'Tis The Season

Day 31: 'Tis the season! The procession of the Christmas cacti has begun, one by one emerging from loom-room purdah to sit in the place of honour on the fireplace mantel. Picotee is leading the parade with White not far behind. They spend the better part of the year in a south-facing window, getting water when I notice that they're starting to droop, generally being ignored in favour of the showy Hoyas putting on the ritz in the living room, but when their turn comes 'round, they're trotted out in sequence to show off their holiday clothes. The display will run for six to eight weeks with a possible encore in January from the earliest members of the troupe. Walmart may think the Christmas season starts two weeks before Hallowe'en, but at Crow's house, it has now officially begun.

Sunprinting

Day 292: Some 35 years ago, a friend gave me a gift of a "sunprint" kit. Technically, this is referred to as the cyanotype process, and uses certain ferric salts to create a negative image. It is the same process used for architectural blueprints, and was developed by Sir John Herschel in the mid-1800s. My original kit included several sheets of treated paper which I cut up into smaller pieces and carried into the deep backcountry during an off-trail trip to one of my favourite places on Earth. There, I made sunprints from a few significant items, one of which I eventually mounted in a frame and set on my fireplace mantel. The others are tucked safely away in a box of memorabilia. I wanted to share the fun with friends so recently purchased two kits to give as gifts as well as one for myself, and then I settled in to wait for a sunny day.

The cyanotype emulsion is sensitive to UV light and can require a fairly long exposure to get good results. Sun is something of a precious commodity in the Pacific Northwest, so when the opportunity availed itself, I scouted around the garden for items I thought seemed "artful." I selected Cosmos foliage and flowers for my first print, fern fronds for the second. Maybe I should thank the thinning ozone layer for the rich blue prints which were the result of only a few minutes' exposure time, or perhaps it was the addition of a few drops of lemon juice to the rinse, but in any event, I am very pleased with the outcome. As for that 35-year old print on my mantel, it is still as blue as the day I made it.

Imaged By The Sun

Day 92: It's been at least twenty years since I made this sun-print from a branch of a very special Little Tree in a very special place. It has sat on my mantle ever since, so long ago that the black matte I used to framed it has faded, but not the print itself. Images made in this fashion are referred to as "cyanotypes," and kits are readily available from a variety of sources, although if you're inclined toward chemistry, you could certainly make your own. The process for creating a cyan print from store-bought paper is quite simple: lay the object you wish to image on the treated paper, expose it to bright sunlight for several minutes, and then rinse the paper in plain water. For a darker hue, add a couple of drops of lemon juice. Lay the paper flat, and once it is completely dry, then press it under a stack of books or other similar weight. Cyan-printing is a fun way to create a durable memory!

Mountain Classic

Day 54: I should have guessed. My eyes are itchy, I've been sneezing every few hours and my chest feels constricted. No, I'm not getting a cold. I'm suffering from an inverted air mass. That became quite apparent when I went in town today. As I crested the hill south of Graham, my eyes fell on a layer of brown fug spread like a carpet across Flatland. By the time I reached the shopping district, I was feeling decidedly short of breath. A return to the Mountain gave me some relief, perhaps only because the air LOOKED cleaner.

Arachne's Lace

Day 14: This moment of quiet beauty was brought to you by a tiny spider who has no knowledge of the tangled webs we humans weave.