Walk On the Wild Side | Mixed Media Project

Piotr worried for her. He worried that her health would fail like it did two years ago. He worried that another accident would befall her. He worried that a wild animal would choose her to satisfy its appetite.

"Why you always opt for the most dangerous assignment I'll never understand," Jana's fiance retorted, thoroughly exasperated. His hands cupping the back of his head, he paced several times before pausing in front of her.

She ignored his antics.

Nothing was going to prevent her from exploring the deep cavern recently discovered in her area. It was her job. As was the unusual experience of working with exotic animals. Taking risks was part of it.

Before she finally decided to look up and attempt to provide an explanation that would satisfy his worry, a jolt cascaded through her body as the door slammed shut.

He'll never understand, and I'm so tired of trying to make him, she sat with a heavy heart staring at the empty space he'd just occupied.

Jana stood up from the wooden chair. She checked the straps on her heavy nylon pack. Her headlamp clicked on. She walked out of their apartment into the chilly mountain air.

Upon arrival, the mouth of the cavern yawned open as though awaiting her entrance. An old pine tree stood nearby guarding the treasure. Approaching cautiously, cold air rushed to greet her, carrying the scent of damp stone and ancient earth. She clipped her harness to the static anchor line, then stepped over the threshold.

With the help of her partner, Lawrence, she lowered herself into the black, beautiful void.

Below the surface, the world stripped away human expectations. Water dripped in a slow pulse from limestone teeth overhead. Her boots barely dug into slick rock.

This particular cavern sent chills down her spine. She was alone, small, and entirely alive.

The descent became tighter. The limestone walls closed in until Jana had to crawl on her stomach. Her breath fogged in the beam of her headlamp. As she squeezed through a narrow fissure, the ceiling suddenly soared upward into a massive, hidden cathedral of stone.

Then, her light hit the center of the chamber. She radioed her partner to determine his location.

A discovery unusual for that part of the country, she faced a towering column of crystalline ice and mineral deposits. It pulsed faintly with trapped bioluminescent algae. The entire structure hung beneath a cracked, shifting shale ceiling that groaned under the weight of the mountain above.

She should have waited for Lawrence as per the strict rules. Still, she pressed on in the excitement of the find.

As she stepped forward to document it, a sudden tremor shook the cavern. A massive boulder sheared off the ceiling, crushing her exit route and pinning her ankle beneath a slab of rock.

She screamed. No answer. Trapped in the pitch black, her headlamp batteries began to die. Jana faced the raw reality of her choices.

The air grew thin. Cold seeped into her bones. For two agonizing hours, she used her small rock hammer to chip away at the stone trapping her foot. Any wrong strike could bring the entire ceiling down. By the time Lawrence reached her, she was semi-conscious.

Rescue crews reached her in time. Alive, but requiring medical attention, they rushed her to the hospital. The doctor worked up a full examination.

To her surprise, he stood by her bedside with a bewildering stare.

"Why would you risk your life like that, young lady?" he spoke with a harsh tone.

"What do you mean? It's my profession. I know the risks involved,"
Jana responded somewhat defensive.

The doctor delivered news that caused Jana to fall back onto the bed pillow. Her entire world was instantly reordered with another passion and dream realized.

She was six weeks pregnant.

They'd been planning ahead to conceive due to fertility issues. Piotr’s fear, she realized, hadn't been an anchor holding her back; it was a lifeline she had been careless with.

At that moment, Jana chose to step away from the physical dangers of field exploration. But abandoning her passion for speleology wasn't an option.

Released from the hospital, Jana sat at the same wooden table where she and Piotr had argued. When he walked in, she didn't look away. She pulled out a sonogram photo, set it down between them, and smiled.

"I think it's time we both explore something new," she smiled, hoping would be well.

During the next several months, Jana explored her passion for cavern in another non-physical capacity. She discovered the new research technology mapping cave systems using advanced 3D LiDAR drones was being developed¹. Switching to lab work would be her new future. Of course, she'd always miss touching the cave walls and walking in the subterranean chambers.

But the most exciting part of her new venture would be the opportunity to collaborate with her now husband, Piotr.

^{1 Source}

I think about individuals who are adventurers. Those who aren't afraid to explore the unknown. I wonder whether they consider the danger involved. Is it the thrill of the conquer or achievement perhaps? For my current mixed media project, I wanted to present both sided of the matter with my micro story to accompany the design.

I called up on StarryAI and Night Cafe, two of the stable diffusion programs I use to retrieve unusual images of subjects not found elsewhere. I also create images utilizing Nvidia Gaugan. The scene for the cave is one of the many beautiful designs I created from brushstrokes in the color I chose from the program.

Below are my steps in which I utilized Canva, my design program, to blend the different type images. I leave with you my procedures which began with a blank, white canvas. I then added layers of elements for the blending process.

Below are the images I included in my project.

^{StarryAI-Girl Facing her Memories ~ StarryAI-Black and White Tiger head tilted upward ~ StarryAI-Black and White Tiger head tilted down ~ Nvidia Gaugan - Beautiful Cave ~ NightCafe-Crow ~ Monster Claw Scratch ~ Elegant Curved Plant - Contributed to the #LIL by @borjan}