GOYA Friday - Holga in Silver Spring

For this week's GOYA, I took my Holga to Silver Spring, Maryland when I went to Alchemy to show some of my artwork to Brenda, the owner. The snow was thawing and water was running all over the streets. I thought the way the sun glistened on the trails of water was really cool, and am glad the photos came out how I was hoping they would.

Today I actually just dropped off about 11 pieces of artwork there, including the mixed media pieces I posted earlier and about 7 photos, some of which are from this very Holga project. The Chinatown photo that is currently my blog header is there! And while I was there, I bought a pair of earrings to make up for my favorite pair that I lost on Valentine's day. Hopefully I won't lose these... they came from Bolivia. Very cool...

Album Influx

This week must be album week. I've gotten in two new albums that I plan to use as studio samples, and I must say they're awesome!

The first is a 10x15 Zookbook, which is a panoramic digital flush album. The cover is a suede-like material in plum, which is quite striking paired with the tiny black and white image cameo:



The pages lay flat when opened, so you can have a page spread that is continuous, which works well with multiple photos or a single large photo:




Images in this album are from Beth & Andrew's November wedding. Their reception was at Ceresville Mansion in Frederick, which I have photographed a few times and just love!

The second album is a 7x7 Asuka Stitch Bound album. I use these for my children's portraits, and just love them because they look like a child's book! A few photos are below:






The adorable children in the album above are Malik, Trinity and Aliyah.

Mixed Media

These are my latest mixed media pieces that I plan to take to Alchemy some time this week. They are 4x4 inches on canvas, so pretty small compared to my past works that were almost 3 feet long! I also worked mainly with paper bases in the past, which I still plan to do, but so far I am really liking working with canvas on a small scale. It's good to mix it up a bit, I always say! They don't necessarily need to hang together, but could look pretty cool in a line or grid if one was so inclined to hang them that way.

I have lots of plans for the future of this type of work, and possibly a crossover of mixed media into my wedding photography work (or would it be the other way around?). All I know is that I plan to have fun with this!

GOYA Friday - Snowstorm

More from my Holga project, this time taken during the snowstorm this past weekend. I took the camera along while we walked Maurice, who has a love / hate relationship with snow. He likes to play in it, but hates walking in the snow because it forms huge ice clumps on his legs... See below:



These photos have a very different feel to those I have been taking with the Holga as of late. Prior to this, it's been mostly urban scenes, but these, while taken in the DC metro area, are very rural looking. Anyway, this is how I spent my snow day!

Alchemy!

For those of you who live in the DC metro area, you now have an even better reason to check out Alchemy... because I am now showing work there! The mixed media piece above is there now, with more to follow. Andy will have his artwork there too within a week or two, and they were just raving over his prints, as I knew they would. Andy always outshines me. One Halloween, I had this awesome silver costume, and Andy walked around in a cardboard box and he got all the attention. Oh well... such is life.

But seriously, Alchemy is a fair trade art shop with work and goods made or supplied by local artists, and there are so many amazing pieces there that I fear if I sell anything, I will just turn right around and spend all my earnings in that store!

My Boys

I figured I shouldn't go too long without posting a photo of my husband, Andy, and Maurice, who is otherwise known as the Sasquatch. The reason I thought to post this was because someone found this blog by searching the phrase, "photos of a sasquatch that I can print out." I don't want to let my public down, and so I found this photo of the two of them together. This photo shows Maurice's summer cut, so he doesn't look particularly Sasquatch-like here. But he's in full shag mode right now, and I have taken some pretty good photos of him lately that I just need to go through!

We adopted Maurice almost exactly 3 years ago from a rescue group. I have also volunteered with dog rescue, and every dog that I have ever owned and will ever own will be from a rescue or shelter. Maurice's former owners didn't take very good care of him, keeping him chained outside constantly. When they decided they didn't want him anymore, they just stopped feeding him and turned him loose. Luckily he was found by the good people at Partnership for Animal Welfare, which is how we came to own him. His long fur was matted beyond help, he was emaciated and had kennel cough, didn't know how to walk on a leash and didn't know what toys were. You wouldn't know any of that now. He's a spoiled, cocky, confident beast of a dog, and is very well loved!

How To Be Creative

I found this inspiring entry on another website, and while it is meant for artists, the basic spirit can really be applied acorss the board. Check it out:
How To Be Creative

There's a lot to take in here, but I think my favorite is this one:
10. The more talented somebody is, the less they need the props.

My father would say this all the time. Still does, in fact. I've had people tell me I should brag a bit more about whatever my latest accomplishment is, but the more time I spend "bragging," the less time I spend "doing." I'd rather be "doing." That's just my way. I believe my work should speak for itself, and if it doesn't, then I have to revisit what I'm doing and find a way to make it better.

That's why I like GOYA Fridays, a brainchild of photographer Zack Arias. We go out and make personal photos at least once a week just because we can. If you are a photographer, I highly encourage you to join us every week!

What should I do with this day? I think I'm going to take some photos : )

GOYA Friday - More Holga Work

More from my ongoing Holga project. These were taken during a trip down to Rockville last Sunday.

Lots of people ask me how I get the images that I do. The Holga camera is a plastic toy-like camera, and can sometimes be a bit unpredictable. Rather than winding the film all the way to the next frame, I only wind it partway and let the images overlap in the camera. I look for scenes or objects that I think might look cool superimposed together and go for it! I develop and print the photos myself, although I haven't decided on a final size(s) as of yet. Right now, I print the contact sheets to choose my photos, and from there I will decide if I want to go larger with them.

So stay tuned... maybe someday soon I'll make a decision and have a show and all that!

Beauty in Everything

When I was in grad school, I had to take a history of contemporary art class, and we had to write a paper and give a presentation for our major project. Well, my paper and presentation consisted of my trying to justify graffiti as a form of fine art. The teacher loved it... said it was an interesting read. While I don't particularly like ALL graffiti, I think some of it is very interesting, and in many cases actually makes some surfaces more compelling to look at than if it was never there at all. Sometimes the scrawlings make a statement, political or social, sometimes they're just pretty. The ones I am most drawn to are the ones where I wonder about the state of mind of the person who made them, and what their motivations might have been. Where one person sees a blank wall with cracking, chipped paint, someone else sees a face. That, to me, is fascinating.

GOYA Friday - Holga Project

For this week's GOYA Friday photo, I decided to go out with my Holga camera and take some photos on the way to and from a gallery inquiry. This Holga project is an ongoing one for me, and my photos detail different areas of the DC metro area. A few of the first photos from the series can be seen in the gallery section of my website, but I'm always adding to the collection.

I didn't actually take these photos today, since I have to take the photo with film, develop it, print it and then scan that print so that I can share it with all of you! The process was completed over the course of this week. I scanned the prints today though :)

Family Reunion

Ok, so the reunion happened in July. But between the start of classes (I teach a class of Photography and this year a class of Art), wedding season, the holidays and my trip to India, I am just now getting around to editing some of the personal photos I took over a half a year ago! I hope my family can find it in their hearts to forgive me :)

Just to give an overview, I don't know half the people at our family reunion. My grandfather had 16 brothers and sisters, and there are hundreds of relatives that come to these gatherings. This past one was on the small side (maybe only 100 or so), and a lot of those in attendance are small children. But it's really nice to be able to attend these events, and have a connection to my heritage. My second cousin Holly is a saint to have these reunions at her house!

And being a photographer, I think it's incredibly important to have that visual record, because I can tell you that those kids grow up so fast that I don't recognize a lot of them from year to year. And unfortunately, there are always a few family members who are sadly missed. One 16 year old cousin was killed in a car wreck just before the last reunion, and it was a very sad thing. So treasure your family, and take lots of photos!