an imageteller captures image celebrations.
sharing image tales broadens an artistic expression.
doing so, brings this particular creative indescribable joy.
what is your image story? perhaps I can help you tell it!
Collages On Tour At Lenny's Bike Shop
Excited to share that Lenny's Bike Shop in Ferndale, WA has a gallery wall that is now hosting these three collages!! Since my son is into cycling I like that my work is hanging it that environment. My work is currently being curated by an enthusiastic student named Jody - from WWU - it's impossible as an artist to know and process and or have time to submit to all the potential places to hang their art. I am delighted that Jody has taken a particular interest in my work. I am looking forward to working with him.
1. and then she cried
2. parted
3. zippered up
Sacha :: Goldsmith Designer
I snapped a few photo's of Goldsmith Designer Sacha Bliese's studio when we first met.
I then had the wonderful opportunity to see Sacha creating while on Bellingham's April Art Walk.
plus a few captures of the studio:
Sacha and her studio mate and partner/painter Nathan Lough were both in active create mode that evening.
Sacha was really taken by several of my narrative images and purchased them from me to use for her marketing. I like the authentic in action tone of these.
I especially like this shot:
Sacha And Nathan are both part of a small collective of artists/studio's that are in the Studios Above The BAAY
Another artist in the building was the lovely block printer Jesse Larsen.
(Block Print by Jesse Larsen)
Cabbage Rolls
suffice to say that this was one of those first spring evenings where the temperature and the stretch of brightness into the end of the day confuses you, and you start a crazy ambitious task of making in the kitchen at like 7. On this particular evening I made a nettle pesto, a chocolate cream for one, a batch of stove top granola and because i was starving I also made these asian cabbage rolls. I amused myself and took images of all that I made, but the cabbage rolls really photographed well so I thought i'd have today's blog post be about them. I am not trying to make this space become a cooking/recipe space. I just think the photo narrative works in this circumstance.
I could not get enough of my back door being wide open ( flies are not in full force yet ) and laughingly, I took two very similar images of this little blue vase obviously because of the way the light was shining through it. I crack myself up.
And then, to have the entire evening be sent off with a visual kiss from the universe - there was this remarkable sunset. With clouds outlined in golden light. Gorgeous.
I had so many dishes to do - it wasn't even funny.
asian cabbage roll recipe
asian cabbage rolls - these were amazing. preheat oven 400 degrees. rinse 8 cabbage leaves and boil for 3 minutes. transfer to a bowl of ice water, remove then dry. in a skillet heat 1 T of oil, 1 teas of garlic and ginger - fresh grated ginger, add 1 shredded carrot and 1 shredded zucchini - add 4 fried eggs ( i did those separately ) add 1/4 cup green onion. lay out cabbage leaf add veggie/egg mixture and roll - brush with oil - bake for 25 minutes. top with soy sauce, toasted sesame seeds and more green onion. note: i steamed mine vs baking.
Paired Image Collage Technique
i have been collaging for a long time. recent years collage has taken on a larger role in my day to day. as well as a growing role in a local art community. this expansion of my collage work means everything to me. if you are someone who collages you can relate to the compulsion to tear apart publications in public places. i can't help it, i see something and want to add it to my collection of potential for collage.
after you've been collaging for some time you begin to have a knowing, an already oh "this" that has you build a confident collage upon. pairing images is a great technique for this knowing. when i saw these two images from two very separate sources i had to collage them together. something about the colors, the textures, the mood, the moment. all just made sense. perhaps you can see why? while pairing might seem like a very simple way to collage, it's not as easy as it appears. it's very much like a puzzle and making sure the piece fits just right. when the pieces fit it's ready to glue.
the quilt like piece was sourced from an art in america magazine - the construction and mixed media expression is by artist Joan Giordano
the photograph was sourced from a conde nast traveler magazine - it was taken in Burma by photographer Richard Renaldi
Our Creative Freedom To Observe
A photography contest prompted our creative work and how it relates to our freedom. What drives international and contemporary photographic practices, they asked. Further in prompting they said - what is our language as photographers, our visual language. What are we saying? How does what we say elevate the social conscious? In 1941 President Roosevelt outlined our four basic freedoms: freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom from want, freedom from fear. These three questions they wrote struck me the most: What is freedom? Are we more free by isolating ourselves from unknown others or are we more free by being able to exercise and enjoy our basic human rights? How do we respond to and counter those ideas with alternative perspectives?
While I don't relate to these questions on a political level. They provoked me on an artistic level. Specifically on the topic of privacy. I don't like having my picture taken. I never have. With the advent of cell phones - random capturing occurs everywhere you go. I feel like people should ask me my permission. May I take your picture? Yet, I admit that probably some of the very best shots of me are when I had no idea that someone was photographing me. I actually like this. Someone saw something in me to casually pause that moment in a photograph. How great is that! This however can be a very fine line. I won't go into the legal aspects of this topic, because i am not an expert on it, and the conversation has too many opinion nuances to it. I will say this, over the years as I've developed myself as a photographer I have become very good at honoring privacy. Almost to the point of paranoia. When some asks where everyone's heads are ....that might be a little too private, yet, as a style of capturing, I sometimes prefer it. Over time, my photography work has taken on a narrative role. I believe you can say a lot about a person without revealing their full identity. I admire the street photography genre - I'd say that most of it is probably not taken with signed consent. It doesn't need to be. It just needs to be mindful. Especially in a public space. If you are a person looking out a window in a public place - that's fair game. If you are a crumpled heap asleep on a sidewalk, that's a very public place. I think in the spirit of observing, that when I see something that makes me want to pull out my camera, that moment is altered completely if have to ask that subjects permission. I also think as a creative my freedom to express myself is also in that moment. It's like painting something pink that should be blue ...you do it that way because you can. I have had more than a few people say that zooming in on a crowd is voyeuristic ...i'd say that if that practice was exploiting or violating perhaps so, but if you look at some of the gritty, in your face photography. that stuff is real and in the moment and there is no fine line. that photographer is observing it with every click of the shutter.
I didn't submit to this particular contest because the fee was prohibitive for me. I did however think on it. quite a bit. I also gathered a few photographs that I feel example how I respect a persons privacy and engage in my right to express myself creatively. To narrate and speak as I see things. I do love the idea of provocative topics and projects in photography. I admire the tenacity and risk, and projects are often very inspiring to me
Photography = a never ending opportunity to capture visual celebrations.
