Symbolism

During 2020 and most of 2021, my artist wife Lin and I spent most of our time at home on our farm. We were still creating in our respective studio spaces, but had much more free time. Most of the 7+ acres of land we have is meadow, wetland, and woods, that we let grow wild. Our show schedule keeps us very busy but during this time we were able to walk the acres regularly. As we explored the thickets and the tall grasses, we discovered a variety of natural treasures – snake skins, turtle shells, downed bird nests, deer bones, interesting rocks and feathers. It began to become a collection.

With all of this free time to work in the studio, I started thinking about still-life photography — not something I typically do. I started with flowers and grasses that Lin had dried, then moved on to more animate subjects. I wasn’t really sure what I wanted to say with these remnants, so I just allow myself to create instinctively. Ultimately, I became drawn to an antlered deer skull, a nest with three eggs, and a turtle shell. The arrangement happened quickly, I tried not to overthink it.

I liked the result, but wasn’t satisfied that it conveyed what I wanted. Or maybe, I just didn’t know why I made the image, so I just let it be. Fast forward a year and I started to look at the image again and realized something about it I missed earlier. The three elements in the image – nest, turtle shell, and deer skull, all are symbolic of protection, safety, guardianship. The nest protects the eggs, the shell protects the turtle, and the antlers protect the deer. Subconsciously, was I looking for the reassurance that life would get back to normal? There’s multiple interpretations of this arrangement of objects.

Esthetically, I was still struggling with the image. I tend to equate symbolism with mythology, and mythology with historic images. So I decided to give the image the feeling of an old sepia toned glass plate photograph. I found this rendering satisfying and after several weeks of “sitting” on it, was happy to go ahead and print it. I’ve titled it – The Guardian.

In The Book!

Today was the official ceremony for the international Bird Photographer of the Year competition. The ceremony was held in Bristol, England around 2:00 PM (EDT). This is considered the premier bird photography competition in the world which this year garnered almost 20,000 submissions.

A while ago I shared that I had been Short-Listed to be Bird Photographer of the year for each of three images I submitted. The Short List represents about the top 10% of submissions, but even a smaller percentage of photographers, so it’s a big honor to be on the list.

I can now share that I have received a Commendation in this years awards and so happily, I am in the 2022 Collection of Bird Photographer of the Year. A coffee-table book which publishes all of the selected work for this collection is now being shipped. This 7th collection of the top photographer’s images represents just over 1% of all the images submitted from around the world.

The image above is the one that is included in the 2022 Collection. Made right here on Shady Grove Farm as part of a winter bird project of mine; it will also be available as a Limited Edition print from my website – HERE.

Close-up Photographer of the Year – Shortlisted Image #1

Close-up Photographer of the Year (CUPOTY), is an international competition now in its third year. It has drawn some of the best image makers in the world, and the results have been marvelous. This year’s competition – CUPOTY 03, set a new standard with around 10,000 submissions! The Shortlisted images were announced this past Wednesday. Being Shortlisted is the goal of every image maker entering this prestigious event. A Shortlisted image is one that is recognized to be in the top echelon of the genre. You can see the Shortlisted images on the CUPOTY website – HERE. Throughout several categories you will find stunning imagery with artistic merit as well as craftsmanship.

I was very pleased to be recognized in this year’s competition by having three images make the shortlist; two in the Insects category and one in the Intimate Landscapes category (I have also made the Shortlist in CUPOTY 02, and CUPOTY Color, both last year). I’d like to tell you about each one of this year’s Shortlisted images (I’ll do it in separate posts).

The first image is of a leafhopper on the stem of a plant with Dahlia flowers in the background. It is an image about color and form more than anything else. I didn’t make the image to inform about what a leafhopper looks like. Rather I wanted to use the brilliant colors of the leafhopper as a foundation for an image which is about the impact it had on me. The repetition of color between the insect and its background was exciting. I composed the solid green line of the stem, broken by the colorful form of the leafhopper, against the brilliant Dahlia flower reds because that combination elicited the greatest response in me. Ultimately, my goal is to have an esthetic experience, and this image fulfilled that goal. I am especially interested in esthetic experiences that can take place in everyday settings, in this case the gardens of our farm. Through this imagery I hope that others will find these everyday esthetic experiences in their own spaces.

I used an Olympus OM-D E-M5 camera with an Olympus 60mm M Zuiko lens at f8 and 1/100th sec. at ISO 800. I use Olympus often for close-up/macro work because its small size allows me to get into niches where a larger camera-lens combination would be awkward. The system is great for this type of work.

Close-up Photographer of the Year – CUPOTY 03, Shortlisted image

Winter Bird Project

Buy Prints Here

As part of my overall effort to make the farm into an “outdoor studio,” I’ve spent much of the year getting to know the creatures that reside here with us. Because of travel restrictions, my wife and I have made great strides to improve the farm’s landscaping and gardens. We have a nicely diverse 7 1/2 acres of field, woods, wetland, and flower beds.

Among our many projects, we wanted to create a couple areas dedicated to birds. For this purpose, I allocated a couple pieces of white-picket fencing. These I placed in a back field overlooking a grassy wetland area where birds often naturally feed. It is also an area that I can watch from my second floor studio window.

My aesthetic goal for this series is to make photographs with visual simplicity, strong geometry, and expressiveness. Birds take on a variety of postures which we translate as body language. We do this naturally with other people as we try to gage someone’s mood. And while it is certainly an exercise in anthropomorphism to suggest that a birds body position always signifies their inner feelings, it is likely to be true at least some of the time. Even if it is never true, their posture certainly speaks to us which is all that really matters.

One of my favorite winer birds is the iconic “Snowbird” – the Dark-eyed Junco. This familiar, two-toned visitor is perfect for the type of minimalist winter imagery I want to make. The red berries add vibrance to an otherwise monochromatic scene. I composed in order that the Junco’s colors were in contrast with its background and yet still harmonious to the color palette of the image overall. Titles Snowbird, this image is available now as a Limited Edition print at my on-line gallery – HERE

For this series so far, I have been working entirely without a tripod, something that is rare for me. But the freedom to respond using a handheld lens has been very beneficial. In this case I am using an Olympus 100-400mm on an Olympus E-M1 X which I am finding to be a wonderful combination. I am still not happy wearing gloves though, so despite the cold, I am working bare-handed.

Fulfill Your Dreams

Animals have always had symbolic meaning for people. Many cultures and individuals still consider the sighting of certain animals as highly significant events. One of the most cherished of sightings is of a bird that is thought to represent many of life’s best experiences – joy, love, peace, overcoming adversity, the fulfilling of dreams. What bird can signify so much all by itself? Well, its the amazing little hummingbird!

And no wonder, right? It’s incredible flight ability, it’s diminutive size, it’s great power and resilience to migrate enormous distances, all make for the things of myth and legend. It’s both magnificently delicate and fierce at the same time.

We have always had a few plants which attract hummingbirds to our farm. This year my wife Lin made sure we had Bee Balm as well. Beautiful red flowers are hard to resist, especially for the hummers doing their tour around the farm.

I read during afternoon coffee time on our front porch which puts me in view of the Bee Balm. I had established that the hummers visit the plant around that time. In addition to my coffee mug and Kindle, I’ll have my camera with a long telephoto lens attached. I prefocus, preset the exposure, and previsualize compositions. Hummingbirds are fast and don’t typically hang around for long. My last quick decisions have to happen on the fly (sorry), but the result was marvelous. I hope you like it too.

For a print of this image, go to my website HERE.

Staying Connected

Wanting to stay connected with you all, Lin and I have created a great way to keep in touch that we hope you will like. We have joined Patreon, a patron and fan platform that enables you to be a part of our artistic process.

Lin and I have designed a variety of Tiers with specific benefits. You can choose the package which best matches your desire to accompany us on our artistic endeavors.

Both in the studio and around the farm, you will get an insider’s look at what the lives of two full time creatives is like. Each tier comes with specific benefits for you to select among, but all come with an increased level of interaction that we have not found fully possible on other social media. It is easy to set up your patronage, change tiers, or take a break if you want to, so we hope you will come along with us on this wild journey we are on. Many fascinating artists are already on Patreon, even major institutions like the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

Here’s the link – Shady Grove Studios on Patreon – join now or take a look around and float us any questions. We’d love you to come visit us regularly. With you “in the studio” we will continue to make the art you want and have an exciting shared experience.

Hanging In There

The life of a full-time artist is multifaceted. For me it is primarily about the creative process of exploring a personal vision, and means of expression through a chosen medium. But being an artist is also a life-style choice which includes every aspect of daily living. This is certainly true for my wife Lin and I who live on a small farm from which we create our art. Every aspect of our farm is geared toward the creative process. From the almost 200 year old farmhouse which contains our multiple studio spaces, to the fiber-providing alpaca, gardens for growing dye plants, the natural areas we foster, and even the barn cats, we derive most of our inspiration from this farm.

There is nothing about the current situation which keeps us from making the art we want to make. What has changed drastically is the normal marketing of our work we do at fine craft and art shows throughout the year. So far though, we are hanging in there. We are also working on new, exciting ways to stay engaged with our clients, customers, and patrons.

This picture of one of our barn cat kittens exemplifies how we all feel. A wonderful thing about animals is their ability to express for us many of the  emotions we experience. This rascal enjoyed the challenge of climbing, sometimes beyond its true ability. This piece is now part of my Barn Cat Series available at my gallery online HERE.

Peanut and Percy

Living on a farm with a bunch of cats is an experience unlike any I had growing up in Philadelphia. While there have always been cats in my home life, it is only since my move to Shady Grove Farm that I fully understand what a clan of cats is like. They are each their own personalities with behaviors ranging from socially dependent to absolutely fearful of us.

Even as an animal behaviorist by schooling, I am still surprised by how much the cat’s group behavior mirrors that of a pride of lions. Social interactions between the members include a lot of head butting, females sharing in the nursing of young, and group sleeping. Observing the cats interacting with each other and their use of the farm habitat has been fascinating and sometimes just plain fun.

Two of my favorite individuals in the group have been Peanut and Percy. Peanut (the kitten on the left in the image above) was a very precocious kitten. She interacted with her mother like a child; playing, chasing, and annoying her. Percy was dropped off at our farm with his three sisters last summer. He has a friendly disposition, never acting aggressively toward either my wife Lin or me. He’s a good looking cat as well and I knew I would want to photograph him.

Peanut has become a mini-celebrity in my work already. The interaction between her and Percy is so indicative of both of their personalities that this image is very special to me. Titled Nose to Nose, the print is now a part of my Barn Cat Series on my gallery website HERE

Visual Touch

My first foray into the medium of photography was in making close-up images, technically called “macro photography.” Growing up in a city, even in rather suburban-like Northeast Philly, I had access to limited nature. My interest in nature drove my image making anyway. Because of this, I had to find my inspiration in very small areas (square feet instead of square miles). A macro lens allowed me to make images within a field of view of inches. At that level of exploration, everything becomes interesting and new.

Since that time, the content of my images has expanded to include every scale of nature (wildlife, landscape, even the universe!). Now I live on a farm (very un-city like). And, I find myself looking to explore again at the macro level. I find that I can express as much in the space of a few inches as I can in a landscape depicting a few acres.

Images of the macro kind are made with the same thoughts and feelings as any other type of image. I still deal with experiences, metaphors, color, line, shape, texture, light — just in a smaller area.

Above is an example of an image I made a while ago at Longwood Gardens (just outside of Philly). It is a minimalistic piece with strong color. The color content is harmonious more than complementary. The yellow against the red is very powerful. Keeping the brighter yellow as a small part of the image, I feel, keeps the image balanced.

“Just as you say that a body feels warm to the hand, so you might say that it feels red to what you see with” ~ Virgil C. Aldrich.

 

Artistic Growth

Artistic growth. It is not something planned, it happens organically as experience and knowledge are gained. When I first started working with a camera, my primary intent was to record what I saw. It was a rather literal representation that guided my purpose.  I’ve been working with a camera for 40 years though and have long understood that photography is not just a literal medium. It is a selective, abstracting, very plastic medium when so desired.

When one looks at the world with artistic vision, with the need to express feeling, and personal values, the medium of expression is of little relevance. I find myself less interested in the typical photographic renderings based on sublime locations and extraordinary events. If an image elicits a response of “luck”, “right-place, right-time”, or “where did you get that?” I wonder if I am creating something personal enough. While, there are certainly times and places which drive me to make images, I hope that those images are more than recordings. I want them to be about something bigger than the content in the frame.

While any selective process has an element of personal meaning to it, I acknowledge that  my response to an event or place can be guided by a desire to impress others or for financial gain. As an artist who must live off the work he does, I accept that my motivation is from more than one thing. But also, as an artist, I have to create images consistent with what drove me to be a full time artist. Right now, that work is rather different than when I started, and even different than what I was creating 5 years ago. If I were still creating the same pictures that I was 30-40 years ago (or even five years ago), I would be stating that my life and experiences have led me nowhere new, that I have not grown, or changed in any way. And that would not be true.

Much of my new work is done on the 7 1/2 acres of farmland my artist wife and I own, or in my studio within the farmhouse. Here the aesthetic experiences are simple but no less profound. As in other locations where I have worked for many years, I see more deeply with increased submersion. On or near the farm, I have daily, seasonal, and yearly interaction with nature and it is here that my most authentic work is now done.