Demolishing

There are many mean and brutal looking hunks of steel chomping their way through Christchurch at the moment. It reminds me Japanese monster movies.

Cyanotyping

Cyanotype is an old process that requires the sun and water to create a photographic image.
An emulsion is created with a mixture of Potassium Ferricyanide, Ferric-Ammonium Citrate and water.
This is then applied to a good water colour paper and left to dry in the dark
When it is dry the paper is ready to print with. Using either a Black & White negative or flattish objects such as leaves, feathers, lace etc It is then sandwiched under glass and put in the sunlight. Around 10mins exposure should be enough.
In a room that has no sun light entering it, remove the sensitised paper and place it in a tray of running water. After about 5-10mins it is fully developed and ready to hang up and dry, giving you a beautiful blue image.
The pic above shows a cyanotype in the process of exposure to sunlight.This was from an afternoon session of cyanotyping I had with friends recently on one of those rare Christchurch warm sunny days. It is being created in an old printing frame from the days before enlargers, or machine printers, when stuff was made of wood, metal and glass. If you wanted the whole process can be done with out the use of electricity.

Farewell Crow

Crow has passed on. She has always been scatty and slightly prehistoric looking. Her death was not unexpected. Araucanas are known for their blue shelled eggs. Crow only laid about six eggs in her short life. They were however, the most beautiful eggs I have ever seen. Too exquisite to use. I still have a couple I want to preserve somehow.
Chicken behaviour is endlessly fascinating, the night after Crow died, the other Araucana cuddled up with the two shavers on the floor of the coop, she has never done that before, preferring to sleep on the top perch.
The top pic shows Alex our second born attempting to dig Crow a grave with the assistance of Belinda. Eventually we had to lock her away or there may have been the need to dig the grave a little deeper.
Farewell Crow

Flower Power

Amid all the quake abandoned dwellings, the flowers continue to inhabit and blossom unabated. Most seem to flourish without the ever present gardener constantly 'tending' and controlling them. They feel to me like beautiful teenagers, seeking their own direction.

Pink

It's a shame the colour pink has been appropriated by the manufacturers of girls play stuff.
A glimpse down any toy alley in a major retailer will cause instant blindness and nausea.
I'm sure the above pic is actually a pretty princess pile of of puke!

Suppression

The urge to inflict our vision of how other life forms should live out their existence is alive and well! Most people appreciate and enjoy the way trees express their individuality in the way they grow, others sadly feel they must be controlled. Both these snaps were taken recently in Akaroa. The first image with Cabbage trees saddens me, they have had their outer protective leaves brutely torn off and discarded. Probably because they look 'untidy' and may drop off. The irony to me was the rest of the garden was overgrown and ramshackled.
I wouldn't want to have to get down this fire escape in a hurry in bare feet. It ends in the middle of a sawn off Yew tree, bizzare!

Bench

A while back I saw a couple on a park bench communicating to each other in a very emotional manner. This got me thinking how many lives have been altered, changed or distrupted by conversations or other interactions on park benches. I'll be hunting down a few more park benches, and snapping them. I'd like to put them into a book format with either a blank page next to the image so the reader could make up their own story of what may of gone on, on that bench or I could have a go at creating the stories.
I'll work on it.
This bench is on the main street of Geraldine, a great town full of excellent local food and beverage manufacturing.