Serenity Scenes Photography

New Photographs Up - Comments Please

2009-12-06T09:30:00.003-05:00

Whew, what a long journey that was. Several weeks ago I booted up my computer to find just my wallpaper, no icons, no start tab, nothing. Apparently it was a nasty virus. At first I valiantly tried to recover it. The first step was to completely wipe it out and reload the operating system. Unfortunately I was never able to connect to the internet and with seven year old software it quickly became a losing battle. So I took the plunge and got a new computer. I also took the opportunity to get the newest Photoshop. And I got a three year subscription to anti-virus software .

With the computer purchase I became what one of my friends calls an “early adopter”. I don’t like being an early adopter. Not only did I need to reload everything but I had to figure out the new Photoshop and Windows 7. I must report though, that Windows 7 is a dream and going to the new Photoshop was basically painless except for some remaining issues with it working on my large monitor. Thankfully I keep good backups. In the end I only lost the emails that were in my inbox, one software program that was easily replaced (costing money of course), and one authorization key for a software where the company is out of business. The last one may be a lost cause.

The weeks it took to wait for the computer and then set it up added to the fact that I had just done six shows in a row left me with over 3000 photographs to go through. I’m not done yet but I have some new ones up on the website and on my Facebook page. I’m back to busily redesigning the booth for spring.

I NEED your comments. In the past I have hung photographs that I thought were great only to have them fall as flat as a drunk after a frat party. And there have been the ones that I hung just because I needed something for a spot that have turned out to be award winners and best sellers. I only have a 10’ x 10’ spot and that isn’t a lot of room. PLEASE, tell me what you like, what you don’t like, what you’d like to see more of.

The newest photographs can be seen at http://www.serenityscenes.com/New.html. You can leave comments on my Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/groups.php?ref=sb#/group.php?gid=134560219083
or email me at AlisonT@SerenityScenes.com. Please note that for some reason I have been unable to upload any vertical panoramas to Facebook so you won’t be able to see any of those on my group page.

Thank you to all of you who have already given me comments.

Trash

2009-11-02T06:15:00.002-05:00

Clif and I were out doing some riding on the fire roads in Ocala National Forest when we realized it was hunting season. How did we realize it was hunting season? By the pickup trucks barreling and bouncing down the roads. By the increased amount of trash in the forest. By new bullet holes in the signs. Sigh… I’m not against hunting as long as people use what they kill and follow the rules. But actions like these are one of the main reasons we head towards a Jeep trail on the map and find a gate across it with a closed sign. Hunters are certainly not the only offenders. No matter what time of year I go out there is never a lack of trash to pick up. I urge everyone who enjoys the out-of-doors to bring trash bags and pick up trash that you see as well as taking out your own and please check out www.treadlightly.org for information on how to keep the out-of-doors nice for everyone.

Odds and Ends

2009-09-29T04:54:00.002-04:00

I've been called from the waitlist to do the Maitland Rotary Arts Festival. This will be at Lake Lily in Maitland, Florida THIS WEEKEND (Oct 2). This show is a little bit different because it has night hours. It opens on Friday at 6PM - 10PM and is from 10AM - 10PM on Saturday. Normal hours of 10AM - 5PM on Sunday. You can find more information at http://www.maitlandrotaryartfestival.com/ I'll be in booth 53. Please pass the word since I am not on the artists list and the show isn't listed on my postcards. You can always see my most up to date schedule on http://www.serenityscenes.com/UpcomingEvents.html I've got a completely new booth design for the new season and a lot of new photographs to share with you.

I've started a group on Facebook called Alison Thomas - Serenity Scenes Photography. It's open to everyone. If you are on Facebook please join.

R.I.P. Mary Travers, Sept 16, 2009

2009-09-17T07:13:00.000-04:00

You can’t be gone Mary. You don’t feel gone. You are too much a part of my best memories and the best parts of me. There is too much of you in me and countless numbers of others for you to be gone. You were more than music. You lived the words of your songs and in doing so, taught me how to live.

I will remember sitting around many campfires; large campfires with ten people playing guitar and 30 more singing along and small campfires, late at night, with just a few people singing and talking, talking of things that we didn’t talk about during the day. We sang Peter, Paul, and Mary songs and everyone knew the words and the chords.

I will remember my first concert and my last concert and all the concerts in between. I will remember dragging my husband to a concert because no one else would drive the four hours to Ft. Myers with me. I saw my husband, who up until that minute thought that folk music was silly, moved to tears by one of your songs.

I think that I will let my acrylic nails grow out and drop off and that I will pick up the guitar again. I need to teach some songs to my grandchildren.

Necessary Losses

2009-08-31T12:46:00.001-04:00

Long ago I read a book by Judith Viorst called “Necessary Losses”. I don’t remember much of the book except for the knowledge that some things we must give up in order to grow. While the book doesn’t talk about things like this, I think it comes under the topic.

For most of my life I have been a dichotomy. I’ve been the lover of nature, peace and quiet and the lover of American muscle cars. Camaros, Firebirds, Mustangs, and GTOs, I’ve owned and loved them all. A few years back I thought I had found an appropriate compromise and traded my Mustang for a 350Z. Then my husband was no longer able to ride me on the back of his motorcycle so he suggested I get my own. And I loved driving my car and riding my motorcycle. Then I started doing art shows and moving closer and closer to the nature and serenity part of me. While the motorcycle is great for being able to pull over anywhere to take a photograph it was impossible to carry the tripod and more than one camera. And it didn’t do gravel or dirt well. The car didn’t do gravel or dirt well either. The last time I pulled up to a group of nature photographers to go out and take photographs I felt a little out of place. A bumper sticker kind of moment – real nature photographers have 4WD. Or at least vehicles with more than 6” of clearance. It was time. So last week we traded in the motorcycle and the car for a Jeep. It’s not going to be my Jeep. I’ve had the pleasure or driving the “nicer” vehicle for awhile now. It’s Clif’s turn. I inherit Clif’s previous vehicle, the gray box. It’s humbling. I always liked to have a vehicle that stands out. This one looks like every other SUV on the road. But I no longer have to check road conditions before I go on a photo shoot. I can fit framed photographs in it for delivery. And I feel at one with myself.

This past weekend we took the Jeep out on the fire roads of Ocala National Forest. And we saw deer and a bear. We found a lovely park on the shores of the St. Johns River. We had fun.

Peter and Paul at Wolf Trap

2009-08-25T05:57:00.010-04:00

Over my many years of going to Wolf Trap and sitting on the lawn it has never rained. Yes, there were times, when I had more money or fewer people, when I sat inside in the expensive seats and listened to the pouring rain and clapping thunder and felt sympathy for those on the lawn. But it never rained on me. It was fitting that this time it should rain. It was also fitting that five minutes before the concert began a rainbow appeared over the building with the now lit but vacant stage in its center. Peter and Noel with their wonderful sense of humor opened with “Weave Me the Sunshine” and amazingly the rain began to slow. By the time they were into the third song it stopped completely.

Peter and Noel put on a wonderful performance but it seemed short and more melancholy than uplifting. Of course it was. There was a huge voice missing. And when Noel introduced “Blowing in the Wind” he spoke of Mary as a voice that will be sorely missed. Not “is”, as in today, but “will be”, as in no more. For several years I have convinced my husband to buy plane tickets to fly 750 miles to Virginia for a weekend and in one case drive four hours to Fort Myers because, “this could be the last time”. I realized with those words that this probably really was “the last time.” Maybe not the last time for all three to sing together but the last time for Wolf Trap in August.

It meant a lot to me to have my daughter, her fiancée, and the grandchildren there. The two year old will not remember it and the highlight of the evening for the four year old will most likely be the pedestrian tunnel and the ride on the shuttle from the parking lot when we went back to the car to get umbrellas. But I will remember sitting with my grandson on my lap and smelling his damp hair while listening to “Don’t Laugh at Me” and seeing my granddaughter fall asleep in my daughter’s arms. I reminisced with my daughter, pointing out to her fiancée the seats where we sat when I brought her to her first concert at seven. And the two front row seats that we magically got one year.

Usually I sing along with gusto, feeling pride that I know all the words to even the most obscure songs. This time I spent a lot of time just listening, burning the scene and sound into my memory.

In Fort Myers I got a chance to meet them. My husband convinced me to wait for them to exit and get their autographs. I was able to say only one thing to each of them – “you raised me”. I wish I could have said so much more. How from the first song I ever learned by heart – “Freight Train”, to the songs I played on guitar in Girl Scouts, to the songs I still sing in my car today their music has weaved through my life and changed me for the better.

Still Waiting

2009-08-14T09:36:00.001-04:00

Well I had hoped to have some more show information for everyone but it looks like this is going to be the year of flexibility. I am now waitlisted for three shows, Maitland, Winter Park Autumn, and Art in the Gardens in Jupiter. Disappointingly I received a rejection from Disney this year. Most likely I will not get into Maitland. I am 15th on the wait list and there are only 150 artists. I have an advantage of being very close and able to do the show at the drop of a hat so there is a chance for a last minute acceptance if someone cancels at the last minute. Winter Park Autumn is more promising. I spoke to them on the phone and while they didn’t tell me my position on the waitlist they said that I will most likely get in. Art in the Gardens is actually the best possible situation. Art in the Gardens is the same weekend as Deland and all things being equal I’d rather do Deland since it is only five miles from my home. Hopefully I won’t have to make a decision on Art in the Gardens until I hear from Deland. But so far I am looking at a very iffy season and I’m scrambling to find backup shows for the empty weekends. I’m very bummed about it all because I have finished the design of my new display and it is great! I have quite a few new photographs and I’ve found a way to display more of them. I can’t wait to test drive it and see if people like it.

I did get into Winter Springs and if everything else falls through that will be my first show of the season. I’m really glad I got into Winter Springs. It was a great show last year and very enjoyable to do. There is still one outstanding the weekend before, in Jacksonville, but I won’t hear from them until the middle of September.

I’ve also had one piece selected for the annual 100% Pure Florida exhibit at the 5th Avenue Gallery in Melbourne. The show runs for the month of September and the opening is on Sept 4th from 5:30 – 8:30.

Waiting

2009-07-31T06:16:00.001-04:00

It seems I write this blog every year about this time. Although things are looking up, usually I am complaining about being rejected. Looks like this is going to be the summer of the wait list. First Maitland, now Art in the Gardens. Actually being waitlisted for Art in the Gardens is probably the best possible outcome for now. I applied to Deland with Art in the Gardens as a backup before I realized that if I was invited to Art in the Gardens I would have to accept or decline before I knew whether or not I was invited to Deland. Not a good plan. Now if I don’t get invited to Deland, I can still hope that I might get called off the wait list for Art in the Gardens. I know God’s in charge of all of this but I do wish I had more than one confirmed show for the fall.

At any rate, I have redesigned the booth, printed most everything, and should complete framing next weekend. Then I will go through the matted pieces and separate them into first and second string and go through my supplies to make sure I have enough of everything. I have to be ready for Maitland, just in case they call me.

I’ve got my fingers crossed and prayers said for Winter Park Autumn and Winter Springs that will be deciding soon.

I have learned not to pray to get into a show, but to pray to put my best foot forward. Praying to get into a show and not getting in just leaves me pissed off at God. I do the best footwork I can and it will all work out the way it is supposed to.

Summer at the Beach

2009-07-16T17:27:00.005-04:00

A few weeks ago Clif and I went to Vierra Wetlands for the first time. Unfortunately the road through the wetlands was closed because of the heavy rains so we didn’t stay long. Instead we headed over to the beach to try and get some photos there. These are some of the photos from that day. Normally my process is to download all the photos into one file and then go through them and move the ones I like to a second file for a second look a few days later. Then if I still like them they get cataloged and numbered for selling. I liked these so much I skipped the intermediate step. I think at least one of these will be on my booth wall for next season.

Scenes from a Train - 4

2009-07-10T08:40:00.001-04:00

My mother grew up on a farm in Spring Mills, Pennsylvania. She never hesitated to tell me about the difficulties of farm life. She told me that the reason that Shoe-Fly pie was eaten with milk on it was because it was the last pie to be eaten in the winter and by then it had become hard as a brick. But I loved Shoe-Fly pie with milk on it and the idea of having room to roam and a horse or two was very appealing to me. I’ve never realized my dream of living on a farm and note, that what appealed to me about living on a farm was not the idea of planting things or manual labor of any kind. My dream farm is more like the horse farms I see in Middleburg, Virginia, rolling hills with beautiful horses, the bastion of the very rich. And thank God for the very rich, because even though I have no hope of ever living there, it is still a wonderful place to drive through.

This is not one of those farms. This is a farm that, through her stories, I envision my mother might have grown up on.

Spiritual Renewal - 2

2009-07-08T06:05:00.002-04:00

A few days ago I promised to recommend another website so here it is – www.urbanmonk.net. Warning – You can spend hours reading this site, especially if you have any lurking resentments, character defects, or just plain “issues”. And I don’t think any of us reach adulthood, no matter how great our parenting, without “issues”.

Next - More scenes from a train.

A Cloud Day

2009-07-04T22:03:00.008-04:00

Yesterday Clif and I went exploring and taking photographs. It was one of those perfect sky days. We started out with a dead battery (thankfully in the driveway) which threatened to ruin the trip before we started but Sears came through with a new battery and we were on our way by 9:30. A little late for sunrise but the sky was absolutely gorgeous the whole day. Nice blue sky with white puffy clouds and a few threatening ones to give it some character. We started out at Merritt Island, going down some roads we hadn’t been down before. Then we went to the Enchanted Forest and finished up the day at Vierra Wetlands. The threatening clouds took over and it poured down rain. We had been going since 8 AM so we left before sunset but not without getting some nice photographs of the sun coming through the clouds after the rain.

Spiritual Renewal

2009-06-26T05:54:00.003-04:00

I’m going to take a break from the train scenes to recommend a couple of websites. The first is www.zenhabits.net.

I really like this time of year when I get step back and look at the previous season and regroup, look at better ways of doing things. I get to look through the photographs I’ve taken and pick the wheat from the chaff. This year, though, there seemed to be so many things to do. I’m feeling the spiritual hit of doing too much. I found myself getting irritable and ineffective. It seemed the more I did, the more I had to do and I was often in a state of what I call, analysis paralysis. I would come into my office in the morning and try to determine what to do first and end up playing a game to clear my head which led to another game and the next thing I know it’s time to get ready for my job and I have done exactly nothing. I considered removing my favorite solitaire game from my computer. It was a sucking vortex that led, not to relaxation, but to more stress.

The first thing I did was to get back to my spiritual morning time. I also made a change and now I go outside in the morning for my prayers and meditations. The early morning is so nice, so full of promise. I almost miss having a dog that forced me to get outside in the early morning. Note to self – There are a lot of things about having a dog that I do NOT miss. I like my cat. It is a relationship of equals. I handle the food and occasional vet visits. He handles his own toilet and cleaning needs. Well I do clean the kitty litter but that is infinitely preferable to picking up dog poop from the back yard.

Anyway, I shared my new routine with a friend of mine and he recommended this website. It has many writings on how to simplify your life and as a consequence get more of the important things done. At first it seemed like every task was insurmountable. What do you mean don’t multitask? Well I have been making a conscious effort not to multitask and I have gotten more done. Then yesterday I tried another suggestion. I cleared my inbox. I went through and deleted and cataloged until I am now down to two items in my inbox. One is a link to the website I will talk about next and one is a very important task I have to do. I created a couple of folders for things I need to monitor daily but everything that comes into my inbox now gets read, dealt with and either cataloged or deleted. I am amazed at the feeling of freedom of an almost empty inbox.

Scenes from a Train - 3

2009-06-19T11:05:00.001-04:00

This is not a picture from a train but from a train station. Anyone who has been there should know exactly where this is. Guesses anyone?

Scenes from a Train 2 - The Gardener

2009-06-15T12:28:00.002-04:00

When taking photographs from a train one feels a little like a voyeur. I get a quick glimpse of a life or area and my mind immediately makes assumptions. What do I know about this man? Very little actually. I know that he is standing in front of a nicely maintained house looking at a tree early on a Tuesday afternoon. There is a wheelbarrow on the sidewalk and he is dressed for outdoor work. Of course it is only from his build that I am assuming it is a man at all. Something about his posture and dress makes me think he is up in years.

So from this little bit of info I have developed a story in my mind about this photograph. This man and his wife have lived in this home for many years. They have raised their children in this home. All along, while working to raise his family this man landscaped and maintained his yard. Now he is retired and he putters in the yard to pass his time.

Of course he could just as easily be a hired gardener for the rich family living inside who is off to school and work at this time. It is a big house and you can’t see if from the cropped photograph but the original shows a very big yard. But it seems too modest a home, especially being right by the railroad tracks, for a family that can afford a gardener. Maybe he has just been hired to put down mulch but where is his work truck?

What do you think? Tell me a story of this man and this house.

Scenes from a Train - 1

2009-06-11T08:42:00.001-04:00

Hello, I promise you I have set a reminder for myself and a new plan to update my blog more frequently. I have some photographs to show you and talk about so that should keep me going for awhile.

Last June I talked about taking a train to see my daughter. On the way up I got a small room on the train rather than just a seat and I spent the time taking a lot of photographs. It was more a way to pass the time and I expected maybe to get one or two that were decent. I got several more and I’m going to put them together in a series called “Scenes From a Train”. This is one of them.

I call this “Now is Forever Gone”. Riding on the train I was intrigued by this car that was driving on the road next to us. It stayed with us for a short while until a change in the road took it off to the side. When I first looked at the photograph I wished that I had taken it when the car was more in the frame and I got to thinking about time. I remembered the phrase that is now its title. Say that phrase once to yourself and let it sink in. What I have done is blurred in circles. The car signifies us traveling through life. The outer circle at the left is very blurred, representing the far past. We remember things from our past but blurred. As each circle gets closer to the car it is less blurred until the circle surrounding the car is in sharp focus. The area in front of the car is blurred as well. We think we can see the future but it is blurred as well. And just as the road took a turn our future can as well.

I will share more of these with you in the coming days.

History and Change

2009-03-30T13:18:00.003-04:00

Wow, I am behind! As usual. This technology age is kind of like a lifetime game of wack-a-mole. The newsletter is on time, the website is fairly up to date, and up pops the blog. And now I’m supposed to twitter or tweet…sigh. And forget about my MySpace page, all it has is a couple links to here and my website. It doesn’t help that I have become addicted to playing Spore.

At any rate the shows have been doing well for me. Perhaps my expectations are low since I really hit my stride with good work and good shows just as the economy was tanking so my doing well may be someone else’s barely getting by but I’m happy.

I usually get into about 50% of the shows I apply to, this year it has been more like 80%. I’m worn out. Still excited about the rest of the season, but worn out. I’m very excited about Northern Virginia Festival of the Arts. It’s a long ride, an expensive show, and I really don’t have that great of a spot, but there is more to doing that particular show to me. I lived in that area for 40 years and there is a sense of coming back and saying “see, this is who I really am”. It’s not that it was a bad place to live or that there were any bad experiences there. It’s just that the weight of forty years of history, of living less than 2 miles away from where I went to high school, has a way of stagnating a person. In Florida I have had the chance to grow in directions I didn't anticipate, to step into the road less traveled.

There are wonderful things about history though. Last week I bought tickets to the Peter, Paul, and Mary concert at Wolf Trap. I first saw Peter, Paul, and Mary in concert when I was 11 years old. I went off and on through the years and when my daughter was seven I took her to her first concert. Usually we got good seats, one year we lucked out and got seats in the front row. This year it will be lawn tickets because this year I will be bringing my grandchildren too. And yes, I will be flying to Virginia for the weekend just to go to a concert.

Hello 2009

2009-01-22T07:01:00.004-05:00

I was looking up a photo on my blog and I realized it has been way too long. So here I am again. Shows have started up again for me and I’m in the middle of doing my first show of 2009, the Audubon Space Coast Birding and Wildlife Festival. It is bitter cold here (well, in Florida terms) and I am so glad this show is inside. I feel badly for the people who came from out of state to be here. The festival is not an art show. It is a combination of field trips, speakers, and exhibits, all about birds. People come from all over the country and some of them are rather disappointed that the weather here is not any warmer than where they came from.

I got two exciting acceptances last week. One from Vero Beach, Under the Oaks for March 13 – 15 which is supposed to be a very good show and the other, drum roll please, is Northern Virginia Fine Arts Festival on May 16 – 17. My home town finally gets to see what I’ve been doing for the past 9 years.

It’s too early to tell what effect the economy will have on shows for me. I haven’t done Audubon in four years and my work has changed so much that I can’t really compare. I didn’t make any sales yesterday but I also forgot and left my 8 x 10s at home and with all the people from out of town this is a small item show. The focus isn’t really on the art here so it’s an impulse buy situation and I didn’t have any impulse buy items.

The photo above is from one of the photo trips I took when I was visiting family in Virginia over Thanksgiving.

Rejection and Acceptance

2008-11-13T09:08:00.002-05:00

Some good news on the horizon at last. Disney turned out to be my best show ever. And I’ve been accepted for Images in New Smyrna and Naples National.

I did some talking to other artists at Disney about acceptance and rejection and I learned some things about myself. While I’ve always been an artist, it is only in the past few years that I have been displaying and selling my photography. So I’m a late comer to this world of acceptance and rejection. One artist explained to me that we wear out hearts on our sleeve and hand an ice pick to every customer that walks into our booth. A hundred people can come into my booth and tell me my photography is wonderful and one walks in and says something negative. Guess which one I will remember and turn over and over in my mind?

Although… Those negative comments have sometimes been very helpful. I remember one very clearly. I had been complaining about my poor sales on a photography forum I belong to and someone responded, “That’s because your work looks like everyone else’s”. That stung for a long time but it also caused a major shift in my photography. For the better, I believe.

On the other hand I found this quote about compliments by Chazz Palminteri -

“Oh, great reviews are the worst. They mislead you more than the bad ones, because they only fuel your ego. Then you only want another one, like potato chips or something, and the best thing you get is fat and bloated”.

I remember my first award. It was one of my first shows and the judge walked in the booth and pointed directly at one of my photographs and said “that one”. It was a complete surprise and I just barely found the awards ceremony in time to hear my name called for honorable mention. There was no stress, no pleas to God. I try purposely to get back to that place when the judges come by and the awards are announced but it is too late, I’m addicted.

Which leaves me with this quote by Ray Bradbury:

“You have to know how to accept rejection and reject acceptance.”

A new day

2008-11-06T18:16:00.001-05:00

Feeling much better today. Sometimes I am so ungrateful I wonder why God doesn’t come down and slap me. The Disney people are really nice. The setup is difficult though. I didn’t even bother to try to get to the unloading spot. You still have to dolly and if you’re going to dolly you might as well do it slowly. Some really nice work here. Looking down the names of the photographers showing here I can forget about winning an award here. I’m honored just to be among some of these people. There is a ten foot bear sculpture that is magnificent. Not sure where I’d put it though.

After this it’s a free weekend and then off to Virginia to see family for Thanksgiving. I should be able to get some photo time too.

Arghhh

2008-11-03T17:05:00.000-05:00

Well, I did Lake Mary this past weekend and it was not exactly like the Lake Mary I remember. The location has changed but that’s a good thing. But they’ve increased the number of booths, almost double and decreased the number of awards, removing all of the honorable mentions. I wrote on the survey that they didn’t need to try and be a big shot art show, that they were doing just fine as Lake Mary.

And I’ve been thinking (dangerous words there) maybe that advice applies to me as well. I just got my sixth rejection in two weeks. Another big shot art show doesn’t want me. And I’ve had lots of work chosen for judging, almost every single show I’ve been in, and the last time I got an award at an art show is now more than a year. I’m discouraged, but why does some judge’s opinion bother me so much if I am truly doing what I feel called to do. I seem to have lost my purpose. This is the biggest dip the roller coaster has taken. On the bright side I seem to be selling pretty regularly. The public seems to like my work. But that’s not enough. That’s not why I started doing this.

I came home Saturday night very discouraged and I needed to send out my artist statement to a potential buyer. I stopped to read it. I wrote it several years ago, dreamy idealistic words, that I don’t feel I am living up to, but I’m not sure how to proceed.

Maybe this is just the economy talking, or five shows in eight weeks talking, and I’ll feel better in a few days. God will send the answer, just not on my timetable and like any good human being I want it now.

Stay tuned.

Discouraged

2008-10-30T15:37:00.001-04:00

The roller coaster again…. When will it turn the other way? Four rejections in the past two weeks. It wouldn’t be so bad except this is the year I set up the booth in the back yard to get a booth shot instead of trying to do it at a show. I redid all my frames to a better presentation. I got the cool print bin that matches my walls. This was supposed to be my year. My horoscope even said so. And Ocala was pitiful this past week. At least it didn't pour down rain this year. If I count the horse picture that I made specifically for the show and sold just after the show I just barely broke even. But as of yet I have not been rejected for any show that I have been accepted to in the past. And I did get on the wait list for Artigras where last year I was rejected.

But I now have four extra days of vacation. Enough for an Everglades trip in the spring. There is a silver lining. I’m still working on that book.

The Almost Perfect Show

2008-10-19T08:06:00.003-04:00

I did not know quite what to expect from Winter Springs. I almost didn’t apply. But it was an empty weekend until Maitland moved into that slot. I’m glad I did apply. It was almost the perfect art show. Considering this was the first year for the show, an almost insurmountable feat. Sure there was a little confusion but that is to be expected for a first year show. They did the big things right though and a lot of little things as well. I was told that the promoters did extensive research and it showed.

Booth space was ample. My booth looks so much nicer when I can have a table in back for all those necessary but not particularly aesthetic items. I did pay extra for some extra space but even the standard booth had plenty of space.

They provided breakfast and lunch both days. They also went around during the day handing out cold water. The breakfast and lunch is a “nice to have” but the water is so important.

They juried well. I don’t get to get out much during an art show but I didn’t see any “questionable” items. Everyone around me had high quality work. No Nerf arrows or clay flowers.

They arranged parking near the booth. What an incredible gift especially when the skies started threatening rain. It made breakdown so nice too. A record-breaking 50 minutes for me.

A general feeling of respect for the artists. A lot of shows seem to forget that without us they can’t have a show. This one didn’t.

I’m off to Ocala this weekend, then Lake Mary, and then Disney.

Our own crisis?

2008-10-12T18:43:00.001-04:00

Another one came in my email today, a notice from an art show that they were extending their deadline for entries. I’m also seeing a serious increase in the number of ads in the forums that I read saying “getting out of the business, selling everything.” I have no proof, neither the emails nor the ads go much into details about why, but it appears we are having our own little financial crisis in the art fair world. It mimics every financial crisis I’ve read about in the past few days. Money was getting made, people wanted to make more money , things got bigger, people got greedy, forgot who put them where they were, pushed and sometimes stomped on the people who put them where they were, stomped people started to bail, less money got made, stomping increased, more people bailed.

I’ve heard stories of what it was like to do an art show many years ago. Artists showed up and were charged a minimal fee that generally went to some sort of fundraising endeavor. I remember that the two shows I did twenty years ago were in answer to an ad in the newspaper looking for artists to do the show. I called the number and was told when and where to show up. There was no application process, very few rules.

Somewhere along the way, someone said, “We need to organize this better.” It was a good thing. Security was added, liability insurance, stable display requirements. Artists were pre-screened, rather than being first come, first served. Quality was increased, but expenses of putting on an art show increased. Competition increased, not only between artists, but between shows. Again, this was a good thing. Shows that did things well attracted the better artists. Artists who did things well got into the better shows. All was good.

But then came more shows and more competition. Shows added big name performers and corporate sponsors to attract more patrons. Booth fees went up because expenses went up for the big name performers and artists still applied in droves because the show had prestige and they could count on sales. Booth fees went still higher and still artists applied in droves. More artists were doing art shows because there was money to be made from doing what we love. More artists meant more artists were willing to pay the higher booth fees in order to get into the good shows. Now apparently application levels are dropping.

Fewer artists are willing to pay higher booth fees to be in shows attracting fewer patrons because there are more shows. Why are booth fees going up? Because there are more shows trying to attract patrons with extras like big name performers and freebies from corporate sponsors. Some of the big shows have become more like carnivals than art shows in order to get higher attendance which they can report to the artists in order to get higher booth fees and more applications. More applications increase the prestige about the show. There’s something almost irresistible about applying to a show with a 15% acceptance rate. It must be great, everyone is applying. But the big name performers and corporate sponsors tend to attract people who aren’t serious art buyers. Sales for the artist go down. It used to be that for every artist who said “no way’ to an astronomical booth fee to be next to a corporate sponsor with a microphone hawking cell phone plans, there were two or three or said “I will, I will”. Maybe that is changing and booth fees will become reasonable again.

(As a full disclosure however, my application is still in for the show where the corporate sponsors are hawking cell phone plans with microphones and I’ll gladly do it, at least once.)

School Begins

2008-09-18T07:22:00.003-04:00

Setup for the first art show of the fall begins tomorrow. Doing art shows in Florida is somewhat like being in school. I’ve had my long summer off and now it is time to start the new year. I’ve done some changes this year; bigger frames, and different mats on the framed pieces, a new classy looking print bin, some new panoramas, and a changed booth layout. I’ve gotten my hair and nails done and rethought my show wardrobe. The first day of school is Saturday and everything is ready – I hope….

I’m not too sure about the show I’m doing this weekend, Oviedo Butterfly and Nature Festival put on by Lukas Nursery. I’ve never done it before, never even attended it, which is a big no-no in the art show world. You’ll see that in almost every “beginners tips” for art shows – never do a show unless you’ve attended it first – yeah right. If I’ve got a weekend free and there is an art show going on, I’m applying. It is nature themed, which is usually good for me but it is also a small local show which means it is below the radar of the art show rating publications, Art Fair Source Book, and Sunshine Artists. At any rate, it looks like it’s going to be a fun show to do. I’m looking forward to seeing the butterflies and I’ll probably bring home a few plants. At the very least I’ll test out all the changes I’ve done.

Speaking of nature themed shows, I’ve decided to return to the Audubon Space Coast Birding and Wildlife Festival in January. I like doing this show but haven’t been able to do it for a couple years because it runs from Wednesday through Saturday, which means three vacation days. You can see the rest of my fall schedule on my Upcoming Events page.

If you get a chance go by and see the exhibit at the Fifth Avenue Art Gallery in Melbourne. There is some really great art there, including a couple of my photographs.

Another Word Photograph

2008-09-06T07:40:00.001-04:00

I was at the opening for the 100% Pure Florida exhibit at the Fifth Avenue Gallery in Melbourne tonight and another photographer and I were discussing the differences between photography and painting. I saw the perfect example on the way home.

I was traveling down 46, which has just opened up again after the floods from Fay, when I noticed that the sky was lighter to my left. I thought it might be the last vestiges of sunset but a quick glance to my clock told me that the sun was long since down. It was the moon, only a quarter, but it made a wonderful reflection, lighting up the wetlands. I quickly thought, I have to come back here and get a photograph when the moon is full. And just as quickly though, yeah great idea Alison, let’s go stand by the side of the road on 46, a dark two lane road with no shoulder and a speed limit (or as we call them in Florida, suggested minimum speed) of 65, right next to the water, at night. Just me, the speeding cars, the alligators, and my tripod. Oh, well, I’ll have to leave that scene for the painters.

WooHoo

2008-08-08T16:15:00.002-04:00

Wow, it’s been a long time since I have written in the blog. Sorry about that. I’ve been trying to get all the things done that don’t get done during art show time, mostly yard stuff. I did take a weekend to set up the tent and make a new booth shot. Remind me not to do that in August ever again. It’s a good thing I allowed myself two days because once I got finished putting up the tent and walls I was wiped out from the heat. I had to close it up and finish up the next day.

Good news came in the mail today! I’m in Disney’s Festival of the Masters! That has been a dream of mine for so long. I am so excited. I’ve realized for some time that this art show business is like a roller coaster. Last week I got the bad news that I did not make it into Winter Park Autumn this year. So last week I was bummed and this week I’m ecstatic. One day I will learn to roll with it.

Good Grief!

2008-06-18T19:21:00.001-04:00

We have two fine men running for President of the United States. I believe that both of these men have undertaken this challenge out of a love and sense of duty to their country and the thought that they can make a difference. I applaud them both. I already know who I will be voting for but I will leave that out because what I am bringing up should be a bi-partisan issue. I would like to see our president chosen based on facts not smear campaigns, lies, and twisted truths. I have been getting an email lately from people I have thought of as reasonable, intelligent people. The email references several “quotes” from books written by Barack Obama. I did some very simple searches on the internet and found this: http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/ownwords.asp

Please people, do your own research and don’t believe everything you read in your email.

Personally, I would like to see our President chosen because he is the best candidate, not based on some smear campaign. Do your own research and vote on the issues please!

Gas Prices

2008-06-10T13:09:00.001-04:00

Well, should we drill in the Arctic, the Everglades, get some more of our own oil and bring these horrific prices down? I don’t think so. We will only forget again.

I pumped gas in 1973. Overnight the price of gas went from 38 cents a gallon to an astronomical 75 cents a galloon. People panicked, Gas lines formed. I would arrive at work to see a six block line of cars waiting for me. Tempers were short. We could only give each car 10 gallons. People tried to bribe me, threaten me, beg me for more. I wasn’t a terribly principled person then. I would have probably given more to some people especially the ones who offered me ten or twenty bucks. “Just fill the tank up,”, they’d beg. But the person behind them always had their eye on the pump and would have turned me in, in a second. It was a lousy way to make a living. The only perk was getting to fill up my own car before the station opened without waiting in line.

Changes happened though. Cars got smaller. The Mustang was replaced with the Mustang II, a shadow of its former self. People started using mass- transit, riding bicycles. Cars went from 10 mpg to 20 and more.

Then slowly people forgot. Look at us just before this latest price hike. SUVs all over the road, new roads built instead of mass transit.

And now we start again. The SUVs are sitting on the lots. The car makers are all touting mileage. But in time we will forget again. And if we drill in fragile places we will ruin them forever for a few more years of low prices.

Riding the Train

2008-06-04T21:58:00.004-04:00

This is the life. I don’t think I shall ever fly again, well probably, but I will definitely nbe back on a train again. I splurged at the last minute and got myself a roomette. I am sitting here in perfect privacy, with my own toilet even. I get to look out this great big window. I can’t see too much since it is dark outside but it will be great in the morning. I just had a very nice dinner in the dining car and the sleeping car attendant will be here in an hour or so to set up my bed for sleeping. I’ve only traveled in a roomette once before but the sleeping that time was heaven. The train just rocked me to sleep.

Unfortunately I’ll be going coach on the way back unless I can find myself a deal so it won’t be quite as comfortable but this is definitely the way to travel.

Perfect Florida Day

2008-06-02T05:32:00.009-04:00

I just had the perfect Florida day. I spent the morning at Hontoon Island State Park. It’s a small park with some hiking trails. I didn’t get a lot of pictures but the walk was nice. I figure I did about 5 miles. I enjoyed the solitude. The drought here has left its mark. While walking through the nature trail I got a sense of Florida how it must have been to the early settlers. Rather forbidding seeming. I found my way to the shoreline and got a photograph of a Great Blue Heron. Not a lot of wildlife out, three squirrels, the Great Blue, and an Ibis. But still a nice walk.

After my visit to Hontoon Island I came home and spent an hour floating in the pool in the sunlight and then headed toward Merritt Island to see the space shuttle off. Since I’ve been in Florida I haven’t missed a launch but this was my first sight of the space shuttle taking off from closer than my own backyard. Long ago when I was in high school I talked my way into president of the science club by promising a trip to see a launch of what was then Apollo. Unfortunately personal and family problems prevented me from making good on that promise or even assuming my post as president. I feel badly about that. But I finally made good on the promise to myself.

I arrived about 3 hours early, plenty of time to get a great spot and I alternated reading with talking to people until it was time. It wasn’t quite as loud as I expected or as close but a great experience nonetheless. I need to do it again and next time I need to get one of those special tickets I hear about that get you closer. I promised myself I would look at the launch rather than photograph it but I couldn’t resist a couple of shots.

After seeing the launch I headed up to Daytona Beach and had dinner with my husband. I capped off the evening with a quick dip in the pool and slept soundly.

I love living in Florida.

Mayfaire, etc.

2008-05-24T23:46:00.002-04:00

Let’s see, how can I describe Mayfair – How about 15 bottles of water during the show and only needed two bathroom breaks… Yes, it was hot, and windy, and buggy, but a good show nonetheless. A nice end to the Florida season. Here in Florida, the season is ending. There won’t be another show until the end of September.

So I’m taking this time to revamp and rest. A new printer, a new print bin, and a new booth design for the fall. I may even take Monday for a photo trip. In the meantime, Florida is hot and dry. Rain was promised for today but I haven’t seen any yet.

In the meantime here’s a new featured photograph from my Everglades trip earlier this year. This is from Shark Valley and I call it Blue Heron Perch. I hope to be sharing more with you in the coming days.

Speaking of parks and wildlife I was upset to read an article this past week on how our wildlife refuges have become so under funded that criminal activity is starting to take hold and many of our refuges are completely unstaffed. How shameful that we are letting this happen. How sad that our grandchildren may not have these places to enjoy.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17634561/

http://www.funoutdoors.com/node/view/1432

Overdue update

2008-05-09T05:20:00.003-04:00

It has been pointed out to me that I have been rather lax in letting you all know what’s going on with shows lately. So here goes…

Leesburg has always been a good solid show for me and did not disappoint this year. The weather was picture perfect, the crowd was good, and the promoters were well organized. Like a lot of shows lately though, I wish they would give awards based on category not overall. Photography always seems to fare poorly when they do that although Sheila Crawford won a first place (and highly deserved it). I was able to park very close to my booth which is always nice. It’s a nice laid back show to do which after the two visits to Naples and St. Stephens I sorely needed.

That was followed by Ponce Inlet, another nice laid back show. It’s usually one of my best shows. It was down a little this year but my new panorama pair sold almost immediately. No complaints here.

Port Orange is put on by the same people who put on Ponce Inlet so I had somewhat high hopes. It’s up against the Maitland spring show and by the artists who showed I would say that more people than me are frustrated with Maitland spring. It was a very well done show. I especially liked that at the awards ceremony they actually displayed photos of the work that won the award. That’s a really nice touch that I’ve never seen before. Breakfast was also the best artist meal since Ocala. Unfortunately sales really weren’t there. I made one sales to a very nice couple from out of town. At the very end of the day on Sunday, representatives from Port Orange came through and bought again the panorama pair for one of the public buildings in Port Orange. Only complaint here is that the show has a section for buy-sell type merchants. It’s nice that it is in a separate section but they really should put the artists near the parking lot where people come in and the buy-sell on the other side. People who made it around to the artists booths had already been through the buy-sell, and generally much cheaper, booths and I think there was a little sticker shock when they got to the real artists.

Apopka was bad. I’m not sure why. It was a beautiful weekend. Artists who had done the show before kept saying it had always been a decent show. Maybe it was the economy or maybe the early Easter this year but patrons just weren’t there. Another show with entertainment that pulls all the customers away from the artists and into the seats watching the show. I managed to break even with a late sale on Sunday but I think I’ll sit this one out next year. There were a lot of good artists. I’m not sure what happened with Melbourne jurying this year but a lot of really exceptional artists did not get into Melbourne and did Apopka as a backup show. Judging was awful. The first judge introduced herself, did a quick look around, missing an entire side of the booth and left. She seemed bored and flippant. The second judge was nice and thorough but had the completely wrong definition of a giclee, thus inspiring my last blog. I can almost forgive show promoters for not having a clue about what is and is not a giclee but a judge should know.

I’m here now in Lakeland for Mayfaire. Last show of the season for me. I’m looking forward to the break and hoping to sell enough this weekend for a little cushion for the summer. I just bought a new printer and next week my studio gets entirely redesigned to make room for it.

What is a Giclee?

2008-05-02T10:42:00.000-04:00

The word giclée seems to be one of the most misused and misunderstood words in the art world today. It doesn’t help that the word itself has been through an evolution of meanings itself and still has a wide range of meanings. Ask an artist, a show promoter, or a person on the street and you will get as many definitions as people you ask.

Some random examples from the web – My comments are after the quote in parentheses.

From http://www.giclee-information.org/
“Giclée is a term coined to describe inkjet printing at its highest level.”
(Well there’s a real precise definition, highest level of what?)

From http://www.greatgiclee.com/art_printing.html
“The cost of a giclée printer as well the price of pigments and papers, is the reason why fine art reproductions using this method are expensive to produce. Also, because of the resolutions these printers have, it takes a lot of time to make the giclée. The new machines took the leap of beating the art printing color rendition limitations of 4 colors and added 2, 3 and sometimes even 8 to the mix. The results are stunning and no description does justice other than seeing a giclée print! “
(This appears to me to be just marketing hype. Depending on the settings I use I can print a panorama in 15 minutes; 1440 dpi, high speed printing, or an hour; 2880 dpi with high speed turned off. I always use the higher quality setting but very few people can tell the difference without a magnifying glass. So is one a giclée and the other is not – the paper is the same, the printer is the same, the ink is the same?)

From Wikipedia
“The name was originally applied to fine art prints created on Iris printers in a process invented in the early 1990s but has since come to mean any high quality ink-jet print and is often used in galleries and print shops to denote such prints.”
(There’s that subjective term, high quality again. Who and what determines this? Is it the type of printer, ink, paper?)

But also from Wikipedia –
“to represent any inkjet-based digital print used as fine art.”
(And we wonder why people are confused?)

From http://www.giclee-canvas-art-in-trinidad.com/Giclee.html
“Regrettably, no official or legal standards have been laid down for this duplicating and printing process.”
(Woo hoo, somebody gets it)

And

“However, if a "Giclée print” is taken to mean “any printed, scanned image” then such a print can be called a Giclée print.”
(And if a “dog” is taken to mean any four legged animal then a cat can be called a dog. Of course by this definition a digital photograph is not a giclée because it is not scanned, confused yet?)

From http://www.harryadamson.com/giclee.html
From the French verb "to spray", the word Giclée (zhee-clay) is used to describe a digital fine art printmaking process. Giclée prints are created using a high-resolution inkjet printer. Images or paintings are carefully scanned and reproduced using stable pigment-based inks.

From http://giclee.netfirms.com - a page titled quite appropriately lies, dam lies, and giclée prints
“Just as they will tell you, giclée printing is ink-jet printing, the same process used by the ink-jet printer hooked up to your computer right now. The cheapest computer printers commonly used today.”

And a comment on why an ink jet print is called a giclée

“For the same reason that they would rather sell you lingerie in a boutique than underwear in a store.”

From http://www.artreproservices.com/Advantages_of_Giclee_Prints.html -

“If it will take ink, and go through the printer, we can print on it.”

So a giclée is either
a) any inkjet print or
b) a “high quality” ink jet print with no definition of exactly what is high quality and what is not.
c) An inkjet print using pigment inks only

The original meaning for giclée however was an inkjet print on a specific printer with specific ink actually meant to fade, for use as a proof for a photograph. This is probably where the idea came from that many people have, that a giclée is a cheap, non-durable, print.

It is interesting to note that a google search on “giclée history” is well into 6 pages of results before photography is even mentioned and after that it is still rarely mentioned. But photographers are the ones suffering. The definition that has become prevalent in the art show world, at least among people putting on and judging art shows, is that a giclée is somehow of lower quality, and /or that a giclée is a print on canvas only. By the definition that a giclée is any inkjet print, a giclée can be a cheap way of printing. It can also be a very expensive, long lasting way of printing. The process, the printer, the ink, the paper; all are components in the level of quality of an ink-jet print. What is more prevalent in the art show world today is the idea that prints on canvas are the only giclées and that is false by any accepted definition. As I already talked about, a print on canvas can be high quality or low quality and while it is almost always an ink jet print, it is not the only type of ink jet print. And why shouldn’t a high quality photograph on canvas be judged among its peers as art instead of being judged with one strike against it.

I believe that the term giclée should be retired and standards for photographic prints should be defined in terms of the archival quality of ink, paper, and printer; not loosely defined terms like giclée.

Trains, Planes, and Automobiles

2008-04-24T13:51:00.001-04:00

My plans are made to go see my daughter and the grandbabies, and also to meet her new significant other. I’ve chosen the method of travel that seems the most sane in this world – train. I can go round trip on the train for what it would cost me in gas to go a little more than one way and I get pretty good gas milage. The only way I’m flying these days is if the trip is too far to do any other way.

I started out loving flying. I saw the ocean from the air before I ever saw it on the ground. In fact, the first time I did see the ocean on the ground I wondered where the white fluffy things that sat on the water (clouds) were. I remember nothing but enjoyment when we flew back from Korea, 33 hours in the air, my poor parents. I do remember feeling a little miffed because everyone told me we were going to stop in Hawaii and the only thing I saw in Hawaii was the inside of a windowless room where all us children were herded while our parents went through customs. I loved flying when I took a bus to Boston and then discovered I could fly back for just a little more money. Sixteen hours on a bus plus 2 hours in the New York terminal vs. an hour and a half in the air. It was heaven. It was pure decadence. When my first husband and I moved to New Hampshire we flew back home regularly. I’d bring my camera and fight for the window seat, taking lots of non-descript cloud photos through scratched plane windows.

Perhaps it was the time the plane hit turbulence, the seat belt sign stayed on for the entire trip, and I needed to visit the restroom in the worst way. Maybe it was all those small planes that I flew in when I worked the northeast installing and teaching software. I especially remember the one into Pittsburg where the seats looked like school cafeteria seats bolted to the floor and we bounced and rolled like never before. Maybe it was Air Florida hitting the 14th street bridge. Somewhere along the way flying got a little scary.

I went through a period of being afraid to fly and that slowly mutated into just not liking it but doing it anyway. I came to acceptance that when it is your time to go, it’s your time to go and quit being afraid of crashing.

Now there is a whole new fear, getting stuck on a plane for hours while it waits to take off. I’m not so afraid of getting stuck in a terminal. I’m pretty resourceful and I always have my camera with me so the idea of getting stuck somewhere interesting sounds kind of fun. But getting stuck on a plane for hours on end, stuffed into a tiny seat, with the bathrooms slowly becoming unusable, sounds slightly terrifying. And it is so much more inconvenient these days. I can’t check my camera and laptop because they might get stolen but they’re bulky and dangerously close to the carry on limits. I end up only carrying one camera and stuffing it into the laptop carrier with my purse and now I’ve got so much delicate electronics rubbing against each other that I’m afraid to put it in the overhead bin. Not to mention trying to take off my shoes, keep an eye on the laptop, the other eye on the camera, and get through the metal detector.

The train – it sounds so civilized…

Patience (or not)

2008-04-15T18:49:00.002-04:00

“I never know in advance what I will photograph, ... I go out into the world and hope I will come across something that imperatively interests me. I am addicted to the found object. I have no doubt that I will continue to make photographs till my last breath.”

Ansel Adams

A lot of patrons remark that I must have a lot of patience. Actually I don’t or at least I don’t think I do. I search out the wild places because of a spiritual hunger that needs the peace and tranquility they offer. Any photograph I get is an extra gift. I don’t generally lie in wait for a specific shot. I walk and look and wait for beauty to reveal herself. When I am out taking photographs I will raise the camera to my eye a hundred times without pressing the shutter. If I like what I see however, I enter a different mode. I will take 30 shots in the space of 10 minutes or less trying to get that perfect representation of what I see before me. Unlike what some say, the camera can and does lie. It darkens the darks and washes out the lights. Sometimes the camera, most frustratingly, tells the truth. Our eyes compensate, turn the pole straight even though it is leaning when it becomes two dimensional. Our eyes miss the piece of trash in the foreground, until it shows itself in the photograph. It’s not just the art of seeing that makes a good photograph. It is the art of seeing and anticipating the way the camera sees.

Sometimes I just stop though, and breathe in the air, feel the solitude.

Photography Invitational and More on Canvas

2008-04-01T14:01:00.001-04:00

I am looking very forward to the Photography Invitational at the Mount Dora Center for the Arts. They will be displaying four of my photographs. They even put “Morning in the Glades” on the postcard advertising the event. I was there today dropping off work and got to see some of the other work that will also be displayed. Some very nice quality work and well worth the trip to see it. Please stop by if you can. I will be at the opening which is on April 11 from 6 – 8 PM. This is the same time and in the same area as the Mount Dora Art Walk. If you cannot make the opening the exhibit will be up until May 9.

On another note - Another attack on photographs printed on canvas and it’s coming from photographers themselves. It’s come to my attention that some photographers are having their canvas gallery wrap prints made in China very cheaply. I will be the first to admit that I don’t do my own gallery wraps. Trust me, you don’t want me to, it’s not a quality product if I do it. I can eyeball a print inside a mat to see that it is straight but I can’t get my gallery wraps straight or neat. I’ve also tried several suppliers to do gallery wraps for me until I found my current one. They just weren’t right either. Too tight and the canvas cracks, too loose and it looks sloppy. The coating put on the canvas is important as well. Canvas gallery wraps do not have the benefit of UV resistant glass to protect them from the elements. The wrong or improperly applied coating will cause the photograph to fade prematurely. The bottom line is that quality is very important on a canvas gallery wrap.

If you buy from me I can guarantee that my canvas gallery wraps, and all my work, is done to the highest quality possible and done in the US. If you buy from somebody else and the price seems quite low, please check and make sure you are getting a quality product. If you’re looking for a canvas gallery wrap made in China – Wal-Mart sells them.

Check out the new picture of me. A friend and I photographed a wedding this past weekend and he took this very nice photograph.

Sunrise...

2008-03-20T19:51:00.004-04:00

Sunrise, my favorite time of day, as the world around me starts to wake up. I head out early, in the dark. I arrive in the dark because the best sunrise photographs are taken before actual sunrise. I sit in the dark and listen to the night. Then it starts to happen. The first shots are on the tripod with a long exposure. The light is constantly changing. The shutter speeds get shorter and shorter, starting at minutes and ending with fractions of a second. Sometimes the clouds are low and nothing happens for awhile and then suddenly it is very light. Sometimes the clouds and the vantage point are just right and the sun comes up like a huge orange ball. Sometimes there are no clouds at all, just orange. But each one is different. Then when it is finally light I head out, either to take more photographs or home to grab a quick nap. The trip back is very different than the trip out. There are more cars on the road, the world is starting to move around. Pretty soon, it’s just a normal day but I feel slightly different, a little more connected to the universe, a little more serene.

The photographs above were all taken at the same place, at approximately the same time of year, but different years. If you look closely you can see the same tree line. The same, yet different.

Catching up - Everglades and Naples National

2008-03-01T20:01:00.002-05:00

Well I’m quite a bit behind… Three shows in a row plus a trip to the Everglades will do that to me. So to catch up:

Wilma did quite a bit of damage to the Everglades National Park on the east side. The Anhinga trail is missing quite a few trees which means many of the birds seem to have moved elsewhere, although I was a couple weeks before prime time at the Anhinga Trail. I did see some great blue herons, a green heron, the resident egret, and the usual cormorants and anhingas. The woodstorks have moved to Paurotis Pond, on the other side so they are very hard to see. I also saw a couple pink dots so there are roseate spoonbills there as well. Eco Pond looks rather decimated. I'm not sure if that is drought or hurrican effects although there are a lot of down trees in the area. I saw and photographed some plovers but that was it. The old Flamingo hotel is boarded up and there are a lot of trees missing. There was an immense group of alligators at Anhinga Trail, probably a mother and offspring. The mangroves at West Lake look like they took a beating as well. But hurricanes are nature’s way and nature doesn’t answer to people.

There was a lot of activity at Shark Valley though. I even got to see and photograph a yellow crested night heron. It looks like a dull great blue heron. It’s going to take me a great deal of time to go through all the photographs, especially with another show in a week but keep an eye out over the next month or so and I’ll try to post here as I put them up on the website.

My sister and I took a side trip to the Alligator Farm and I finally got to see and photograph a Florida Panther. It was in a cage though. I’m still working on a couple leads I have to get some photographs of a Florida Panther in a rescue setting. Of course I’m also keeping a lookout in the wild but the changes of seeing one, with the right lighting and conditions is pretty slim. We also took a great airboat ride. I don't much like airboats for photography, the noise keeps the birds away, and it's probably not too environmentally sound but it was fast and fun and a great break.

After that it was on to Naples National. A much more pleasant show to do than St. Stephens but I was also able to stay at the vacant home of a relative and didn’t have a hotel to contend with. It was HOT. A welcome relief from the rain but I was lucky to have a booth location under some trees with a slight breeze. Other locations, I heard, were not nearly as pleasant. That evening I called my uncle, who is in Virginia, to see if he thought it was okay to get into their pool. They were expecting snow, he was not amused. The show was okay, so far my best show of the year, but definitely down for me. People were buying, but they were buying small. I sold a framed panoramic and everything else was matted pieces. I paid $3.41/ gallon for mid range gas….. I also managed to back into a tree and break a back window, not a mark on the tree. And my car was broken into while I was gone. All in all, I was glad to get home.

So this weekend I’m at Leesburg. The weather is absolutely beautiful and the people are pleasant. The hotel room (Days Inn) is nice. Actually, except for my aunt and uncle’s and of course home, the nicest (and cheapest) place I’ve stayed for the past three weeks. Sales are going fairly well and I think it’s going to be a good show. I’ll let you know in my next post.

Grrrr

2008-02-20T21:04:00.001-05:00

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!

2008-02-18T23:32:00.004-05:00

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

2008-02-16T20:25:00.003-05:00

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

2008-02-13T16:28:00.001-05:00

"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

2008-02-06T13:53:00.000-05:00

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

2008-02-02T17:49:00.000-05:00

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.

Nervous

2008-01-24T11:24:00.000-05:00

Well it’s the day before setup for Naples and I am nervous as a long tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs. Okay, I know it’s a cliché but I’m a photographer not a writer. This is probably the highest rated show I’ve ever done and I’m hoping for big things. I know the economy is down and sales might be down but I’ll still be a little discouraged if I don’t do well. Plus my knee is hurting me some today. This is the first show I’ve setup since my surgery so I’m hoping I won’t have any trouble with the lifting.

So I’m trying to think calm, positive thoughts. Nervousness is bad at an art show. It makes me say stupid things to judges like at the Winter Park show. I was so excited that I had just sold three framed photographs in quick succession that when the judge entered the booth I blurted out – “all the best stuff is gone”. Arggghhh! Palm to forehead.

Above is one of the new shots that will be at the show.

Wish me luck!

Back to Today - Puttering

2008-01-19T16:45:00.000-05:00

It’s one week before the first art show of the season and I’m doing my last minute puttering today. The van has had its oil changed and is gassed up. Pictures have been printed, sorted, and placed in their boxes. Tank the cat has been supervising. The van has been straightened up and organized. It won’t look this neat again until June. The water jugs that I use to weigh down the tent have been filled and put in the van. All I need is pictures and I’m ready to go. It’s going to get crazy in the next few weeks (actually until May) so tonight I’m having a quiet evening at home with my husband.

I did not get into the Northern Virginia Reston show. Maybe next year, but that gives me a few more vacation days to play with so two more applications go out today, Mayfaire by the Lake and San Marco spring. I know I said I’d never do San Marco again but Howard Alan has taken it over and while they may be a bare bones promoter they are organized and professional. It’s worth another try.

Hope to see you in Naples!

Reminiscing 6

2008-01-18T05:53:00.000-05:00

And then came Lake Mary – Heathrow Festival of the Arts. This is still my favorite show. Steve greets me with enthusiasm when I show up pathologically early for setup. All of the staff is friendly and helpful. The customers are friendly and the location is beautiful.

A friend comes to help me with setup. This is my first time setting up the tent without Clif and the pieces seem to have multiplied but we manage to get it up after a couple errors. The only potentially serious problem we have is where to find water for the water jugs which hold down my tent. Despite the name there is no lake near the Lake Mary show and the water has been turned off because they don’t want the lawn sprinklers to come on inside people’s tents. My friend comes up with the idea of buying ice from Publix and putting it in the jugs. Thank God when she goes to buy ice she finds that Publix also sells water. I can just see us trying to feed ice cubes into the jugs. There have been some comedies over the years about filling those jugs. My favorite is another friend crouching on a two foot wall by a lake leaning over trying to fill the jugs from the lake water. The next time that same friend helped me set up he suggested heartily that I fill the jugs at home and put them in the van full. I do that every time now and it makes that part of setup a lot less stressful.

By the time I got to Lake Mary , I had done several shows and none of them could really be called successful. But I had learned a lot and made a lot of changes. Lake Mary is where everything seemed to come together for the first time. I even won my first award, an honorable mention for “Sunset at Lake Magarity.” I’ve made small changes since then; added large pieces, changed the booth layout, taken out the table; but Lake Mary is where I moved from wide-eyed beginner to actually being able to give a piece of advice now and then to other artists.

Reminiscing 5

2008-01-15T16:32:00.000-05:00

Ironically enough, after all the tent hoopla, my first real art show is inside. It’s the Clearwater Fine Art Festival. It’s really the second year but the first year was cancelled because of Charley, Frances, and Jeanne. In case you didn’t live in Florida in 2004 those are the three hurricanes that hit central Florida in one very strange summer. I spent my birthday that year in a boarded up house with Frances blowing around us but that’s another story.

It was a well done show, put on by another artist but set up was still brutal. Who’d have thought that setup would be bad for an indoor show but I didn’t realize that all of the stuff had to be brought in from the outside in the brutal August heat. I was prepared with all the setup type stuff but I didn’t have a decent hand cart that would carry the propanels. Clif had set me up with a sort of rolling thing that probably would have worked if it had been longer but it was pretty comical on a slant with the propanels going every which way. I ended up having to make one trip per panel (10) plus the hand cart I did have carried very little. It’s amazing how much stuff is needed for a show. I ended up dehydrated, exhausted, and 5 pounds lighter.

At any rate, my display is looking much better. My frames all match. I’ve gotten rid of the WalMart plastic bins. And I’ve already been accepted into Lake Mary – Heathrow. When I get home I order a new hand cart.

Reminiscing 4

2008-01-13T14:30:00.000-05:00

The search for a tent is on. I scour ebay with no luck. I finally decide on a Craft Hut mostly because the company is located just 4 hours away from me and I can save shipping costs. By now I have joined the Yahoo group artshow_photo which is a wealth of information. The tent with the options they tell me to get is significantly more expensive than the base model but I remember the words from the artist at Winter Park and get everything I’m told to. I make arrangements to pay for the tent by the end of the year for tax purposes but not pick it up until spring. Little do I know I have bought the last Craft Hut made by Craft Hut. I figure this out come January when the Craft Hut people call me and tell me they are “moving” and they will ship the tent to me free of charge. Soon after that I hear that Craft Hut has sold out to Flourish.

The tent arrives and Clif and I put it up in the driveway. It’s got an amazing number of parts, takes an hour to put up, and I’m not sure I’m going to be able to put it up by myself. But I’m somewhat ready for the next step.

When I first moved to Deltona I saw signs for Springfest. It’s an outdoor two day festival and I set my sights on that for my next show. It’s not a real art show but it is outdoors and I get to put up my new display. I’ve learned a lot from artshow_photo. I’ve got print bins, a new chair, and a card rack.

I’m also about to learn about the awful experience called Saturday morning setup. Clif, a friend of ours, and I arrive at the appointed time – 5AM. It’s dark and there are no lights. The only booth markers are a series of flags with numbers on them and it takes us a ½ hour to find them. No one is in a good mood and I am totally stressed. I’ve since learned that, with help, I can put up a booth in 3 hours, but I still hate Saturday morning setups. Once the booth is up, there is decent weather for about an hour. Then it pours, all day long. I spend pretty much the entire day inside the tent with the sides down. I sold one card. But Sunday was better and I sold two framed pictures to the mayor, some matted photos and cards to friends, and I got a lot of compliments. There’s a lot of joking among art show artists about compliments. No, they don’t pay the bills, but they do feed the soul.

The booth is not quite there yet though. It’s way too busy, my frames don’t match, and it’s still not very professional looking. But it’s enough to get me into the next show, my first real art show.

Reminiscing 3

2008-01-12T20:56:00.001-05:00

My next show was the Audubon Space Coast Bird and Wildlife Festival. I actually do pretty well. I’m still having trouble finding my place though. Buckler is out and with Buckler my original idea of doing local home and garden shows. The work I want to do is not the work that does well at that type of show. A bonus from my job has allowed me to buy some walls. The tent is still a problem. My husband has heard of something cheap called an EZ-up and suggests I go visit the Winter Park Sidewalk Art Festival and talk to the artists there and see what they suggest. I generally like people who tell me the truth and don’t sugarcoat it. The first person I talked to definitely met that criteria – “EZ-up”, he sneered, “EZ-up is easy down. I spent $3800.00 on my tent and walls alone. If you’re going to do it, do it, don’t dabble at it.” I am grateful for those blunt words today. There were some difficult times ahead of me and more than once I think I would have thrown in the towel if I didn’t have so much invested. At the time though, those words were just a tad bit discouraging.

Shortly after that, I found the Bird and Wildlife Festival and I guess God knew I needed some encouragement. I made a modest profit. My display still needed work but it was looking much more professional. The only problem was the festival was only once a year. I had to have a tent and it had to be a real art festival tent.

Reminiscing 2

2008-01-10T15:28:00.001-05:00

So my second show was a Buckler show. Buckler does shows all over Florida and they are great, if you’re looking for country crafts. Not so good for photography. For the first time I realized that people were traveling around the country, actually making a living at this. And they were polished and had beautiful displays, mini stores really. And I was lacking a lot of the basics, walls for instance. Note to any aspiring art show people – easels don’t work. I have seen displays with one easel out in front holding an especially eye-catching piece. That works great, but more than one easel, forget it. They take up a lot of room, people trip over them and the table easels are really easy to knock down. The chair is really tacky but check out the tablecloths… My first major display purchase.

I learned things though. I learned that it is not a good idea to have my husband help me with setup. I learned where to get plastic sleeves that fit my mats instead of overlapping. I learned that I needed to find a different van rental place because .75 / mile really adds up. I learned that if I wanted to survive doing Buckler shows I needed to take my photographs and put funny sayings on them. I learned I really like country crafts and I made a modest profit which I promptly spent at the show buying things with cute sayings on them. Four separate groups of friends came to see me at my great debut. In the following week, each of those friends came to me and said “this is not your venue”. I had signed up to do two Buckler shows. After a week of thought, I cancelled the second one.

Back to the drawing board…

Reminiscing 1

2008-01-09T11:12:00.001-05:00

Since I’ve made a resolution to write in my blog more often I’ve decided to do a little reminiscing. The above photo is of my first booth ever, complete with plastic tablecloth and WalMart bins. It was at the Deltona Arts and Historical Center grand re-opening and I was so excited and so clueless. I actually did pretty well considering that I was only there for three hours and a lot of that time was taken up with speeches and ribbon cutting stuff. I will always be grateful to Lloyd and Deltona Arts for giving me that start.

Whoops, I’m wrong about that. Many, many years before I did have a couple forays into the art show scene up in Virginia. Now that was comical. Talk about being clueless. The first one wasn’t too bad except for the fact that the show promoter provided pegboard to hang your work and I came with none of the pegboard things that you use to hang things with. I had to scurry around and borrow some. I sold one framed picture for fifteen dollars. I was a little disappointed but I did trade one picture for a nice pencil drawing of an otter by another artist. I still have that picture.

The second one – well it’s no coincidence that I didn’t try to do shows for another 15 years. This was an outdoor show. In those days, no one had the tents we have today. The week before the show I started thinking about how I was going to display my work. Plenty of time right? Since pegboard had worked before I had the brilliant idea of getting two pieces of pegboard and hinging them together so they would stand up. Great concept, if there’s no wind…. I remember leaving my then husband in charge while I went to get something to eat. All the artists were in a big circle and the food vendor was directly across from my setup. I was walking back across with my hot dog. My husband was sitting in a chair reading. The wind started to pick up. The pegboard started to sway. My husband is still reading. I’m yelling his name telling him to pay attention. He doesn’t hear me. I start to run. Too late, the wind picks the display up and crashes it down. Needless to say I sold nothing. The marriage didn’t last either.

I did learn something though. The photographer next to me was selling matted pictures in clear plastic sleeves. He also had a magnificent picture of an eagle sitting on a glacier. He was selling like hotcakes. I resolved I would go to Alaska someday. And I would get some of those clear plastic sleeves.

Updates

2008-01-08T16:07:00.000-05:00

Well, as expected, I did not get into Vero Beach. I’m disappointed of course but my schedule for winter and spring is already pretty packed. Also, doing Vero Beach would have meant missing all of Bike Week since I did get into the Leesburg show for March 1-2 , the first weekend of Bike Week. My knee is healing nicely and I expect to be back on the bike by then. I’m still a little nervous about Naples Invitational setup and breakdown but they were nice enough to give me a close in spot so I won’t have to do a lot of walking. I have two weekends left to get ready so I’ve been printing and framing like crazy. I’m surprised at how much new work I have. It’s always hard for me to judge my own work so if you have a favorite you want to see this year, let me know.

I’m behind already. I haven’t done my New Years ritual yet. Each year I write down on slips of paper the character defects I want to be rid of for the coming year and then burn the slips of paper. It’s worked so far. A friend is coming by this weekend and we will do it together.

I use a mailing list generator to send out some postcards before shows. Some interesting numbers – Number of people within 10 miles of Coconut Grove who are married, own their own homes, and make over $200,000 a year – approximately 10,000. Number of those who contribute to conservation causes – 49! There is something seriously wrong with this picture.

Hello

2007-12-23T10:27:00.000-05:00

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year everyone!

It’s a quiet Christmas for us this year. I had knee surgery last Thursday and have been busy recuperating. I’m back on my feet now and while I’m not completely back to normal, the pain of the surgery is less than the knee pain I had for quite a while. So it’s all good.

I’ve been experimenting a little with high contrast black and white – what do you think?

Creating Again

2007-12-07T20:13:00.000-05:00

Well I have been busy. The creative juices are flowing again and I’ve been creating all sorts of great photographs. At least I like them. I hope you do too. I guess I needed something new to photograph. I’m going to have to branch out a little bit, try some new places. The next big trip is the Everglades in the early spring which I don’t get to visit near enough. It may be a couple weeks before you see the new ones on the website, there’s Christmas presents to make, show schedule postcards to design and order, and generally getting ready for the next show season which starts the end of January. If you want a postcard, be sure to visit my website and send me your address.

Back home

2007-12-02T11:38:00.000-05:00

Well I’m back home safe and sound in Florida. I had a wonderful Thanksgiving with my daughter, sister, and grand babies. At times I wish I lived closer to them but my daughter is doing a wonderful job. There’s a lot to be said for letting your grown children work out their own lives and I’m not sure I could have stepped back far enough if I lived close by. I also had a nice visit with my mother-in-law. We did something that I’m ashamed to say I haven’t done until now, having spent so much time in Charlottesville over the years. We visited Monticello. I’m sure the photograph I took has been taken my many others over the years, but it’s a nice memory and I like it.

Check out my website, http://www.serenityscenes.com/ for some of the photographs from the trip. I’ll be adding more as I sort through them.

God sets the scene

2007-11-17T19:30:00.000-05:00

I mentioned a couple months back that I felt God provided photographs for me to take. God sets the scene and puts me in place to snap the shutter. And I mentioned a couple weeks ago that I felt uninspired, that I had lost that connection. Well all it took was a ride through the eastern mountains. I’m headed to my daughter’s for Thanksgiving with a stop by my mother-in-law and I decided to make it a two day trip and get off 95. Some friends at artshow_photo@yahoogroups.com gave me a different route of picking up 26 in South Carolina, then to 77, then to 81. They said if I took this way I would never drive 95 again. They may be right, at least when my trip goes first to Charlottesville. Interstate 77 is breathtakingly beautiful in spots even with the trees not at their best because of the drought. Unfortunately, traffic was heavy and it was just too dangerous to pull off to the side on the interstate for a photograph. I did do a side trip looking for Lake Wateree State Park but I never did find the park or if I did it really wasn’t worth a mention on an interstate sign. I did find the lake but really didn’t find any good photographs there. So I was feeling inspired but frustrated.

I pulled out of a rest area and the truck wasn’t acting right. It could have been that it was not used to the kind of hills I was doing but it just didn’t feel right. So I took the next exit and stopped at a gas station just to turn it off for a few moments (and to get a Powerball ticket). While in the gas station I noticed that there was an antique store across the street with some cool looking stuff so I drove across the street. When I got out I saw the photograph above. I believe that coincidences are God choosing to remain anonymous and what coincidences had to transpire to put me in that place at that time. By the way, the truck worked fine after that.

Tonight I’m safely in a nice warm motel with an aching knee and tomorrow I head to Charlottesville via 11 and 64. My daughter has given me some directions to her place that send me through some of my favorite roads too. Hopefully there will be more photographs over the next few days.

I missed the mountains, especially in Fall. But if I were here all the time I would miss the warmth and birds of Florida. Snow flurries called for tomorrow. That part I don't miss!

Naples here I come

2007-11-10T17:01:00.000-05:00

Well I have been heard to say lately that the west coast (of Florida) doesn’t seem to like me much, having gotten 5 rejections in the past two weeks, of which, all but one were the west coast. Well Bonita Springs, Tampa, and Ft. Myers may not like me but it appears that Naples does. I’m now in the Naples Invitational Art Festival and the Naples National Art Festival. I’m especially excited about getting into the Naples National because I’m going to take the time between St. Stephens and the Naples National to spend a week in the Everglades taking pictures. Hopefully my sister will join me and we can have an adventure together.

I’d planned on taking pictures all weekend but a change in plans for Thanksgiving has me preparing to leave for Virginia next weekend instead of the Monday after the weekend so I am Christmas shopping and getting my nails done and all that prep stuff. Tomorrow is free though and I intend to be out at dawn.

In my free time today I’ve been appeasing the photography bug by going through some of my older pictures and reworking them. Let me know what you think of the one above.

I probably won’t post again until after Thanksgiving so everyone remember that the key to having what you want is wanting what you have so be grateful for all the little things.

Lake Mary-Heathrow

2007-11-04T20:29:00.000-05:00

Ahh, Lake Mary. I wish I could do that show every weekend. It’s close to home. I get to sleep in my own bed at night. And better yet, appreciative people who buy. And I had the wonderful experience of seeing previous buyers. It’s so nice to hear, “I bought a picture from you last year and it looks wonderful”. I can’t say enough nice things about the people who put on the show. They know me, come by and check on me, and really care how things are going. And I was awarded third place in photography. All in all, a pleasant weekend and a good end to the fall season.

No photographs this weekend. I chose to leave the camera at home and I regretted it. I’ll have to paint a word photograph – A beautiful calico cat sunning itself in the window across from my booth in a home with beige walls and black shutters which just match the colors of the cat, a tree just beside the window.

Since I didn’t get into Disney, I’m going to take next weekend to go take some new photographs. Hopefully the weather will cooperate. I think maybe I’ll go back to Ocala or maybe to Kissimmee and try to get some eagles in flight. Or do the boat ride on the Dora Canal. So many photographs to take, so little time.

Ocala

2007-10-27T20:05:00.000-04:00

Well here I am sitting in Ocala on Saturday night. This is the lonely part of doing art shows. The show is going well, sold a few pieces, one piece selected for judging which is an honor considering the number of excellent artists present. The show is very nicely done, with nice, organized people and possibly the best artist dinner I have ever had. I used to dry chicken and potato salad not chicken marsala and red potatoes. But the show is over for the day, my husband just called to tell me he is feeling very sick, sounds like the flu, and I miss him more than usual this trip.

I came up a day early hoping to get some photo time in on Friday morning. Friday morning was drizzly and grey, not necessarily a bad thing for photos but not good traveling weather particularly in a fully loaded van. I found myself on a two lane dark road with no shoulders in the rain looking at the speed limit sign thinking “I do not feel safe at that speed”. Of course there is a long line of people behind me by the time I finally find somewhere to pull over. There was no sunrise to speak of, just a slowly growing lighter, grey sky. I did find a lovely place to take pictures but then the rain started again.

It’s hard sometimes to juggle this life with family time. I realized this morning that I have forgotten to send the Halloween cards I bought for my grandchildren two weeks ago. So much to do, so much I want to do, so little time. I did buy that lottery ticket though J

Anyway, tomorrow will be a better day. The weather report has changed from 60% chance of rain to 30% and it’s Sunday and Sundays are always the best days at a show. Then break down, go home, and give Clif an extra hug for putting up with the everyday hassles of my dream.

Photographer Spotlight and other musings

2007-10-16T20:15:00.000-04:00

What a difference a week makes. Winter Park was a grand success. Beautiful weather, beautiful setting, large crowd, and last but not least enough purchases for a modest profit. Then this morning I got word that I have been accepted into the St. Stephens Art Show. Wow! I had said I was going to wait to hear from Coconut Grove but comparing booth fees and the chance to get a corner booth if I accepted right away… well, I’ll definitely be in Miami in February.

Then Greg Kiser wrote this great story about me in his Photographer Spotlight. You can also see Greg’s wonderful photography here. I also found this wonderful quote:

"Above all, it's hard learning to live with vivid mental images of scenes I cared for and failed to photograph. It is the edgy existence within me of these unmade images that is the only assurance that the best photographs are yet to be made." --Sam Abell

This time of year, in the midst of multiple back to back art shows I often feel my spirit slipping away. Too much setup, selling, break down, and do it again. Not enough photography. This quote really spoke to me. I remembered my multitude of Alaska photographs. To tell the truth I was ill-prepared to go to Alaska. So many great pictures missed, so many things I would do differently if I have the chance to go again. I skimmed through the pictures, pulled out the very best, and had to stop looking at them. Now a year and a half later, I am looking again and remembering that vast beauty and wilderness. If nothing else, they are wonderful memories. And there might be a few good ones in there after all.

I must remember to experience as well as photograph.

San Marco.....

2007-10-11T16:32:00.000-04:00

Ahh, what a delightful weekend. Pouring rain during setup, pouring rain all day Saturday, threatening rain all day Sunday. Add a disorganized promoter who decided to inform us rather rudely at 6:30PM on Sunday breakdown that we needed to be off the street by 7PM or they would “move it onto the sidewalk”. Gee, how about moving it into the van instead. At least be polite about it, it’s not like they bothered to tell us beforehand. Obviously we were struggling – everything was soaking wet. Of all the information that would be important to put in the information packet about the show – that would probably rank among the most important. They did make sure they got my signed agreement – three times! And that wonderful volunteer who walked right up between me and a customer to ask for my critique. All in all, one of those weekends where I wonder why I do this.

The people were wonderful though. A neighborhood woman even brought us coffee and towels during setup. And a big thank you to my helper Michelle. I couldn’t have done it without her. And my boss let me work from home Monday so I had a chance to dry everything out. Did you know you can wash Velcro? Just stick it all together in the washing machine and dryer and it comes out nice and fresh.

This weekend looks like it really is going to be beautiful. Do I hear strains of a Jackson Browne song - “tear it down and set it up in another town”…….

A day off

2007-10-01T05:41:00.000-04:00

What a beautiful day yesterday! I was sending an email out mentioning that it was my last day off until November and I realized – hey, this is my last day off until November, I’d better do something besides sit in front of the computer.

First I went for a motorcycle ride. The morning wasn’t as windy as the afternoon and as far as good days to ride a motorcycle on a scale of 1 -10 this one rated an 11. The air was not too cool and not too hot and clear from the rain the day before. I rode down Lakeshore Drive, a piece of old Florida with overhanging oaks and Spanish moss. Just curvy enough to get a nice rhythm going.

From there I went to 415. I really shouldn’t like to ride on 415. It’s a dangerous road, only two lanes with a lot of people who want to go considerably over the speed limit but apparently don’t like to pass so they try to push you down the road. But 415 and I have history. The first time Clif and I came down for Bike Week the only road we knew of to get from Deltona to Daytona was 415 or Tomoka Farms Road as I knew it. We came down from Virginia expecting (and getting) nice warm weather. But we hadn’t counted on the nights. I remember many evenings huddled behind Clif ( I didn’t ride my own then) , thinking this is one long dark road. I remember the night we missed the turn for Deltona and ended up in Sanford and the night we couldn’t go any further and stopped at one of the stands at the Cabbage Patch and bought winter gear. The following year Clif found I4 and it just wasn’t the same.

415 was also the first place where I went 60 mph on my own bike after weeks of riding through the neighborhood mumbling slow, look, press, roll. More on that in another blog.

I rode up 415 to 44 and back towards home. After the ride, I came home and relaxed in the pool and then watched the football game with Clif. All in all, a restful day in preparation for the weeks ahead.

Fall Schedule

2007-09-26T12:58:00.000-04:00

Well the final fall schedule is in. You can see it on http://www.serenityscenes.com/UpcomingEvents.html

I’m quite happy with the results. Three rejections out of seven applications isn’t bad for Florida art shows. I’m disappointed about not getting into Disney but the Maitland location is known for a disjointed layout and dead locations. I’ve done the Spring show twice and I’ve pretty much decided never again. The first year I was in among the food booths and next to the guy dressed up as a chicken giving away free coupons. The whole day went like this – mom and dad with kid come into booth, mom and dad start to look around and murmur positively, kid sees chicken, runs out of booth, mom and dad follow never to return. The only worse location I’ve had was when I was next to the cute dog modeling dog clothes. Same scenario only worse, kids dragging their parents past my booth…

So the second year, when they asked for requested booth locations, I said “NOT NEAR THE FOOD”. This put me in a location actually behind another booth. There was a whole line of us behind a line of booths that put us totally out of sight from the main traffic area. Not one of my better shows. The one big sale of the weekend was entertaining though. A couple comes into the booth in the last 15 minutes. While the husband is talking to me about a possible “end of the day” discount and I’m debating about how badly I want to make at least one good sale for the weekend, the wife is looking around. Just as I’m about to offer a discount, she screams “Oh, I’ve got to have this one”. Husband mutters something about “not taking you along when we buy a car” and pays full price.

I’m excited about Winter Park. It’s not the big spring show but it’s still the same location and a great location it is. I’m not sure about the Jacksonville show. I applied on a whim. None of my usual sources knows anything about it. But the location looks good. I didn’t know about the Saturday morning setup but thank God for friends that come through to help.

For those of you that got postcards I will not be in Deland this year. Notification was quite late and I needed to get the postcards out. But I’ll get to spend an extra two days with my daughter and grandchildren which is fine with me.

Hope to see you at one of the shows!

Suffering for art

2007-09-11T19:14:00.000-04:00

We turned the corner and there he was. We dared not pull up any further to avoid spooking him. So I did the standard routine of getting out of the truck very carefully and not shutting the door. I did not know we had pulled up beside a large puddle of stagnant water. I’m very carefully doing the routine of take a shot, take a couple steps, take a shot. I vaguely remember my husband shouting “Shut the door, SHUT THE DOOR!” Which of course scared the eagle away.

Back at the truck, the entire cab is filled with mosquitoes. Clif is standing in the back, dousing himself with bug repellant. The eagle has flown back to a tree just out of range and - is that a smirk?

Clyde Butcher and Loop Road

2007-09-06T18:49:00.000-04:00

Last weekend I got the chance to meet Clyde Butcher. There were a lot of people there and he was quite busy so I didn’t get much time to talk to him. I’m afraid I came across as a blithering idiot. My mind went numb. So much for making a good impression, I’m afraid.

It might have been the fact that Clif and I had just finished traveling the Loop, a long and rather treacherous length of road that had turned out to be much longer that we had planned. The plan was that we would set out down the Tamiami trail, find a place to take some sunrise pictures, travel the Loop, and arrive at Clyde Butcher’s when the gallery and festivities opened at 9:00. As it was, we arrived around noon, sweaty and dirty I’m sure and quite exhausted. I did get some great pictures though.

To me, there are two sides of the Everglades. The eastern side with the National Park down by Homestead and the western side by Everglades City. This was my first extended visit to the western side and it has quite a different feel. The eastern side in the park is quiet and serene with a real feel for being out in the wilderness. The western side seems much more encroached upon by civilization even though there were places we went that seemed very far removed from it.

I read many glowing stories of the Loop before we set off for our trip but I missed this one:
http://www.sptimes.com/2006/02/12/Floridian/Back_on_the_Loop.shtml

That’s more like it. The wild, wild, west is alive and well on the Loop. There are houses on the Loop, some look brand new, some look like they’ve been lived in forever. A lot are painted, to avoid insulting the residents, rather bright colors. They are all exactly alike, almost as if the house plans were handed down through generations. As the article says, it’s not a place you want to lock your keys in the car. And if you were to lock your keys in the car, you might be more inclined to walk out the 26 miles than to knock on one of those doors to ask for help. These are people with a fierce need for privacy and I’d rather not find out why.

There is also nature on the Loop, beautiful nature. It’s worth the trip but gas up and don’t lock your keys in the car. Actually, don’t take the car, take the truck, at least in September. It’s bumpy and wet back there.

Everglades 1 - Picayune Strand State Forest

2007-09-02T19:48:00.000-04:00

I got a chance this weekend to take a photograph that I have always wanted to take. A few years back I read “The Orchid Thief” by Susan Orlean. The book has a lot of Everglades history in it and the part that intrigued me was about the great Forida swamp land swindle. The book said that there was a place in the Everglades where the streets were laid out complete with street signs and all as preparation for one of the great swindles of all time. I wanted to get a photograph of those street signs!

I did some research for my latest Everglades trip and found that that land had mostly been bought up and turned into a state forest called Picayune Strand State Forest. I immediately put it on my list of places I wanted to see. I just hoped they hadn’t taken those street signs down. The only thing slightly daunting was a note on one of the websites to “be sure and put out bread crumbs, it’s very easy to get lost”. Well it wasn’t easy to get there either!

According to my maps there were two ways there. One is from Sabal Palms Road in Naples and one is from Janes Scenic Drive. Since Janes Scenic Drive was also on my list that was the plan. So after a morning of driving “The Loop” (more on that in a future blog), Clif and I set out down Janes Scenic Drive. A guy back at the hotel had told us that Janes Scenic Drive was totally impassable but one thing I love about Clif is that he loves a 4 wheel drive challenge. Actually rumors of impassibility were over exaggerated. I wouldn’t try it in a car and 4 wheel drive was nice although probably not required if you’re gutsy. After stopping a lot for photographs and bouncing our way through mud holes we arrived at Picayune Strand State Forest.

There is a very strange feeling about the place. Knowing the history of the place, the greed of man is palpable here. From the Picayune Strand restoration plan:

“This development dramatically changed the natural landscape. The
water table dropped by several feet, turning what was once a healthy,
cypress-dotted wetland into a distressed system that became a target of
invasive nuisance plants. These alterations to the natural system also
caused an increase in wildfires, both in frequency and intensity. Runoff
that once flowed in a broad, shallow sheet to the coastal estuary was
funneled into the Faka Union Canal system. Coastal areas that
historically received smaller freshwater discharges over a wide area
became too salty. At the same time, the concentrated fresh water
discharge from the canal reduced salinity in that area, damaging oyster
reef communities and altering the composition of fish and crabs species.
Drinking-water well fields near the estuary also became vulnerable to
saltwater intrusion.”

http://www.evergladesplan.org/docs/fs_sgge_061504_english.pdf

There were no street signs but there were stop signs. As we went further in we found that the street signs were actually painted on the roads. Remembering that people were sold these lots from the air it made sense.

The photograph says to me that we are at a crossroads. We need to stop and think about where we are going next. This restoration is a start but the damage that we have done to the Everglades is so vast and extensive that it may never completely recover.

Banning Canvas

2007-08-24T23:34:00.000-04:00

First they came for the communists, and I did not speak out--

because I was not a communist;

Then they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out--

because I was not a socialist;

Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out--

because I was not a trade unionist;

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out--

because I was not a Jew;

Then they came for me--

and there was no one left to speak out for me.

Pastor Martin Niemöller

Reading the forums and art show applications lately, I’m reminded of the above poem. Certainly nothing as monumental as the history that this poem details, but definitely something worth thinking about.

Digital photography and computers have changed the face of art fairs and photography in general, some say not for the better. Some painters are especially disturbed about our new ability to print on canvas. A vocal few, rather than use the increased competition as motivation to find ways to differentiate themselves, are saying photographers should be banned or restricted in art shows.

Some shows are listening to them. Recently a show that last year accepted many photographers has decided to accept only three this year, all of them traditional, black and white, darkroom photographers. This was after they gladly accepted our jury fees. I will be the first to say, that black and white photography, when done well, is incredible. I wouldn’t be driving five hours next weekend just to meet Clyde Butcher if I didn’t think so. But I believe color has its place too.

But back to the poem. If photographers are successfully kept out of the art fairs, who will be next? Perhaps the jewelers? There are a lot of jewelers at art shows. Get rid of them and there will be a lot more spaces for painters. Or will it be the potters? There’s always been that nagging question, if it is functional, is it art?

The fact is, we are all artists and craftsmen and each art form has its challenges. We should stick together rather than attack each other.

Anatomy of a Photograph

2007-08-11T19:16:00.000-04:00

It’s not just the camera.

Photo 1 is the original. It’s a very hot day and the shot is almost directly into the sun so the color is washed out and flat. It’s also as close as I can get without walking on water.

Photo 2 is with color enhanced. I’ve already decided how I want this one to look so the color is heavily saturated, slightly unreal.

Photo 3 is the final, cropped and selectively blurred.

Winter Park - Here I Come!

2007-08-02T20:14:00.000-04:00

I feel like I’m back in high school waiting hoping for the fat envelope instead of the skinny envelope from the college of my choice. Remember that time? The fat envelope meant there were lots of forms and information inside and that meant you were accepted? The skinny envelope meant that letter that always said something about the “high number of qualified applicants” and you were rejected. Art show applications are the opposite. I want the skinny envelope, without the slides in it. That means I got accepted or at least waitlisted. Upon pulling the self –addressed stamped envelope from the mailbox I immediately press down on it to see if there are slides in it. Tonight I got the skinny envelope from Winter Park Autumn Arts Festival. Woo Hoo! I’m in. After three years of applications I’ve been accepted for my first visit to Central Park in Winter Park, Florida. It’s Oct. 13 – 14. Come see me if you can.

http://www.winterparkartfestival.com/

Speaking of Winter Park - Don't forget the Open House at the Winter Park Public Library in the Community Room this Sunday! If you can't make it Sunday, the pictures are up already and will be until Aug. 31st.

http://www.wppl.org/

Application Time (cont.)

2007-07-29T10:01:00.000-04:00

Well the first of the results are in and not good so far. Festival of the Masters came in with a rejection and well in advance of their advertised notification date. Which means I didn’t even get a “maybe”? Darn! I really thought my work would do well there. And to get the rejection the very day I spent all day at Disney's Animal Kingdom taking photographs (Komodo Dragon above). Oh well. Now I’m doubly not happy with Disney. Several years ago I applied to be one of their artists at the Epcot Flower and Garden Festival. They responded with, “Pick a weekend in April that you would like to do and we will get back to you.” Then closer to the festival I got an email from them looking for plein air artists for the festival. I responded back with the “pick a weekend” email, inquiring about which weekend they wanted me to come, and got a rather rude reply. Basically it said “don’t you know what a plein air artist is?” Of course I do! (Had to look it up ;), it’s an artist who paints on site). Apparently the person who chose the artists for the festival during the year had changed and the previous person’s invitations were ignored. On a sour grapes note, a friend of mine went to the Epcot festival this year and, in her opinion, with the exception of Clyde Butcher, the photographs were not nearly as good as mine. So Disney – phhhtt. Of course I’ll apply next year. This is the Festival of the Masters (something about that name) we’re talking about. But I’ll also apply to Gainesville, and should I get into both, who knows?

So this leaves me with two extra days of vacation to spend on another art festival. A quick look at my spreadsheet of available shows gives me the choice of Bonita Springs or Cape Coral in January. Their bold listings in the spreadsheet tell me that both of them are in the top 200 art shows in the country. Of to Sunshine Artists magazine which tells me that Bonita Springs is #5 and Cape Coral is #48. That puts Bonita Springs ahead. But does that mean Cape Coral might be easier to get into? Now they’re even. A quick check of location tells me that they are both on the west coast of Florida near Ft. Myers. No deciding factor there. Off to the Art Fair Source Book. AFSB confirms my theory that Bonita Springs is going to be harder to get into, 1 in 4 chance, vs. a 1 in 2 chance for Cape Coral. But drilling down into the details, Bonita Springs, even with fewer exhibitors, has more photographers. Interesting. And AFSB is not kind, to say the least, in their comments on Cape Coral. The final deciding factor – Cape Coral wants all their money up front, and then they’ll refund my booth fee if I don’t get in. Three hundred dollars of my money would be out of circulation for several months. This is not the time of year I can afford that. Bonita Springs, here I come, hopefully.

Art show application time....

2007-07-19T07:56:00.000-04:00

It’s that time of year again, the time of year where I puzzle over the spring applications. Fall is fairly easy. There are 9 shows all within reasonable distance. Two of them overlap with another show so there are two decisions to make. All the others are pretty straightforward. The only difficult decision was between the “Downtown Festival and Art Show” in Gainesville and the “Disney Festival of the Masters”. Gators fans are in Gainesville and my photograph “Morning in the Glades” is big with Gators fans. Someone taught me this saying at Lake Mary last year – God must love the Gators, too, because He made the sun orange and the sky blue. And “Morning in the Glades” has got it all, orange sun, blue sky reflected in the water, and, of course, the gator. They would love me in Gainesville, I just know it.

On the other hand, I’ve always dreamed of doing Disney. There’s something about that name, “Festival of the Masters” that just calls to an artist. In order to apply to Disney I have to have won a major award within the past three years. I qualify this year. I can’t always count on that. And on the practical note – Gainesville is further away and I would need a hotel. So Disney it is.

But I was going to talk about the spring season. What a mess! Three top 100 shows all on the same weekend. Luckily they are all on ZAPP. And then every single weekend from January through March has double, triple, and in one case quadruple shows on the same weekend. This is just shows in Florida!

The majority of art shows use one of two methods to receive applications. The first is by mail. You send in the application and two checks. The first check is for the application or jurying fee and the second is for your booth fee. If you are accepted, they cash your booth fee. Unless I’m willing to lose a booth fee should I get into both shows, I don’t double apply. That’s been the story with the three top 100 shows the past three years. Either apply to all three and risk looking at a $1200 deficit before I even get in the van or cross my fingers and pick one. The cross my fingers and pick one method has not worked for me so far.

But now all of the three are on ZAPP. ZAPP is a method of applying over the internet and you don’t pay the booth fee until you get accepted. So I spring for three jurying fees and hope for one acceptance. Of course, the downside of ZAPP is that I am not the only one who is going to do that.

Then there’s the show that I already applied for that I didn’t realize is on the same weekend as another show that I did last year and would really like to do again. The last date for canceling the first show and being able to get my money back is exactly one day before the second show will notify me of acceptance or rejection. That’s got to be a double apply.

The idea of double applying really bothers me. But I’ve learned it is a necessary evil. My first year doing shows, I had the choice to apply to a benefit show for a local wildlife rescue or a top 100 show. Because of who I am and what I stand for there was no question that the choice had to be the benefit show. And being so idealistic I didn’t even apply to the other show. They cancelled the benefit show. There I was, all dressed up with nowhere to go.

2007-07-07T22:02:00.000-04:00

On another note, I just got my new flash purchased in preparation for a friend’s wedding. I’ve been playing with it and got a couple nice pictures of Tank, our Bengal cat.

2007-07-07T21:53:00.000-04:00

I came home last night to find this guy on my front lawn. At first I thought it was a gopher turtle but a quick google for images of gopher turtles did not come up with anything looking like this one. Anybody know what kind of turtle it is?

Featured Photograph 6/16/2007

2007-06-16T18:49:00.000-04:00

If some of my photographs are more favorite than others, this is the favorite. It is hanging in my grandson’s room. It was sent as a donation to a silent auction for a co-worker whose son was critically injured in a canoeing accident. It probably will be one of my first editions to sell out. It says serenity and peace to me. And it is of one of my favorite animals, the cat, the panther.

Unfortunately it is not a Florida panther. Florida panthers are very rare and very endangered. It is also, unlike the majority of my photographs, a captive panther.

Her name was Sheaba. She went to live at Grandfather Mountain after she grew too large and too wild to be someone’s pet. She was graceful and she was beautiful and she has now passed on to a better world. I just discovered this while doing some research for this blog and so I don’t think I’ll write anything else today.

http://www.grandfather.com/about/archive/sheaba.php

2007-06-02T16:51:00.000-04:00

The phone rang at 10:30PM. The caller-id number was 999-999-9999. That’s a new one, better answer that. So began my first experience with a reverse 911 call. My husband picked up the phone and then turned on the speaker in time for me to hear – “at this time there is no need for further evacuation but we urge people in the area to prepare for the possibility.” A brush fire has come close.

One thing I’ve found about moving to Florida is that it puts you into real contact with nature. Back when I lived in northern Virginia (basically Washington D.C.) I had the opportunity to visit Kansas. I was talking to a person there about tornados and why exactly one would live in Kansas and he said “I guess every area of the country has its weather issues, what do you have in D.C?” Uhmmm, traffic? Seriously, traffic is really bad in D.C. and every once in a while we would get a snowstorm that would paralyze the city for a few days and cause people with bald tires to think they had 4-wheel drive, but for the most part, weather isn’t really all that noticeable there.

But it is noticeable here. Today, Barry the tropical storm has come to visit. The fires are out.

Featured Photographs - 5/28/2007

2007-05-27T19:22:00.001-04:00

These are two of my favorite photographs. A patron at a show once asked me, "aren't they all you're favorites?" Well, some of them are more favorite than others and these are two of them. If I had to choose I'd say I like "Sun Salute" best because of the bird's raised foot but I love the colors of "Sunrise After the Storm".

As you can probably tell they were taken a few moments apart. It was a couple days after Katrina devastated New Orleans. It was a morning of mixed emotions as I traveled the road to Merritt Island on a long overdue photo trip. The trip was not going well. I had gotten out of bed in the dark in order to catch sunrise but low lying clouds completely obscured it. Now the sky was dreary and any color from the sun was behind the clouds. I was thinking of going back home to my warm bed but grabbing a little piece of hope I reflected that, every time I made the extra effort, whether it was getting up before dawn, traveling unfamiliar roads, carrying heavy equipment. Every time I stepped out of the familiar in search of a photograph, God blessed me with something beautiful.

The day was completely awake and the sun slightly over the clouds when I passed a busy boat ramp with cars and people. And I saw the bird sitting on top of the pole looking out over the water. I thought to myself, “No way, there are too many people and cars, I’ve passed my chance to stop, that bird will be long gone.” But then I thought about what I had reflected on earlier and I had to try. I turned around, found a place for my car, hurriedly gathered my equipment, and walked over to take my shot. For a few short minutes, in the midst of the people and cars and boats, it was just me and the bird and the sun. "Sun Salute" was one of the last taken and you can see the sun is going back behind the clouds again. A minute later and I would have missed both shots. As I finished up and put the lens cap on the camera, the bird flew away.

These are two of the photographs that were gifts from God, the ones that almost got away.

The proceeds from several prints of "Sunrise After the Storm" were donated to New Orleans relief through Peter Cohen of ExplodingEye.com.

"Sun Salute" was included in the Crealde Student Art Exhibit in 2006.

Keep your eyes open for the gifts....

Alison