Ribbons In the Sky | Mixed Media Project

The drought had long strangled the southern region. The area where common citizens such as Guy Messinger resided. Decades of debates surrounding the validity of climate change affects on vulnerable areas ended in neutrality. The influential naysayers wanted nothing. The believers surrendered to political pressure. They simply didn't have the power dynamics to overrule the stupid non-believers.

Those who pushed back on valid science weren't required to live in the region's inner cities or desolate deserts where clean water was a luxury.

In the end, the blind eyes that turned away many decades earlier stood wide eyed, horrified, and panic striken upon learning the devastation had spread. They surveyed their once pristine landscape, falling to their knees in disbelief.

What they didn't take into account was that climate change didn't cherry pick wallets. It didn't discriminate.

Once the scientific warning countdown began, the relentless devastation spread wide and deep. Those skeptics who lived in fear of retribution under the thumbs of their extortionists, rebelled in fear of a higher power at play.

Guy Messinger, a lowly technician monitoring the effects of climate change for the government in the northern hemisphere's southern region, for years kept his true feelings hidden. His family's well-being was at stake.

When the veil of oppression finally lifted, damage to their environment was irreversible.

But years earlier, Guy had formulated a plan.

He sought out Marcel Harborger. A gruff young man in his early forties with an experienced face greeted Guy.

"You come highly recommended in underground circles for knowledge crossing the southern barren land into the north," Guy spoke in an unsure tone.

"In my business, I don't deal in reasons, rational or otherwise, just whether you can afford my services," Marcel responded tersely.

"Yes, I've saved for years," Guy replied, confidently extending his hand.

"Travel light. Don't assume you will locate water. Each person carries his own pack. No sick or weak. If someone dies; he's left behind. Those are the rules before I accept your coins," he stated in a low-pitch, monotone voice.

Eager to impart his enthusiasm, Guy agreed. He'd agree no matter what, then offered, "people reported seeing ribbons in the sky, followed by an image of the most beautiful landscape. A sign of the mysterious Europia perhaps?"

"I've heard about that, but don't deal in fantasies. I saw no such things on my journeys. Hope isn't a luxury I can afford. I deal in bartering; directing; relocating," coyote guide Marcel replied dryly.

"I'll keep hope alive. I have to; for my family's sake."

"Your choice. We leave tomorrow night, under the cover of night. Ready yourselves." Marcel knew his business, as he continued gathering supplies when issuing orders.

With that, Marcel collected his fee and escorted Guy from his one-room duplex apartment.

Daybreak hovered over the parched earth that crumbled under their weight. Guy and his family of four set out across the arid desert, encouraged by faith; led by a skeptical guide.

Ribbons in the sky at the back of his thoughts.

With his navigation tools and binoculars, Marcel led the pace, a silent shadow moving almost effortlessly across the dunes, while Guy’s family of four trailed behind, lagging at times.

The parched earth cracked beneath Guy’s boots like dry bone, each step kicking up fine dust that threatened to coat his throat. He commanded his family retrieve light-colored bandanas from their backpacks and tie them around their noses. Sunshades helped, but not much. He held his family close, ordering that they lock hands to keep up.

By noon, the heat became a physical weight, pressing down until the horizon warped into a shimmering mirage. Guy wiped the grit from his eyes, staring up into the blinding expanse above.

That evening proved a bit bearable as the desert cooled slightly. That was when he saw them waffling in the slight breeze.

Faint at first, like gasoline swirling on water, translucent bands of azure and gray unfurled across the evening sky. They defied gravity, twisting and braiding themselves into a luminous path that cut directly through the heat waves.

"Marcel," Guy croaked as loud as he could, then stood close by, pointing upward. "Look!"

The guide stopped, his experienced face hardening as he glanced up. For the first time, Marcel’s stoic expression cracked, replaced by sheer disbelief. The ribbons weren't just colors; they were projecting a low, resonant hum that seemed to vibrate from Guy's chest, cooling the air around them slightly. The bands pulsed, stretching forward like a glowing highway, pointing directly toward a break in the distant mountains where Europia was said to hide.

"That's no mirage," Marcel whispered, his hand leaning heavily on Guy's shoulder, after studying the anomaly for several long moments. His hand lowered the binoculars. The sight was real. A deep frown revealed puzzlement at the mirage transfixed before him.

"It's a map," Guy uttered in amazement, a cracked smile breaking through the dust on his face as he took his daughter's hand. "Just like the scene depicted in the forbidden book. Others have witnessed this."

"Let me think this through before we perish following an image to nowhere." The skeptical guide remained silent, but as he adjusted his pack, he ordered the family find shade and rest for a moment to clear their heads. A drink of water will lessen the cobwebs, he reasoned.

However, an hour's rest later, the distant skyline map still waffled in the breeze.

Evening slowly rolled into night. Altering his course, Marcel finally steered the family away from his old, grueling trails and followed the glowing ribbons into the unknown.

The jagged mountain pass opened up, and the glowing ribbons of light finally dipped toward the earth, dissolving into a massive, shimmering gateway.

Beyond it lay Europia.

It was a breathtaking metropolis of towers intertwined with vertical gardens that cascaded with fresh, rushing water. Hover-transports they'd never knew existed drifted silently between floating platforms. The crisp, clean air was surprisingly devoid of the ash and stench they'd left behind. Massive atmospheric scrubbers hummed in the distance, generating a perfect, cool climate over a thriving society.

Guy fell to his knees, tears carving clean lines through the dust on his face as his family joined him, weeping with relief.

Beside them, Marcel instantly dropped his backpack. The hardened guide stared into the futuristic oasis with a weathered, pale face. For a man who had built his life entirely on bleak realities and transactional survival, the sheer sight of the promised land, Europia, he'd scoffed at and ridiculed, finally shattered his cynicism.

The ribbons in the sky weren't a myth, and hope wasn't a liability.

"I've crossed that desert a hundred times," Marcel whispered to Guy, his voice trembling as he traced the brilliant spires from the surface up to the fading colors in the sky. "I thought I knew everything about our desolate world."

Guy placed a hand on his shoulder.

"You didn't travel with someone who believed. And sometimes you're forced to look up to see the path ahead."

For my current mixed media project, I envisioned a dystopian setting. I called upon the stable diffusion program, StarryAI for two of the prominent images. The facial image lining the skyline resembles an alien world.

I also included two pure fractals I created in the advanced fractal rendering program, Apophysis 7X.

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 add layers of elements to assist in the blending process.

The images I included in my design are listed below.

^{StarryAI-Universal Defrag-Klein-Bottle) ~ Nvidia Gaugan Image titled "Brown-Canvas39" ~ Nvidia Gaugan Image titled "Green and Beyond In Brown" ~ People exodus ~ Texture gray swirls ~ StarryAI - Dystopia - Klein bottle ~ Rocks - Contributed to the #LIL by @agmoore ~ Pure Fractal titled "Brown Swirls" ~ Pure Fractal titled "Brown Weeds"}