My thoughts take me back to 1979. A young adult just blossoming into the world of my own family. My love of suspense created by the master Alfred Hitchcock in his Alfred Hitchcock Presents and Rod Serling in his hosting role of The Twilight Zone was at at an all-time high.
But the most favorite genre of mine is science fiction.
It allows us to explore our imagination into the possibility of worlds other than our own. It we were to encounter an alien world that "spoke" to us and we could understand, what would we see or say in response? Would we have the mental capacity to absorb the meaning of the encounter?
I remember composing numerous short stories and poems based on the Twilight Zone series.
Rod Serling said it best in his later years' opening segments of the Twilight Zone:
Below I share with you my version of unlocking the door of my mind.
"This Is For the Alien In Me"
Fine slivers of dust I couldn't identify settled on my brows as I squatted low against the rooftop. The eerie vibration swirling around me as the full moon cast long shadows next to my thin frame. My binoculars slip from my hand and fall into the thick grass below. I breathed a sigh of relief that my movements didn't wake my mother. Frowns of disapproval still haunt me.
I remember her words as a young girl. Females don't gaze at stars and wonder what is beyond. But I see forms not of this world dancing in the circumference, beckoning me to come. Voices reach my ears. "We'll allow only you who believe to experience the beauty and horror of the dark side of the moon," they whisper.
Horror. My thoughts raced. I didn't expect there would be anything but the ethereal glow of the universe. I turn away, trembling. Perhaps mother was right, I thought, as my hands grew cold in the night's air.
Something stirred inside. I turned back toward the moon and hunched even lower. I couldn't see over the edge of the roof. But I couldn't ignore the sounds that filtered through my mind. They commanded that I rise and come witness.
Slowly, a door opened wide.
From a distance, I detected a beam of red light. I felt it touch my head before spreading over my shoulders, then down to my feet encompassing me as though being tucked inside a web. I felt the pull of gravity toward the round sphere in the sky. The closer I got, the larger the orb appeared.
Instantly, I stepped inside the moon.
My first thoughts. No man on Earth has ever seen the beauty behind the stars.
There should have been a darkness there, I thought in my childish ignorance. Instead, cascading light as bright as the sun flickered through my body. The voices from the rooftop came closer. I froze, trembling with a deep-rooted fear of the unknown and a newly-acquired longing to know and understand.
The shadow people could sense the fear of my dreams when younger.
"Don't fret my child, we are preparing you for the dimension you seek," emanated from them shadowy figures as tall as the tallest building I've seen on Earth.
You will never believe the wonders and predicted horror that revealed themselves to me in the night that stretched into many.
Although I was never threatened, to my disbelief, I returned unharmed.
I wasn't allowed to speak of it. Neither did my mother question me on my absence, so relieved that I had returned. "I'll write you a note for school," she rushed to assure me.
I wanted to laugh. I wanted to cry. I wanted to share my experience with her. But I couldn't.
Something deep inside warned me of the consequences of sharing my encounter. Something stirred inside as though I had transported a part of them back with me. I felt no different. Only mind mind had changed.
But I will never forget what I encountered in my journey through the stars on the dark side of the moon.
For my current mixed media art project, I wanted to share an alien encounter episode with myself as the main character, I utilized another stable diffusion program to produce a lovely female image that should depict myself. A truly alien concept. I paired it with a free-sourced one of an alien. The vibes I received when I saw the image helped me visualize the "alien" atmosphere.
But first, below are my steps for the stable diffusion image:
StarryAi Text input:
"Breathtaking modern beautiful young woman with long straight brown hair, pale skin, (hazel-greenish eyes), long eyelashes, magic mist, digital painting, digital illustration, extreme detail, digital art, 4k, ultra hd, Anna Dittmann, greg rutkowski, alyssa monks, hyperrealism."
Style: Brushstroke
StarryAI Result:
Here are the other images I included that helped to highlight the theme.
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I then utilized Canva to blend the different type images. Below are my steps in which I begin with a blank, white canvas, then added layers of elements, removing backgrounds, resizing, and repositioning items as needed.
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I share with you my completed project:
Thanks for taking the time to view my post. I hope you like my mixed media art project.
SOURCES:
a) JustClickindiva's Footer created in Canva utilizing its free background and images used with permission from discord admins.
b) Unless otherwise noted, all photos taken by me with my (i) Samsung Galaxy 10" Tablet, (ii) Samsung Phone, & (iii) FUJI FinePix S3380 - 14 Mega Pixels Digital Camera
c) Purple Butterfly part of purchased set of Spiritual Clip Art for my Personal Use
d) All Community logos, banners, page dividers used with permission of Discord Channel admins.
e) Ladies of Hive banner used with permission of and in accordance with the admin's guidelines
f) Thumbnail Image created by me in Canva.
g) "Flames." What is Apophysis 2.09. https://flam3.com/
h) What is Stable Diffusion? StarryAI.Com. Online at: https://starryai.com/stable-diffusion
1 https://www.slashfilm.com/1356874/rod-serling-mistake-twilight-zones-opening-narration/