August 18th - 15:03

Title: August 18th - 15:03 Medium: Super-8 film Aspect Ratio: 4:3 Resolution: 2880 x 2160 File Type: H.264 Codec / MP4. Comments: We made our way back to California. A full circle across America, though we still had to cover the pacific north west which we were going to tackle after Burning Man. Before reaching our destination at Sequoia National Park to visit the mightiest trees in the country, we took a long detour through Death Valley in the midst of summer. Probably a bad idea, but what the hell it was kinda on our way going back to Cali. And yes, it was hot as hell there! Over 110 degrees. Of course we drove to the lowest point of the sea level and the hottest spot just to get scorched by the sun. We walked outside for less than two minutes to smoke a joint before headed back to the air conditioned car with Sandy cat at the wheel. We carried on through to the end with no life in sight. From the bottom of a dried up floor to the highest mountain peak we made it to a flourishing view of trees and fauna. It’s fascinating to observe a gradient on the drive where you can see the shifting landscape from an empty death to an abundance of life. From a single weed breaking through concrete and dirt. One shrub at a time growing. To where the trees become a forest. An ecological balance of bio diversity with weather cycles and food chains are in sync. The tops of the mountains so far away look like moss on a rock. And when you get closer these sequoias are the biggest trees you’ll ever see! Ethan and I started hiking to enjoy the park and create the portrait. I found this beautiful patch of sunflowers along the way and stood here for a while waiting for the right person to pass by. At first there was a woman from Portugal who reluctantly agreed to be part of it. We shot a fantastic portrait and she gave her all to the lens. I almost ran out of film and we did not have any extra with us. I asked the woman for her email address and to sign a model release, even though I told her before hand the protocol. She had changed her mind and looked at me funny. She said she has to go meet with her friends and just bolted off running. I was dumbfounded in what had just happened. I thought we made a beautiful connection and honest artwork together. Her fear got the best of her and my sadness the best of me. I was upset because I had used a lot of film and was not sure what I had left in the camera. A woman and her friend named, Shaheda and Darius, were watching us make the art and saw everything that happened. They couldn’t believe that woman started running like she did in the flower field of the trail to back down to the road. I told them about the project and they said they would be happy to be part of it! So we shot the remaining film, which was perfectly enough time for the projects 10 second limit. The light brushed against the sunflowers while Darius was knighting Shaheda with her hat. It was an unexpected turn of events as fast as that failure had turned into success. The power of art gravitated new friends almost instantly. The universe likes to play tricks on us and teach lessons along the way. It’s all love at the end of the day, just remember to bring extra film everywhere you go. And yea, it doesn’t hurt to have an extra camera too, just in case. Darius and Shaheda were flight attendants on their time off so they understood our mission and passion was for this global project. Don’t be afraid to shine your light and make art, you never know who’s watching and who would be willing to take the place of someone who was not ready. Timing is everything but also you have to be in the right mind set. In this case both happened at the same time and it was fucking beautiful flow of emotions on opposite ends of the spectrum; fear and love, sadness and joy. After we departed our new friends in the sunflower fields in the golden sunshine we started walking barefoot in the woods. This was a stupid idea because there was no grass it was all broken sticks and hard to walk on. It actually hurt to walk so had to move slowly. We walked into a den of trees in a quiet place to hug the sequoias like the hippies we are and touch the park to connect with Mother Nature. We were pretty deep in the woods and far from the car. Ethan looked up and said we should get the fuck out of here. I laughed and asked why? He pointed at a furry brown beast snoring in the trees above us. We were in prime real estate of a bear colony during nap time midday. I was stricken with fear and we tried to haul ass out of there. The only problem was it fucking hurt to walk barefoot through these woods. Getting cut up and moving swiftly while cracking branches on our way out praying to God we don’t wake these fuckers up. Somehow we made it out and back to our car. Smoked two fat joints to calm our nerves and it was time to go closer to home.