Vividblack

Preview: UltraPop Too Old For Toys

2011-10-31T12:43:00.002-04:00

Ron and I have been in a creative tizzy getting ready for the Too Old for Toys show at UltraPop. We have some awesome paper toys that we guarantee will provide hours of fun! Take a look at these previews of my Big Cat Pirate toys:

Ron made some completely different kinds of paper toys including imagining the two of us - here's the little version of me:

Lots more to see, so come to the opening and have some Birthday Cake too! Yeah, it are our birf-day too - we have to share. Show opens: Saturday, November 5th at Ultra Pop - located at 1414 Bardstown Rd. in Louisville, Kentucky in the heart of the Highlands.

Wrestler Rudy Switchblade Portraits

2011-02-08T13:35:00.001-05:00

I had the opportunity to take studio portraits of Ohio Valley wrestler Rudy Switchblade. I love these formal digital portraits and had a fantastic experience of working with someone who is so good at emoting. He was a pleasure to work with and I'm looking forward to continuing to work with more wrestlers. See you at the show Rudy!

Back in the Darkroom at Last!

2011-01-15T12:42:00.004-05:00

I've been slacking, lazy even, not practicing my wet darkroom skils. I love digital photography to express myself - particularly for color work, but I really have been missing the process of creating silver prints in the wet darkroom. The luminous quality of these black and white images far surpasses the tonality that similar digital prints can achieve. So I'm here, fixer stinking on my hands, making some contact sheets and getting ready to print some enlargements.
Now for the geek stuff: This set is a made at a botanical garden with a Nikon F camera with a Sigma 16mm fish eye lens. The film is my absolute favorite B&W - TriX 400. Sorry TMax - I don't believe the hype, I'm a tried and true fan fan of your older cousin.
So I'll keep you posted, but I'm psyched by the contact sheet here...it's making me a bit giddy or maybe it's the fumes...maybe I need to stand closer to the exhaust fan!

New Kittehs!

2010-11-29T14:39:00.000-05:00

I've been working on some new cat prints for the Madpixel store. Since I love Sushi and it's all my old cat would eat (sans rice), I made a Super Tasty Fish Wish print of a cat dreaming about some shrimp sushi. You can get this through the Madpixel website or the Etsy shop. See links on the right.

I've also gotten into the cutesy vector graphics. What could be more adorable than two kittens in mittens. Of course this is a seasonal print that will delight the kid in all. Three color print is 11x14 and can be purchased through the Madpixel website or our Etsy shop. Meow!

and the final piece...

2010-11-15T15:35:00.002-05:00

This is the final Shotgun screen print. The metallic gold ink doesn't show up so well in a photo, but trust me, it's awesome. You can get your very own at The Madpixel Store. Now on to Sushi Cats. Stay tuned for details!

Update: From Digital Illustration to Silk Screen - Step One in Transition

2010-10-12T18:02:00.002-04:00

This is an updated post. See content below first :)

Here is the same piece broken down in three colors ready for the silkscreen process. The next step is to turn each of these layers into black and transparent images to burn the screen. Once the three screens are washed the negative space is left and ink can be forced through on paper. Look for the final result posted here after it is printed tomorrow.

Start Here

I'm starting to work towards creating some images that can be used to make art prints for the silk screen process. This is image is my first design that will make this move. I like it. It's all layer-y and pretty and has the feel of a a Lotte Reiniger film. Lotte was one of the earliest animators who worked in silhouette (and from Berlin - even better). I remember seeing her Pied Piper of Hamelin piece and falling in love with her careful and ingenious use of cut paper to tell (to me) a well known story. The visual quality of the silhouette also had a very creepy feel to me so this really works with my love of exploring the shadow themes in fairy tales. Keeping with my life long love of this type of story, I look at this piece as being a post-modern homage to kick-ass female leads in the horror genre. I will continue to update the process here and show the steps of taking apart and reconstructing in a different medium, but for now let's just say I'm very pleased with the look and excited to explore something new. The silk screen piece is being printed with the help of Madpixel and will be shown at the Ultra Pop Halloween show.

Making Cyanotype Solution - Prep for the LVAA Photogram and UV Printing Workshop

2010-10-09T17:40:00.001-04:00

In preparation for the photogram workshop I'm teaching at the Louisville Visual Art Association on Sunday I had a little fun with chemistry. This process is from Photographer's Formulary and is the new improved Cyanotype chemical prep. You can do this in your house, just be sure to use safe handling procedures for the chemicals.

This is not listed first on the instructions as the first step, but I do it first because it takes awhile to do completely. Finely grind 10g of potassium ferricyanide to a powder. *Wear protective gear! Gloves and a face mask!

The crystals will start out red but turn light orange as in the photo above. If you think you are done grinding, go ahead and grid it some more! You need a very fine powder for it to dissolve quickly.

Heat 30 ml of distilled water to 120 degrees and add 30g of ferric ammonium oxalate, that will result in a green liquid when completely dissolved.

Under safe-light or a very low watt (25) incandescent light, pour in a 10ml solution of ammonium dicromate. (Not pictured)

While the solution is still warm (I keep my beaker in a pan of 120 degree water) pour in the fine ground potassium ferricyanide and stir until no red or orange crystals remain and green crystals begin to appear. Allow this solution to cool for 1 hour until just about room temperature.


When the solution has cooled strain the liquid through a filter (a standard coffee filter will do). A green sludge will remain on the filter which can be discarded. To the filtered liquid add 100ml of distilled water and put in a brown or dark colored bottle with a tight fitting lid. The solution can be painted on paper with a brush or use a glass coating rod. This chemical will last about 1 year in a tightly sealed and dark bottle.

Another Vision

2010-07-28T01:11:00.001-04:00

This is the owl woman piece re-imagined. So different so similar.

Preliminary Art for a CD Cover

2010-07-13T20:57:00.000-04:00

This is some preliminary artwork for a CD cover by one of the first women of Kentucky Folk Music. She has a wise and mystical quality in real life, so when she said she really connected with owls it seemed natural to show her with the spirit as part of her. The background is from NASA and is from the Hubble space telescope.

New Wrappings Underway!

2010-06-06T20:14:00.009-04:00

More Human Commodities
I spent a grueling, hot Saturday afternoon with a very committed model who allowed me to wrap him, not one, but two times in the 98 degree sun. Sweat was pouring off me in buckets. My photo assistant Shannon looked a little sticky too, so imagine what my model Joey withstood in the nice purple Easter egg cellophane! I think he was relieved when we finally cut him out of the wrappings, but maybe he kind of liked it after all. After a gallon of water and a gin and tonic, our trooper was ready for another go. This time, we hiked a bit into the forest and I found a nice place where the trees were lush and green and made a nice linear composition. This one was more challenging, because Joey had to stay wrapped for a bit longer so I could get various angles and make sure the green of the forest was properly reflected off the transparent cellophane. A nice big daddy long legs almost got smoothed in there with Joey but thankfully Shannon is not squeamish about bugs and pulled it out to live another day. Thanks to those two, I got another nice set of images to for my project. Stay tuned...more wrappings to come!

Fallen

2010-03-29T00:02:00.002-04:00

This image is my most recent Photoshop manipulation. The image of Terry was shot while she was laying on the grass and the water, clouds, and flower are all shot at different times. I'm still playing with the color, I like it in full shocking, vibrant hues as well as completely in gray scale. I think it works both ways. The posting here is a compromise between the two extremes. I like the idea of living between worlds. In the fall this is the moment where you are free from the constraints from what came before as well as what's to come. It's the moment that is in flux, a space where potential exists in both how we view the past and what we imagine for the future.

Where There’s Life There’s Art

2010-02-04T13:25:00.001-05:00

Check this fabulous post at Drunken Boat by Ed Vespucciano, the artist currently showing at VividBlack Galleries in Second Life:

Where There’s Life There’s Art

Ed's Exhibit runs in-world though March 12, 2010

SEX WITH TYPOS
Drunken Boat contributor Ed Vespucciano invites you to his exhibition of Visual Poetry, SEX WITH TYPOS, at the Vividblack Gallery, in “Second Life”, (near the Hotel Chelsea) February 1 – March 12, 2010.
SEX WITH TYPOS was created for the Second Life world using only the tools and materials available in SL: avatar created pictures and chat texts, the currency of life and vitality there. All the photographs were taken with the SL avatar camera (or perv-cam) and the text layers were created using IBM Word-Cloud Generator software to process actual local chats or instant message (IM) conversations.
“These scenes are sometimes real encounters, sometimes a combination of texts and pictures from different SL sources, but they all represent the heart of experience I have drawn from real people in Second Life. However cyborgian we may get in the virtual world, we are all still thinking with minds of meat.”
No avatars were harmed during the creation of these works of art.
Reception – Saturday, February 6th 2010 at 3pm SLT (6pm EST) at Vividblack Gallery.
You can visit Vividblack Gallery with your Second Life account (it's free if you aren't registered yet).

Virtual Worlds - Sculptures for the Treeline Project

2010-01-18T23:38:00.007-05:00

These 3D modeled sculptures were created for the virtual Treeline Project, an Australian nonprofit connecting, people, art, science and nature to bring awareness to conservation issues. Each image is an environment that an avatar can physically enter and experience an immersive virtual space. Two events have been scheduled in world, an opening for all the current virtual Treeline artists Thursday, January 21st at 2pm Pacific time. I will also be giving an artist talk for the University of Western Australia's Design Challenge Showcase Saturday, January 23rd at 3pm Pacific Time. I exist in world as an avatar Araminta Kroitschov, artist and owner of Viviblack Galleries.

Flutter Trees, my art and design and scripted so butterflies float around the viewer. This piece was done in collaboration with virtual artist Ed Vespucciano, who was wonderful about taking my butterfly photographs and making them in to little moving swarms to go inside the sculpture.

Moon Forest is a piece that can be entered and experienced from different camera view points to gaze at the moon and feel a spiritual connection to nature.

Virtual Forest is a massive box filled with transparency and light that gives the viewer an experience of getting lost in the woods. Moving an avatar passes through the space layers and layers of tree images and stumbles around until they find the door.

A picture of part of the Treeline Project's installation space with the Virtual Forest on the top left of the image gives an idea of space.

For a transcript of the artist talk visit the UWA blog.

Immersive Show

2009-12-17T00:01:00.005-05:00

Using the medium of Second Life, I created a different version of layered transparency based on my real life Into the Woods exhibition. I'm finding a curious exhilaration with learning to work in the computer environment to create a space where an avatar may enter and experience, from various points of view visual sensory information. Using the built in cameras in the app to change the way you look at a piece or virtual art allows the viewer to participate in the experience.

I have been pretty excited in general about my SL gallery. My traffic is way up on my website and it's been fun getting to know some of the interesting people in the community. On stage for the next exhibitions at Vividblack Gallery at the SL Hotel Chelsea sim are RL gig poster artist Madpixel in January, SL visual poet Ed Vespucciano in Feb, and virtual art experience The Gracie Kendall Project, an exploration of identity through the lens of real and virtual worlds. All are must sees. Please visit my Vividblack Gallery in SL . You must also have an account and an avatar set up to view the work. Don't worry, it's free. Visit SecondLife.com, and get an account m'kay? For announcements for the SL gallery, please click the eyeball in the gallery and join the group. You'll be glad you did. ; )

Thanks to Mykal, Enola and all the fabulous people at the virtual Hotel Chelsea for making such a great sim. Visit for super live music and literary events. Really, I'm not kidding.

Photo Icons for the $20 Art Sale

2009-12-12T13:26:00.002-05:00

These are some little painted photo icons I did for the $20 Art Sale and the Very Portland Christmas Sale. They measure 4x6" and are mixed media on wood. Pretty little things, precious. They can be ordered if you like as well. Contact info@vividblack.net for more info.

Second Life Gallery

2009-10-24T15:33:00.002-04:00

Vividblack Art Gallery in the Hotel Chelsea NY Gallery Row

Louis XVI

2009-10-17T23:03:00.003-04:00

I forgot to post these King Louis XVI pictures. They are from an issue of the LEO on photography. Several local photographers were asked to see the city from their perspective. Lot's of cool stuff. This is my interpretation of what I would show King Louis XVI if he came to Louisville today. Mostly cool things like the bathroom at 21C, art, Chuck Rubin's and the Mag Bar.

Scenes from Dystopia - The Examination

2009-10-10T15:03:00.006-04:00

The thought of scrutiny and examination is always an uncomfortable place. Being helpless at the hands of someone you barely know when you are sick or injured is a place where primal fears can invade our thoughts. A gradual regression of humanity could allow certain individuals the capacity to delve into the darkest objectification. A biology laboratory where unchecked experimentation allows people to degenerate into cruelty - human vivisection.

The Real American Gothic

2009-09-12T20:50:00.000-04:00

Gas mask, shovel and pie, oh my.

Sinister Humor

2009-09-07T15:35:00.004-04:00

I asked my friend to bring up some of his favorite props from his performance art to create a sort of cyberpunk / steam punk look for our shoot. Not only did he bring some great stuff (that I supplemented with a few of my own pieces), but he brought this cool woman with him who was willing to do some studio play. We had a great time and they both brought so much creativity and humor to the process. It's such a pleasure to work with such fun-loving people who have a sense of sinister humor. Totally what I was looking for. More from this night coming in future posts.

Wrapping - Cellophane

2009-09-03T19:04:00.008-04:00

I started working on some new wrappings recently. Cellophane makes people look kind of creepy and dead. It wasn't intentional, but I like what it eludes to in a Commodified Human context. It only happens to be that my model was female that night...I'm not going for a "dead girls are hot" kind of vibe, just more a contextual relationship with the other human commodity images.
I see a landscape coming with 5 or 6 bodies in cellophane (men and women), littering the space. Some desolate place where the trash we create is put out of sight but continues to encroach on the natural world. The overall destruction on our identity through corporate greed and whacked American cultural values is killing us all.

The Work is Transforming

2009-06-18T00:37:00.005-04:00

Someone has been playing with the Bio Lab Installation. That makes me absolutely ecstatic! It's pretty exciting to think about how these images will change as the installation continues on. I feel like the 3 bears in a good "someones been sleeping in my bed" kind of way. I hope to catch several different stages of this work as it transitions. So go to the gallery and play! I love surprises.

Into the Woods Installation piece from recent exhibiton

2009-06-10T21:45:00.002-04:00

I just returned from the opening for Into the Woods at the Huff Gallery. Here are a few views from the installation of this piece. Into the Woods, 2009, Installation, Digital Transparencies and Light

Interactive Bio Lab Installation

2009-06-06T20:14:00.002-04:00

This is one of the installation pieces from the Into the Woods show at the Huff gallery. Visitors to the gallery can create hybrids and layered landscapes from a collection of photographic transparencies that I created. Come play Wednesday night!

Exibit Opening at Huff Gallery June 10 4-6pm

2009-06-04T13:48:00.003-04:00

Into the Woods Photographic Prints and Installation by Mary Yates
I have always had a secret desire to become lost in the deep woods at night. To hear the rustling of animals, smell the fertile earth, and to feel my heart quicken as perhaps I catch a brief glimpse of the hidden world that exists beyond my safety and touches the place where magic is born. The thought makes me feel giddy, alive and even a bit apprehensive. With all my senses engaged and not knowing the outcome, I could venture forth and really feel what it is like to be human and truly alive with limited defenses and no connection to the safety of a warm home with locked doors.

The ways we have distanced ourselves from nature is truly heartbreaking. We all now live in our shoebox cages and most of us visit nature only when we need “sport” or “recreation”. As urban sprawl encroaches on more and more wild lands these magical spaces are disappearing at an alarming rate. We are so fearful of the woods and the wild beasts that roam that we have insulated ourselves in subdivisions and strip malls. We call the wildlife management service when a “nuisance” animal encroaches on our tidy little plastic world and spray chemicals on our lawns to create uniformity that feels safe because we have lost our way and become fearful. I believe that this disconnection to our wild lands is one of the most devastating signs of how unhealthy our planet has become.

Through this work, I hope that people will realize that the woods are a treasure, a place of magic and beauty, and essential to our success as a species. I hope that visitors to this exhibit will experience, in a small way, how it might feel to be immersed in a living world where we can revive our connection to our to our planet and our responsibility to her.

The images were gathered in Kentucky at Wolf Pen Branch Mill Farm (part of the River Fields conservation easement) and at Bernheim Forest.

Please visit River Fields at www.riverfields.org or the Nature Conservancy at www.nature.org for more information about how you can help protect our land and natural resources.

Opening Reception Wednesday, June 10th 6-10pm at the Huff Gallery at Spalding University

Under Wraps

2009-04-27T20:35:00.002-04:00

www.whyisthiswrapped.com

More Wrapping - Center for Women and Families - National Crime Victims' Rights Week

2009-04-26T17:09:00.014-04:00

In continuance of my Commodification project, I am working with the Center for Women and Families on awareness raising for National Crime Victims' Awareness Week. This was a performance and photo shoot on the banks of the Ohio River in Louisville, KY. Ron Jasin is my second shooter for the images that I am in. Check out more information on the Center for Women and Families project, visit www.whyisthiswrapped.com

Microscopic Self Portrait

2009-04-21T19:02:00.003-04:00

As a child I remember watching Carl Sagan on PBS take all the elemental ingredients of life and put them together in a big slurry of potential. The result was not life, but a sticky mess of iron, protein, carbon and other key elements. It was the first time I remember thinking “What are we?” I believe reflection on that question is one of the fundamental commonalities that all human beings experience.
In this piece I am contemplating the science and nature of my existence, from what I had for dinner last night to the corpuscles that feed my vision and the nerve endings that provide me the sensory experience of pleasure and pain. All these small pieces somehow converge to create a depiction of me, but they are really just iron, protein, carbon, etc. The piece is an extreme form of navel-gazing and while the sums of my parts are represented, they do not accurately portray the whole. In a world where we are used to following recipes and formulas, it defies logic.

American Gothic

2009-04-15T21:46:00.005-04:00

Another image with masks and slightly different coloring. I can't wait to see these printed out large. Someone commented that these mask image reminded them of a modern antique version of American Gothic. Maybe, but I like to think of it as a hybrid between the Chinese and Russian myths of the woman of the snow or frost. It has a more fairytale feel to me. I also want to give thanks to Terry Wunderlich for the super masks.

Dirty Soft

2009-04-15T20:55:00.003-04:00

Another image from the recent set. I am constantly amazed at how wonderful my friends are for playing along with my crazy ideas. I'm so lucky to have this energy in my photographs. I think there is a real advantage to a playful approach to staging photos, everyone brings something unexpected to the experience. We play together, we create and I get to indulge my voyeuristic nature. Lucky me! Thanks guys!

Another Image from the Saturday Shoot

2009-04-15T17:52:00.005-04:00

Another image from the shoot the other night. A friend whose work I admire suggested I play a little with colors, so I left a hint of the feather and eye color on this image and also used the ochre of the feathers to dirty the image up. Thanks for the suggestion and I'm curious what you all think. I believe the other image has a more sinister quality where this is more tranquil, but still out of the ordinary. More to come!

Recent Studio Work

2009-04-14T20:23:00.005-04:00

I had some friends over last Saturday night for drinks and some casual head shot portraits evolved into some more complex play in the studio. I'm so happy with the new pieces and have started processing them in this dirty, antique-looking style. There is something in the aesthetic of old photographs that really appeals to me and I try to bring that into my work. Since I can't be in the darkroom printing tintypes right now, I like working with this digital conversion that is reminiscent of cracked old photos found in the corner of an attic. I like the creepy quality the mask gives to the woman and the stoic look of the man.

I understand that there is a certain morbidity to my work and have struggled with the appeal of main-stream single image photographs. As much fun as it is to make a beautiful image and to have people respond to the "pretty", I think that embracing my shadow self is truly where my most creative and exciting possibilities reside.

A few samples of this work will be forthcoming, as well as a couple of images that are from my commodified humans project.

A closer shot

2008-12-19T17:10:00.002-05:00

This is a closeup of my eyebrow hair.

New Microscope Camera

2008-12-19T17:03:00.002-05:00

So I just got a cheepo microscopic camera. It's pretty cool and I'm looking forward to really doing something fun with bugs and plant specimens. So far I've had fairly good results with the images I captured of myself but it is difficult to keep focused and must be very close to whatever you are shooting. It also does video capture - I haven't even begin to wrap my mind around how I might use that. Still the obsessive geek in me spent about 40 minutes looking at my pores in the preview mode. I can't do anything large print wise with it because of the 1.3mp limitation, but still really good and might be truly fun for working in small things like tintypes or in grid installations. Nifty new toy!

Here's the long-awaited art sale info:

2008-12-11T12:46:00.005-05:00

Last Minute Holiday Art Sale
Sunday, December 21st
11am - 3pm
881 Clarks Lane

Artists Participating Include:
Ron Jasin
Suzane Edds
Gary Bell
Scott Scarboro
Terry Wunderlich
Michelle Amos
Mary Yates
and more!

Join us for some holiday cheer and a lot of cool, affordable art!

Don't forget, we are giving away gifts from the artists! Come get some art!

KFW / LMDC Project Gets Some Press

2008-12-01T20:18:00.003-05:00

About a year ago I was selected to be a partner artist with sculptor Joyce Ogden for a special project with the Kentucky Foundation for Women and the Louisville Metro Department of Corrections to create a community art work for the exit lobby of the jail. We recently got some nice press about the project and some of the other components that have evolved in the process of working in the jail in the Courier Journal. Check the article by Dianne Heilenman

New Chemistry Experiements

2008-11-19T20:03:00.007-05:00

I've been in the darkroom. So much fun!!! I've been playing with gum printing and emulsion coating on a nice, sturdy watercolor paper. I think the best part is that even though I have used these processes before, I have to rediscover them each time. That's the one thing that I truly love about the darkroom, the sense of magic and wonder I feel when something actually works.

Ron built a UV exposure unit for his screen printing and I'm finding it very useful for my alternative processes. It's so much handier to have a powerful source of UV light than the sun, particularly since it's very overcast in Kentucky right now. Gear is such a geeky thing to love, but I like chemistry experiments and playing with dangerous light. It makes me feel a little more alive.

My friend Ethel was my gracious model for these images that I'm doing the gum and emulsion prints with. She was a total trooper hiking through the woods with me and getting in awkward positions for my human connection to nature photography. I truly love the interaction with the model, it's a true collaboration. The shot above wouldn't have happened if she hadn't suggested putting the sticky thistle pod into the shot. I'd been carrying that thing for about an hour, dropping it multiple times, and starting to resent picking it up. It was a perfect contrast to the lush ferns and the beautiful tones and soft texture of her hand.

Rollins

2008-11-06T16:13:00.004-05:00

I saw Henry Rollins last night here in L'ville. He spoke for well over two hours. Not only was he brilliant and funny, but he gave me pause to think about some larger issues that have been troubling me. He shared some great stories about his travels around the world and how isolated people have become. Instead of being afraid of new cultures his approach is to hold out his big tattooed arm and just say "Hi, I'm Henry, what's up?" His experience is usually good with this approach and he has managed to travel through Pakistan, Laos and many other countries and feel welcome and truly get to know the other people. He is the example of the beautiful American vs. the typical ugly American tourist we ususally hear about. If we could all work towards being more open with eachother, even our neighbors, we would could perhaps evolve to a higher state of being. In other ways, Rollins also inspired me to think about how eveyone hates their jobs and is dissatisfied with the drudgery we all feel in our day to day routines. Eveything is based in fear, that's why people don't just get out there and do what they love. How would we transform the world if we all just said no to the BS and said yes to living. Rollins seems to truly live his life at 100% - sucking the marrow out of his expeirience on the planet. That's very punk rock and a great lesson in not racing toward death like we're all out of control. We are the masters of our lives and experiences.

Exclusive......rant.....

2008-10-25T00:46:00.003-04:00

So, I recently was told that a local non-profit art space was going out of business and that an Executive Director search was going on. Having been a veteran of a particularly successful small arts non-profit I said naively - "Gee - why didn't I know about all this...I would have been interested in applying." I was told "oh, it was a very "exclusive" search...they were looking for someone with their own money..."!!! What the fuck!!! Since when were non-profit ED's supposed to be people of privilege? Forgive me if I'm wrong, but I thought that was the board of director's role...to be "in" the moneyed crowd and speak on behalf of the organization to raise funds. Have boards forgotten their roles in arts non-profits? My observation is that most boards are willing to sit around and graze on their social luncheons and say what fabulous work "their" organizations are doing while they are actually doing very little for the organization in question. Too many cases in point here in my local art market...what is it like in the rest of the small non-profit art world...thoughts?

Masking Identity

2008-10-22T18:38:00.006-04:00

Several recent experiences have me thinking about identity and the sharing of the true self. I'm terribly disturbed by the apparent phoniness I see around me and indeed perpetuate myself in the name of being a polite member of society. These masks are part of the everyday compromises that we all seem to be willing to make in order to feign survival in the wholly unnatural social order that is the world of earning our livings and fitting in. This is the reason that people don't speak up and tell oppressive or even misguided individuals our true thoughts when asked for an opinion when money is in play. Pure simple survival. The very real fear of judgment and the repercussions of truly speaking ones mind in the environment of business causes us to create sub-personalities to deal more gracefully with these situations. How do we cast off these masks to become truly effective communicators who stand up for our ideals without completely alienating the other party?
Thoughts?

Art Studio Sale!

2008-10-20T14:01:00.002-04:00

Several Unfair artists and I are planning a holiday studio sale - low prices on high art!
Dates / Times TBA - but plan to attend.
I'm studio-cleaning and have some treasures that I'm going to be letting go of for low, low prices to make room for new, fabulous work.
Stay posted!

Back in the darkroom....

2008-10-20T13:45:00.002-04:00

Ok, I've be lazy an in absentia. Well, not really, I've actually been working my tail off which hasn't done much for keeping this blog updated.

So here's the low-down...
I've just completed study sketches for a new body of work and I'm totally jazzed to get photographing and printing. The work will be dealing with the themes of cloaking identity and shaping our outward appearance for public consumption.

The images I have started prepping will be very different from my older work. I'm looking for a clean, simplified expression of identity vs. the more lush, ornate work I have been accustomed to. I think this will be challenging for me because I'm so used ornate imagery and using the less is more philosophy is very new to me but feel that is one step I need to take to grow as an artist.

Artist Talk - LVAA's Food for Thought

2008-07-02T09:46:00.000-04:00

Kat Squared - tintype from digital positive 2007

I'm no stranger to stage fright, that's why I choose to be behind the camera instead of in front of it. So I surprised myself by agreeing to do an art talk for the Louisville Visual Art Association (LVAA), now which I find myself in preparations for. Artist talks are truly wonderful and I really love to hear about inspiration, motivations and the subtleties of craft from people who amaze me with their work and visions. So now I’m in this role and I have to admit that while I’m confident in my work, I’m a little nervous about following last month’s speaker Jim Grubola who did an intelligent and interesting presentation at LVAA’s Food for Thought. Jim’s talk was truly inspiring and covered his art historical inspiration, his love of grids and rendering reflections as well as photographic images of his real-world references for his art making. Not to mention that his speaking style was warm and unpretentious, and possessed an element of humor that left the audience with a good sense of his artwork and techniques. Indeed he will be a hard act to follow.

Still, I’m look forward to my presentation and know that the bar has been set pretty high. I believe I’m up to the task with only slight apprehension about speaking to a room of art-lovers and connoisseurs. My talk will focus primarily on my photographic work in historic processes and I hope to be as engaging a speaker as my predecessors in this Food for Thought program.

For more information of the Louisville Visual Art Association and the Food for Thought program visit:

http://www.louisvillevisualart.org

And on James Grubola:

http://louisville.edu/a-s/finearts/faculty/grubola.html

Cat and I

2008-07-01T10:28:00.001-04:00

This is a picture of me with a photo of my cat Gabriel. I love this cat in a crazy cat lady way. I don't kiss his little gray lips or anything, but some of the finest moments in my life revolve around making Gabe purr. Once while I was doing work for my Tattoo/Fetish series my mother, who is normally adores contemporary art, asked me why this series (www.vividblack.net /tattoo) was so disturbing and why couldn't I just take pictures of kittens on glass tables. I struggle with the kitten-art thing because truly I would love to be taking adorable pictures of cats all day long, but that doesn't seem like a good path for a contemporary artist. Maybe I'll get a chance with some commercial art someday, but it seems like mostly dog fashion (Collars and Couture) is what I get the opportunity to do. I'm not knocking the pups at all, I love doing that stuff, but it seems there should be fashion industry ops for cats too, ya know?

Mariposa Study #2 - painted photograph

2008-07-01T10:25:00.001-04:00

Owl butterflies from Key West sanctuary. They look like little cosmic tree fungi with big eyes.

Mariposa Study #3 - painted photograph

2008-07-01T10:03:00.000-04:00

I'm a bit obsessed with butterflies and took a slew of pictures down in Key West at a butterfly garden. Over the last couple of years I've used the images over and over again in various art pieces but have never just printed the single frame images. Several months ago I was leaving for an art residency and looking through my photo archive. I was struck again by the beauty and vibrant colors of the butterflies and thought I should really do something with these in bold, vivid color - but what? I printed a few out and started to play with some fabulous inks I got for Christmas from my beloved's mother. What a fun way to spend a residency! I love the combination of ink with the photographs and thrilled to start combining my love of photography and illustration.