Today marks the anniversary of the eruption of Mt. St. Helens. I will never forget that day. I was eleven years old and I remember being out in the back yard raking when I noticed the sky starting to darken. The birds went silent and the sky just turned black and ashes began to fall. The piled up on the roof so deep that my father had to climb up and shovel it off. Schools were shut down for a couple of weeks.
During that time away from school I spent time reading about the universe. I studied the solar system and dreamed about star systems and constellations.
Last night as I critiqued photographs from my nature and landscape class one of my students submitted a closeup of a dandelion. It triggered my imagination about flying as I thought about the shared shape of a circle and a full moon. During the critique I made a hasty composite image to test out the composition. I was really excited by the idea.
This afternoon I went out into my yard and made photographs of dandelions against a dark background and then held one seed pod between my fingers with the intention of creating this digital composite illustration.
The sky still fascinates me and I still love to daydream.
Peace,
Ira
