Four Outstanding Milwaukee Artists on the Internet

A big thank you to Mary over at CricketToes for including me in her "four outstanding artists on the internet". Check it out. CricketToes is a refreshing voice in Milwaukee for all things creative.

Check it out:
CricketToes

Jevgeniia at 8 months

Madonna and Child

WhiteOwl Will

Cigar Girl

All the worlds a stage

All the world is a stage and this is the fourth image in a series entitled, "Beauty and the Performance". The terrific painting you see in the photograph is by artist William Schulman.

The Bride

The Evolution of an Idea

I normally post portrait related idea's and themes on this blog but my new fine art series that I'm in the infant stages of loosely ties in with portraiture. You can read more at my fine art website blog.

Another fun shoot at the ZU!

CHUBZ ripped up the studio!

High School graduation brings new beginnings and charished memories

I haven't written a poem in a very long time. When my kids were younger I traveled an average of 7 days a month. This poem which is in honor of my daughter graduating from high school was written about eleven years ago. It's based on conversations I've had with my daughter, McKenzie, usually during breakfast or in the car. I wrote this poem with tears in my eyes from Rye, New York. I was there doing a photo shoot. That evening in my hotel room I called home, like I did every night I was on the road, to talk to the family. When Kenzie got on the phone she was so excited to tell me about a boy in her, class that she liked, and was able to sit next to on the bus that day. I was happy and excited for her and her special day but sad knowing how much better this story would have been if she was sharing it while we had dinner that evening. Seeing the sparkle in her eyes and the tone of her voice sharing it for all to hear. With the conversation over I took a walk around the hotel grounds, went back to my room and poured out this poem for my daughter.

DADDY, DO YOU CRY?

It was a weekday morning, music in the air

Son was in the bathroom, combing his hair

My head was in the paper, while eating cornflakes

Daughter sat beside me, picking her breakfast, while staring into space

Daddy, she says in her soft quiet voice

Daddy, she says as she looks up from her bowl

Daddy, do you ever cry?

Daddy, why don’t you cry?

Sweet child of mine with the curious mind

Try to understand, understand if you can

Sorrow is a feeling that you don’t usually see

I keep it hidden, deep within me

Happiness is present and seen most every day

But even my most joyful thoughts

Are rarely on display

Do I cry? Dear, yes I do

I cry the most, when I’m thinking of you

My first tear falls before you wake

Sunlight dancing, across your sweet face

I ask the golden glow that caresses your cheek

Become your suit of armor, as you sleep

With each new day I see you grow

Joy and sorrow the moisture hold

Each day I wake you from your sleep

Another tear for you I weep

Sorrow and Joy are not far apart

For tears don’t know the difference

When they fall or why they start

The heart knows the reason for each tear upon my cheek

I cherish the knowledge for which my heart speaks

You share with me excitement

About a boy in your class

A special friend, that makes your heart, beat “pitter-pat”

He sat beside you on the bus one spring day

A moment of your life, and mine I pray

I see you standing so proud upon the stage

Eyes scan the audience, you find strength to play

You firmly tuck your violin beneath your chin

Managing to smile, your fingers begin

Small fingers dance magic upon the strings

Bow massages the strings, the violin sings

The tears well up in my eyes each day

As I relive the moments from each passing day

You hold a special place in my heart

And that is where all the tears start

So when you asked me such a curious question

Daddy, do you cry?

My answer is now here on display

If you do not see a tear fall from my face

Rest assured, the right time, the right place

Your daddy does cry

Many tears fill your space.

Before and After

Tastefully sexy for that special someone in your life. From the photo shoot through post production you are the star. Book your appointment commission now.

BacktotheZu Studios, excellence in creative portraiture

I recently updated my BacktotheZu Studios website. Since starting a website specific to my fine art photography, (william zuback fine art photographs), I have revamped my BacktotheZu Studios website to concentrate only on portraiture. I except commissioned portraits for personal as well as editorial needs. Check out the updates portraits site and the next time you desire a quality portrait contact me.

New Blog and Website

Thanks for being such a loyal follower of my blog, especially during the last year when I was producing my Book Passages body of photographs. Many of my blog posts will be moving to a new Website Blog that I've recently got up and running. This new website is just for my fine art photography. It includes many of my past fine art series/projects.

So last night I posted on my new blog. It's a gamble to switch at this time since I've built up a nice following of interested Blogger's but I want to separate my fine art idea's from my portrait/commercial business. This blog and my soon to be revamped BacktotheZu Studios website will be my vehicle for my portrait business. I'll still post BacktotheZunews but it will be focused on the business and portraits in general. Please become a loyal follower of my new blog if you enjoy my occasional image posts, reflections and rants. Here is the new information. Please take the time to check it out, bookmark it and come back often. Thanks.

William Zuback Fine Art Website
Fine Art Blog
Email: wmzuback@williamzuback.com

Book Passages Exhibit opening reception

Here is a ten minute video highlighting some of the readings from the opening reception of Book Passages: A Visual Journey. Thanks again to all those who attended and made this the largest opening reception to date for the Tenth Street Gallery.

Lake Effect interview with Bonnie North

Yesterday I was fortunate to have the opportunity to interview with Bonnie North, Producer of the Lake Effect Program on WUWM-HD 89.7 Milwaukee Public Radio. I arrived right at 9am for my 9 o'clock appointment. I thought I would arrive ten minutes early but the traffic was worse than I thought it would be so close to 9am in the morning. It could have been compounded by the light snow that had been falling most of the morning.

What a professional and kind person Bonnie is. I was extremely nervous not knowing what we would cover in our conversation and not being a big fan of public speaking anyway, she quickly put me at ease. She reminded me that it's nothing more than a conversation among two people and that since it wasn't live we could stop and start at anytime and she could edit in post production.

Lake Effect is a wonderful radio program that consistently covers a wide range of interesting topics from politics to art every weekday from 10am - 11am and reruns at 11pm - 12am. Tune in next week Thursday February 11 when my twelve minute segment with Bonnie airs on Lake Effect. If you are not near a radio but are at your computer you can hear it stream live. Just click on the button on the WUWM 89.7 website. If you are busy working at that time and can't listen (like myself) you can tune in later that evening or wait till it is put into their archives of past shows.

Thanks Bonnie for your interest in my Book Passages series and what turned out to be a fun and memorable half hour.

Slice of Heaven

Welcome to Chapter 13 of my Book Passages Series. For anyone new to my blog and wondering what this "Book Passages Series" is all about? Please visit my first blog post introducing this idea to readers of my blog. Once you reach the bottom of that first post in February you can click on the newer post link to scroll one by one to the most current blog entry. All the posts do not pertain to the Book Passages series but you will be able to easily recognize which belong to the series. Some good news since my last Book Passages post and that is I received confirmation that the Steenbock gallery in Madison, WI. will be exhibiting this series beginning December 4, 2010 and run through January 15, 2011.

This visual interpretation is presented a bit different than the other twelve chapters. My friend Tom, from college, asked if I would except an audio file excerpt from (wish I could tell you, I've been told to remove it from my blog)? I think it's an interesting request and it really isn't that different than a book passage so I was like, sure. So here is my visual interpretation from a monologue titled (can't believe a creative person would be so petty to request I remove this association from my blog). As always I appreciate honest criticism of the interpretation. It really becomes a forum for us all to discuss, debate and learn so please consider leaving some insight for us all to contemplate. To leave a comment click on the comment link at the bottom of the post. Type in your conversation, highlight one of the choices such as anonymous, enter the encrypted word in the box and click OK. Enjoy! Tough to enjoy this interpretation since I had to remove all references to what the source material was that I interpreted. Bah.

Postcards from Hell

The Wood Brothers are one of my favorite bands. They have a wonderful organic sound and very creative lyrics. One song that I can't get enough of is called Postcards from Hell. I have been thinking of another way to give back to the wonderful people that have enjoyed following along with my Book Passages visual journey and here is my solution. Postcards from hell, OK - maybe not hell but possibly purgatory. You know that place, neither here nor there but somewhere in-between that doesn't make a whole lot of sense. Well that is just what my postcards will be.

This is not a new idea in fact part of my inspiration comes from my friend Frieda's hub in which she explains how to create personal postcards for yourself, family and friends (http://hubpages.com/hub/Picture-Perfect-Postcards). The other part comes from this cool Wood Brothers song, i got a soul that i won't sell, i got a soul that i won't sell, i got a soul that i won't sell and i don't read postcards from hell.

Depending on the response I may have to limit the postcards to a manageable amount for both time and money. These postcards will have one of my Book Passage images and a little note that may not make a whole lot of sense if you know what I mean. So how do you get your very own postcards from hell? You need to send me your mailing address by emailing it to limit2hours@yahoo.com. Please be patient and I will create my list on a first come first serve basis so get your address to me early and if the list gets too long and you don't get your very own postcard from hell, well then you can just tell me to GTH.

What the?

Wow! This becomes the fun part of not knowing or researching the book before creating the visual interpretation from the excerpt provided. When I read the passage I certainly began to go on my own visual journey based on the words. The end of my visual journey is what you see below. After looking on-line to find some information and links to the author and to the book I am surprised to find what the book is about. That is the true joy of doing this project. ENJOY!

Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer:
He said, "We exist because we exist." "What the?" "We could imagine all sorts of universes unlike this one, but this is the one that happened."
I understand what he meant, and I didn't disagree with him, but I didn't agree with him either. Just because you're an atheist, that doesn't mean you wouldn't love for things to have reasons for why they are.

Come In? Come In!

If you are following the progress of this Book Passages series, this is chapter eleven. Welcome to the visual interpretation of Shel Silverstein's "Where the Sidewalk Ends".

Here is the passage:

If you are a dreamer, come in.
If you are a dreamer, a wisher, a liar,
A hope-er, a pray-er, a magic bean buyer...
If you're a pretender, come sit by my fire
For we have some flax-golden tales to spin.
Come in!
Come in!

Evolutionary Teething