global warming
No Water, 2016. Digital photo collage. Kelly Heaton
We had an old horse colic today. Vet says not enough water and dry hay are to blame. Fortunately, we helped him through it and he's going to be OK. The scare got me thinking about this image, made for entirely different concerns about no water on earth. Or water in all the wrong places.
Love is a Battlefield, 2016. Digital photocollage. Kelly Heaton
Valentine's Day is coming, although I don't need a holiday to mix romance with late-Anthropocene apocalyptic visions. In keeping with my song theme, I wonder how lovers will frolic in the acid rain under an ozone-less sky? Sounds like a battlefield to me.
Oil drums, 2016. Digital photo collage. Kelly Heaton
A mountain of empty oil drums are a drum circle waiting to happen.
Coral Reef, 2016. Digital photo collage. Kelly Heaton
Protect our rich natural heritage. Heaven isn't somewhere we go when we die; it's right here, right now, and we're all at risk of going to Hell if we don't take care of the environment.
Big Freaking Oil Monster, 2016. Digital photo collage (sketch). Kelly Heaton
Sketch of the day.
Wish You Were Here, 2016. Digital photo collage. Kelly Heaton
Vintage resistors hamming it up on a trashy beach. The ocean is green due to toxic algal bloom, but never mind. Electricity doesn't like water, anyway.
Destination Wedding, 2016. Digital photo collage. Kelly Heaton
Coral reefs have it bad. Coral is suffering from so many different problems, it's hard to be optimistic about the existence of reef ecology beyond this century. Increased temperatures and UV radiation lead to bleaching; water pH (think acid rain) disintegrates coral; chemical-run off is poisonous; biological waste supports algal growth where it does not belong; fisherman actually detonate underwater explosives to "catch" fish; fishermen also douse coral with cyanide to paralyze fish for capture; boats gouge coral with propellors and anchors; sediment from erosion and dredging smothers coral; people collect coral; swimmers stand on reefs without realizing their fragility; and then there's trash.
Snorkeling is one of my favorite activities. It's like entering another world, full of color, texture and sculptural form. There are few experiences more amazing than exploring a living reef. Unfortunately, it is ever-harder to find reefs that are healthy ... but there I go sinking into environmental depression. I need to make more pretty and humorous images. Vorwärts!
Catching UV Rays in at Tired Beach, Colorado (2016). Digital photo collage. Kelly Heaton
Technically, we can't see UV... but if we could, it would look something like extremely rich purple. The good news about big holes in the ozone layer is that we will have plenty of opportunity to train (more likely evolve) our eyes to see weird photons. Seeing as the oceans will rise a good amount, I figure that Colorado could have some nice beachfront property. I hear that they have a massive dump of old tires in Colorado, a "tire graveyard" as they morbidly call it. Tires are very slow to decompose and are not prone to erosion like soil or sand. What a great place to relax in the late Anthropocene!
