Last week I gave an artist talk for the Chester Art Centre in Chester, Nova Scotia. If you are interested, you can click on the box below and watch the talk on YouTube.
My exhibit will be running until May 29th. If you'd like to see the exhibit virtually, there is a tour on my previous post.
A project just wouldn't be the same for me if I didn't have a way to document the event. I have just as much fun putting together a book or magazine as I do in completing the project itself.
This is the exhibit guide for my Haven exhibit at the Chester Art Centre. The exhibit runs from May 5th through May 29th. I have printed up a number of guides and am hoping to raise money for the CAC through the sales.
Click on the image below and you'll be taken to the website for Blurb Books where you can view the complete magazine. If you click on the diagonal arrows at the top of the page, you'll be able to view it full screen. Then just click on the pages to move forward and back through the magazine.
Enjoy!
Also, I'll be giving a free artist talk on Zoom on Thursday May 19th at 7pm ADT. If you'd like to sign up for the talk, go to this link: https://www.chesterartcentre.ca/haven . Scroll down under my profile photo for the sign up box. Hope to see you at the virtual event!
Everything for my upcoming Haven exhibit has been delivered to the Chester Art Centre. The exhibit opening is on May 5th from 5-7pm. Here is a little invitation from me that was sent out in the CAC newsletter recently:
I have created an exhibit guide and they will be available for purchase at the opening. Most of the proceeds will be donated to the Chester Art Centre. I'll post a link to the exhibit guide after the opening so you can view it online.
Funny story about the exhibit guides (not so funny at the time)...I had ordered the guides early in April and was guaranteed a delivery date of April 13th. On April 22nd it occurred to me that I hadn't received them yet and checked online to track them down. The information said the package was damaged on April 13th, and also said the package was "abandoned" on April 13th. Panic time! I contacted the printing company and received an automated reply that they were behind and it may be weeks before a response is sent. At this point, what do you do? I decided it wasn't meant to be, and tried not to fret about it.
But, I did hear back from the printing company and they processed a re-print and guaranteed delivery to arrive three days before the exhibit opening. They arrived yesterday...yay! Happy endings do happen.
You Can Learn Photography Episode 9
Be forewarned! It's 90 minutes long. Who knew I could talk that long about my own photography?
It's always interesting to hear your own voice....it never sounds like you think!
It was a pleasure talking with Trevor. He made me feel relaxed and natural...not nervous at all.
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| Spring Idyll |
Before I get started on a fresh topic of conversation, I'd like to pontificate just a bit more on the topic of titles. Click on this link to read the original post. In the end, I decided to keep the original title of Forgotten. Why? I decided that the word forgotten could lead the viewer in several different directions when looking at the image. Sure, changing the title to Gratitude may put a more positive spin on the image, but do I really want to point someone down either path...positive or negative? After I thought about it for a while, I decided that using the title Forgotten might make a viewer take a moment to really look at the image. There is a solitary crow...is it the crow who has been forgotten? Has the crow forgotten something? There is a lock on the gate...is it the church that has been forgotten? The parishioners? Is it a larger story about religion being forgotten? Each viewer might think of a different story. That's why I stuck with my original title. Here is the image:
Moving on to today's thoughts...I was recently interviewed for a photography podcast which got me talking (and later, thinking more) about various things. One question I was asked was "what advice would you give to a beginner?"
In a nutshell....I believe that artistic vision is just as important....perhaps more important...than techical knowledge. Having the confidence to pursue your own artistic vision is the best advice I could give, and something I continue to struggle with. It's tough to remain confident when people don't "get" what you have created.
How do you find your own artistic vision? Go through your own portfolio rather than comparing your own work to other people's work on social media. Pick your favourite images. Why are they your favourites? Is it the subject matter, the style, what is it that speaks to you? Experiment with the things that you feel drawn to in your own work and build on that. Sure, learn the "rules" of photography or whatever medium you work with, but learning the rules is less important than learning about yourself and what makes you happy to create.
I just received a newsletter from Cole Thompson Photography, and he talks about vision in a much better way than I could. Here is the link if you'd like to take a read (scroll down past the quotes)
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| March Portfolio |
No matter how much proofing I do...as well as printing small test prints....I always find things to correct when I print "the real thing". This is a waster of paper, but all part of the learning process when it comes to printing.
I managed to break a couple of pieces of framing glass, and had to order new pieces...then I broke one of the new pieces. Arg!
Did I mention that printing and framing are not a favourite pastime of mine? When I start printing and framing, I always promise myself that this is the very last time I will exhibit my work. But, then I forget and do it all over again a year or so later!
Early in the month, I was interviewed by Trevor at You Can Learn Photography for an upcoming podcast. It will be available on April 15th, and I'll post the link. I don't listen to many podcasts...since I'm such a visual person, I prefer to watch videos on YouTube. Answering Trevor's questions was a good experience, and it was much more relaxing than giving an artist talk :)
April will be spent printing and framing....and hopefully getting out into the garden!
There was a time...not too long ago....when I thought that titling my images was a very important part of my process. I often came up with a concept or title first, then built an image around it. If I was out with my camera making photographs, a word would often come to mind while I was pressing the shutter.
It was important to me to guide the viewer with my title....to help them understand what I was trying to convey with my image.
Now I'm not so sure about that. Isn't it better to let the viewer decide what the image means to them?
Let's use the image above to try to illustrate my point.
I made this image last year and gave it the title "Forgotten". I am currently preparing for an exhibit and plan to include this image. With everything going on in the world these days, I thought maybe more positivity was in order and considered changing the title to "Gratitude".
The two different titles would certainly direct the viewer in two very different directions.
But why do this? Why not let the viewer decide whether it's a melancholy story or something more positive?
My current thought is to use more generic titles to allow the viewer to create their own story. I'm curious to know your thoughts about this.
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| February Portfolio |
February was a lot more active than my usual February months. I have been in a good place creatively, which I'm very thankful for as I'm preparing for a solo exhibit in May. At the moment I have a lot of images crammed in my head and my challenge is to actually create them....a much better situation than not having any inspiration at all!
Creating nine images that I'm proud of might not sound like much, but considering each image is made using a "collage" of elements from 10 or more images, it does take a lot of time. My goal was to create 6 quality images in February, so the fact that I created 9 is wonderful in my mind.
That doesn't include the pieces I wasn't happy with, or started but not yet finished.
I also created a magazine for an artist talk (mentioned in previous posts)....on the "good" roster of the month and a good foundation for the exhibit guide I'll need for May.
I was declined for an artist grant that I submitted in November 2021...on the "bad" tally.
I was approached to supply an image for the cover of a Literary/Arts magazine...details will be shared at a later date....definitely on the "plus" side.
And...I created and sent two magazine submissions...both a long shot, but nothing ventured, nothing gained.
All in all, a productive month!
As I mentioned in a previous post, I'll be presenting an artist talk tonight at Open Show #41 at Pasadena Photography Arts. The topic is "This is a photograph because I say it is" and I'll be presenting with 3 other artists who create photo montages. I am thrilled to be included with such talented artists: Diana Nicholette Jeon, Deborah Kaplan, and Roger Guetta. We all have very different styles, and it should be a very interesting talk.
In order to help with fundraising for Pasadena Photography Arts, we were asked to donate a print for them to raffle off to people who make a donation. Instead of a print, I decided to donate a magazine....a companion guide to my talk.
Ordinarily, I wouldn't go to all that effort as it takes quite a lot of time to put together a publication like this. However, I was working on one for my upcoming Haven exhibit (scheduled for May at the Chester Art Centre) so I just modified it slightly for this talk. Plus, I must confess, it's a great piece of shameless self promotion.
You can view the 32 page magazine online by clicking on the link below. Once you arrive on the page, just click on the cover to move through the magazine. If you click on the diagonal arrows at the top right, you'll be able to view the magazine full screen.
Hope you enjoy...if you have any feedback about the images, please let me know. At this point I haven't selected the final images for my exhibit....and I'm still creating new ones...so this is a work in progress.
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One thing about the ongoing pandemic is that the world has opened up for showcasing your work. I have to say, although I will be nervous making the presentation, it will be much easier on zoom than in person.
The show is called This Is A Photograph Because I Say It Is, and there will be two other presenters as well (details below, click on the image to see it in larger format). If you'd like to register for the talk, click on this link. February 22nd, 9:30 pm AST, 8:30 pm EST, 5:30 pm PST. Tickets are $5 US.
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| Resilience |
I always find it interesting to read or hear about how someone came up with their ideas, so here is a back story that I hope you'll enjoy.
I originally took photos of a clear cut piece of land in 2013. I found it devastating to see, and knew that someday I would try to create an image with a message.
My first attempt was created in 2016 and combined my image of the clear cut land with a photograph of a mill I took in 2013.
Wounded, 2016
Wounded (def'n): 1.
An injury to an organism, especially one in which the skin or another
external surface is torn, pierced, cut, or otherwise broken. 2. An
injury to the feelings.
Last year I created a new compilation which was inspired by the untitled image by Jerry Uelsmann, featured on the cover of his book Uelsmann Untitled: A Retrospective.
My first take was this:
I decided that was too dark, so I changed the sky to a more hopeful one and also changed the image to square:Under Our Protection, Take One
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| Under Our Protection, Take Two |
Then I took an online workshop with Maggie Taylor and my creative world expanded, so I re-worked the concept yet again and titled it In Our Hands:
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| In Our Hands |
I printed it and pinned it to my bulletin board. Then I started fretting that it was a bit dystopian. Was this image actually coming from me, or had I been too influenced by the original inspiration piece by Jerry Uelsmann?
A short time later I was browsing through a junk shop with a friend and spotted these:
which lead to this:
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| Resilience |
Resilience was created from twelve different photographs and is part of the Haven Series that I'm working on. It's quite a different concept than my original image Wounded.
(Editing note: I seem to have different font colours in this post, but I have no idea how to fix it. Sorry!)
This month has flown by. Most of my creative time has been spent wrapping up last year's projects. Finishing up my Inspiration Collaboration project and my own annual magazine took me longer to do than I had planned on....I seem to be working slower these days. I also spent a fair amount of time putting proposals together and submitting them to various places. After participating in an exhibit that required a fee, I decided that I would only apply to "fee free" exhibits and magazines. There are still options available for showing your work without having to pay for the privilege.
However, I still managed to create a few images this month...all for my current project called Haven.
The Audition is a re-work of the final image I created for Inspiration Collaboration:
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| The Audition |
Refuge falls under my favourite theme of birds and trees:
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| Refuge |
My third image is Hideaway. I'm not entirely happy with this one yet and will probably be re-working it. I find it just a little dark and muddied:
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| Hideaway |
Finally, the fourth image for January is False Sense of Security (I have a mini "stage" series going on within my Haven series):
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| False Sense of Security |
I also completed a quilt...a special project for me which was quite a challenge to create.
All in all, a fairly successful month for creativity. Sometimes it's good for the soul to look back and reflect!
This is my third Point of View publication....a little later than usual. Time is getting away from me these days. I usually publish my annual magazine in December. This time, I'm sneaking it in just before the calendar turns to February!
The creation of this magazine helps me recognize just how much one year can hold. Looking back at my favourite images also helps me see the overall picture of my creative journey...how my interests change, how my images change as well.
To view the complete magazine, just click on the image above. You can page forward and backward through the magazine by clicking on the pages. To view full screen, click on the diagonal arrows on the top right.
Enjoy!
Since January 2020, I have been hosting a collaborative inspiration group with Arkansas painter Helen Eaton. Helen and I met online a few years ago...one thing led to another...and at the end of December 2019 we were madly pulling together ideas for an art group. After 24 months of providing inspiration to a group of artists in Canada and the U.S., we have wrapped up our project.
I won't lie...there were times that I thought I just couldn't think of another image to provide for the other artists to use as a spring board for their own creations. And there were times that I just had no idea what I would create in response to the paintings that Helen provided for inspiration each month.
But we did it! And...if I must say so myself...the results are a joy to look at. We created three magazines that summarize our two years of creativity.
This first magazine shows just the work of Helen and myself....72 images that were provided as inspiration...and 72 images that were created in response...over a two year period. If you click on the info below, you'll be able to view the whole magazine online at Blurb. Just click on the pages to move back and forth through the magazine. You can enlarge the magazine by clicking on the diagonal arrows at the top right.
