact with the Earth’s magnetic field. The different colours are caused by various gases in Earth’s atmosphere.

It’s one of my favourite atmospheric optical phenomena - magical! ✨
February 6, 2025 at 8:06 PM
*Atmospheric Optics*

Apologies about this photograph, as it doesn’t showcase this phenomenon particularly well, but here are some faint anti-crepuscular rays. These beams can be seen opposite the sun, converging toward the antisolar point. They are caused by cloud shadows and atmospheric haze.
February 5, 2025 at 8:03 PM
*Atmospheric Optics*

Still on the letter ‘A’, tonight it’s Alpenglow, from the German word Alpenglühen, which means ‘Alps glow’. Alpenglow refers to the reddish colour seen on mountain peaks at dawn and dusk.

Have you seen Alpenglow? Please share your pictures if you have, I’d love to see. ⛰️
February 4, 2025 at 7:23 PM
*Atmospheric Optics*

Another ‘A’ today - Alexander’s Band.

If you look closely at a double rainbow, you’ll see a darker area between the primary & secondary bow. This is Alexander’s Band. It appears darker because light in this area is being scattered at angles which don’t reach the viewer’s eyes.
February 3, 2025 at 8:41 PM
*Atmospheric Optics*

Still on the letter 'A', today I'm sharing airglow.

Airglow is caused by atoms & molecules in the upper atmosphere which, having been excited by sunlight during the day, emit light at night as they shed excess energy. This is called chemiluminescence.

(Cont'd in alt text.)
February 2, 2025 at 12:56 PM
*Atmospheric Optics*

'A' is for afterglow.

As far as I understand it, afterglow refers to an intense red glow along the horizon after the sun has set. It's caused by dust in the stratosphere.

This, near Lyme Regis, UK, is one of the best examples I've seen.

Have you seen it, too?
February 1, 2025 at 5:18 PM
I will never not be amazed at the intricacy of Jack Frost’s masterpieces. This is the artwork he left on my car windows overnight. It’s a fractal marvelment!
January 25, 2025 at 9:27 AM
First lino print of 2025! I’ve had this idea scribbled on the back of an envelope for months now and I suddenly felt compelled to carve it out.
January 10, 2025 at 8:45 PM
I was about to walk past this old, algae covered door when I realised that it’s been decorated, quite beautifully, by the mouths of feeding gastropods who’ve slowly munched their way across it. 🐌
#SciArt
January 7, 2025 at 3:02 PM
I love a frosty dawn. My cycle to work yesterday morning was beautiful; every seed head and hedge decorated in hoary ice. I couldn't carry all my camera gear with me, and my phone camera didn't do it justice, so here's a photograph I took in similar conditions a few years ago.
January 4, 2025 at 9:00 AM
Well, this is it, day 24 of #ArtAdventCalendar.

The final artwork I’m sharing is a pastel painting called ‘Going Home’, inspired by migrating geese.

Happy Yuletide everybody. Thanks so much for all your kind comments over the past 23 days. ✨
December 24, 2024 at 9:01 PM
I’ve heard a few snippets already, but today is the first day I’ve heard a Song Thrush properly belting it out and it’s the best Christmas present!
December 24, 2024 at 3:12 PM
Day 23 of #ArtAdventCalendar.

I’m sad this is nearly over - it’s been great to see so much art on Bluesky.

My offering this evening is a pastel painting from earlier this year, inspired by returning Nightjars in the spring.

(Only 158 days until they’re back again. 😉)
December 23, 2024 at 8:26 PM