The Bear that Ate Fort Collins

Photography is such an exact science. Excuse, me, it’s supposed to be art. Wait a minute, and we must have everything exact and it all must be clean. The chemistry must be mixed just right, and that takes science! And, the bigger the sensor the better. Megapixel creep is great. My lens weighs more than, your lens, it must be better…..!!

Hurmph! At times like these I like to reach for a plastic toy camera. My latest, the Lomo Fisheye (www.lomography.com) cost $35. After all, isn’t a photographer out to create an image that will capture they eye’s attention? Does the photo always have to be razor sharp? All the colors true to life? Science must be balanced by art.

Organizing for classes in early 2007

I started a class this past fall in basic digital photography, and it was well received by 3 enthusiastic participants. But to make this class thing a financially worthwhile pursuit (is there such a thing in the art business??) I need more folks to take the classes. But it’s a lot of work, and like any endeavor, it takes a while to build a following. Got to keep on keeping on!

For next year, I am planning a series of short courses with prerequisites, either an earlier class, or state what knowledge you need to get the most out of the class. So what would people like to see in a range of digital photo classes? I guess I’ll go visit with the Stephen J Allen Photography marketing department. I’ve got all the possibilities diagramed, now all I’ve got to do, with help of the marketing department, is get out may digital decision device. . .and call heads or tails!

Is CB EZ?

I’m not sure we’ll ever know. Or, if it matters. But the question will remain in the soft rocks of the old Fort, which is right off of I-25 north of Fort Collins, Colorado. Until someone comes by and changes it, that is. The old Fort has quite a history, as an outlaw hideout, an interstate rest stop, and now for a place to party and shoot fireworks.

The old Fort is now filled with graffiti deeply carved into the rocks and trash. It’s a shame that such a treasure cannot be preserved.

Mask. Done.

Here is my Mask for MOCA in its final form. I know, I know, there is a hot spot from the on-camera strobe on the face of the mask. Couldn’t find my up-side-down tripod--- still suffering from the great Studio Tour Clean Up, I guess.

Anyway, please come see the show. I think it’s a great idea to have a hundred –or-so artists work on the same “canvas.” Information on Masks at MOCA can be found at this link:

http://fcmoca.org/events.html

Now, my dear three little Fates, can I do some photography? Please? Please. . . .

back from the dead?

Okay. When blogging, you’re supposed to keep it up. Blog about what you’re doing. I just started this, and there was the studio tour. Lots of clean up to do. Then I started a class called the Nuts and Bolts of Digital Photography. All good stuff. There have been several highlights this year.

But then in early October, I broke my arm. Argh. What a year 2006 has been. A broken arm was not the worst of it by far, but I don’t want to get into it right now. With too much to do, and the bad luck runs in waves – no more like Tsunamis! When my luck changes back, life will be easy. In other words, I’ll have lots of time to create art.

What am I working on now? Here is my Mask for MOCA, in progress. MOCA is the Fort Collins Museum of Contemporary Art, and the Mask show, coming in February is their big fundraiser. But I still have to have this done by this Friday, 11/18/2006!

The Leaf.

This past March, when hiking near Sedona, I found this leaf right in the middle of the trail. If I had been looking off, I would have scrunched it. If my dog had been with me, she would have scrunched it. Would have previous hikers on the trail carefully stepped over it, or missed it by accident? In any case, the leaf was waiting for me to find it.

Right now, the finished exhibition print is at the Fort Collins Museum of Contemporary Art, waiting to be hung in the Studio Tour Preview show, which opens September 1st. I hope this was the right print to choose, and it will draw folks into my studio during the Tour, on the 16th and 17th of September.

I guess what draws me most to this photo is the gradual change in tone on the leaf as it curls outward, against the consistent tonal value of the soil. The structure of the leaf is also intrigues me. What do you think?

My latest painting, Dirty Sams In a New Face, was created with pastels. I began this painting with a group of other artists from the Colorado Coalition of Artists, during our Old Town Paint Out, in July 2006. Old Town is the heart of Fort Collins, and the buildings there have been lovingly restored in the last 25 years or so. However, I still remember a great 3.2 bar from my college days at Colorado State back in the early seventies. Sometimes, I'm not sure change is good. . .

I did very much enjoy working in pastel. I seem to love bright colors, and pastels give that easily... and they are easy to mix, right there on the paper after application. You can create a mess though with all that pastel dust, but that may be part of the fun?

This was one of the easiest paintings (and most fun) paintings I've ever done. Creating the piece was a lot of work, but enjoying old memories with new friends created a most enjoyable experience. Should I say it...?? It almost just painted itself!