Black and White

One of my Platinum prints will be shown in the Mills Pond House Gallery exhibit in St. James, New York that opens in May. Lest anyone doubt that I work in many mediums and often at the same time, here is another case. Black & white photography is a passion of mine. When I began taking photographs and studying at the Southeastern Center for Photographic Arts in Atlanta, I knew immediately that black & white would be my choice. One of my earliest memories is my dad in the darkroom; he let me come in to watch him. I think from that very time I knew photography was going to be important to me, maybe because it was a passion of his.

Although, of course I have done color it never has interested me much; somehow the color print was never true enough no matter how well I learned to print it, it always looked artificial. And print it I did when I was working commercially.

Then there is Platinum with it's warmth and beauty. Glossy was never and is not my thing either. The closest I get to anything glossy is with my encaustic paintings but they are so textured that "really" glossy never happens. "The Argument", the photo above is one of those images that happened without my realizing what it was about. I had spent some time breaking crystal (from my first marriage), mirrors, and then happened upon broken eyeglasses. I still collect eyeglasses usually finding them in parking lots. People evidently just drop their glasses and eventually they are run over by a vehicle several times and presto they are just right for me. I scoop them up and eventually use them for the next project.

Family Circle

Right now I am very pleased. Pleased that "Family Circle" will again be shown. Last summers' work was arduous and in the end successful as it said what I wanted to say. So it's off to the Fine Arts Exhibition at the Dalton Gallery at Agnes Scott College as part of the Decatur Arts Festival 2008. It's been a long time since I entered a work in that show.

Spring

This is the time of the year when I feel the most focus. There is a certain ease about creating that doesn't happen for me any other time of the year. The ease increases as the weather gets warmer and warmer. Summer is the peak time for me to make artwork. Last summer I was working on a sculpture/installation project for an exhibit. This year I am working on a series for a solo exhibit.

The series has already taken shape but working on larger encaustic paintings has slowed me down so that I am working more thoughtfully or maybe a better way to say it is meditatively for there isn't as much thinking as doing. I continue to glaze and scrape back looking for that surface which says something to me. My hues are becoming complex systems of wax and pigment. They are alive. The inspiration for this series came from photos taken through a microscope, my photos. As for the microscope, it is not much more than a toy but once I load the digits into Photoshop, magic happens. Organic systems continue to invade my images. Where is this going? I may not know for a while.

After the series of tornadoes that hit my town this weekend, today spring has arrived and I've never seen the trees more beautiful; they take my breath away.

WCAGA Exhibit "Earth: A Microcosm"

Enjoy a trip to the Women's Caucus for Art of Georgia's regional juried exhibition at the Ferst Center for the Arts and the Networking Day event "The Artist and the Environment: A Day of Discussion".

Earth: A Microcosm

The opening last night was sucessful. Thanks to the WCAGA group who hung the show! They were meticulous lighting the artwork and hanging the work to its best advantage. And as you can see by the photo, I had rather a good time myself. This group of women (and man as we have a male artist who joined recently) is a positive force. I'm energized each time I interact with the programming and exhibits sponsored by the Caucus.

Tomorrow's panel discussion of art and the environment will be interesting as I come from environmentally conscious stock. My father designed a system for heating and cooling his house with both solar and wind power. He was a remarkable man. His genius made him a bit strange but his creativity and good heart was unmistable. I loved his vitality and have always thought how lucky I am to have inherited his love of music, art, science...how good can it get.

Thanks to Flora Rosefsky for the photo. She's a marvelous artist whose exhibit at the Temple Gallery in Decatur, Georgia will open in a little over a month. Congratulations Flora.