Jes – Page 5 – Jes Lee

Today

April 16, 2015 by Jes

The last of the mind-numbing editing is done for my Made Here work. Next step is more test printing, and sending the images on their way to the printer. I’m excited to see how the prints turn out. This will be the largest I have ever had anything printed!

5 new boxes of pottery were priced, and packaged, ready for Craftstravaganza in a couple of weeks.

And I have already packed my breakfast and lunch for tomorrow’s early work day. I am celebrating every minor accomplishment this morning!

John has been amazing at getting the house ready for weekend guests. I don’t know what I would do without him! I managed to get just a little more laundry done. Somehow, everything around here that needs to happen, does.

I will make it to yoga today as well. Possibly, one of the kindest things I will do for myself today.

I hope you find something kind to do for yourself as well.

One can’t survive on photos alone

April 15, 2015 by Jes

I used to be a very stressed out and high-strung person. I still can be at times. But this is something that I promised John I would work on, and he is one of the first people to say I have gotten better over the last couple of years.

Sure, a lot of it is attitude. Training my brain to let go of the things I can’t control, the changes I can’t stop, and taking one thing at a time. To let go of things that aren’t working, which sometimes has included certain people as well. That last one hasn’t been easy.

I have been changing my diet in small ways. I have stopped critiquing my body. I have stopped listening to people telling me what I should do, unless I have asked for their opinion.

I keep creating, because I have to, and because I want to. I have changed my definition of creating.

I go to yoga and I meditate as many days as I can, and every day I remind myself that I know how to breathe.

I am noticing more. And stopping to notice more often.

I am forgiving more. Trying to. Sometimes this takes more time than I would like it to.

Am I perfect at all of this? Hell no. Are there still times when I get super stressed out and un-wrapped and need to be reminded of these things? Sure. But I am trying. And it is helping me. It is making a difference.

Back to my little book for a minute

April 14, 2015 by Jes

Along with all the Made Here things I am working on, I am still trying to get more of my ‘Mississippi’ books finished to have out at Art-a-Whirl. For the longest time I have had issues with the instant photos I am using for the covers.

They just weren’t turning out like I hoped they would. And that was bothering me. On the two books I have completed of this edition, the covers were not permanently attached. I kept hoping that someday soon I would get better photos from my Instant Lab, or figure out what I had to do to make them look better.

But this weekend, while waiting for a really large Photoshop file to finish saving, I did a bit of digging. I learned that someone wrote a book on adjusting photos specifically for printing with the Instant Lab, which is exactly how I am creating the cover images of this book. I read through it pretty quickly, and started trying the techniques he talked about in the book.

The photos are coming out so much better now! I’m quite pleased with the results!

Everything worth prepping for

April 13, 2015 by Jes

This weekend I have been in crazy-get-it-done mode. The contents of my studio are encroaching on our tv-room space, and there is a definite blanket-nest and butt-print where I have been parked on the couch with my laptop working for hours on end.

It was a good weekend! John and I did manage to get out for a walk last night, now that he is finally feeling better. But the rest of the time we sat together, watched movies, and I worked.

I am not only working on the images for Made Here. That is just the first of many deadlines! Saturday, May 9th, from 10am-5pm is Craftstravaganza! Dad and Kiddo Pottery will have a booth there, with many new glaze colors and pretty new things you can use in your home. I have helped my dad as much as I can with creating and glazing, and soon to be pricing and wrapping up new things.

May 15th, 16th, and 17th is Art-a-Whirl. I think this is my favorite weekend of the year, and I know I have mentioned it a million times already. I’m super lucky that the 15th happens to be my last day at work and that I can leave and head to Art-a-Whirl and begin my summer vacation. I plan to have new images created just for that weekend.

I’m sure there will be even more coming in June and July. Or maybe it will be quiet, with a few more calm days in there.

And just now as I am typing this, I received a text message from my uncle, that spring flowers will be popping up soon in this place he knows of, and I am invited to tag a long with my camera. One more thing worth prepping for…

But I’m getting ahead of myself. Back to working on artwork for Made Here! This image might make the cut for my four window spaces. I haven’t quite decided yet…

Planning…working…

April 12, 2015 by Jes

So far, my weekend has been full of test prints and planning.

I’m ok with that.

10 minutes at a time

April 11, 2015 by Jes

There are some technical details of what I am working on for Made Here that haven’t been exactly easy.

Such as how my film scanner is not playing super nice at letting me scan negatives in at a higher resolution than what I normally do. Specifically the black and white negatives, when scanned in on Grayscale mode. Scanned in on color negative mode, they work fine. I have not yet learned why.

10 minutes at a time, re-scanning the black and white images I took last weekend.

10 minutes at a time editing and color correcting, bringing them back to black and white.

10 minutes at a time with all the other things that have taken place over the last couple of days (including dropping a shampoo bottle on my toe…)

10 minutes at a time has worked out pretty well!

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Things I have learned

April 10, 2015 by Jes

I had a chance to take a workshop with Wing Young Huie a few years back. To any fellow photographers that might be reading this, if you have a chance to do the same, take it. Do it. You won’t regret it. I could gush about him for awhile. One piece of wisdom he told us is to give yourself time when photographing a place. Stay longer than 1/2 and hour. Stay longer than an hour. Stay two hours. Or three. But be there, be present, and give yourself time. You will like the images you get more, the longer you are there, because you are seeing past the surface of the place, and into the details. When life gets busy, and I feel like I am just “squeezing” in time for my artwork, it is hard to feel I have the luxury of time. But I often think back to that workshop, and somehow make time. I did that on Sunday when I was photographing. I stayed out there, walking around, taking photos. I stayed out for over 2 hours, I think…really, I lost track of time. But I stayed. And I got images I really like. And I will make something cool out of them.

I currently work at a community college, as most of you probably already know. I am often surprised at what I learn at work, not just from the department faculty, but from the students as well. One student, whom happens to be wise beyond his years, said to me to not think about more time than you can handle. He said there was a time in his life that he was working on just making things work in 5 minute increments. He then proudly stated that currently, he is up to about a week at a time. And he is right. Currently, I think I am at 10 minute increments. Maybe tomorrow will be longer, maybe shorter. But I can handle 10 minutes, and that’s pretty good right now.

Collecting images for Made Here

April 9, 2015 by Jes

I am collecting images for the new piece I am creating for Made Here. Editing, making adjustments, adding, subtracting…

This is all part of my process.

All above images taken with Kodak Ektar film and a Mamiya C330 camera.

Not all here yet

April 8, 2015 by Jes

With all the projects I am working on, and the applications that are due very soon, I can honestly say that most of the time I have no clue what is going on in the rest of the world. I only have my to-do lists of projects, and that is honestly about all I can keep track of. I’m grateful for the other people in my life that often help me keep track of where I’m going, and where I am supposed to be!

On top of the Made Here project, I am also working on getting artwork ready for Art-a-Whirl, which also includes finishing more of the edition of my little book. For that I have mostly been focusing on creating the instant photos for the covers, and other very mechanical things such as trimming pages and cutting strips to weave pages together. Perhaps this will become an Art-a-Whirl demo? “Come watch Jes put together her crazy book!”

I am working on scanning in and editing negatives from my little photo shoot on Sunday. These will go into a new piece created just for the Made Here exhibit. I will post a few of those photos soon!

In the mean time, here are a few photos of the ongoing journal projects I am working on. These have been really helping me to focus and clear my head a bit! None of the poetry or journaling is especially fantastic, but it is keeping me sane for now!