Paul Grecian - Photography

For the second year, this fine show will be held at the Chase Center on the riverfront in Wilmington Delaware. I set up this Thursday for the show that begins on Friday and runs through Sunday. The Chase Center is an attractive location and the riverfront a relaxed environment to come and do some shopping for fine art and other fine handmade craft.

Having just returned from the Audubon Art and Craft Festival in Hawley this weekend, I don’t have much time to catch up. My wife, daughter and I had a fine time in Hawley. It was great seeing some artist friends at the show and over dinner.  I appreciate greatly the support of patrons who came back to see me and select new pieces for their homes.

I really am anxious though to have some time to get into the field again.

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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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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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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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When I was asked to speak to the Bucks County Chapter of the Pennsylvania Guild of Craftsmen, I did not hesitate. I live in Bucks County, so the commute would not be difficult. My talk yesterday was only hampered by the inch of slush on the ground. Even though, the group that showed up was attentive and friendly.

I have gotten used to talking about myself and my work after 12+ years of doing so at shows and other speaking requests. I had a Starbucks brew on hand and so even after an hour of solid speaking, I felt that I could have gone another hour longer. There are shows where I’ll talk pretty continuously for 9 hours or more, so an hour isn’t asking much.

This talk was both biographical and photography oriented. I try to give a feel for my background in the medium, my motivation, and approach to image making. I also try to relay a sense of what is involved in fine art photography and answer the most commonly asked questions I receive at shows. These questions usually relate to how often I make an image I like, how long it takes to make one, and how good my equipment must be. By framing my talk around these questions, I can dispel a lot of misunderstanding about the medium and the process.

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Year 2008 is beginning to shape up. I now have a feel for my show schedule which will include a few changes from last year, and I am making progress on selecting and printing new work. I will be posting my intended show schedule on my primary web site www.paulgrecianphoto.com soon.

Last night was the first 2008 meeting of the Lehigh Valley Chapter of the Pennsylvania Guild of Craftsmen. My role as Vice President of the LV Chapter is to  arrange and run programs. For our first meeting of the year I wanted to discuss where it is the members wanted to go with the chapter and their own craft endeavors. Even though we work in a variety of different mediums, we are all dealing with the same overarching issues about creating, displaying and selling our work.

I’ve been playing Simon Schama’s Power of Art DVDs while working in the studio and I have to admit it’s been a distraction. I’ve only gotten through Caravaggio, Bernini and Rembrandt but man this is good stuff. Riveting stories all. Schama’s narration is fantastic. These DVDs are not for young children though. I’ve seemingly developed quite a fascination with art history.

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I had the opportunity to speak to a group at Kutztown University today. A few members of the Reading-Berks (R-B) Chapter of the Pennsylvania Guild of Craftsmen visited the University and spoke with students interested in selling their work at juried shows. The R-B Chapter will be including student artists/crafters in their spring 2008 show held at Kutztown University.

When I was a senior in college, selling my work at shows wasn’t even on my radar. I was on a different track at that point even though I was still working to learn and progress as a photographer. I built a darkroom in the closet of my first apartment and photographed around the grounds. Anything to keep the creative juices going.

If I spoke with you today and you want to comment on anything or ask a question, please feel free to do so.

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The Pennsylvania Guild of Craftsmen’s Holiday Show at Franklin and Marshall in Lancaster, PA this past weekend was a fun show. I got to talk with friends I don’t see often enough and as the crowd was never overwhelming, had time to talk with patrons as well. My neighbor at the show was a basket maker who has taken the craft to an art form. Turning 90 years old at Christmas this year, he is still working at his craft. Quite an inspiration. Having just turned 44 myself, I can’t even imagine doing shows for another 46 years!

I made the mistake of taste-testing a Sand Castle Winery Alpine Spice - bought 2 bottles. It’s great served warm! Let a friend of mine try it, she bought 2 bottles. It will be nice for the holidays.

During the Holiday Show, the Guild creates a gallery area on the show floor for display of Juried Crafter’s work with a chosen theme. This year’s theme was Movement. As a juried member at the state level, I was invited to participate in the gallery and did so. Monetary Awards are given in several categories with various sponsorship.  I was very pleased to receive the Best Use of Theme award for my image Flight Unfurled. Being selected among the great juried work in a variety of mediums was gratifying. Equally nice was being congratulated by crafters whose work I admire.

I am finishing orders taken during the last few shows and by phone/email. Then, the studio needs a good cleaning.

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Actually, it’s my birthday today, a personal new years of a sort. I like birthdays, what more important day can there be right? I’m spending mine preparing for the Pennsylvania Guild of Craftsmen’s State Show at Franklin and Marshall in Lancaster, PA this weekend. I’ll have lunch out and a special dinner this evening.

I’m a nostalgic person, maybe one of the reasons I’m drawn to photography. Birthdays are a day of reflection for me. I’ll consider how the last year has gone and what I want to achieve in the next year. With my last show of the year being this weekend, one of the things I want to achieve is a day off (and a clean studio)!

If you see me at Franklin and Marshall this weekend, feel free to wish me a Happy New Years (or birthday if you prefer).

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This weekend (Nov. 10-11) I will be participating in the 22nd Annual Holiday Marketplace show produced by the Lehigh Valley Chapter of the Pennsylvania Guild of Craftsmen. This is an intimate show with a nice selection of media and craft. It is a great opportunity to casually walk around and select hand-made and artistic works for gifts or personal enjoyment.

The TV commercials are already appearing on Ch 69 here in the Lehigh Valley, so the word is getting out! As Vice President of this chapter of the Pennsylvania Guild, I know the hard work that the show chair and volunteers have put in and will continue to put in. It’s greatly appreciated!

Here’s a link to the show website -

 http://lvcraftsguild.org/Shows___Events/shows___events.html

Last year Ch 69 came to the show and covered it for the evening news. Coverage included great footage of me bending down, this year I’ll try to be more conscious of where the camera is.

Speaking of television, several people at the Reading/Berks Chapter show last weekend mentioned seeing me on Berks Community Television. BCTV played the episode of Your Berks Craftsmen on which I appeared, all week prior to the craft show. Viewership seemed to be high.

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