Jes Lee

Uncategorized

What a weekend

by

One more holiday art sale down, one more to go.

This weekend I had a table at the Roseville Holiday Festival selling my photos along with the pottery my dad and I make. It went much better than I expected! In fact, I need to restock my 2013 calendars for the No Coast festival next weekend! (If you would like a calendar, and didn’t get to the festival this weekend and won’t make it to No Coast next weekend you can order 2013 them here!)

Between festival prep, finishing photo jobs, and working my hours at the restaurant, I feel like I have been running constantly the last couple of months. Of course it is starting to take it’s toll on me, and I have been fighting a cold since right after Thanksgiving (yes, I did too much that day too, but how do you say “no” and disappoint family?) but I have been starting to feel better and trying to take it easy more.

This weekend was of course taken up with the festival, but Saturday night turned out much better than I ever hoped. I was home shortly after 5:00, and me and my Mr. FN jumped in the car and went on a little date night. Of course, that date night also included dropping off artwork that a friend had purchased awhile back, and visiting two other friends at an art sale across town. But it also was filled with laughing, spontaneity, a stop at an ice cream shop (they had sorbet!!) amazing Thai food, and buying our Christmas ornament for the year. Getting out for a fun night like that was just what I needed.

The Thai restaurant we found had the coolest paintings on the wall!

20121203-134944.jpg

Now, on to a new week!

This space intentionally left blank

by

I want to write a blog post, but as I sit here in front of a blank blog post screen, I can’t think of anything very interesting to say!

The last few days have been crazy busy to say the least. Thursday of last week was an epic day full of gallery photo shoots. 640 photos later, I made it back home, ready to start a full weekend of work.

Working that hard makes you a bit loopy, especially when you are working with a couple of friends, trying to fake a paper making shot. This is Laura Brown. I’m pretty sure she and I were both laughing at this moment, along with our friend Curt who was directing the photos.

There are a lot of things going on right now in this little corner of the world. Many things I am waiting for (not very patiently) and many other things that I are demanding attention right this second (and yet one other thing that I am promising myself I will not hyperventilate about until I am able to find out some for sure answers tonight). And of course I keep getting distracted. That happens when I have been working really hard for a really long time.

Last night, because of allowing myself on Pinterest for a bit again, I found a sweet photo blog with a few new hair styles to try. No, that is not at all what I need to be concentrating on, but I am happy to have my hair up and out of my face today and doing something different than just a pony tail.

Not all of my procrastinating is non-art related though. Yesterday I taught myself how to make a new to me type of book. Then I did a quick little page layout and made a practice book to try it out. This does have potential for future projects, though the paper I was using didn’t work the best.

So I have been very out of sorts lately.

(yes, my letterpress friends will groan at that bad pun.)

I’m working hard to get back on track.

This morning I did manage to do a bit of work on my 30 Project. I have also decided that I am switching what camera I’m using for that. I had been using my Hasselblad 501c/m along with the Polaroid instant back. I decided a couple of days ago after finishing one more pack of instant film that I was going to cut out the instant photo portion. This is really just because of how expensive it is to keep buying instant film. I decided last night after finishing a roll of film in my Hasselblad that I am going to switch cameras as well. It has been about 4 months since I started this project. I love using my Hasselblad, but I feel like I’m getting a little bit lazy with it. I know I can take really nice low-light photos with it, and often do so at home, shortly before I go to bed. Those photos are just not as interesting! Yes, I have worked hard to make some of them interesting, but I can’t do that with all of them. So, to shake things up a bit, I’m switching. The next 4 months I will be using my new-ish Lomo LCA+ 35mm camera. This one is not as easy to use in the dark, so it will force me to take it with all the time, and take more daylight photos again. It will also give me a lot more practice with it, which is another thing I need. I also think that switching cameras every 4 months or so will keep me interested in this project, enough that maybe I will continue on after this year is over.

I start a new work schedule this week, which I know will make things a bit difficult for awhile. I know it is only temporary though. Hopefully I will figure out a new groove soon that allows me enough time for my photo work, and maybe a little extra time for blogging as well.

 

The holiday sales are almost here!

by

I am looking at my to-do list this morning, and quickly realizing that 90% of it focuses on getting work ready for the upcoming holiday sales. (The other 10% being getting prints done of my cousin’s senior photos!)

There is no rest for the artist!

So far our schedule is:

Craftz’a! November 17th, 10am-5pm at The Soap Factory

The Roseville Holiday Craft Fair December 1st 10am-5pm and December 2nd 12-4pm in the Roseville City Hall building.

And once again we will be back at No Coast Craft-O-Rama! December 7th 3-8pm and December 8th 9am-5pm at the Midtown Global Market.

Cold mornings and my ideal self

by

Winter is working very hard at arriving full force today. Of course as much as I would love to just curl up on the couch with a good book and watch the snow come, I must be out today. There are photos to take at MCBA, and a class to teach tonight at Bloomington.

I chatted with a good friend the other night about goals, and what we would love to be able to do every day and how these things make up our “ideal selves” which is not usually how we actually are.

My ideal self would not feel so crazy right now. I have had two classes run that I wasn’t really expecting, that included a fair amount of prep work. I have been also working like crazy to get caught up on a lot of photo  jobs, knowing that my hours at my “day job” will be increasing soon. So this week has seemed busy and stressful and way too full. Not ideal. But I know it will get better.

So what is my ideal self? My ideal self would have take time every morning to write. My ideal self would take more photos everyday than just those I use for my daily photo projects. My ideal self would be working on those leather journals for myself and Mr. FN and they would be perfect (this will in part happen soon – I am planning on working on the journals more next week, though they will not be perfect! I am ok with that part though!) My ideal self would never feel spread too thin. My ideal self would have time to work out every day. But, reading back over that, my ideal self would have a lot of routines, and that could get boring, so maybe it is better that I am not my ideal self anyway! ;)

My bestie reminded me today that November is just around the corner and with that comes national writing month. There are people who commit to writing novels in November, people who commit to writing a new poem every day, and people who commit to writing a blog post every day. It really is an exciting, creative month, and it has me thinking of what I would like to do for November. Perhaps committing to something like this would be good. Maybe it would be a good way to get myself writing more and blogging more again. Or, maybe it is just one more commitment that will leave me feeling too busy . We’ll see!

I know that I need to be more focused in my creative work flow, especially knowing that I will be working more. Working more is not a bad thing! So how do other creative types make it work? Is there a secret?

Passing time

by

It was a gloriously long weekend for this girl.

Friday night was the opening for the two person show I am in. It was great! I am so very grateful for the people that have taken the time so far to go and see it. I’m really amazed by this show!

Saturday I taught a class at Bloomington Art Center. The students were great! I think this is possibly one of the best groups yet.

The rest of the weekend was spent celebrating being married to Mr. FN for 10 years! (Yes, for those of you wondering, we had two weddings. This is the anniversary of our first wedding!) We spent this wonderful weekend kayaking, biking, watching loads of movies, baking bread and soup, and just enjoying being together.

John in his kayak on Long Lake Saturday afternoon.

Sunday bike ride past the train yards

making soup stock

Now it is back to a regular week of working and catching up before my work schedule changes again. I keep thinking back to this long weekend though, and how wonderfully simple it was. The only thing that mattered was being together. There really should be more times like that.

A scattered little fall day

by

I have felt a little scattered today, but in a good way. My mind keeps going off in different directions, adding different ideas to my many lists, and generally keeping me staring out the window, thinking.

I won’t complain too much. It has been awhile since I have felt like I could allow myself time to do that!

I dropped off the artwork for my show today. It feels really nice to have that task done! I think I even have an outfit picked out for the opening reception on Friday too! I’m feeling quite on top of things!

It was a gorgeous fall day today, and while I am trying to limit my time outside so my allergies don’t get the best of me, I have to get out a little bit. A few of the trees in our back yard have gotten bright leaves finally this weekend and they have been so pretty to look at today!

It is warm enough to try and get out kayaking today, and I’m hoping we’ll get out for a little bit this evening. I am also feeling a bit daring and thinking I might bring a better camera with my in my kayak. . . something more than just my cell phone!

A few of the ideas that have been floating around in my head today:

– the next set of books I would like to work on. I don’t have solid ideas on content yet, but I have started thinking of bindings I would like to use. In particular I would love to do an edition of coptic bound books. I may start working on new prototypes soon . . .

– starting a food blog. No, I don’t really need another blog. One is at times more than enough for me to keep up on. But, with the fact that my food allergies seem to have come back full force on me again, I have become a bit obsessed with food and cooking and baking and recipes and substituting ingredients and things I can make and eat that won’t make me feel like crap the next day. I would like to keep notes of the things I come up with somewhere. I don’t know if a blog is the right answer, or if I should just keep another journal, but the thought has been bouncing around in my head today.

I’m sure there will be something brand new on my mind tomorrow!

Quiet

by

Today will be a quiet day of work.

I am definitely looking forward to it.

A day where I can just dig in and cross many things off of my to-do list.

On my list is framing the very last piece for my new show. I can’t believe I am finally at that point! It seems like it has been such a long time coming.

I also pre-ordered the Paper Darts volume 4! I love this publication! If you are looking for fun distractions during the day, follow them on Twitter! Maybe if I get my work done early today, I’ll sneak out to their publication party tonight!

Have a great day friends! May we all have a productive one!

Instant fall photos

by

There has been a lot of quiet contemplation around here, which has led to me writing a lot more privately and a bit less here. There has also been a lot of catching up of things I had to set aside while I was getting work done for deadlines that came up way too fast. So, while I have been working hard, it hasn’t all been very blog worthy! Hopefully that will change soon.

Tonight! Tuesday, October 9th 6-9pm, is the Fine Books and Fine Wine celebration at Minnesota Center for Book Arts! My series of Seasons books will be on display along with many other amazing pieces! I love this event. It isn’t often you can find so many artist books out where you can actually look at and touch them! If you have ever thought of starting to collect artist books, this is the event that will answer all of your questions! I’m super excited for it, and I will definitely be there tonight! (Not to mention I will be doing some photo documenting for MCBA while I am there).

Next Friday night is the opening reception for my show at The Larson Art Gallery on the St. Paul University of Minnesota campus! I am so excited for this. The work is almost done. . . I am finishing up the last piece today. The reception is from 6-8pm. I hope you can make it! This will also be my last gallery show until later next year, which makes it just a little bit bigger and a little bit more exciting.

In the mean time, I have still been practicing with my Sx-70 and the new color protection film from The Impossible Project. This is really such lovely film! It takes a bit of camera adjusting, but I am starting to get the hang of it. And experimenting is always so much fun anyway!

There will be more updates soon. For now, I’m off to ink up my printing press.

Fall colors at Tamarack Nature Center, White Bear Lake, MN

Tall grass at Tamarack Nature Center, White Bear Lake, MN

A huge sculpture of a frog made out of all sorts of materials at Tamarack Nature Center, White Bear Lake, MN

Instant photos from the Renaissance festival

by

A few weeks ago Mr. FN and I headed out to the Renaissance Festival to meet up with a friend. This place has always held a certain nostalgia for us. Years ago, this is where Mr. FN proposed to me. The pewter shop there is where we got our cake topper and bride and groom drink glasses for our wedding from. We haven’t gone for a few years. It was quite fun to walk around, remembering all of those little moments.

I of course had a couple of cameras with me, one being my Sx70 loaded with the Px70 V4b test film. I don’t usually end up with many photos from the fest, but I really enjoy how these came out. This film is amazing. The Impossible Project has come such a long way, and I am so immensely proud of them!

20121003-103558.jpg

20121003-103610.jpg

20121003-103616.jpg

20121003-103623.jpg

A sort of calm

by

It was a wonderful weekend around here.

After working very hard last week to finish books to be included in the Fine Wine and Fine Books event at MCBA, I had a little bit of downtime with my favorite Mr. FN. Friday night included a date night and a trip to the Cult Status Gallery to see a poster show that one of my awesome print maker friends was included in. I love the city we live in, and I love having nights out like this.

Saturday included a fun family photo shoot. It was the perfect day for it! I can’t wait to dig into editing photos and getting a few posted here. Mr. FN and I managed to get in a little bit of kayaking on the lake. We bought kayaks this year in celebration of 10 years of being married (a bit early – that anniversary is actually coming up in a couple of weeks). We have had so much fun with them!

Of course now I am paying dearly for all of the time spent outside this weekend, and breathing is a bit harder than I would like (stupid allergies). But it was still wonderful.

This week will be much less intense. I have work to do writing and letterpress printing the last of the pieces for my upcoming show, and then framing. At least this week, the deadlines don’t seem quite so tight. I’ll enjoy that feeling while it lasts, because I know it is never around long!