With the Book Series winding down (only four left to create) I have been spending more time with the marketing and promotional aspects of this body of work. I have to say that I absolutely hate this part of it. Nothing drains me emotionally more than the administrative tasks of sending out query letters to galleries, filling out applications for Juried Shows, etc. Not to mention you begin to feel a bit like you are prostituting yourself with all this self promotion but it is a necessary part of the journey and development of an artist. It all becomes a bit more tolerable when you get an email like I received today saying I was selected as a Showcase Winner for an on-line Juried competition.
Jurors:
Our September 2009 panel includes:
Fons Welters, Director and Owner of Galerie Fons Welters, Amsterdam
Lee Campbell, Independent Artist/Curator, London
Lynn del Sol, Director, {CTS} Creative Thriftshop, New York City
Natasha Egan, Associate Director & Curator, Museum of Contemporary Photography at Columbia College Chicago
Maud Piquion, Director, Maud Piquion Gallery, Berlin
http://www.artslant.com/global/artists/showcase?sublist=6^photography
It helps having the wonderful support I've received from friends and family as a motivating force through this journey. Thank You All!
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Mass Nothingness
An excerpt from William Faulkner's The Sound and the Fury completes Chapter 16 of the Book Passages series. This passage provided my biggest challenge yet in this photographic series. Heavy on character development this excerpt was very difficult to interpret without getting a better idea of the background of each character mentioned in the passage as well as an overall summary of Faulkner's complex intent of the novel. So for the third time in this visual journey I had to get some brief information on this book so that I could proceed with the interpretation. Below is my interpretation of the submitted book excerpt. Your feedback is always appreciated.
William Faulkner's The Sound and the Fury:
"I could smell the curves of the river beyond the dusk and I saw the last light supine and tranquil upon tide flats like pieces of broken mirror, then beyond them lights began in the pale clear air, trembling a little like butterflies hovering a long way off. Benjamin the child of. How he used to sit before that mirror. Refuge unfailing in which conflict tempered silenced reconciled. Benjamin the child of mine old age held hostage into Egypt. O Benjamin. Dilsey said it was because Mother was too proud for him. They come into white people's lives like that in sudden sharp black trickles that isolate white facts for an instant in unarguable truth like under a microscope: the rest of the time just voices that laugh when you see nothing to laugh at, tears when no reason for tears."
William Faulkner's The Sound and the Fury:
"I could smell the curves of the river beyond the dusk and I saw the last light supine and tranquil upon tide flats like pieces of broken mirror, then beyond them lights began in the pale clear air, trembling a little like butterflies hovering a long way off. Benjamin the child of. How he used to sit before that mirror. Refuge unfailing in which conflict tempered silenced reconciled. Benjamin the child of mine old age held hostage into Egypt. O Benjamin. Dilsey said it was because Mother was too proud for him. They come into white people's lives like that in sudden sharp black trickles that isolate white facts for an instant in unarguable truth like under a microscope: the rest of the time just voices that laugh when you see nothing to laugh at, tears when no reason for tears."
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
A Jerry Belland Original
How exciting last Sunday to have the small Art Group I participate in meet at one of our members studio. Jerry Belland has an amazing creative space on the fourth floor of an old factory building in Racine. In this space are his tools, paints, easels, couch, chairs and many, Many of his paintings and sketches. What a visual feast it was. Jerry creates some mind bending paintings that challenge our relationship with self, religion, society and morality. It was an amazing late afternoon of creative discussion. I new when I walked in that I would have to leave with a Jerry Belland Original. As an artist and a parent putting soon to be two kids through college I don't have the funds to purchase art at this time. I hope the day comes in the near future when my desire for a piece of art and my means to obtain it are equal.
So, I filed through Jerry's bin of sketches knowing that the work on the walls was out of the question given my current economy. I selected a sketch that matched a beatiful painting on the wall of Jerry's studio. When asked if I could send him a check for the sketch Jerry graciously replied, "We will work out a trade". How cool is that! So now I have a Jerry Belland original.
It is so perfect too given my long established ba humbug holiday attitude and given my personal opinions on religion. Gotta love the Pin-up!! Thanks Jerry for hosting a great evening, generously sharing your art and I can't wait to see what image of mine sparks your creative excitement.
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Oil Painting
Wow! Welcome to chapter 15 of my Book Passages series. I can't believe that I've been traveling this visual road now since February. It has definitely been one of the best road trips I've ever taken to date. The excitement and enthusiasm of discovery is still there but I must admit to some road fatigue. Five more chapters left after this one. Hope you have enjoyed being a passenger on this visual journey as much as I've enjoyed being your tour guide. Enjoy the ride as we begin the last leg of our journey together. Please keep the dialog coming, it's like buying the audio tour at a Museum exhibition and I really appreciate it. Thanks!
Chapter 15 is a passage from the book, Shop Class as Soulcraft by Matthew B. Crawford.
"How far we have come from the hand oiling of early motorcycles is indicated by the fact that some of the current Mercedes models do not even have a dipstick... There are now layers of collectivized, absentee interest in your motor's oil level, and no single person is responsible for it. If we understand this under the rubric of "globalization," we see that the tentacles of that wondrous animal reach down into things that were once unambiguously our own: the amount of oil in a man's crankcase."
Chapter 15 is a passage from the book, Shop Class as Soulcraft by Matthew B. Crawford.
"How far we have come from the hand oiling of early motorcycles is indicated by the fact that some of the current Mercedes models do not even have a dipstick... There are now layers of collectivized, absentee interest in your motor's oil level, and no single person is responsible for it. If we understand this under the rubric of "globalization," we see that the tentacles of that wondrous animal reach down into things that were once unambiguously our own: the amount of oil in a man's crankcase."
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Perfection-less
Chapter 14 of my Book Passages series strikes a very deep chord with me and my feelings about beauty, society, perceptions of self both internal and external. The pressures society has put upon us to look a certain way and create this false sense of what is "normal" or expected can make us feel very small and insecure in our own skin. Having photographed all types and shapes of people in my many years as a professional photographer one very significant thread has stood out. It doesn't matter if one is thin, large, tall, short, big nose or small nose; most everyone has insecurities about their outer shell. The most beautiful portraits come from those that have the confidence of their own self.
My visual interpretations for this passage come from Kit Reed's novel, Thinner Than Thou.
When you're alone in your mind you may think you're special, but you're only ever another dumb person driving around inside that stupid body. It's no better than a car dealer's loaner, you know? Forget what the Reverend Earl preaches. The body you are using is no temple, it's a trap for the contents of your head. You want to think about who you are and what to do about it but instead you obsess over the parts that people see. Keep it clean and keep it polished or they'll come for you. Perfect hair, you need. Perfect outfits. Perfect abs and pecs! Image is everything. You grow up with this and in case you don't happen to know, they teach it in all your classes.
My visual interpretations for this passage come from Kit Reed's novel, Thinner Than Thou.
When you're alone in your mind you may think you're special, but you're only ever another dumb person driving around inside that stupid body. It's no better than a car dealer's loaner, you know? Forget what the Reverend Earl preaches. The body you are using is no temple, it's a trap for the contents of your head. You want to think about who you are and what to do about it but instead you obsess over the parts that people see. Keep it clean and keep it polished or they'll come for you. Perfect hair, you need. Perfect outfits. Perfect abs and pecs! Image is everything. You grow up with this and in case you don't happen to know, they teach it in all your classes.
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
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.
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.
Sunday, August 2, 2009
Backyard Soul-O
What I find most interesting and challenging about these book passages is not knowing the context of the passage in relation to the larger scope of the book. So when I would read and re-read the passage from Dreams of Leaving by author Rupert Thomson I was challenged by the details of the passage. Unlike other passages that I have worked on, this passage seemed much more literal with characters and place, making my own personal interpretation a bigger challenge. My solution to a passage that has many descriptive details about a very specific act, the saxophone solo, led me to pick out some key words that I was drawn to. The title, Dreams of Leaving, the words "abandoned mansion, saxophone and solo" around the larger significance of music is what I used to build my visual interpretation.
I grounded the visual interpretation's sense of place with the abandoned mansion. It dominates this passage so much that not including it, I felt, would leave the viewer too disconnected from the passage. The rest of the interpretation deals with the physical and emotional sensitivity that can be experienced through the power of music.
Here is the book passage that inspired my visual interpretation Backyard Soul-O.
"Gloria was introducing the band. If he didn't listen to the saxophone this time, she'd murder him. He only had to wait until halfway through the next song, then Malone unleashed a sixty-second solo, and played with such raw soaring power, assembled such an intricate structure of notes, that listening to him was like being led through some extraordinary abandoned mansion. It was as if Malone somehow knew of Moses's anxiety and was building a house specially for him, a different kind of house, a house where policemen would never appear at the door. The saxophone scaled the facade, dropped into an upstairs room, tiptoed across the landing, opened a door with rusty hinges, tripped, stumbled to the edge of a parapet, peered over, stepped sharply back, ran down flight after flight of stairs, through ballrooms peopled by the ghosts of dancers, through echoing cloisters and claustrophobic passageways, past windows with vistas and hushed rooms no longer used, tore through curtained doorways and out, finally, into the open air, paused to breathe the air, ran on through gardens with peacocks and fountains, along spacious landscaped avenues, past sudden explosions of plants from South America, and back down a sweeping gravel drive to the road where Gloria was waiting with the rest of the song."
I grounded the visual interpretation's sense of place with the abandoned mansion. It dominates this passage so much that not including it, I felt, would leave the viewer too disconnected from the passage. The rest of the interpretation deals with the physical and emotional sensitivity that can be experienced through the power of music.
Here is the book passage that inspired my visual interpretation Backyard Soul-O.
"Gloria was introducing the band. If he didn't listen to the saxophone this time, she'd murder him. He only had to wait until halfway through the next song, then Malone unleashed a sixty-second solo, and played with such raw soaring power, assembled such an intricate structure of notes, that listening to him was like being led through some extraordinary abandoned mansion. It was as if Malone somehow knew of Moses's anxiety and was building a house specially for him, a different kind of house, a house where policemen would never appear at the door. The saxophone scaled the facade, dropped into an upstairs room, tiptoed across the landing, opened a door with rusty hinges, tripped, stumbled to the edge of a parapet, peered over, stepped sharply back, ran down flight after flight of stairs, through ballrooms peopled by the ghosts of dancers, through echoing cloisters and claustrophobic passageways, past windows with vistas and hushed rooms no longer used, tore through curtained doorways and out, finally, into the open air, paused to breathe the air, ran on through gardens with peacocks and fountains, along spacious landscaped avenues, past sudden explosions of plants from South America, and back down a sweeping gravel drive to the road where Gloria was waiting with the rest of the song."
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