Heading into Summer

Here we are at the end of May! I’m preparing for my next outdoor show – Peddler’s Village Fine Art and Contemporary Crafts Show in Lahaska, PA. Then comes the marathon Kutztown Folk Festival (9 days long), followed by a show up in Hawley PA and another in Delaware. That takes me through July. I’m working hard to print, mount, mat and frame enough work so that I don’t have to work evenings after a show day. In other words, I want to get my ducks in a row right up front. Somewhere in there I will need to get into the field and make some new images as well.

In the mean time, here is a piece I titled Ducks in a Row.It is of a mother wood duck (third bird from left) and all of her young. I find the different postures of each of the birds gives this image great character. My favorite is the bird on the far right who seems to be wondering why he’s the only one with wet feet. This image was made with a Canon EOS 1D Mark II and a Canon EF 500mm f4.0 L IS lens with a Canon TC1.4X to bring the total glass to 700mm. I changed my position slightly to include some reflected blue sky on the left. My initial images with all green reflections were not as interesting I thought.

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A Nice Trend

As I was quoted saying in an article that appeared in yesterday’s Morning Call (link), Mayfair (Allentown, PA) had very good attendance and clear weather. I met many great people and was pleased by the response to my work. Five days makes for a long show and the hours ran well into the night. It was cool to have my canopy lit after dark, this is not something I’ve done before.

A trend that I’m experiencing at shows, including Mayfair this past long weekend, is parents purchasing work for their accompanying child or children. Sometimes it’s the kids themselves that have the money and want a piece of art for themselves or as a gift for someone else. Either way, I am making more sales for or to young kids. This past weekend I made three such sales. One father who purchased an 11×14 print and an 8×10 print for his kids said it was time for them to begin to appreciate art work. How great it that?

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Mayfair Festival of the Arts – Starts Thurs.

This is quite an event! Art, food, music and more all in Allentown, PA at Cedar Beach Park. The festival starts this Thursday, May 22 and runs through Monday, May 26. I’ll be there all five days. Here is a link to their informative website -Mayfair. This year’s theme is Art and Soul!

 

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Fun Images to Sell

There are some images that I find great joy in selling. When someone goes away with a purchase of one of these fun images, I feel good in a different way than I do about a bigger purchase. One such image is titled Curious Grasshopper. Here is an image of an insect that just has a lot of character. Some people just respond well to this piece, others do not. But then this is what makes selling artwork of any kind a bit of an adventure.

The grasshopper in this image is looking right at the viewer and hangs between two blades of a cattails plant. It is an image that I made at Hawk Mountain during a summer morning visit. I noticed this grasshopper within a group of cattails and began to compose. My initial compositions were not exciting me and as the grasshopper was moving, I began to try to anticipate a composition based on where it was heading. I composed an image ahead of the grasshopper’s route. Then I waited. I figured grasshoppers where quick movers and that he would be within my frame in no time. I discovered that this grasshopper moved one leg at a time, and very slowly. Ultimately, my subject worked his way into my composition and held steady thank you. I struggled to focus on the grasshopper’s eyes and gain enough depth to keep its nose in focus. My lens choice was a Nikkor 75-300mm zoom set up on a tripod.

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Whew!

Man I am glad that the Bethleham Fine Arts and Craft Show went over this past weekend without the weather we had today. Although the weekend was quite cool and mostly cloudy, it was nothing compared to the dreary, very windy day we had today. Winds did force a few artists to pack up early yesterday, but the winds we had today would have forced almost everyone out.

Overall, the crowd was a good size this past weekend (especially Sunday) and the people who left with work from my booth were mostly new collectors. Several told me that they visited my website before coming out. It was also nice that the show committee selected one of my images as the primary element of the show poster. Reproduction was not the greatest, but it’s the thought that counts, right?

I’ll admit that this outdoor show, my first of the year, was exhausting. I took it easy today but will start preparing for Mayfair in Allentown starting on the 15th. More on that to come.

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An Artist’s Biggest Fear

I had the good fortune to be able to spend some time with an artist friend of mine. She is a fabric artist, a visual artist. In our discussion I mentioned how sometimes my wife is jealous of the passion I feel about my medium and what I do. I love that feeling of passion I have for photography and the visual arts that I work in. Its a feeling I haven’t felt toward any other work I have done. My friend expressed the same feelings for her medium and that she has been on the other side of the issue, that is, being a bit jealous of someone else who had the passion before she found hers.

Then my friend said something that surprised me a bit. She feared losing inspiration. It occured to me that an artist’s biggest fear is really a loss of the passion and inspiration to create new pieces more than anything else. If we don’t sell our work we can still create it and work at finding our patrons. But to lose the inspiration and the passion is to lose the very core of our creative beings. Even if we were to continue to sell our work, the feeling of self worth as an artist would be gone. That would be very hard to take I think. 

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Downtown Bethlehem Fine Art Show – May 10-11

The Bethlehem Fine Arts Commission presents its annual juried fine arts and crafts show this coming weekend May 10-11 (Art Show Link). This will be my second year participating in this outdoor exhibition and sale and my first outdoor show of the year. Last year I had an unexpected visitor, Henry Winkler! He dropped into my booth early in the morning and spent some time with a friend looking at my work. I didn’t recognize him until he spoke, but the voice was still that of the Fonz. He was doing a book signing at the Moravian Book Store just down from where I was set up. Rain or shine, I will be at the show and in the same space as last year, across from the wonderful Bethlehem Hotel.

The fox den I was working is no longer productive. Mom fox had the good sense to move her young away from the road, but I miss seeing them. Maybe next year. I spent yesterday morning hiking some and exploring new paths. Later in the day I went bike riding with my daughter. Today , I am feeling the bike seat still and the legs could use a rest. I busted my frame point gun so I may just have to take it easy tomorrow.

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Sensual Tulip

For the second year in a row, I made an excursion to Longwood Gardens in Kennet Square, PA for their annual tulip display. We actually had a frost that same morning and that may have effected their condition. As a result, I took a different approach to the popular subject. I still need to develop these new images so here is a piece from last year which I like. I’ve now achieved a nice small body of work of tulips, a subject which I am increasingly growing fond.

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