studio work

And so the saga of producing pieces for the 20/20 Show in May begins...

sunny day

Feb 27, 11
Kaseberg Creek near Bear Dog Park
afternoon - warm in sun, clear, no breeze
out with Deidre, Garret & the dogs

(Type 55 film, over exposed looking positive means a properly exposed negative)

Took alot of coaxing to get Moey to cross the little plank bridge across the creek - silly pup.

yosemite creatures

new series debut

I am slowly breaking down the creative barriers - deadlines are good for that, actually, and today I am meeting a deadline. I will be submitting the piece above for the upcoming 20/20 Show in May at the Kennedy Gallery Art Center. The main gist of the show is that a whole bunch of artists create a series of small works and show twenty of them on 20th Street at the gallery. The show started at the Twentieth Street Gallery a few years ago as the 50/50 Show, with each artist creating fifty works in fifty days, no small feat. Now that Twentieth Street Gallery is closed, the show's founder, Joannie Ferry, is overseeing it's transition to the Kennedy Gallery. And though I am a resident artist at Kennedy, and I will most certainly get into the juried show, I still have to submit my sample and theme and paperwork just like anyone else.

Of course I didn't just create one piece - even when I submitted to the 50/50 a couple years back, I created a couple samples, chose the one I liked best for submission and kept the others to help me remember what I'd done. The gallery holds onto the sample and I do best with a reference piece to keep me on track. So this second piece is my reference. It will also be part of a demo I'm doing in Placerville this coming Sunday - another deadline I need to prepare for. What would I do without deadlines?

playing in the backyard

Feb 6, 2011
afternoon
backyard
warmish, a little breezy
clear skies
shade already fully envelopes the yard

Finally testing the PX100 Silver Shade film with my SX70 camera. After carefully reading all the tips & tricks for working with this funky little film, I seem to have done alright for the first shot - the low light of the shade slows the camera's shutter too much but it's produced a double image that is actually a little charming.

I took a tip I'd found earlier for protecting the film from light as it first ejects from the camera by taping the dark slide to the camera, and then I develop by turning the film face down on my journal & keep it warm enough by placing my hand on top - having cold hands means the film stays in the right temp range (63-74*). Next shot of pistache tree branches looks nice.

I just read about the possibilities of emulsion lifts with this film, so I'll take a few more like this to try that with at a later date.

I take another photo of succulents in a little better light, leaving Moey on the other side of the pool fence. He gets down into a play position and barks at me.

I'm discovering that keeping my hand in one position the whole development time creates dark spots from the heat. This time I try to keep it warm but not too warm - a bit of a trick. It's funny to see the images go from a deep cobalt to the final sepia tones. I'll scan all these today & try to store them vertically, as that is one suggested way to prevent fading. Scans will be my insurance policy to preserve the images & test my success.

It's good to get in the journal and get into a purely experimental creative exercise - I've been a little stuck creatively & in the studio, I think I need the discipline of the journal to help get me back on track.

I got a pretty neat shot of the dogs - the light is starting to fade a bit & mosquitoes are quickly becoming a pest. The warmer weather means I need to restock the tub pond after the last raccoon raid in the fall - nothing like fish to take care of mosquito larvae.

Moey sits pretty still but not quite enough in this light - why I thought it would be better with Sparky, I don't know.

Suddenly I've taken eight shots & this pack of Silver Shade film is gone. Next pack will be for a sunnier time...