Grrrr

You know, Florida is in a drought. Despite the rain of the past few days we are still hurting for rain. And the Everglades is an environmentally sensitive area. Florida City hotels cater mostly to people who are visiting the Everglades. People who visit the Everglades tend to be environmentally conscious.

So why on earth would a hotel in Florida City not offer the opportunity to conserve water and energy by re-using the towels in the room instead of giving new towels every day? Not only, not offer the opportunity, but force the occupants to have new towels every day. That’s right folks, force. Not only do I want to be environmentally conscious and re-use my towels I prefer to not have my room made up. I travel with camera, computer and this time with artwork. With all the signs around that they are not responsible for anything stolen I prefer to not have anyone see what I have in my room. Note, I always tip the maid anyway, seems the right thing to do. So I left my room on Tuesday morning and put out the “make up room later” sign. That should have been my first clue. There was no “Do Not Disturb” sign. When I returned my room had been made up, new towels replacing the previous barely used ones and the curtains left open for everyone to see my laptop sitting on the table. When I complained, I was told that it was the owner’s policy. I COULD NOT request that my room not be made up. I offered to bring the trash out to them. I offered to let them inspect the room to see that I was doing nothing illegal in there. No dice. The manager wouldn’t even tell me the reason for the policy so I could explore some sort of compromise.

Why would a hotel want to treat a customer this way? Why would they not want to accommodate a simple request? I’m still waiting for an answer Best Western.

Wet and Tired!

Everything was going great until the skies opened up Sunday. It was miserable. One of my print boxes leaked and I lost about 10 small prints. I forgot and left the box for my canvas prints out in the rain so I'm not sure how well they will fare being transported. I probably will not hang them at Naples anyway since "Water's Bend" was well received. It didn't sell yet but a lot of people liked it. Framed work seems more fitting for Naples anyway. From Sunday afternoon on having a corner booth was useless. The majority of the time the sides were down and the photographs on the side could not be seen. There are little brown leaves all over the tent. I had planned break down as a slow, patient thing since everything is wet but my location was in a spot where they needed to bring in other vehicles so I was requested to break down as quickly as possible. Thank God for the gentleman that offered to help as I think my sister was overwhelmed by the whole experience. Truth be told, so was I. I was glad to get out of Coconut Grove. No fault of St. Stephens. They were very nice and helpful. They even came by with incense to bless everyone's artwork. But I'm going to hold out for the Coconut Grove show in the future. St. Stephens was not enough profit for the stress level.

But we're in the Everglades now, or close by at least. We had a nice dinner and have decided to forgo sunrise tomorrow morning for some extra sleep. There's a place I want to try for sunset anyway. Hopefully I'll have some new photographs to post tomorrow.

St. Stephens Art Show

If I ever say I want to move to Miami, shoot me, I have lost my mind. Coconut Grove, at least, is a combination of New York and Boston with no public transportation. Perhaps it is worse because of the two art shows and the required closed streets but driving here is a nightmare. So is parking. The economy in Miami is alive and well. Every restaurant is mobbed, people are out on the street. It's nice to see but not too pleasant when you just want a quick meal and back to the hotel.

The show however is going great. It started out kind of slow but I ended the day with quite a few sales. If it keeps going this way I will definitely return but I think I will stay further away or come better prepared. The hotel room has a kitchen but finding a grocery store... Well we did find a Quik Stop to get some milk but that's it.

I'm looking forward to peace and quiet in the Everglades next week.

Ansel Adams and digital

"I eagerly await new concepts and processes. I believe that the electronic image will be the next major advance. Such systems will have their own inherent and inescapable structural characteristics, and the artist and functional practioner will again strive to comprehend and control them" (Ansel Adams, March 1981, "The Negative") Introduction, page xiii.



Would Ansel Adams have used a digital camera? I have no doubt that he would have embraced the concept. Yet many artists, patrons, and even photographers look upon digital photography as some sort of red-headed stepchild of photography. They say it is not art, that the pictures don’t last, that we are “cheating”. They think that digital photographers are corrupting the art of photography with such tools as raw processing and Photoshop.

What a lot of people don’t realize is that Ansel Adams did a great deal of modification of his images in the darkroom. Indeed, most film photographers who process their own film do a great deal of modification in the darkroom. The vast majority of digital photographers use Photoshop for the same changes that could be made in the darkroom. Yes, there are other capabilities of Photoshop that could not be done in a darkroom. But they are not push-button operations.

As for the “pictures don’t last” argument I carry two “visual aids” with me to shows. One is a color enlargement made 20 years ago. The Kodak logo, the symbol of quality in color processing at that time, is visible on the back. It had been stored in a box for the majority of those 20 years, never put in the sun. It is visibly yellowed and faded. Independent tests have shown that a pigment on archival paper ink-jet print will last 200 years with no visible fading or yellowing if stored in a box. The other one is a print that I made in my early darkroom days, when I did my darkroom printing in a walk-in closet of my apartment. It has a very visible smudge on it as a result of improper technique. Just because someone does their own darkroom processing doesn’t mean it is good and just because it is digital doesn’t mean it is bad.

So when you are walking the shows or looking in the galleries this year, please ask yourself, does it move me?, do I love it?, and even does it match the couch? Ask about the process used because you should make sure that it is done with quality but don’t turn away because it is digital.

Naples Invitational

I know you’ve been waiting for this. Sorry, I managed to injure my back sometime at the Naples Invitational and I’ve been spending a lot of time at the chiropractor. I think it was the drive, not setup or breakdown, but the setup was very windy and it’s possible I twisted something then. Enough to remind me that doing art shows requires either help or keeping myself in good physical shape. The good news is my knee didn’t bother me at all.

Anyway it was a good show but not great. I made an acceptable profit but it would not have been worth it if I had needed to pay for lodging. My aunt and uncle have a home in Estero where I stayed but it is up for sale so it probably won’t be available to me next year. The promoters were wonderful, very organized and nice. Naples people seem to be very, very careful in their purchases. Perhaps it is the economy but then again, there was no quibbling over price. This is one show where, when people said they were going to think about it and come back, they actually did. I didn’t keep track but I would guesstimate that 75% of my sales involved people who asked a lot of questions, left, and then came back and bought. Quite a few people asked me when I would be back to Naples, wanting to consider their purchase a little longer. I’ll see if they come back and buy when I do Naples National later this month.

I’m now getting ready for St. Stephens. I’ll have a corner at St. Stephens so I’ll get to display the large version of the photograph above for the first time.

Thornby

Thornby is a beautiful piece of property on the St. Johns River. It is the remains of an old estate. It is the last undeveloped river front property in Deltona and it has been the subject of controversy for as long as I have lived here. Deltona has many places for kids to be competitive, but no real place for kids to be contemplative. And no real place for us older folks who just like to walk in the woods. Sure there are parks, but no real place for a quiet walk in the woods to get away from it all. And there are no woods like Thornby that I have seen here. Centuries old Oak trees and Magnolias and pieces of old Florida history. I had only heard about it and driven by it until today. Numerous “No Trespassing” signs kept me from exploring although I’ve always believed in saving green spaces. Today the Friends of Thornby - http://www.savethornby.com/ - arranged a tour for anyone interested. The photographs on the blog today are from that tour. I went out with the first tour and they allowed me to stay behind to photograph and experience Thornby. I saw eagles and flowers and majestic trees, too large to adequately photograph. I couldn’t help but look at the overgrown landscaping and know that this place was once loved and cared for by its owners.

Some things are worth tightening the belt for and I believe this is one of them. Deltona stands at a turning point here. I hope we make the right choice.