Total pages in book: 133
Estimated words: 122440 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 612(@200wpm)___ 490(@250wpm)___ 408(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 122440 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 612(@200wpm)___ 490(@250wpm)___ 408(@300wpm)
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Harlow loved everything about her studio. It was open and airy; the high ceilings, curved windows and glass doors leading to the outside appeared to bring the surrounding trees and flowers right into her workspace. She had divided the studio into three sections. Her first love was photography, and she had a massive space to work, including a darkroom. With the newer digital age, she knew not a lot of the up-and-coming photographers worked with a darkroom, but she loved hers. She could create magic there.
The second-largest space was given to her pottery work. She truly enjoyed making pottery, but she didn’t feel she was good enough to sell it in the galleries that sold her photographs. To her, making pottery was therapeutic. She liked to do it for her friends, creating special items she thought they’d love. She had two kilns, one for glass and one for clay. Her preference was clay. She liked the feel of it. But glass was intriguing, and she was learning.
The third space was dedicated to comfort. Misha’s bed, crate and toys were there, along with two very comfortable and somewhat artsy chairs. The chairs faced her vegetable garden. Her closest neighbor, Helen McKay, kept chickens. They were free range for the most part, which meant they often traveled to Harlow’s property. They ate the ticks and bugs out of her garden and went home at night to their coop, where they could be safe from predators. Helen traded fresh eggs for vegetables, and the arrangement suited them both.
Harlow was eager to see the photographs she’d taken at the old barn. She had traveled when she could to photograph several historic barns in various states. Most she found in the backcountry. To her, they were beautiful and indicative of the history of the areas they were built in. She loved the old barn on the property outside of Knightly. She’d photographed it many times, but never in the early morning, when the sun was rising and frost was still on the ground. She was excited to see the results and what she could do with the pictures she’d taken.
When she was developing and working with photographs in her darkroom, she always lost track of time, just as she did when she was doing her pottery or climbing. Her far-too-active mind focused completely on her projects and allowed her to relax and enjoy every moment of what she was doing.
She studied every shot she’d taken of the barn in the frost. The effect of the early sun hitting the shimmering ice particles was beautiful, particularly where the vines crawled up the sides of the barn to meet the large webs of the garden spider. The frost glistened on each of the spider’s long, intricate lines, turning the side of the barn into an amazing piece of art.
She loved spiderwebs and how lacy and different each web could be. She’d noticed garden spiders in particular built very large webs with complex and different patterns. The pictures of the web on the side of the barn led her to study the photos she’d taken of the floor of the barn and the ground just outside.
The holes, cracks and fractures in the floorboards were interesting, especially where the morning sun hit in streaks, but the effect didn’t have the impact of the ones on the outside of the barn. Still, she knew she could do something special with them.
Just outside at the front of the barn, where one door was off and one hung precariously, more vines wound their way up toward the eaves and roof, glistening in the early morning sun. The ground below was highlighted with webs that covered holes or entrances to small crevices created by rocks. She’d caught three large rattlesnakes curled up in the denser rocks she hadn’t even spotted or focused the camera on. In the photographs, the snakes blended into the rocks and could only be partially seen. One had to look very closely, which made the photograph all the more intriguing.
“Misha,” she whispered aloud. “This is pure gold. The way the sun is highlighting the frost caught in the webs on the ground, and the snakes are shadowed and hidden in the rocks, is a perfect combination. Frost and venom. That’s what I’ll call it.”
Excitement rushed through her the way it did when she knew she was onto something extraordinary. Her mind immediately began to consider various ways to enhance the photograph while keeping the mystery of the snakes, webs and vines dripping in frost taking over the dilapidated barn.
She lost herself for another two hours, studying the series of pictures to determine which ones she could use and how best to get the effect she wanted for a gallery-worthy photograph. It took Misha crying at her for her to remember to drink water and wander out into the sitting area.