End of Year Shout Out

Last month I was asked to design a poster for Pecha Kucha Dayton based upon my presentation in early November. This poster was placed in local businesses to provide the date, time and location for the last Pecha Kucha presentation of the year.

I chose the anthotype of a nightgown with evening gloves that Bridgette affectionately titled "Flapper". This morning PK Dayton provided a link to a Tumblr of the best PK posters made since 2012 and this poster was included. Here is a link to the Tumblr  and below you can find a jpeg of the poster.

Out of Italy

This morning, around all of the hubbub of the week, I received an email regarding an art and design blog that was featuring my work with anthotypes.

Nice surprise from Italy. Thank you LanciaTrendVisions! Lancia Trend Visions is an online magazine acting as a talent scout for emerging artists, designers, architects, and other creative types.

The blog can be accessed at LanciaTrendVisions.com.

Almost all my eggs in one basket

Missing Trains, 2011, Purple Iris on Washi

The last twelve calendar months have been rewarding as far as making work but difficult in regards to finding an audience for it. The somnambulist project has engaged me like no other photographic project but it has many features to it that really have kept it from gaining traction.

Scale, permanence, and similarity to to work done by Adam Fuss and Karen Savage have led to some push back. I go blindly into my photographic projects. They do marry technique and concept although I will be the first to admit that I get lost in materials and processes.

Although I have been feeling this, there has been a spot of good news this week. The New Orleans Photography Alliance has announced the finalists for the 2014 Clarence John Laughlin Award. I am one of the thirteen photographers selected. Also included in this group are Keliy Anderson-Staley, Anne Berry,  Susan Burnstine,  Benjamin Dimmitt,  William Guion,  Leslie Hall Brown,  Jaime Johnson, Meghann Riepenhoff,  Euphus Ruth, J Michael Skaggs, Cheryle St. Onge, and S. Gayle Stevens.

camera work part II, serpent mound

Before too much time passes, I am compelled to write about a quick half day trip to Serpent Mound near Peebles, Ohio. This is an indigenous peoples site used for not only burying the dead but also perhaps for marking key recurring astronomical events such as the shortest day of the year and the summer solstice. Current theories and testing of the site suggests that the first use of the site occurred around 321 BCE. Read more about the current status of Serpent Mound here at Indian Country Today.

Bridgette and I went to visit a friend of hers, Martine Myrup, from her time at the Glasgow School of Art almost 16 years ago. On August 4th we met in Cincinnati mid-day and drove to Peebles. Here are some of the images from that day all shot with my Windsor, a Diana clone, camera.

 

Camera Work, part I

During the late spring and most of this summer, grinding up pigments, collecting flowers, coating paper and arranging clothing into the exposure set- ups have taken up a lot of my studio time. In other words, I've been making only anthotypes. Perhaps "only" is the wrong word. Three weeks ago I broke out the view camera to photograph support stockings laid out on the grass.

I am working with anti-embolism stockings as a way of looking back to my father who wore them late in his life. I would find them in the laundry area or see him wearing them with his summer pajamas as he watched the "Tonight Show" in the 1980's and 1990's.

Although he didn't wear white thigh highs, I wore these for about three hours. I am now at the age that my father was when I noticed him wearing support socks and my primary care physician is encouraging me to adopt them for daily use. 

So in late July I tried the three hour experiment in the morning and then set up the camera in the backyard around 3 pm. Accompanied by a squadron of mosquitos I made four exposures, which I finally began printing this week. 

It is only the second time this year I have used the 8x10 camera and it was a struggle especially with the elastic of the dark cloth around the film back area. Forgetting the numerous mosquito bites, I feel like I am ready to get back to more camera work.

words without pictures

In March and April of this year I met with Tanya Maus to be interviewed for a project she was doing for a six-month radio production training program at 91.3 WYSO in Yellow Springs (in Ohio). The goal of the interview was to give her a chance to edit many minutes of audio into a smaller four to six minute story that would eventually be broadcast on the station.

We met twice and I talked at length about the anthotype work as well as the continuing vandyke brown projects. I haven't heard it yet but those of you who know me well, know that I hate my "Telephone Voice".

It is scheduled to air this Wednesday, August 20th at 6:30 am and 8:30 am E.S.T. during Morning Edition. For those of you living outside the Miami Valley area who wish to hear it, WYSO will have a live stream via iTunes. Please go to https://itunes.apple.com/us/station/idra.873003657 to listen to WYSO live on iTunes radio.

haunted sleepwear

Lately, I have been fixated on vascular support stockings. They trigger a memory of seeing my father wear them. Occasionally I would see his stockings folded after being laundered.  At other times I might would actually see him wearing them because of his pajama shorts he wore close to bed time.

I made the first version of the pajama shorts in February specifically for an exhibition at Proto Gallery in Hoboken, New Jersey. I made two additional versions early this summer. Number two was made with different coats of saffron and rainbow chard. Number one and number three were made with straight chard. Number three will be on display in Columbus starting tomorrow as part of the Fine Arts Exhibition at the Ohio State Fair. The most recent version ditches the pajama shorts in my attempt to create a sleepwear creature. When she saw the finished red tulip anthotype, my wife Bridgette said she was reminded of one of the ghost hitchhikers from Walt Disney's Haunted Mansion. Disney updated a few of their classic attractions in the last 15 years. So if you want to see the connection, look for an older photograph taken at the amusement park. I am including one appropriated from tvbythenumbers.net.

Pajama Shorts with Anti-Embolism Stockings Number One

Pajama Shorts with Anti-Embolism Stockings Number Two

Pajama Shorts with Anti-Embolism Stockings Number Three

Bed Jacket with Anti-Embolism Stockings Number One

Ghost Hitchhikers from Walt Disney's Haunted Mansion

a good studio day

Today, I pulled four prints which, in antho typist's language, translates to "stopping" an exposure. Most are life-sized but this tiny one is from a Barbie doll. The scale would be perfect for mail art if I could make many of these. The size is about 3 x 5 inches and the anthotype was made using leftover beet root. The exposure took less than a week.

Relatively Easy

It may seem like I only do anthotypes. My studio practice lately seems to confirm this. It is summertime and the anthotypes are easy. Relatively. 

I just rediscovered my second stash of spring clamps which means that I can put together a lot of anthos at once. One of the pigments I am working with comes from some old beet root bits like the root and just below the stalk. It is a relatively fast pigment. In the picture below, the new anthotype just went out this morning around 9 am. The bedjacket anthotype on the right has been getting sun off and on since last Friday at 10 am.

There may be quite a few of the square ones this summer. So far I like the shape better than the long rectangle. 

relative motion in print

Last weeks Dayton City Paper, our free weekly paper, published a review of the zoetropes on display at the Dayton Art Institute's Experience Center. The review is based upon an interview of Bridgette Bogle and myself by Susan Byrnes, a sculptor I have shown with in the past.

You can link to the article here at addressing dress

I lost my heart

What happens to a chard anthotype made by strong sunlight when it is displayed in and around a window that gets a few hours of sunlight most days? It slowly fades away. Come out to the opening to see what ten days of such exposure can accomplish. The anthotype is mounted to one side of an "A" sign. The reverse side has a protected detail of the larger anthotype under a dark cloth. 

Bed Jackets Times Two

It is difficult to know where to start, when I haven't blogged about my making in three months. 

I am currently using red tulip petals collected during early May. Truly gleaned because allof the petals were on the ground. The ones that were too damp, we're cleaned in water and ground up in a mortar and pestle. That first red tulip anthotype of the year was one of two images I've made involving two bed jackets. The exposure was stopped late last month and is a bit more narrative than the first double bad jacket image (made from yellow onion skin). 

Below are both of the images. Top: yellow onionskin "Two Bed Jackets". Bottom image: "Puppet Show" in acidified red tulip.

hats in relative motion

I have noticed that when sitting down to eat with friends that conversation drops off relative to the flavor of the food. If the food is prepared with love and eaten by individuals with a strong appetite, exchanged words tend to be rare. 

Maybe that makes sense. 

I use this as an analogy to explain the lack of reports from the studio. I have been busy with a few exhibitions and my second collaboration with Bridgette Bogle. This one involves zoetropes. Four of them. Below is a raw series that will include the use of color over the silhouetted figure.

the return of the return of Dr. Frangst

My projects typically have a run of about four years before transitioning to the next body of work. From the summer of 2001 until about 2006 I worked under the rules of staged cyanotype self-portraiture creating a fictional character name Dr. Frangst. The project came to a stand-still in late 2005 when I replaced the character's usual white lab coat with a cyanotype photogram coat with gingko leaf patters covering it. I made a few more images after that but nothing really "took". Gingko Photogram Lab Coat is currently on view at Kenyon College in an exhibition titled Material Message curated by Molly Bondy and Marcella Hackbardt. The exhibition can be found Kahler Gallery which is in the Studio Art Building and will be on view now through April 12th. Kenyon College is located in Gambier, Ohio.

Other artists in the exhibit include: Brian Andrews, Cheyenne Cardell, Ashley Cummings, Dennis DeHart, Kelsey Dillon, Kate Fraiman, Meredith Friel, Jon Funder, Rory Hamovit, Clare Hodgdon, Sarah Kaufman, James Luckett, Jack McKenzie, Ashley Moore, Elizabeth Myers, Patricia Lois Nuss, Selina Roman, Jacinda Russell, Ally Schmaling, Morgan Ford Willingham, Emily Witosky, Zeslie Zablan, and Maria Zarka.

A sensitive man

Yes. I am a sensitive man. Last month I ran into a lot of trouble trying to ship Iris Peignoir with Hidden Shorts to Arizona in a frame. I packed it so that it would be within UPS's height and girth restrictions but my avoidance of dealing with the UPS store resulted in a lot of driving around and a lot of packing and unpacking of a large box with a smaller box in the parking lot outside the UPS customer center.

Severely defeated, I called up Gina at Art Intersection who gave me the go-ahead to send the unframed piece in a tube. When considering fourteen dollars vs. 200 plus dollars and all the heartache, my artistic vision is compelled to be OK with hanging a fugitive work on paper on the wall unframed.

Which is how it is being shown at Light Sensitive on view at Art Intersection now until April 19th. The exhibition juried by Tom Persinger of f295 is billed as a celebration of images from the darkroom. There is nothing dark about the grassy area I exposed this piece in during three weeks of Vermont sun. But it is light sensitive.

respond in kind

I had an interesting twenty minute session with Mary Virginia Swanson during session two of Fotofest's 2014 Meeting Place. MVS is one of the most down to earth and knowledgeable consultants regarding the business of marketing photography. She didn't have the opportunity to go over my website but did discuss photo books as a better "leave behind". One thing stuck in mind from the session. The concept of linking back. This can be considered a twenty-first  century version of "respond in kind".

In February I had the good fortune to discuss my photographic projects with Lauren Pearlman Sugita aka Paperwoman who is the heart of Paper Connection International. This is where I purchase the Kozo Unryu for the Vandyke brown prints. She ended up selecting me to be her artist of the month which resulted with an entry for my photography on her blog.

It is now March and Lauren is featuring Joan Son as her March artist. After meeting with Mary Virginia Swanson I felt compelled to do a belated link back.

February Artist of the Month

and the blog front page can be reached here.

Old Habits

In one portfolio review last October I was cautioned against using the scanner as a photographic instrument because there are a lot of artists now using it. The reviewer was hinting at push back. While I took that criticism to heart, I ended up creating my favorite version of the buckeye, shell and all, with the scanner. Old habits.

I did print it on the Tosahakkinshi (the tosa washi) made for the exhibition in Ino Town, Japan at the Paper Museum. 

Here is a scan of it. I've decided to submit this for the Dayton Visual Arts Center's annual auction. It will be the first time this paper will be seen in the mid-west.

slower than molasses in january

Yes, I do camera work. The view camera has been described as a slower way of working than smaller, hand held cameras. In the hands of a slower worker, it's like pouring molasses on a winter's day. 

Saturday I loaded film holders.

Sunday I took up all afternoon working with buckeyes and using the 8x10 view camera with the extension rails. 

To compound it all, I used a Rodenstock Imagon 360mm lens. Mine has no shutter and the unusual aperture set up is initially a bit confusing.

Today I developed in camera paper positives. 

I am still uncertain as to the final arrangement. I like to challenge myself with negative space but find myself drawn to the initial arrangement which was lost due to camera set up, difficulty of working with the Imagon and the rickety nature of the buckeyes (they are in pieces and barely want to stay put). 

original arrangement

view camera set up for final image

front view of the imagon

uncropped in camera paper positive

detail from the above image

I do like the look of the eye in the original set-up. I think I will revisit this image once I get a few of the sheets of film developed. In hindsight, I don't think the soft focus lens was the best choice so I may go back and expose it with a sharper lens and with more depth of field. 

Some notes to keep on hand:

I photographed from about 3 pm until 4:45 pm yesterday. The paper positive exposures were made with window light around 4:30 pm and I rated the film at about ISO 3. I'm thinking that it should be rated about ISO 1.5. The first exposure was about 8 minutes. I calculated a bellows extension factor of about 4 stops and ignored any reciprocity failure for both film and paper exposures. I did a second paper negative exposure of 25 minutes. It was going to be 16 minutes. Then it was twenty which I stretched out to 25. 

I was doing dishes and couldn't be stopped. 

Both paper positives were developed in Sprint paper developer diluted 1:18. 

Film exposures (not yet developed) were 32 seconds and 16 seconds for ISO 100 film (Shanghai?) and 16 seconds and 8 seconds for some older, fogged TMax 400. 

greetings from the frozen midwest

Staying in today to avoid the wind, the wind-chill and the subzero temperatures. I even emptied my work area in the garage to make a spot for the car. That's what garages are typically designed for...the sheltering of cars, not the coating of anthotypes or UV exposure dependent printing. 

It's a good day for late, late portfolio review follow-ups. I think I sent one about four weeks after getting back from Chicago. That would have been early November. I guess now they are New Year's greetings. 

Next week, the Eight Annual OOVAR (Ohio Online Visual Artist Registry) Exhibition will have a closing reception on Saturday, January 11, 2014 from 2-3:30 p.m. in the Carnegie Gallery which is on the second floor of the Columbus Metropolitan Library's main branch. Included is a digital print of the (Basic) Red Tulip Sleeping Dress. 

The original was just sold by Loretta Puncer's Gallery 510. It is my favorite of the anthotypes and am glad to see it go to a good home. The framed anthotypes do take up a bit of room in my studio / slash office. I really do take after my father. His office was unusable except for a small area of a table in a room full of stacks of medical journals and old mail. 

No nightmarish pictures of cluttered office spaces today. Instead just a few snaps of the start of the (Basic) Red Tulip Sleeping Dress and it's final framed version.

New Year Greetings

New Year's greetings from the pecan groves of south eastern New Mexico!

This year I resolve to be less negligent of this blog. In past years, I actively wrote about my studio practice and exhibitions. There were many things to blog about, portfolio reviews in Chicago, an exhibition in Japan, an exhibition I curated, printing platinum palladium on a brand new washi, and lots of anthotype related exhibitions and creations.

There is more in store for 2014.

To get the New Year ball rolling, here is an image of the onion skin anthotype revealed early last month after almost two months of on again-off again exposure.