A day off

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.