I spent several hours yesterday in the darkroom by myself trying to do some reprints to sell this Christmas. Of course I had to do some of “Perfect Flight“. I realized a couple of things:

• That was my first time being in the darkroom all by myself, so I ended up feeling rather accomplished even though wasn’t doing anything that difficult that I would have needed help. Felt good to get into that groove.
• The silence is comforting. There was a radio in the other room but I decided to leave it off so for hours all I heard was the trickling of water from the wash tank and the beeping of the timer. Was able to deeply focus.
• Such deep focus is exhausting. Even though I wasn’t doing anything particularly complicated, by time I was finished I was really drained. Of course, the cold helps too.
• I really do love darkroom work. Part of me still gets so fascinated with the magic of seeing the print appear under the chemicals. It amazes me every time.
• Being an “artist” is fulfilling. I was thinking about people actually paying money, wanting to buy those prints that I put my time into preparing and I felt all warm inside (and no not cause of the money tho that helps). It’s more of “they like me, they really like me”.

Nooo, say it isn’t so! Apparently Alaska may lose their Northern Lights in another 50 years or so. Luckily they wouldn’t be gone forever, just more visible in Siberia and Europe. So says a report presented to the American Geophysical Union recently according to an article I read recently. It seems the Earth’s North Magnetic Pole is moving (as it does over time). Interesting, no?

For more info on the Northern Lights, NORDLYS has some amazing photos plus info on research, measurements, mythology.

My last 2 posts, Concentration and It’s time, were in the form of haiku. For the uninitiated, haiku is a traditional form of Japanese poetry.

The basic rules:

• Simple themes, often descriptions of familiar daily situations.
• Traditionally, 3 lines of 5, 7 and 5 syllables respectively (slightly more dificult when writing in English).
• Usually divided in 2 sections, independent of each other but enriching the understanding of the other (cutting done using a colon, long dash or ellipsis at end of first or second line).
• Should contain a kigo, a season word, to indicate in which season the Haiku is set (not always as obvious as snow for winter).

The post before that, Dreams to Fulfill, was in the form of a villanelle, which is a traditional form of poetry that follows a repetitive pattern based on 2 key lines.

For the poetically minded among us, it provides an interesting challenge to read up on some defined forms of poetry and see what we can do with them.

The ring of metal…
As hands execute their dance
A bead of sweat forms

Quiet summer night
Broken by the sound of steel -
Music fills the air