rust on a steel pan

rust on a steel pan --

slow decay from exposure

to water and neglect

Rust, a sure sign of degradation. Left outside, the iron in this pan is becoming iron oxide, turning from gray to orange, from smooth to flaky. Eventually, the entire pan will disintegrate.

We've all experienced the heartbreak of rust. Rusted cars, rusty nails you don't dare step on, rusted bridges that collapse, whole industrial zones based on steel that now bear the epithet "Rust Belt."

But once again, as with so many anomalies, I find this pan beautiful. Something that was once plain is now adorned, if only briefly, with a colorful and intriguing pattern. I can easily imagine this as a work of art in a museum. Just search for images of rust art and you'll see what I see.

metal rust patterns

metal rust patterns

on an old combine become

nature's works of art

A 1915 Red River Special combine rests in a little clearing between a cornfield and a colony of cattails overlooking Highway 34. A US flag flaps in the wind on the front of the combine, marking the antique machine as a monument to American farming. You have to stop, climb the hill and get up close to see how time and moisture have weathered all parts of the machine, especially the sheet metal. The slow decline into entropy has formed rust patterns that look like abstract works of art, all done by Nature's infinite creativity.