It's Over...

5/28/24 Showers Across the Valley - image ©Bruce A. Morrison

It's official now...the Drought in Iowa has finally ended.  No exclamation point punctuating the end of that opening statement yet, but I am happy none-the-less.

It's been a bit of a mixed bag of course, nothing is ever straight forward or simple.  The weather systems in the middle of the country have come with a cost...flooding and damaging storms in many areas.  Iowa lost the best part of two small communities in the SW/Central part of the state from tornadoes.  Its been bad elsewhere too.  

Its been a bit of a race with area farmers trying to get crops in during the melee...the neighbor just got his beans in behind us yesterday afternoon.  I was kidding him a bit and said he still had a couple hours before the next rain comes and he said he didn't think he could disk and plant another 300 acres before then!  He'll be looking for another hole in the storms like so many others I guess.

5/28/24 Showers in the "Neighborhood" - image ©Bruce A. Morrison

 

Its been a real joy "here" to see everything as it "used to be"...the pastures were mostly burned late last winter and early this spring.  We left the NW quarter unburned to help the invertebrates out...had a bonus surprise there just two days ago - our 3rd Prairie Skink in 22 years!!!  We had our 2nd Prairie Skink outside the sheep barn in the south pasture late last summer...that really gave me hope that maybe they could make a come-back.  Now I'm optimistic!  Yes, even this pessimist is now optimistic!  What a little rain can do for a person, right?  Our first Prairie Skink here came the first or second week we moved here in the Fall of 2002...we discovered it in the mouth of the farm cat that came with the place!  Ouch!  Was so sad to see that.  

Red-headed Woodpecker on the acreage - image ©Bruce A. Morrison

 

We do not allow cats out side here unless supervised anymore...we are just down to one now and she is my studio kitty...I'm afraid that little rescued lady is indoors bound.  Don't get me wrong...I have had cats since I was a little kid, but I've witnessed first hand what they do outdoors.  I revisited a report I read many years ago on birds...it was reinstated recently due to the precipitous fall in the world bird population.  Cats are the LARGEST documented cause in the drop in the population of birds.  Larger than habitat loss even - very significant!  And I will be witness to the significance of that here - we have lots of birds...more than we used to before bringing all the cats inside...lots more!  And they are more successful in raising their broods than I have witnessed in past years.

Anticrepuscular Rainbow - 5-8-2024 - image ©Bruce A. Morrison

 

 

This last day of May marks an interesting month here, its been quite eventful really.  We get rainbows here fairly often each year...except during the drought when it's not raining of course!  We had a rainbow on the 8th of May that was kind of special in it's own way - a rainbow accompanied by ANTICREPUSCULAR RAYS. I have only witnessed Crepuscular and Anticrepuscular rays 6 or 7 times in my life - and ALL of them Out Here. Most people have either never seen them before or just didn't realize what they were witnessing.

 

Here's a WIKIPEDIA Quote for a brief explanation - "Anticrepuscular rays, or antisolar rays, are meteorological optical phenomena similar to crepuscular rays, but appear opposite the Sun in the sky. Anticrepuscular rays are essentially parallel, but appear to converge toward the antisolar point, the vanishing point, due to a visual illusion from linear perspective."

 

Fun huh!

 

Northern Lights from the North Pasture - 5-10-2024 - image ©Bruce A. Morrison

 

 

But the Crème de la crème was the Aurora Borealis on May 10!  A solar storm so active that the Aurora was visible into Mexico and the South Pacific!!!

 

I was so fortunate I got photographs from the north pasture here...even luckier I went out and set up when I did.  It was still daylight; that civil twilight when you can still make things out but the darkness is closing in.  And there they were!  Spiking high and moving around.  I had to be quick and probably got the best of the evening - the shot above shows the foreground still discernible and the moon off to the west as the Aurora danced on the horizon!  The next 45 minutes was great fun but I still prefer this image, as the rest had the foreground only as a blank black canvas.

 

Well May was great for us...here's to June being better!

 

Have a great rest of your Spring out there and always - be good to one another...we are not all the same, yet we are all from the same Maker and Loved Equally.  Again - Be Good To One Another.

 

Until next time...See you on the Tallgrass!

September Archival Works Friday!

It's Archival Works Friday!

As I mentioned before - I'll post a painting, drawing or serigraph (silkscreen prints) from the "archive" files of years past...and give a little back story on the work - the first Friday of the month.

I am now including photographs of past years. I hope you'll find it interesting! 

 

My first large format camera - a 1951 Crown Graphic

I was first introduced to “large format” photography back in the early 1970's when a student at the University of Iowa's School of Art.  My Father-in-Law bought an old Crown Graphic 4X5 press camera from an older gentleman who had been a professional photographer all his life. The retired photographer “Andy” had bought this camera new back in 1951. I was a one year old in '51!!!

For those out there that don't know what large format is – its a camera that takes any type of sheet film from 4X5” and larger.  One sheet of film.  Large format cameras were build to accept film holders – they held 2 sheets – you'd shove the holder into the camera's back, pull a dark slide out of the holder, take the photo, push the dark slide back in and pull the holder out...if you wanted to take another photo you would turn the holder over and shove it back into the camera back and repeat the process.  You had to remember to mark the holder or flip the dark slide so you'd remember that sheet was already exposed...in the heat of the moment I must have double exposed my share of film over the 30 years I used my 4X5's!  Oops!!!

I also had a Graphic 6 sheet holder – this was very cool if it didn't jam up or fail...it was finicky!  If I were to fog or waste a sheet – B&W film wasn't too bad...maybe about 35-50 cents a sheet, but the color film could be as expensive as $1.50 to $2.00 a sheet!  To make matters worse, if you didn't realize you screwed up your shot, having to get it processed or doing that yourself spent more money on processing or chemical costs!   It was always a moment for regret after processing a batch of film only to find out something had gone wrong!  A sheet of color film, after being processed could add up to as much as $5.00 “A SHOT”!  That was a bundle to lose back in the 70's through the 90's!!! Especially for just one picture!

There was a lot of ways to lose shots...the subject moved...the tripod jiggled a bit during a time exposure...the film holder leaked, or jammed...you just plain blew the exposure...and a lot more ways!

Don't get me started with how easy everyone has it these days!!!  Oh dear, my age is showing!

I became very good at processing sheet film...I worked in a professional photo lab in Kansas City for 3 years back in the mid 70's...processed thousands of sheets - “manually” by hand. And I found I could cut my costs by over a third by doing my own that way, but it was extremely tedious and time consuming...and chemicals were not cheap or forgiving.

My 4X5 Field Camera - a Tachihara

 I used 2 types of 4X5 cameras – the first one I mentioned a ways back was just one year older than me...the other was a beautiful wood/folding field camera...a beautiful piece of workmanship, a Tachihara 4X5 Field Camera.  This wooden field camera was lighter than the lenses and lensboards I used!  I won't get into all the drawbacks or challenges of large format film and cameras, suffice it to say I've already mentioned a few, but the 2 toughest hurdles for me were always depth of field and the shutter speeds you were forced to use.  Most large format landscape images required F/32 or higher and shutter speeds of ½ second or longer...ya, try hand holding that!  NOT!  My favorite tripod was a wood ash tripod – still use it to this day – HEAVY bugger but steady as a rock!

I guess I could keep complaining or bragging about how I had to walk to school for over a mile, up hill both ways, when I was a kid (Really – I kid you not! Well, after grade school any way) But it was “work” for sure. (Just don't get me started on cameras and smart phones these days – Aacck, there I go again!)

There are a lot of stories I could get into with Large Format photography, but the all time favorite was one vacation back in the early 1980's.

On vacation, the family had to resign itself to the fact that I was always stopping to take pictures...always!  The tripod and back pack were ever present and a photograph could take up to several minutes to as much as a half hour or longer – depending on what was going on or where we were.

I carried a lot of loaded film holders, but it didn't take me long to run out of film! The only way to “re-load” film holders was in total darkness.  OK...if you're out camping in a tent, on vacation, your opportunities are limited!

One day in Cascade River State Park in NE Minnesota I ran out of loaded film.  This was NOT the place to run out of film!  We were camped in the park itself and there were too many cars, headlights and flashlights at night to chance changing film holders in the tent, so I went searching for the park ranger's house, knocked on the door and tried best I could to explain my dilemma...I showed him a sheet of film and a film holder...showing him how it worked. I asked if he had a room in his house that was able to be completely darkened in the middle of the day. He said the only room he could think of was the hallway closet and agreed o let me take it over for about a half hour!

Well the closet was “close” to being dark...there was light making it's way under the closet door, so I took clothes off their hangers (ya using the ranger's coats and jackets) and stuffing them around the door bottom. It worked! The room was very hot after a few minutes and I had to try and keep from letting sweat drip onto the film – literally!

As I was getting to my last couple holders I heard a woman's voice enter the house. Then I heard foot steps walking down the hallway toward the closet door. Next I heard the ranger's voice almost shout “Don't open the closet door – a man's in there!!!”

I don't remember much after this point except with me “popping” out of the closet drenched in sweat – then the ranger's wife shrieking hysterically!

I'm sure we spoke briefly before leaving the ranger and his wife behind, but really all I remember is the unstoppable laughter emanating from their house as I carried my pack of film holders back to the campsite.

I do remember leaving them a sheet of film as a memento of this auspicious/wacky occasion.

I'll wager the word “photographer” brings back a story for them both to this day!

Crazy camera nut!!! 

(No argument there...)

Archived Works Friday No.6!

 

Post No. 6! The next post for "Archived Works Friday” comes from just over a decade ago. As I mentioned before - I'll post a painting, drawing or serigraph (silkscreen prints) from the "archive" files of years past...and give a little back story on the work. I hope you'll find it interesting! 

 

I also want to mention, starting this month I will limit "Archival Works Friday" posts to the first Friday of the month...I don't want you tiring too quickly with my ranting! 

 

This was a pencil drawing done in the early 1980's...it is a bit personal but maybe more on that before I close.

 

I always loved walking creeks...some of you who knew me well may have even accompanied me back "in the day". A person sees things a bit differently from "in" the creek, river, pond; I know, I could have easily grown webbed feet as a kid! But on this particular day I wasn't frogging, seining or fishing...just decked out in waders carrying a pack, tripod and camera. 

 

The stream was Prairie Creek. If you're familiar with Dolliver State Park in north central Iowa - this is the creek you had to drive through to go from one end of the park to the other. Kids could always be found wading or playing in the water between sparse traffic on hot summer days. The road has since been re-routed for water "sensitive" drivers. 

 

Prairie Creek has somewhat attractive features downstream before it empties in the Des Moines River, but on this early spring morning I chose to walk north to the west park boundary, since it would be new to me...besides the other direction was typically busy with park goers and I liked the idea of being by myself. 

 

It was a fun walk. Once past the Copperas Beds trail head and sounds of activity from the nearby group campground cabins, it got very secluded and beautiful. Accompanied by the occasional warbler and sweet spring bird songs, I found unaltered woodland and vegetation...it was like I walked into a different world. I still remember this walk nearly 40 years ago. 

 

I didn't get too many photographs of the landscape. I did photograph some ferns, mosses and wildflowers. But one landscape image I did make was one I felt compelled to draw instead of process a print. I knew my photography and the darkroom well - it had been my profession already over a decade at this time. I was seeing the scene so differently in my mind than on the 4X5 large format color transparency that I processed from this morning walk. 

 

The subject had a clump of Basswood in early leaf, surrounded with a thicket of scouring rush. The bank hung heavy over the creek and I noticed a set of mink tracks heading under the bank...always on the hunt for crayfish and frogs. I've watched mink fish in and along streams and marshes before - they're pretty good at it! 

 

Prairie Creek is a name likely given it because that's where it originated - way before it entered the sandstone walled ravines leading into the timber. And here the stream resembles those that traverse through woodlands...stones litter the flowage, decorating the water and defining patterns on the surface. This stream had poetry within it's banks and I wanted this to show.

 

I worked on this piece exclusively for several months - I had a daytime job at the time. Little by little I gained ground. To keep from smearing lead already placed where I wanted - I drew from the top down...never leaving a mark unfinished. Seemed counter intuitive to not put the "foundation" down first, but that's how I always worked with graphite pencil leads; making mistakes with pencil, even with an eraser handy, makes it extremely frustrating to hide the "error". (Of course something like india ink would be impossible to erase an error!)

 

I only used one grade of lead – a very soft grade of Eberhard Faber – Ebony Jet Black – Extra Smooth (6325)...every light touch of the pencil equaled fine lines...heavy touches made for darks that you could get lost in. I try and draw on acid free paper. The last few years I switched to quality hot press watercolor blocks and use that for the color pencils as well now.

 

My Mother was dying from bone cancer at this time...years earlier it started as breast cancer; she had a 5 year reprieve and they declared her cancer free. As suddenly as we all celebrated, it was back, but in her bones. In her last weeks I worked frantically on this drawing. I wanted her to see it finished. My Mom always supported my artistic endeavors and trials. She was actually a good artist herself but was a practical person who had grown up during the great depression...providing for her family, along with our Father, was “her” focus and she did little for herself in comparison. 

 

One day, when I was around 13-14 years old, Mom showed me something she had done as a teenager. If you are my age or close you'll know what I'm referring to – it was a magazine ad...”Draw Me” from Art Instruction Schools in Minneapolis...I had done the same thing without knowing she had years before. She and Dad agreed I could enroll. It was a mail order type art school and the lessons were good for me...made me focus and think things through. But I always thought back on this and wished my Mother had the circumstances she and my Father now provided me.

 

Mother never got to see “An Iowa Spring, Prairie Creek” finished. I was just reaching the water beneath the overhanging bank in the drawing when she last saw my progress...she passed shortly after. But I did it for her and I think of her every time I look at this drawing...its my visual song to my Mother; a poem to her memory.

 

“An Iowa Spring, Prairie Creek” - pencil drawing - ©Bruce A. Morrison

(from the collection of the artist)