New Photographs Up - Comments Please

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.