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I've been quiet on here lately.

Truthfully, I've been a bit overwhelmed with photo work to create much of a blog post. 

The last thing I want to do here is whine about how hard I'm working.

There are photos coming! In fact the desktop on my laptop is getting quite full of images sized and waiting to be uploaded. They are coming soon! I promise!

A few new announcements:

~  I have one piece hanging in the Foot in the Door show at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. There is an opening reception this Thursday night (February 18th). The show will run through June 13th. It should be pretty amazing to see! Almost 5,000 Minnesota artists have work on display at this show!

~  I was invited to participate in the "Around the World: A Photography Group Show" at Gallery 122 in NE Minneapolis. The show will be on display from May 14th through June 12th with an opening reception on Friday, May 14th (also the first day of Art-a-Whirl!).

~  Dabble is going to continue to display (and hopefully sell!) my artwork in their shop for sure through Art-a-Whirl. Please do stop by there! 

~  I will hopefully be selling pottery and a few other things at Johnstock during Art-a-Whirl again.

~  September, and my solo exhibition at Bloomington Art Center is coming up…pretty fast actually….

 

Now, I'm going to get back to working on artwork for all of these events. 

I'll re-appear soon…I hope ;-)

 

Until next time,

~Peace~

Sometimes…

maybe quite a bit more often than just sometimes…

it is hard to get back into the swing of working…even if work involves something you love. 

Sometimes the task just seems too daunting.

The process I'm in the middle of right now, of developing and scanning in all of the film I shot on our trip to Hawai'i is especially huge! (even though the great techs over at National Camera are developing my color film for me…the water in my darkroom sink doesn't quite go high enough for color chemicals…) It doesn't help that I set unreasonable deadlines for myself as to when it should all be done, or try and make everyone who asks me about them happy by having some posted immediately (I know no one means to stress me out! You just want to see them as badly as I do!!)

So why do I do this? Why do I shoot film that adds about 85 zillion steps to this process?

For the great surprises I get. For the images that I don't really see until I'm hunched over my computer, loading my scanner tray, almost going cross eyed trying to make sure there is no dust on any of the negatives. The images that make me stop, that I know instantly will go in my project somewhere, that don't ever really leave my mind until I've worked them to completion.

This is one of those images. I saw it on my preview scan and stopped and stared. It was taken from my what became one of my favorite places. I was sitting on a pier looking out at the ocean, seeing the hotel and city lights, listening to the waves. Our friends took us here on our first night on the island. I took this photo on one of our last nights. 

These are the surprises that keep me shooting film.

Yesterday, I sat down and started playing with images, finding images that work together, making compilations that might work in my show in September.

I was drawn to the image above, and knew that had to be part of a compilation. 

I started playing…

This image I took at Hanama Bay, where we went snorkeling. It was probably one of my favorite activities of the trip, and the first place I ever snorkeled (with the exception of my grandparent's pool!)

I worked on layering these two images together, lining them up in the right way, blending colors. It seemed so simple…

This is what I ended up with:

Kind of fitting I think to make a compilation out of my two favorite places from our trip.

The bottom part is a bit dark and heavy I think, and I'm not quite sure I'm done with this image, though I like it a lot.

I wrote a bit on the plane, and something I wrote keeps kind-of haunting me (in a good way) and I think I will print that in the black area at the bottom. I think it will fit.

I can't wait to see what else I find in the rest of my film.

 

Until next time,

~Peace~

It has been a good weekend. 

Thursday I got work dropped off for the Foot in the Door show at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts.

I finished scanning the polaroids I took in Hawai'i, and got the digital photos (hello little underwater camera!) imported to my computer. I love looking through all of them.

Most of all, my weekend has been filled with anticipation – the good kind.

I know that next week I'll have time to finish developing the rolls of black and white film I shot in Hawai'i. I know that the color film I shot will be done being processed. I love polaroids, and I love the pictures we took with our digital camera, but I absolutely love the film images I get. There is something magical about waiting for it to be developed. Instant gratification is awesome, but so is waiting.

I'm lusting after a 4×5 Graflex Super Graphic (This is possibly due to the biography of Dorothea Lange I'm reading…she shot with a 4×5 a lot).

I'm going on a photo adventure with some friends tonight to see the ice candles Minneapolis always puts up around the Loppet track on Lake Calhoun. Things like that always get me excited for the weekend, and the coming week when I can really look forward to my Monday and Tuesday and have many fun possibilities for my studio work days.

Happy weekend!!

~Peace~

Last week I was lucky enough to take another trip with my sweetie. This trip found us in Hawai'i on the island of Oahu where we drank Mai Tai's and ate Fish Tacos,

we took surfing lessons (much much harder than it looks!)

and sat out on the patio of our hotel room and listened to the noises of Waikiki.

This trip I traveled with my Polaroid Sx-70, my Hasselblad 501c/m with 3 lenses and a Polaroid back and a small digital camera that can go underwater. I took a lot of pictures, thought I broke my Sx-70 (I fixed it today), and renewed my inspiration to photograph, to create, and to work on my project. I have a lot of work ahead of me, and this trip helped me get ready.

This trip wasn't all about photographing though! I spent the week hanging out with my sweetie doing amazing things and seeing amazing places, and best of all, watching two friends get married. There were quite a few of us there. We hung out, ate dinner together and shared stories over Mai Tai's many nights. It is really hard not to be happy in Hawai'i, and when you are watching two friends commit to sharing their lives together, it is impossible to not be happy.

The ceremony took place on one of the beaches along the north shore of Oahu. I don't remember the name of this beach, so I'll forever call it 'Shannon and Drew's Beach'

They saw each other for the first time in their wedding outfits on this rocky shore by the ocean. It seemed like it was straight out of a movie.

Congrats to Shannon and Drew!!! May you enjoy many many many many wonderful years together! :)

Little moments lead to awesome moments. Enjoy every one of them.

 

More photos (from Hawai'i, Japan, and artwork type) to come soon!

I just read a post by a friend today that pointed out that sometimes you have to look for inspiration, and sometimes you have to make do with what you have. It is so very true, and something I need to remember these days. It has been slow getting back into artwork mode after the holidays, and inspiration hasn't exactly been knocking on my door. But there have been little chances to be creative popping up here and there, and I am realizing today that those are the moments I need to focus on more, and look for more of them, and the rest will follow. In fact, as I go through my day today, I am taking pictures with my Hasselblad. We'll see how the film comes out in the end, but it is accomplishing two things: 1. I'm taking pictures. 2. It is forcing me to get over the idea of "that really isn't worth putting on film". That is an easy trap to fall into. The reality is, film is pretty cheap, and you never know what you'll get unless you try.

Getting back to one of those 'little moments'…

A couple of Saturdays ago we went over to our friend's house. She had asked me to take pictures of her little boy. Now this little guy stole my heart the first moment I saw him in the hospital, and I love photographing him. We didn't do anything fancy, there were no backdrops, or fancy lighting. Just us and my camera and a few outfits and toys for him. 

I'm going to miss this little guy and his mom very much when they go to Japan for 3 months this spring, but I imagine his family there will greatly enjoy meeting him.

Until next time,

~Peace~

Some days just end up being a bit more complicated that you expect. Today was one of those, though I did manage to get a few things done.

In the end, I sat down and processed the images from one roll of film I shot a few weeks ago. All of these images were shot with my Hasselblad using a roll of expired 3600 speed Ilford black and white film.

It was kind of therapeutic. 

I don't usually shoot with this high of film speed. I like the grainy-ness in this batch though. It fits the subject. 

Until next time.

~Peace~

No, I'm not really going anywhere. At least not this week.

I realize I haven't posted for awhile.

I promise to remedy that very soon. 

I've been busy working on things, and getting back into the mode of creating after a vacation over the holidays. 

Sometimes it is hard to get back to things.

For now, I leave you with Okinomiyaki and Melon Soda from Japan. 

(one of the things I have been working on is our Japan book…i just finished placing the day two pictures! This photo is in the book layout now!!)

 

Until later

~Peace

Well, not too many new things. I have enough of the other things to work on. 

2010 has started out with a bang! This week I assisted a very fun friend in what turned out to be a very fun head-shot session at a local law firm. I think it ended up to be much more fun than either of us expected. 

A short list of what I learned from our two days of working together:

*setting up a backdrop

*using flashes and strobe lights and gels to make the backdrop colored instead of just white

*lawyers can be fun

*my Mamiya and my Hasselblad hook up to my strobe lights

*gels are much easier to use than I thought

*never underestimate the power of using the manual settings on your camera!!! 

I also happened to encounter a couple of amazing windows throughout the days of working, and I just happened to have a camera with me (who would have thought of that!)

The window in my friend's studio at the Northrup King Building

The setting sunlight and the reflections through the window in the office downtown on the 37th floor that we were using as a photo studio. 

Here's to amazing jobs, and an awesome new year!

Happy 2010!

~Peace~

Starting a new decade is always exciting. 

Looking back to see where you've been over the past 10 years is pretty amazing.

This decade started with me in my second year as a post-secondary student at Anoka-Ramsey Community College, spending what would be my senior year of high school coming pretty close to finishing my two-year college degree. 

I was working the only other pay-check job I have had (besides waitressing at my parent's restaurant) as a TA in the darkroom at ARCC, cementing my future as a photographer, and most of all, an artist.

I started doing kid and family portraits (my first portrait job was of one of my little cousins!) which would eventually become a pretty awesome job for me, one that I love doing, and one that has taught me so many things about families, adoption, and that work can be fun!

The following 10 years saw many life-changing events,

I had already met John, but we went on our second date on New Years Day night in 2000…to the Rocky Horror Picture Show,

started in the Bachelor's of Fine Arts program at the University of Minnesota,

said goodbye to my granny,

got engaged,

had an impromptu small wedding ceremony when John's Army Reserve unit was put on alert to go to Iraq,

watched John be a soldier and leave,

completed my final art-student project and graduated with my 4 year degree,

bought our cozy two-bedroom condo, 

started volunteering at Banfill,

celebrated John coming home,

had the wedding ceremony we wanted,

took a honeymoon to Iceland,

got accepted as the Artist-in-Residence in Banfill and completed the Waiting Ribbons series,

participated in other art shows and festivals including showings at Dunn Brothers Coffee, Hopkins Center for the Arts, and a show with the Women's Art Registry of Minnesota,

said good bye to my grandpa,

expanded to not only working in photography, but also wood block carving, letter press printing, book arts, paper making, and pottery (thanks to my dad!),

volunteering at Minnesota Center for Book Arts,

many road trips to Duluth and a long road trip to Montana with John leading to many many photos, 

a wonderful trip to Japan, 

and now working on the artwork for a solo show at Bloomington Art Center.

Looking back, I see now how things have lead me to where I am now, and I feel like I am on the right path. I am blessed with a wonderful family, and so many great friends. I couldn't ask for anything more. 

There is only one resolution I am making as I head on to a new year and a new decade: to photograph this decade and enjoy it even more than the last.

~Peace~

I can't say the past week was the most productive I have had since starting work on pulling this project together. That is not necessarily a bad thing though. 

The past week of course contained Christmas and the crazy amount of work and festivities that go along with it. I gave up blogging for the week because something had to give. 

Having a week off was nice. I still played a little bit, taking photos when I was drawn to it, but I wasn't constantly working. The break was very welcome. 

After an unexpected heart-to-heart talk with my husband, I have come to the decision that I am no longer going to be blogging about this project 5 times a week. It helped me get going, it helped keep me on track, and hopefully helped some people know exactly what I am thinking about and doing as I work on this show. Now, I have reached the point where I need to be a bit more elusive. I need to keep working on it, but not every day. The things I have to work out will take a lot longer time to work out. I will still post about what I am doing and thinking at least once a week, quite often more, but it won't be every day. I'm not sad about this at all! I'm pretty proud of myself for keeping it up to day 90! It did really help me! Now, I think not worrying so much about blogging, and just working will help me more. 

I hope that all makes sense.

This past week brought a ton of snow here! Personally, I love it! I love seeing the snow stuck to tree branches, I love how still everything looks, how smooth it looks at night, and how it reflects the lights around it. 

When the snow started, I took a couple photos from my deck. 

I follow moominsean on Twitter. Last week he posted on his blog about peeling peel-apart polaroids backwards. It makes the edges look much more raw, and quite a bit more interesting. I tried it with these two polaroids. I didn't crop the image down, so you can actually see the edges. It is a technique I think I'm going to keep trying. It also is making me think about what exactly I can do with the space that is left on the polaroid between the image and the edge. Writing of some type perhaps?? Stamping? Distressing? We'll see where that goes.

Thank you for all of the kind comments many of you have left for me during my 90 days of blogging 5 days a week! I hope you'll keep it up even when I'm not posting as often!

Until next time,

~Peace~