Commissions - are they right for you?

Sanctuary

Years ago, when I was creating and selling glass art, I adopted the policy of "no commission work". I found it very stressful to create someone else's vision. I was much happier creating what felt right to me.

Earlier this year, I was approached by someone putting together an exhibit to create an image with a specific message. The project involved many different aspects of nature, soil, information and artworks. I came up with my creation Sanctuary. 

This was not at all what the person who approached me had in mind, and I was asked to create something totally different. This turned into quite a dilemma for me. I was asking myself... why did I say yes when I was approached with this request? Should I attempt what this person wanted? (keep in mind, this was an unpaid assignment). 

I spent a couple of days working on various ideas to accommodate this project. In the end, I decided that creating something that didn't resonate with me was not of benefit to anyone. 

However, I do have a happy ending after all. This image was published by Forget-Me-Not Press in their Bloom issue. This is also an unpaid gig, but having something published provided me with some much needed validation.

The Struggle is Real

Although I realize now that it's not uncommon among creative people, it is always a struggle for me when I go into a creative slump. I feel that I have not been productive since my cancer diagnosis in April.

However, when I look back on the year and tally up my "successes", I realize that 2022 has been my most successful year ever. A solo exhibit, my best year financially from sales, several covers, and many images published in various magazines.

But what is success? What if one's view of success shifts?

In late 2021 I decided that one of my goals was to get my work published and I set out to submit my work to various magazines. I searched online for calls for entry and selected the ones that I thought my images would work with. All but one of the submissions were sent in during the first half of the year. I answered 14 calls for submission and my work was accepted 9 times...a 64% success rate. Fantastic results, and I was thrilled each time.

After my life altering surgery in June, I spent a LOT of time thinking about my artistic life (thinking, not doing...lol) and wondering "where do I go from here?".  What does success mean to me now? 

As 2022 comes to a close, I still haven't come to any conclusions. I think I settle on the "answer" and then my mind drifts off on a different path. And then I chastise myself for having to come up with an answer at all. I am not trying to earn a living with my art. Why does any of this matter at all?

In order to try to capture some creative energy, I turned to quilting and have finished two quilts since October and have almost finished a third quilt. This has caused more speculation for my artistic life. 

Perhaps more thoughts to come...lol.

My year wrapped up by having six of my images published in the Wander Magazine's Issue 10 - Lines. Instagram: @wamagazine.ca

 

Creating opportunities for yourself

Inside - Thoughts from a Pandemic published by Nevermore Press

In April 2021, I read an article in our local newspaper about a proposed book. There was an open call for authors to send stories and poetry for a "pandemic isolation anthology". The book would be published by Nevermore Press as a fund raiser for the South Shore Regional Public Libraries bookmobile.

Although there was no mention of a request for images in the open call, I prepared an email and sent some samples of my work that I thought might be appropriate for a cover. At the time, the proposed title of the book was "Isolation".

The editor responded enthusiastically and selected an image he would like to use for the cover. I was thrilled! 

Days later, I was horrified to read about his tragic death. Hearing about someone's sudden passing seems to hit close to home even when you haven't met them personally. I put all thoughts about the book aside.

Six months later, I was contacted by the new editor who had taken over. The project was going to go ahead. One year later, the book is being released!

An interesting online article about the background of the project is available to read at this link.

The book is being released on October 22nd, 2022. Inside - Thoughts from a Pandemic is available for purchase at this link. I am thrilled to be part of this project!

The Antigonish Review

Way back in February, I was contacted by the editor of The Antigonish Review to see if I'd be willing to have my Colour My World image published as the cover of their upcoming Spring issue. I was thrilled, and that was before I found out I would be paid for the honour :)

One thing led to another, time went on, and the spring issue was finally published in October!

 

 

From their website: The Antigonish Review is the third longest-running creative-writing journal in the Maritimes and one of the oldest continuing literary magazines in Canada. TAR is supported by St. Francis Xavier University with the welcome assistance of the Canada Council for the Arts, and by our generous donors. 

Humana Obscura Issue 05

 

I am thrilled to have two of my images published in the Fall/Winter 2022 Issue #05 of Humana Obscura Magazine. You can read the entire magazine online or purchase a print copy of the magazine at this link: https://www.humanaobscura.com/issue-5

From the "about" page on their website: 

Humana Obscura is an independent literary magazine that seeks to publish nature-focused poetry, prose, and art by new, emerging, and established writers and artists from around the world.

As our name suggests—“obscured human”—we focus on work where the human element is concealed but not entirely absent, aiming to revive the nature genre.

Humana Obscura’s mission is to publish and promote the best work of today’s voices and talents. Our intention is to inspire readers and enrich their lives while providing an inclusive space for elevating the voices, expressions, and creative work of our contributors. 

Founded in 2020, Humana Obscura is published online and in print twice yearly, and features work from around the world. The magazine accepts poetry, short prose under 1,000 words, and artwork in various medium. 

Memories, from my Flight of Fancy collection

Ripple Effect, from my Trailings Project

The self promotion game

During my two months of recovering from lung surgery (two surgeries in two days), I have been doing a lot of thinking about "where do I go from here?". Do I want to continue on the path of the exhibition circuit or not? There is a lot involved in exhibiting, both in time and money. Creating the art is just a small part of the process.

An important part of the process is self promotion. When you don't have a "following", how do you generate interest in your art? One thing I try to do is find free resources to promote my work. 

When I was preparing for my Haven exhibit, I found a Canadian magazine called smART Magazine, published by Lighthouse Immersive, that encourages submissions of all forms of art. Submissions are free. I prepared a short statement, included my exhibition location and dates, and a short bio and sent off an email with ten samples of my work.

Much to my surprise, I received an answer a short while later. My submission was accepted! I had to laugh when I read that I would not receive any compensation for the submission since there was a promotional aspect to the submission. It never occurred to me that I would be paid! lol

The first bit of promotion was included in a newsletter they sent out by email in March: (click the image to view it larger)
 

The magazine was supposed to be published in May, which would have been perfect timing for my exhibit. However, due to supply issue problems faced by many businesses this year, it wasn't published until July. No matter, I am thrilled to be included in this high end publication. 140 pages of interesting art and articles...and two pages are about my art!

This was quite a success story for me. I won't get into how many rejections I have received!

Magazine Cover Design

Back Cover                             Front Cover

There is a first for everything, and this is the first magazine cover I have designed. 

I discovered Salt & Citrus a couple of months ago. It wasn't through any effort of my own...it was a "sponsored" post that came on my Instagram feed. Always curious about art magazines, I clicked through and discovered it is a free online Canadian magazine founded by Ciara Gordon in the early days of the pandemic. 

Always interested in supporting entrepreneurs, I submitted some work to the Liminal issue published in March. Ciara and I communicated through email a few times, et voila, I was asked to design the cover for the May issue Rebirth.

There were very few "must haves" for the design....Salt & Citrus, Volume and Issue numbers, Title on the front cover....Contributor names on the back cover.

My original idea was to use a variation of my image called New Beginnings. I took the image I created for my Haven exhibit, flipped it, and moved some things around to fit onto front and back covers. This is the initial draft:

First idea - Rebirth

I really liked the concept (obviously, since a variation of this is in my upcoming exhibit). However I decided that it was too "busy" and too visually dark for a magazine cover.

So...I used the same "portal" theme with a simpler background. I chose a winter field for the background, added some doors, created a summer scene for the "portal" and kept the flying robin.

I wasn't sure about the font I selected, but the font name is Rebirth....the same as the title for the magazine issue...so I thought it fitting.

It was a fun challenge for me. However, I do find it quite different creating for someone else rather than just for my own satisfaction.

Artist Talk - Chester Art Centre

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.

Haven Virtual Tour

In case you can't make it to see my Haven exhibit in person, here is a virtual tour of the gallery before the opening.

Haven Exhibit Guide & Artist Talk

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!

Haven

By Sara Harley

Exhibit Update - Haven

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.

Another piece of good news...16 images from my Haven collection were published by the online art magazine Tagree along with a lovely article about my project. You can read the article at this link (scroll down...it's a long one): https://tagree.de/haven-by-sara-harley/

Podcast - You Can Learn Photography

A few weeks ago, Trevor Awalt of You Can Learn Photography and I discussed my photography. The podcast has been released and is available for your listening pleasure at this link:

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.

Artist Talk: Feb 22nd

Open Show in Pasadena/East LA put out a call for artists to submit a 15-25 image portfolio. I was thrilled (and very nervous) to receive notice on Friday that I have been selected to talk about my work on February 22nd. I wish I could say I was flying to Pasadena for my talk, but it will be on zoom :)

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.

Evolution of an idea

Resilience

My image Resilience (created December 2021) was selected for the Planet Recovery Project exhibit by Labyrinth Gallery in the UK. The exhibit will be online for the next six months. Their set up is quite unique and looks like a real gallery tour. The online exhibit can be viewed at this link. 

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. 

It was one of my first digital compilations. I combined the two photographs to create one "mirror" image. I rotated the photo of the mill, to make it look like a reflection and then converted the colour image to black and white. I called the final image Wounded.

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:

Under Our Protection, Take One

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 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:

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:

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!)

Questions to think about

 

In November, I was excited to be selected for a merit award by Rfotofolio.org in the 2021 Rfotofolio Selections. (applicants had to submit a 7 image portfolio and artist statement). Part of this process means I will have an interview posted online sometime in 2022. I have just received the questions, and thought it would be interesting to share it with other creatives.

I'll be thinking about my answers over the next couple of weeks. What would your answers be?

Would you please tell us about yourself?

Where did you get your photographic training?

Who has had an influence on your creative process?

Please tell us about an image (not your own) that has stayed with you over time.

What image of yours would you say taught you an important lesson.

Please tell us about the work you submitted to the Rfotofolio Call.

What part of image-making do you find the most rewarding. 

How do you work through times when nothing seems to work?

What tools have you found essential in the making of your work?

Is there something in photography that you would  like to try in the future?

How does your art affect the way you see the world?

How has the pandemic influenced your work methods ? Or has it?

Book Cover

I was thrilled to receive notice of a royalty payment recently. I supply images to a company for book covers, which is a very simple process after going through the initial application. I upload images online...the company decides whether to accept them or not...if accepted, the images are included in their library...I get paid if someone purchases them. In my case, this is not a "get rich quick" plan...lol.

I haven't found an image online for the actual book cover, but here is the image that was purchased:

The image will be used on a book by Chilean novelist Isabel Allende... El plan infinito (The Infinite Plan) originally published in 1991. There are many, many editions online and I'm not sure what country this will be published in. Hopefully someday I'll be able to track down an image of the actual book cover.

Here is the summary of the book from the website of Isabel Allende: A saga of one man’s search for love and his struggle to come to terms with a childhood of poverty and neglect, The Infinite Plan is Isabel Allende’s first novel to be set in the United States and to portray American characters.

Gregory Reeves’ father is a self-styled preacher who wanders the American West with his family in a caravan during the 1940s, preaching “The Infinite Plan,” a divine vision of the meaning of life and the nature of the universe. But when the preacher falls ill, the family abandons its nomadic ways and settles in a Hispanic barrio of Los Angeles. Gregory begins a new life in a Spanish-speaking world: school (for the first time), gangs, sex, books and ideas, and work. As he explores the mysterious world of the barrio, he meets the people who will shape his future, among them Pedro and Inmaculada Morales, who become his surrogate parents and provide him with the love and security his own family cannot give him; Carmen Morales, their daughter and Gregory’s friend for life, who grows up to be an earthy woman who teaches him about love as well as friendship; Juan José Morales, their son and Gregory’s buddy, whose experience in Vietnam will change the course of his family’s and Gregory’s lives; and Cyrus, the old Communist intellectual who feeds Gregory books and inspires him with a passion for social justice.

As Gregory’s story unfolds, we follow his struggle to survive—persecution by gangs in the barrio, the horrors of the war in Vietnam—and to be successful. After his return from Vietnam, Gregory becomes a lawyer in San Francisco, where he pursues money and possessions, looks for love with the wrong women, parties, abuses alcohol, neglects his children, and loses himself in an illusory and wrongheaded quest. Eventually, after many false turns, Gregory’s search for love and for his soul brings him full circle back to his roots and to a new life.

Original image (unedited): 

original photo file

 

Rfotofolio Selections 2021 - Merit Award

I am proud to say that my work has been chosen for the Merit Awards as part of the Rfotofolio Selections for 2021. Photographers were asked to submit a portfolio of 7 images, along with an artist statement.

The portfolio I entered:

The image featured by Rfotofolio:

The Gathering

My statement:

I create composite digital images using my own photography, curating various series that emphasize emotional healing. I enjoy the freedom and individualism of creating conceptual art, images that are based in reality with my own photography, but developed from my own imagination. Minimalist and surreal, frequently using my love of birds and nature, my creations often illustrate feelings we seldom discuss.

Over the past two years, our changed world has caused a myriad of emotions about the importance of home and family, which has led me to explore the concept of haven. The dichotomy between the safety of our own environment and the threat of the unknown from without has contributed to increased levels of social anxiety  Whether based in reality, or perceived, the situation has challenged us to examine our thoughts and ourselves.

What makes us feel safe? Where do we take comfort? The answers are sometimes surprising.

What is Rfotofolio? From their website:

Rfotofolio was founded in 2012 by Connie and Jerry Rosenthal as a way to build a photographic community,  to give photographers access to a larger audience, and to educate the viewing public about the diversity found in photography through our sites, exhibitions, interviews, and articles.

In 2014 Rfotofolio became a non-profit, 501( c )(3) organization and in 2015 established the Rfotofolio Grant.

To learn more about our grants please visit the Grants and Awards page.

Rfotofolio supports the work of photographers by awarding the Rfotofolio grant once a year to a photographer working to continue their photographic endeavors.

Our Mission

• To build a photographic community.
• To provide a positive forum.
• To give photographers access to a larger audience.
• To curate, and promote brick and mortar exhibitions.
• To provide an educational and inspirational community for photographers and collectors through our meetings and forums.
• To nurture the art of the printed photograph.
• To establish forums to promote the craft of photography.
• To sustain, maintain and grow the exposure of the photography through our websites, exhibits, and publications.
• To award the Rfotofolio Grant.
• To Award the Denis Roussel Award.

Showing your work

Groundless

 

As I mentioned in my previous post, I sometimes struggle with the question: how do I want to share my work?

This year I have shown my work in two solo exhibits and two group exhibits...all local venues within the province. Earlier this summer I decided to try something different and I answered an international call for a photography exhibit with the theme "Water". A Smith Gallery is located in Texas, and the exhibit was curated by Doug Beasley, co-editor of Shots Magazine.

I received notice in August that one of my images was accepted (Groundless - pictured above). There were 930 submissions and 55 of them were selected for exhibit, so I felt quite honoured. The exhibit opened on September 10th and runs until October 31st. A virtual walk through was held on September 25th, and Groundless is shown in the photos below, images that I received from the gallery owners:

As far as I know, there are no galleries in Canada that charge for submitting your work for a juried exhibit. Usually there are restrictions regarding the number of images you can submit for consideration. However, galleries in the United States seem to run differently. This particular exhibit cost $38 (US funds) for 5 entries.

So why pay to enter when there is no guarantee of being selected? Good question. 

In addition to the entry fee, if you are successful and you don't live in the area, you need to send in your framed image or pay for the gallery to print your image and rent a frame. Due to the cost of mailing a framed image, as well as the unreliability of mailing across the border, I decided to have the gallery print and frame my image. (a cost of $35 US)  

So by this time I have invested $73 US ($92.36 at today's exchange rate).  Although it's great to be able to put an international exhibit on my resumé, I really can't think of a reason to continue with this method of showing my work.

I would have loved the opportunity to meet with the other photographers by zoom and listen to everyone talk briefly about their work...that would have been a great experience. Otherwise, I can't think of a benefit to pay $100 to participate in an exhibit. Now....if my image sells I might change my mind about that. But I won't hold my breath for that to happen...lol.

On Landscape Magazine Article

I'm very honoured, excited, and basically just thrilled beyond belief to have an article published in the UK based On Landscape Magazine. You can read the complete article (including 16 photographs and approximately 2000 words) at this link:

https://www.onlandscape.co.uk/2021/06/the-trailings-project/

 

Exhibit Catalogues

The province of Nova Scotia went into a lockdown on April 28th to try to reverse the increasing number of COVID-19 cases and only essential services are open. Our public libraries are closed, which means my Trailings exhibit is also closed. But....you can view my whole project online! 

I compiled a guide as part of my project....part exhibit guide, part project history. I created a 32 page magazine and ordered some hard copies for sale. I also put the whole magazine into pdf format and into an easily viewable online magazine. Details about the process are below...but first...here is the link to view here:  https://my.flipbookpdf.net/exxim  Just click on the arrows at the top right of your screen to page forward and back through the magazine.

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Exhibit Guides - Part 4 of an ongoing series about preparing for exhibits

I have only participated in two exhibits that included an exhibit guide as part of the experience, so I have very limited knowledge about this whole subject. 

The first exhibit guide was created as part of a group exhibit that my photography club put together in 2017. I was in charge of the exhibit, and took it upon myself to create a guide. This guide was not for the general public, but the participants all ordered a copy of it as a keepsake. I created the guide using a print on demand company called Blurb Books, and I selected an 8x10 inch trade publication to reduce expenses. Each page of the exhibit guide featured one of the participants, and included the image title, large image, location and date under the image, a brief description/blurb about the image, and the photographer's name and bio at the bottom of the page. 

The second time was a 2018 exhibit at Viewpoint Gallery in Halifax, NS. A juried group exhibit called Picturing Health, it included work by 10 photographers. The cover of the guide was simple, and included the exhibit title, one line explanation "A Group Exhibition Exploring the Relationship between Wellness and Creatvity", exhibit dates, participating photographers, and gallery logo. 

The contents of the exhibit guide consisted of:

- a two page introduction to the exhibit

- a one page note from the President of the sponsoring foundation

- each of the 10 photographers had a two page spread, with their images on the left page and a brief artist statement and bio on the right page

- one page with information about the host gallery and the sponsoring foundation

Simple, straight forward, and professionally put together, the exhibit guide certainly made me feel like I was part of something special.

When I was putting together my Trailings exhibit, I was originally scheduled to show the exhibit in two locations. In the first location, I would be able to sell my work and I decided to create an exhibit guide to give people an item they could purchase at a much lower price point.  

I decided that my exhibit guide would be more than just information about the photos in the exhibit...it would include background information to explain the whole project. (In case you haven't yet taken a look....go to the top of this blog post to click on a link and view it online)  It took many hours of organizing...and reorganizing...but I finally got the document to what I wanted.

Then I found out that my first exhibit location fell through due to some unexpected renovations. I wasn't able to sell the guides at the second location, but decided to order a small batch of magazines to sell myself and then created the online magazine to share my project with everyone who was interested.

And...I'm happy to say....I have sold all but one of my hard copies.  In a non COVID world where I could have had an artist talk with the public, I'm sure I could have sold many more. 

Would I put something like this together again? In a heartbeat. I love creating books/magazines..it's one of my favourite hobbies. 

Would I recommend other exhibiting artists to spend the time putting something like this together? Only if you are creating the exhibit/project guide for YOU and your own satisfaction. It's not a big money maker and the time invested in the creation of the guide could be spent in more productive ways if you're looking at it from a financial payback point of view.

One last tip - creating online viewable books/magazines. If you create your guide using Blurb Books, you can simply select the option for the public to view your book. You can select a few pages, or the whole book, for viewing. However, I didn't want people thinking I was trying to push sales so I came up with another option. I created a pdf of my guide, and then I did a search for "free online pdf to flipbook converter". I selected FlipbookPDF.net  and chose the free version. That means they "brand" your flipbook with their logo...no big deal for me. You can easily add your project title, select the "sound" you want when the pages are flipped (I opted for no sound), and then you get a link you can share.

Easy peasy.

I hope this gives some insight into exhibit guides. There is no right or wrong. If you're part of a gallery exhibit, they will look after everything for you. If you're arranging your own exhibit, it's your choice whether to have an exhibit guide or not....and what to include or not.

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Previous articles about preparing for exhibits:

1. Exhibits - Selecting a theme

2. Exhibits - Applications and writing statements

3. Exhibits - selecting images

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Also from the Trailings Series: 

Lacework 

Barely There, Water Dance, I'll Cry if I Want To - The passage of Time

Skeleton - not everything has to be beautiful