Blog – Page 19

Senior photo session in the snow!

December 27, 2013 by Jes

During my very long stretch of very infrequent blogging, I had so many fun portrait sessions. I have felt so bad for not sharing these on the blog!

Late last spring I was working with Victoria on making plans for her senior photo session. She wanted photos in the snow, but we had gotten a late start on planning. Thankfully, we live in Minnesota, where more often than not there is a crazy late spring snow storm with pretty, wet snow that sticks to all the trees, and leaves the temps outside warm enough to be outside playing.

I am so glad I had a chance to work with her! We had a great time running around Silverwood Park finding great new places for photos!

I’m off to meet a friend for tea today. She is a very inspiring poet and visual journaler. I’m very excited to hang out with her today and hopefully get a head start on a new journaling practice I would like to start for 2014!

Film 365 – Day 1: December 22, 2014

December 26, 2013 by Jes

Taken with a Hasselblad 501 c/m 80mm lens

Kodak Trix 400 film pushed to 1600

f16, 1 second.

Developed in Ilfosol 3.

Home. And the start of a new 365. This year’s photo-a-day project will be on film, taken mostly with my Hasselblad 501c/m. In college, that camera felt like an extension of my body. I have realized that over the last few years it hasn’t. I plan to get back to it though.

I’m taking cell phone photos of what I’m photographing each day to help collect metadata in my journaling app so I can keep track of film, camera settings, weather, location, etc. We’ll see how long all of that tracking lasts! So why start a project on December 22nd? On this day, 10 years ago, my love came back from being overseas in Iraq. Christmas is always a special holiday for me, but the 22nd is the tops. This is my little way of celebrating it.

Life happens

December 20, 2013 by Jes

There are times when everything happens, and all you can do is keep running to keep up. In other words, life happens.

The last time I sat down to write a blog post was September 6th. In between then and now, a lot of life has happened.

My parent’s have closed their restaurant. They are working on fixing a few health problems and learning (quite well!) how to be home together.

My waitressing day job has now ended (after an extremely busy stretch). My library internship is coming to a close, but leading to (yes another) volunteer position there to work on a few more projects.

The last few months I have been simply trying to ride the waves and keep my head above water. That is a bit of a surfing reference…and yes I have tried surfing, and yes it is hard! I feel like I have finally landed on the beach, just in time for the holidays.

2013 was a hard year, I won’t lie. But I can’t write it all off. So many amazing things happened, and I have learned a lot.

I’m hoping that 2014 will be a bit calmer, and hopefully include a few new adventures for John and I.

I am really looking forward to concentrating on my artwork and finding my happy center again this coming year.

I will post more about my internship (it has been amazing!) and the sweet photo shoots I have worked on recently (like Oliver!) soon. In fact, I really hope to get into a blogging and journaling practice in 2014 and make writing here a part of my routine.

Wishing all reading this a happy holidays, no matter what you are celebrating.

~Peace~

Library architecture

New adventures

September 6, 2013 by Jes

Tuesday I started a new adventure. The day after a long, holiday weekend, I woke up early to head out to day one of an internship. I will spend the next four months working in the preservation department at the library. The work isn’t easy, but it is a wonderful challenge. I can finally see myself putting to use the skills I have learned in my classes at Minnesota Center for Book Arts. The books I get to work with, to look at, to touch, and protect are amazing. I am there twice a week, and each time brings so many new tasks and treasures. I’m so very lucky to have this experience! Even better, my supervisor loves chatting about photography, and doesn’t mind at all when I photograph what I’m working on!

My morning walk across the river to get to the library is pretty spectacular as well!

This Sunday I will have a booth at Art at Rice Creek – the annual art festival held at Banfill-Locke Center for the Arts! The event runs from 10am-4pm and includes live music, activities, and many artist vendors! I will be selling pottery and photos as usual. This time I will also have copies of the broadside I made in collaboration with Kathryn Kysar for sale as well!

I hope to see you there!

Boxes to make and miles to paddle

August 26, 2013 by Jes

I believe this week will be my last “non-crazy schedule” week for a while. Next week will start a new epic adventure. Tuesday, September 3rd I will be starting a part-time internship at the Hennepin County Public Library in their preservation department at the main branch in downtown Minneapolis. I’m so excited! I will being doing many jobs, some of which will include helping to repair old bindings and make new enclosure boxes to protect aging materials. So, like any nerdy over-achiever, I have been practicing my box making skills.
It is really nice to have my new studio space set up so I can make things!

The boxes that are made at the library are a style of clam shell box. I’m not exactly sure what their specifications will be, but I have made clam shell boxes before.

This one I made over a year ago in a class taught by Jana Pullman.

I found instructions from a workshop I took from Jodi Williams last winter and started figuring out what I needed to make a mini box.

Mini boxes are great, since the pieces are never too big, and you can usually use scraps from other projects to make them!

This past Saturday I decided John and I needed a break from yard works and house work. We took our kayaks down to Long Lake and had a lovely quiet afternoon paddling around. Somedays you need to just be somewhere quiet. Having a day like this helped a lot.

Film developing at its best

August 21, 2013 by Jes

Last week I developed my first rolls of film at my new studio set up in the basement of our new home. My studio set up sprawls across three rooms right now. A tiny room that is home to my enlargers and print developing sink (it does not currently have a water hook up), the laundry room with a nice tub sink, and another larger room that holds my printing press, type cases, cameras, and supplies. (More photos of the larger room in a future post.)

My first developing trial was a success! I’m am still missing my film drying cabinet (coming soon!) but was able to improvise. Now to get out and take more photos so I have more film to develop! I am hoping to take myself on a photo outing next week.

The film I developed this time was from the 2013 Back to the 50’s weekend. It is a large car show that takes place every year at the State Fair Grounds, not far from the restaurant my parents own. I think it is one of my dad’s favorite weekends! He and a number of his friends participate, showing off their old cars and trucks that they have lovingly restored. We have a breakfast celebration early the morning of car registration, and I always take lots of photos for my dad. Old cars look so good in black and white, in my opinion! This year I was photographing with an old Yashica twin lens camera.

My car is a bit too young for Back to the 50s (it is a ’76), but I get to have it in a few photos anyway ;)

More exciting news to come soon!

The house on the hill

August 12, 2013 by Jes

I mentioned in my last post (almost 1 month ago…sorry!) that John and I were moving.

It finally happened.

I survived.

Everything is starting to get settled.

There are not as many boxes anymore.

And we now live in this beautiful little house on a hill.

With yards filled with day lilies and hostas…

and a large front window that looks out over the world…

It all seems quite perfect!

We are working our way through the long part of settling in, but already it seems to feel so much more like a home. Our home.

Updates will be much more frequent now. I have a lot of things to tell you all about!

Until next time,

~Peace~

I can do this….

July 16, 2013 by Jes

There has been a lot of excitement around here over the last couple of weeks.

A few of you may already know this, but John and I are buying a house and moving out of our condo! And in fact, we are moving in two days.

Two. Days.

For quite awhile we hoped to be able to move mid-July like this. Then for quite a while we knew that wouldn’t happen and just hoped to be able to move before August 1st when our renters moved into our condo. Then, exactly 14 days ago, on my 31st birthday, we found out that mid-July could indeed work. Commence scramble-packing now.

I won’t even get into describing how many boxes we have packed and where they are all stashed. It feels like chaos, contained in cardboard and whatever kind of plastic Rubbermaid uses and that it is likely to explode at any minute.

The most work has taken place at my studio. Our new house has room for my darkroom, and space for my printing press and type cases. It’s amazing!!! To say that I was not prepared to be able to move my studio this fast is an understatement, and I have been working like mad to clean out, and box up my creative life so I can get back to creating as soon as possible! (There are already two art festivals scheduled for September…no big deal, right?!)

I could go on whining how the last thing I want to do today is go pack more boxes and how much I just want to sit on my couch with an ice pack and a snuggly bunny, but I’ll spare you all that.

Instead I will tell you that I had an amazing time at the opening reception for my Digital dreams of where you are show at Minnesota Center for Book Arts! I am truly thrilled with how the show turned out, and had such a great time celebrating with friends that night! I promise to post photos of the show here soon (yes, I am the gallery photographer at MCBA and I still haven’t gotten that photos done from my show!) My work will be up until August 4th, so there is still time to get over there if you haven’t yet! If you want me to tag along or meet you there for coffee after, let me know!

Also, this week is ‘Roid Week! For those of you that don’t know, ‘Roid Week happens for one week each year, where those of us who work with instant film post photos like mad on Flickr, post links to instant photos on Twitter, Facebook, and any social media we can. It is truly amazing and inspiring to see what so many people are creating with this unique medium! Go check out the group pool on Flickr. I guarantee you can lose a bit of time looking through the photos there!

I am mostly posting instant photos from my amazing Art-a-Whirl weekend (yeah, I still need to blog about that too!) There may be a new instant photo from me by the end of the week, but that will depend on how quickly I can get my scanner un-packed!

My ‘Roid Week submissions:

Day 1:

Metalworking – Dirk making a lawn ornament

Lampwork bead making

Day 2:

Glass-blowing

Metalworking – welding.

Off to packing I go…..

Big day!

June 25, 2013 by Jes

It is a big day around here! Today is the reception for my latest solo show Digital dreams of where you are! I have been busy last night and this morning getting food and refreshments made. In a little while I’m heading out to my studio to stamp titles on a few extra book copies.

I’m leaving as soon as I finish my last cup of coffee…

Yeah, I’m back on the coffee band wagon, at least for now. I do love tea though! That will definitely stay on my drink list (especially in iced form this summer), but I caved this weekend and started drinking coffee again. My downfall? Finding myself next door to a coffee shop I always wanted to try that does pretty little things with your latté.

A relief

June 25, 2013June 19, 2013 by Jes

It has been a crazy spring. But I am finally starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel, and may even get back to blogging soon!
I have been in crunch mode for quite awhile getting the work done for this show, and it has finally paid off. My work is now on display at Minnesota Center for Book Arts in the Lerner Bindery Gallery through August 4th. My reception will be Tuesday, June 25th from 5-8pm. Please stop by if you can! Much of this work has taken me in a new direction artistically and I would love feedback! For my long distance friends, I promise to post photos of the exhibit and work soon.
I know this post is quite short, but I will be back soon!