March – ing On

March is now complete after 3 shows and a family trip to Virginia. The Reading-Berks Chapter of the Pennsylvania Guild of Craftsmen put together a fine show this past weekend. It was the first time that we included student participation, and they were seriously excited about it. We all were.

I enjoy the ride to Kutztown as it takes me through some great country. During Saturday morning’s drive along Rt 737 I had to twice slow and pass horse-drawn carriages. Now that’s fuel economy and conservation. And it’s like being transported back in time to see these carts in use.

Set-up and tear-down were smooth. I select to pay for a space-and-a-half  as it gives me a cleaner presentation and more hanging room. I was fortunate to be set up next to a friend of mine and enjoyed being across from two other crafters with whom I got to speak with for the first time. We were all entertained by Acoustic Roadshow who always does a nice job of bringing a variety of talented singers. We will continue to build on the successes of this show and already have plans for next year to make it better still.

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Colonial Williamsburg

My wife Donna and I have been going to Colonial Williamsburg, VA since 1986. We started taking our daughter Hannah there when she was 2 years old. Hannah loves it there, so we have been going during her spring (read Easter) break. This year Easter was quite early so spring was not in full swing in Virginia. But the weather was great and we had a great trip. Temperatures were in the 70′s in the afternoon, and it was bright and sunny.

We walked through the streets, visited gardens, went on a house tour, enjoyed excellent meals (including maybe the finest dinner I’ve ever had out), and took in a museum. I have been photographing within the colonial city for years and have several prints with me at shows. So, each visit is an opportunity for me to create something new.

However, without much real spring growth during this trip, I concentrated on imagery of a different kind. I focused on people and vignettes of colonial life. The first image was made in Shields Tavern were we had lunch. Character actors often will just be engaged in typical behaviors of the period sometimes greeting other actors or visitors like us. The second image is one I made in a favorite garden where I emphasize the repetition of line and simple arrangement. In addition to some great memories, we also brought back two framed prints and a small original watercolor. Next year, Easter is later, maybe we’ll get back to Williamsburg again.

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Spring Fine Arts and Crafts Festival

The Reading-Berks Chapter of the Pennsylvania Guild of Craftsmen will be presenting our Spring Fine Arts and Crafts Festival this Saturday and Sunday (March 29-30). This show which is held at the Kutztown University Field House, will offer high quality, original art and fine crafts. It is a hidden treasure of a show that I have been involved with since it’s first year (2003). Here is a link to the show web page – Spring Festival

My wife, daughter and I just returned from a wonderful long weekend in Colonial Williamsburg. We really enjoyed great weather, a good deal of history, and some fine dinning. I also use this annual trip to create new imagery with a spring theme. This year with Easter being so early, we were too early for any real spring garden activity. I did very little work, but will post a couple of images in the future.

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Natural History of Art

I’ve studied biology most of my life. In college, my major was Psycho-biology which translated into animal behavior. When I worked as a biologist in Philly, I used the train commute to read, but always fell behind. Now, over four years after leaving that career for this one, I have finally caught up in reading my magazine subscriptions.

So here I am reading a December 2000 issue of Natural History magazine and I come across a fascinating article entitled Birth of the Arts by Ellen Dissanayake. In it she begins to explain her theory of what lies behind the human urge to elaborate and embellish. She suggests that it basically derives from the “emotionally evocative and compelling features of mother-infant interaction”. Further, she places high importance on ceremonies rich in art as efficient means of arousing interest, compelling attention, and conveying important messages. And she provides a purpose for it all – “through being especially riveting, beautiful, rare, painstaking, and astonishing, a people’s arts are emblems to themselves of how much they care about the sacred beliefs that bind and preserve them”.

For me this describes not just the urge to create, but the reason that we all buy and support the arts whether visual, musical, theatrical, or otherwise. And it does so in a biological construct of evolution and anthropology. I’ve just discovered her writings, so there is more I want to read of her (she has at least three books out).

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North Penn – A Better Outcome

Last year the North Penn Select Craft Show was cancelled due to snow! This year we had fair weather and a high near 60F. I hadn’t done this show since 2000 and was very pleased to be back. I was happy with the result and the weather. The first piece to leave my walls was to a couple who had purchased a piece at the fall show last year. I also know that  several pieces went to folks who I have not previously met nor had been to this show before.

Spring starts this Thursday and I’ll be welcoming it. We haven’t had a severe winter, although it started early this year (snow and ice in December). I had the snow-blower out just once! I would have liked a few good blankets of snow on the landscape, but I feel I did a good job of getting out during the few workable snows we had. I’m still in the process of developing some of the images from this winter, but do believe they will make their way to a show soon.

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North Penn Select Craft Show – March 15

This will be my first spring back at this fine show in a few years. The Holiday show is great and crazy, this spring show will be a bit more easy going. Here’s a link to some info – North Penn Select Craft Show.

This past Tuesday I made the drive over to Reading to the Goggleworks. I was invited to submit my work to achieve Juried status with the Reading-Berks Guild of Craftsmen. My work was well received and so I am now a Juried member of this chapter of the Pennsylvania Guild of Craftsmen. The Goggleworks is really a neat place. As I walked through the maze of halls looking for my meeting place, I passed ballet dancers and belly dancers. Throughout the Goggleworks there are studios devoted to a large variety of crafts and big windows allow you to see the craftspeople at work.

Yesterday I took another drive (I’m keeping better track of this stuff for next year’s taxes), this time to Longwood Gardens. I met a friend there and we worked the conservatory for several hours and then had lunch (which is quite good at Longwood). There were actually quite a number of photographers there with us, all very serious in their pursuits.

Photography, like any other endeavor, requires practice. So even if I leave a location not feeling particularly successful, working with my camera and exercising my vision is a must for future success. What I need to do is spend an entire day at Longwood.

This image of orchids is both graphic and colorful and represents well the type of imagery I was looking to achieve. The color in the center (negative space) is of flowers in the distance that I have out-of-focus. I was working handheld with a Canon 70-300mm IS DO lens at 300mm. My depth-of-field is very shallow due to the long focal length and my close focusing of the subject.

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Sugarloaf – The Day After

The day after a Sugarloaf show is pretty similar to the day after any other show I do. I’m tired and sore, but up at 6:30am to read and have my coffee. Oh yea, and get my daughter out of bed to make sure she gets on the school bus. First thing, if I haven’t already done it the night before, is to process the credit card slips and prepare any checks for deposit.

The day after a show I often take myself out to breakfast at a favorite local diner (you know, where they know your name and they bring the coffee without being asked). Once back home I create a list of pieces sold, update the inventory files and the running totals for each title sold. This allows me to know long term what the most popular pieces are and where they are in the limited edition.

Once I finish the bookkeeping, I can either head to the bank or consider doing some printing to replace what sold. I may also just decide to lay on the couch until dark, but usually not. If I have any orders to ship, that comes first. Turns out that I did have a piece to ship, so I worked on preparing that for UPS. It was the first piece I sold as a result of the show. Someone who had been to the show a couple years ago, contacted me to purchase it.

So that’s it, lots of bookkeeping and maybe a bit of preparation for the next show, but nothing too extreme. After 4 days of setting up and actually working the show, a half day of taking it easier is in order.

The piece I am shipping is shown below. It’s titled Flight Unfurled.

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Set Up – Sugarloaf, Somerset

I was scheduled for first wave into the Garden State Exhibit Center to set up for the Sugarloaf Craft Show. This basically means an early rise, load the car, attach my 4×8′ trailer and stop at Starbucks.

The ride was smooth enough and except for a big blue dump-truck that wanted my lane while I was in it, Rt 78 heading east was rather tame. I thought I would be toward the front of the line getting to the exhibit center, but no dice. Oh well, I had reading material and coffee for the hour wait before the bay door would open to let us drive in.

Turns out they decided to start early and the line snaked into the exhibit center. It was decided that my trailer wouldn’t fit near my space and so after driving in I had to pull to the side and wheel my work by cart to space 325. No big deal, maybe even for the best.

After unloading, I checked in at the show office and got my hospital bracelet. Yea it’s a bit odd but, it’s their way of identifying me each morning. I was pretty happy with set up, I seemed to be in a good groove. I bought some new light bulbs to give more light to my work, and my new print bin from ProPanels is great. I’m also happy with the new pieces I have for this year’s shows and I’m anxious to get responses to them. I need to improve the overall presentation, but I do think I’m making steady progress.

We’ll see how the weekend goes, weather is iffy tomorrow and Saturday. I’m looking forward to looking through the show myself and talking with some friends I haven’t seen in several months.

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Sugarloaf – Somerset NJ, March 7-9

This is the week, first show of the year. Starting off the year at a Sugarloaf show is jumping in head first. This is a 3 day show with good attendance. Set up is hectic, but at least the show doesn’t start until the next day.

Here is a link to the Sugarloaf Somerset website so you can see the full range of info about the show and even get a coupon off admittance – Sugarloaf-Somerset

One of the new images I will be showing at Sugarloaf is a black & white rendition of “Vermont Dream”. This is a picture I made during a fall workshop a couple years ago.  The final matted dimensions are 16×20″ and the print is made on a professional matt paper.

The image was made early morning during a heavy fog on the property of Jenne Farm. I enjoy the moodiness that the fog imparts on the landscape. It adds a sense of mystery and solemnness. The birch trees take on an almost ghostly feeling, yet there is a calming in the rounded shape of the hill in the foreground. 

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