So when last I left you, I had remembered I like cyanotype prints, remembered and had all the stuff to make the fancy paper, and realized I had roll of a cool new kind of paper I got to do mini wall pockets with.

Which led to adorning my kitchen counter with rather a lot of paper and tape then mixing up a variety of mildly noxious potions.

Then, once the sun went down, I painted the potions on the papers and left them to dry. Yes, you do this bit in as close to darkness as you can manage, and yes, it feels like magic every time.

And yes, the process is very well understood and you absolutely can learn exactly how it works. And at one point, I did! But then I forgot most of the chemistry and went back to ‘we do this part in the dark, then shield what we made in the dark from the light, until the time is right, and when the time is right, we use a massive burst of light to record an ethereal and unpredictable representation of some bit of ephemeral nature trash, then we rinse it all clean, and end up with something beautiful.’ Which just feels more satisfying to me right now than the chemistry version (even though I love knowing the chemistry version is there for when that feels better).

I’ll tuck these away somewhere dark and safe. They’ll keep for quite a while, but I fully intend to play with them as much as I want for as long as the fascination lasts. So you’ll be seeing more of them shortly!