Last Holga Photos of 2007

It's hard to believe this year is almost over. With the end of the year comes my last Holga images of the year. These are them. Enjoy, and if I don't make another post before the end of the year, well, have a wonderful rest of 2007, and a Happy New Year, and I'll be seeing you in 2008!

Christmas Tree

From a distance, our Christmas tree probably looks like most others that one might find this time of year, aside from the big fuzzy gorilla sasquatch lying at the foot of it. But if you look up close, you will see that this tree is filled with photos. It's only fitting for a photographer to put photos everywhere, I suppose. Every year, I get a photo ornament or two from family and friends, and I in turn fill those ornaments with photos of the people (and pets) that are dear to us. Since we live pretty far away from most of our family, it's nice to have a reminder of them. Unpacking the ornaments is definitely my favorite part of the season, and I figured I'd show everyone a few of those that I've collected over the years.

Not all of my ornaments are frames though. The colorful moons and stars came from our trip to India during Christmas of 2005, and there's a photo ornament of Andy and me wearing our Indian garb from that same trip. And I have to give a huge shout out to my great friend Devlan for the zombie ornament I got in the mail yesterday. Oh, how my friends know what I like! But *most* of my ornaments are indeed photos.

















Even the family pets get ornaments on my tree! You can see below one ornament that my mother got for me this year while we were shopping after Thanksgiving. I need to find a photo to put in that one and several others that are relatively new.



Whatever you're celebrating this season, make it wonderful, and keep your loved ones close in body and spirit!

Mummy

It's Halloween in December! At least that's what happens when you wait over a month to develop your film. I have three more rolls from Thanksgiving and beyond that I plan to develop and print over the holidays. Better late than never, I guess.
;-)

Holiday Juried Exhibition
“Art on the Small Side”
Mixed Media Art & Fine Crafts

Guess who won first place in this show? I did! Uh-Huh!
:-)

The show runs from December 12, 2007 – January 5, 2008. If you want to meet me, come to the opening reception. I'm fighting a chest cold, but if I don't get any worse, I plan to be there! Two of my Holga images will be included in this great exhibit of work (I cruised around the gallery today and saw a lot of it... I'm in very good company).

Opening Reception:
Friday, December 14, 2007
6 - 8:30 pm

In keeping with its tradition of showing affordable art during the month of December, Touchstone Gallery offers a juried show of mixed media art and fine crafts sized at 18 inches and under by artists from the metropolitan area.

Gallery Info:

Touchstone Gallery
406 7th Street, NW, 2nd floor
Washington, DC 20004
202-347-2787

Gallery hours:
Wednesday - Friday 11-5
Saturday - Sunday 12-5 and by appointment
http://TouchstoneGallery.com

Share: The New Hair

Just after Thanksgiving, I decided that I had enough of my long hair and chopped it all off. I look kinda like this now:

Ullman sacked by City Paper

Anyone who has been reading my blog for the last year has probably seen my posts about how excited I was to find out that fellow Kent State U fellow Rob Ullman was an illustrator for the Washington City Paper. Well, it turns out that a change in management determined that Rob's illustrations are no longer needed in the paper. After 7 years of illustrating for the paper, he was recently let go and is no longer employed there.

That really sucks because Rob is incredibly talented, and I plan to write a letter to protest this decision. They're throwing away a huge talent here. The new management obviously doesn't think readers need great illustrations to go with their articles and columns. Either that, or all decisions coming from their corporate headquarters are being made by trained monkeys. Although last time I checked, even monkeys seem to like illustrations.

Read more about the situation at Rob's blog. And send your letters of protest HERE. Be polite in your letter so that they will take you seriously.

Rob, many of us wish you well and hope things turn out for the best.

Thanksgiving 2007

This year we spent Thanksgiving with my family in Ohio. It's always nice to see my grandmother, aunts, uncles, cousins, and family pets! If that sounds chaotic, it is... but it is also pretty fun having a big family.


These are only a few of the photos I took during the festivities.

My grandmother, who looks entirely too young for her age:



My father:



My brother:



My uncle and cousin:



The following are all my cousins!







Of course I have to take photos of the puppies!









And that top photo is one Andy took of me staring down Honey, the MiniPin that is smaller than my head.

I hope everyone else had just as wonderful a holiday!

Show Review

I know, I know... I am a bad blogger. But I have been out of town for almost a week, so I sort of have an excuse for the infrequent posting. While I am wading through the images I shot over the holiday, you can read this review of my recent solo exhibit and artwork written by Alexandra Silverthorne. Alexandra is a DC area photographer as well, and you should check out some of her other work while you are over at her blog.
:-)

Sorry for such a long gap!

I have been neglecting my blogging duties as of late. But that's partly because I have been redoing my art site. The old one just wasn't cutting it as far as aesthetics went, so I redesigned it to be a better fit with my work. It's very simple, and there are some changes yet to be made, but this is what it looks like right now. Let me know if you find any glitches, since I want to make sure it works on everyone's computers!

Visit the site here: www.eantognoli.com

Opening Night!

Fragments & Ashes opened last night to a great reception, and was the first showing of more than a handful of my Holga works at any given time. All together, I displayed 27 individual pieces at the Dumbarton Concert Gallery. I had to edit out quite a few, but in the end I would rather do that than crowd the work, so it all turned out well, and I thought the show looked amazing. Thanks so much to Jen Whitney for helping to organize and hang everything!

I want to thank everyone who came out to see my art show on opening night. Without you, the show would not have been nearly as fun. Aside from all those people I didn't know, a lot of my friends came out to support my first solo show in the DC area, and that made it extra cool. I would name you all, but am afraid I'd leave someone out, so I won't do that! And thanks to those who bought my work as well. I hope you enjoy displaying the photos as much as I enjoyed making them!

Fragments & Ashes - Opening Saturday 11/3

My first solo exhibit of Holga images is practically around the corner! Check out the postcard below, and if you are in the DC area come and say hello and see the work (and me) in person - the pieces look much better in real life than on the internet!





The details:
Fragments & Ashes
Erin Antognoli displays her unique style of Holga artwork in a solo exhibition. This will also be the first photography exhibit hosted by the Dumbarton Concert Gallery.

Dumbarton Concert Gallery
3133 Dumbarton St. NW
Washington, DC 20007
(Located in Georgetown’s historic Dumbarton Church between N & O Streets off of Wisconsin Ave.)

Opening Reception:
November 3, 2007 - 6:30 to 8:00 PM
Show dates - November 3 to 13, 2007

Call 202-965-2000 for gallery information

Holgas - Crafty Bastards

My latest Holgas, taken in and around Crafty Bastards in Adams Morgan... I've been trying to incorporate more people into my Holga photos to see what I can make of that subject matter, so we'll see if it turns out to be anything worth pursuing.

The image above and directly below are of my friend Dave (no, he didn't crash the car!), the second image down is of friends Dave, Devlan and my feet, and the last is a random creation from Crafty Bastards.

(Click on the images to see them larger and in better detail!)

My New Artwork Site!

Check it out - I finally made a web site specifically for my artwork. I figured since I have all these images and a solo exhibit coming up, I should probably get something up to showcase my work before the show started! So it's still a work in progress, but it's functional for now.

www.eantognoli.com

I will still put news and information regarding my artwork here on Halo in Reverse, but if you want to see the images and get more information about my artwork, that's the place to go!

ArtDC.org Exhibit - Today! (10/13)

Info is below. See you there! - Erin

--------------------------------------

artdc.org Exhibition at U Street Space

WASHINGTON, D.C.—artdc.org, a Washington, D.C., artist’s forum, presents “Art in Transition Continued” on Saturday, October 13, 2007, in the future Greater Goods building, 1626 U Street, NW, Washington, D.C. 20009. Doors open at noon; an art party is 6 p.m. to midnight.

“Art in Transition Continued” is the continuance of a group art show held in 2005. For the first show, “Art in Transition,” 27 Washington, D.C.-area artists displayed their work in four transitioning commercial spaces in Silver Spring, Md.

This year’s show is in the future home of Greater Goods at 1626 U Street, NW. This “empty” building provides the perfect opportunity for an organization such as artdc to host its own art show. Jesse Cohen, founder of artdc.org, explains, “Transitional space provides an opportunity to develop grassroots art shows, which currently aren’t available through existing spaces.”

The participating artists are: Steve Mead, Antoinette Wysocki, Jodi A. Patterson, John N. Grunwell, Dan Rosenstein, Alexandra Zealand, Alexandra Silverthorne, Kim Reyes, Emily Berl, Christie Ortiz, Rhett Rebold, Raju Singh, Steve Loya, Stephen T. Hanks, Matthew Best, Graham Meyer and Adam Eig.

“A unique feature about this show, aside from the great art,” Cohen says, “is that the artwork was selected by an external jury member who does not have ties to artdc.org artists.”

Mark S. Waskow, art collector and founder of the Waskomium in Burlington, Vt., is the juror for “Art in Transition Continued.” The Waskomium is a collection of contemporary art.
Waskow selected the work of 17 artdc.org members (there are more than 1,500 members of artdc.org). Pieces include 2-D, 3-D and installation art.

“He (Waskow) juried the art from artdc.org’s online gallery,” Cohen says of the selection process, “based on the idea that you can experience the presence of a work of art through its image.”

A fellow artdc.org member recommended that Waskow jury “Art in Transition Continued” because of Waskow’s support for the development of art communities.

Through events like “Art in Transition Continued,” artdc.org initiates artist discovery, encourages art discussion, advances creative development and promotes art collection, with the goal of developing movements in Washington, D.C. artdc.org provides virtual real estate for artists and art organizations. artdc.org aims to bridge the communication between artists of all mediums, galleries and collectors. With this goal in mind, the aim of artdc.org is to develop face-to-face relationships in addition to those in the virtual world.

A 3rd Solo Exhibit

Last week I found out that I was awarded a third solo artwork exhibit for my Holga series to be taking place in March / April 2009. This show will be at The Delaplaine Visual Arts Education Center in Frederick, Maryland. I'm pretty excited, as 2009 is shaping up to be a busy art year. I will have barely taken down my show at The Greater Reston Arts Center in Northern Virginia before I have to install it again in Maryland a couple of weeks later. But I'm not complaining!

And don't forget my first solo Holga artwork exhibit coming up in less than a month at The Dumbarton Concert Gallery!

Opening Reception
November 3, 2007
3133 Dumbarton St. NW
Washington, DC 20007
6:30 - 8:00 PM

Crafty Bastards!

This past Sunday, I attended Crafty Bastards! in Adams Morgan / DC for the second year in a row. The weather was great, and when I was there, it was packed full of shoppers. My vendor friends tell me this was very good for them, so I'm hoping sales were good for everyone across the board.

I saw many of the same vendors as last year, along with some new ones. It's getting very competitive to secure a spot as a vendor at this arts & crafts fair because it's known as one of the best around. I'll name a few vendors that caught my attention!

1. Sean Hennessey - Sculpture and mixed media: Sean is a friend from ArtDC.org, and this is his first time showing at Crafty Bastards. But I always love seeing his work in person. He's recently begun casting glass in addition to concrete, so it makes for some interesting pieces.



2. goshdarnknit - Rania Hassan: Rania was at last year's fair, and I mentioned her on the blog back then. But the work is still an interesting look at the blend between craft and fine art, while still being something that could be displayed in a gallery. I especially like the "Knit" series.



3. Woolarina - Fibers and knitting: There was a lot of this type of work at the fair, but I found theirs to be the most appealing. Lots of great colors and textures in a wide variety of products from hats, scarves, and other knitted wares, plus yarns for those who like to knit themselves. Check out their hand-painted yarns and fibers!



4. Alita's Jewelry - These guys had the coolest jewelry made out of hardware like gears, wrenches, forks, bolts and a bunch of other metal items. They don't seem to have a web site outside of their Crafty Bastards listing, but perhaps I was not looking hard enough? In any case, here's a photo:



5. Saint Bob and the Happy Little Trees - This display wins the award for the tent that freaked me out the most. All items featured famed PBS painter Bob Ross. Yeah. Freaky.



6. Rebound Designs - Caitlin Phillips was at last year's show as well, and I noted then that these bags made of old books certainly are crafty. Just a very cool idea and execution.




7. Damned Dollies - Again, another vendor I mentioned last year. There were a lot of t-shirt vendors at this fair, but these were the ones I would want to buy. No, I didn't buy one then and there (again!), but plan to shop on the web site at some point soon to find my size in the style and color I want. The downside of the fairs is that if you get there too late, you risk not finding what you want in your size. :-(



8. Rob Ullman - Rob was at last year's festival as well, as he is an illustrator for the City Paper. I relayed the story last year on the blog of how we went to Kent State University and I was a huge fan of his comic in the Daily Kent Stater - but that I had never met him while we were there. Well, after I met Rob for the first time last year, I acquired some of his newer work, as well as an anthology of his comic strips from the Daily Kent Stater! So cool! I stopped by the City Paper booth to say hi to him again this year, and I still think his work is incredible.

One of Rob's City Paper cover Illustrations:



So that is my rundown of this year's fair. I hope everyone had a good time, and if you missed it this year, definitely plan to go next year!