The Chrome Lens

Last summer I embarked on a new artistic path by taking up photography again. I had gotten way out of the photography circle when everything turned digital. I resisted the change. Although photography was by no means new to me, I suddenly felt Green. I was in High School when I took my first darkroom photography class, and was instantly hooked. I continued with photography in college, and at the time, it was still all Darkroom image processing and manipulation. I was taught by some amazing Professors that really knew their field. I learned the History of Photography, about Ansel Adams and Louis Daguerre, and about processes such as Dodging and Burning and home made pinhole cameras. All the "good stuff". Even though I was a Ceramics major, I had many friends pursuing a major in photography, and even had a darkroom in my basement. I took well beyond a minors worth of photography, because I loved it so much. Back then, we considered digital photography "cheating." It was new on the streets and just seemed so easy and effortless that it couldn't possibly be a real way to capture an image. Plus, it was way to expensive to get into when your film SLR had so many great lenses, flashes and equipment.


**Fast forward to 2009**


I see now, that through the evolution of cameras, we are opened up to an even broader image creating world. I appreciate it now. I love my digital SLR and all of its bells and whistles. ;)


This summer, I took a class taught by Bill Nichols at IPFW. It was called "Know Your Digital SLR"... exactly what I needed. Having no idea how to navigate through the menus, I was in possession of a piece of equipment that I had no idea how to use. After taking the course, I feel more comfortable. Image making and picture taking are two different things, and most of what can be done with a good image comes with editing. I am currently using Photoshop CS5, and am still a bit rusty with the new advanced version. During college we were using Photoshop 3 or something like that, a relic by this point. Sometimes *I* feel like a Relic when I speak to the young and blossoming new photographers. I am excited to be kept on my toes in the ever growing and changing world of photography, though. I don't resist the change anymore.


I do feel, however, lucky enough to have found my voice through my experiences with my Professors. Many of them are still teaching and are trying to break into the digital world. My only hope is that the old processes are not lost in this new digital world. So much is gained through that particular artistic process. I feel lucky to have had that. I have been critiqued to tears, and even been told to go back and start all over after working on a collection for weeks. We would all sit around after a critique and say "Can you believe that!" thinking our professors had no clue what they were talking about. But now, no one can take away what light was brought to me through my experiences in art school, and I have earned the title "Artist." 


Just last night Nathan was working on his sketches for his metal working class and came to me saying:
"Something just isn't right with this design."

I simply said: "Well, I guess you're just going to have to start over." 


My professors would be so proud...


Here are a few freshly edited pieces, and of course, critiques are welcomed  

Feels so good, Feelin good again

Standin' down on Main Street 

Across from Mr, Blues

In my faded leather jacket 

And my weathered Brogan shoes

A chill north wind was blowin'

But the spring was comin' on 

As I wondered to myself

Just how long I had been gone 

*

So I strolled across old Main Street

Walked down a flight of stairs 

Stepped into the hall 

And saw all my friends were there 

A neon sign was flashin' "Welcome come on in"

It feels so good feelin' good again

*

My favorite band was playin' 

An Otis Redding song

When they sang the chorus 

Everybody sang along

Dan and Margarita 

were swayin' side by side 

I heard they were divorcin' 

But I guess they let it slide

And I wished I had some money with 

which to buy a round

*

I wished I'd cashed my paycheck 

Before I came to town

But I reached into my pocket 

Found three twenties and a ten

It feels so good feelin' good again

*

There was old man Perkins

Sittin' on his stool

Watchin' Butch and Jimmy John

Talkin' loud and playin' pool

The boys from Silver City

Were standin' by the fire

Singin' like they thought

they were the Tabernacle choir

And I wanted you to see them all

I wished that you were there

I looked across the room

and saw you standin' on the stair

And when I caught your eye

I saw you break into a grin

It feels so good feelin' good again

ROBERT EARL KEEN

Rather appropriately, mystery pervades the career of Robert Earl Keen, the most successful artist that many Americans have never heard. He’s had his songs recorded by George Strait, Lyle Lovett, Shawn Colvin, the Dixie Chicks and the Highwaymen (Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash & Kris Kristofferson); appeared in such prestigious publications as Playboy and Men’s Journal; performed on Late Night With Conan O’Brien and The Today Show; had Garth Brooks mention his music in one of his own songs, and played concert venues steadily for more than 20 years. By his own admission, he’s never had a song hit the Top 10 of a major chart, and yet he consistently plays sold-out shows for audiences that number sometimes as many as 25,000.

Keen’s career—hugely successful while dodging the music industry’s most obvious channel of exposure, mainstream radio—remains a bit of a mystery even to him.

“As time goes by, it becomes a greater and greater curiosity,” he confesses. “I literally can play a 90-minute show and almost everybody in the room will be singing every song. To me, that’s what it’s all about. If people are recording your songs and singing your songs, then you’re successful. If you play these songs and nobody cares, then you’re not successful. My thing is like I’m extremely successful because so many people know so many of my songs. They don’t know one song—they know them all!” This high-energy fan participation can be, not only heard, but experienced on Keen’s latest release, recorded live at Nashville's historic Ryman Auditorium (the longtime home of the Grand Ole Opry before it moved to the permanent Grand Ole Opry House). Keen delights a packed house with first class renditions of some of his biggest hits and best loved songs including "What I Really Mean," "Broken End of Love," and "Amarillo Highway." Live at the Ryman captures the high energy experience that has made Keen a favorite of audiences all over the country. “Sometimes I say this jokingly, but I think this is pretty much the key,” Keen observes. “I don’t think I intimidate anybody with my voice. My vocal range is so limited that anybody that’s even had a tracheotomy can follow what’s going on. Everybody can sing a Robert Earl Keen song. You’re not gonna be thrown a big curveball by some huge falsetto piece in the middle of it. They work, and they sound good, the words fit together well, and they’re easy to sing. I think people like that.”

Herb and Dorothy Vogel

Nathan and I have started renting documentaries as a source of entertainment these days. I'm not sure if anyone has noticed, but the quality of films these days, well...sucks! Not to mention that there are hardly any new movies coming out.
Watching mostly Art and Music documentaries has really opened our eyes and started to awaken our artistic sides again. I think we have come to the realization that it is okay to struggle as long as we have each other and our freedom to do what we enjoy. It all comes together.
Last night we watched Herb and Dorothy. A documentary about a couple in New York City that has acquired an amazing collection of art despite living off a fixed income. It was brilliant! I was so inspired to see that there are people out there that still live for the sake of art and have such a beautiful appreciation. To know that they would never sell a piece of their collection for profit because it would not be fair to split it up was an amazing act. Even when times were tough they stood behind their pact to keep the collection.

Herb And Dorothy Trailer

HERB & DOROTHY tells the extraordinary story of Herbert Vogel, a postal clerk, and Dorothy Vogel, a librarian, who managed to build one of the most important contemporary art collections in history with very modest means. In the early 1960s, when very little attention was paid to Minimalist and Conceptual Art, Herb and Dorothy Vogel quietly began purchasing the works of unknown artists. Devoting all of Herb's salary to purchase art they liked, and living on Dorothy's paycheck alone, they continued collecting artworks guided by two rules: the piece had to be affordable, and it had to be small enough to fit in their one-bedroom Manhattan apartment. Within these limitations, they proved themselves curatorial visionaries; most of those they supported and befriended went on to become world-renowned artists including Sol LeWitt, Christo and Jeanne-Claude, Richard Tuttle, Chuck Close, Robert Mangold, Sylvia Plimack Mangold, Lynda Benglis, Pat Steir, Robert Barry, Lucio Pozzi, and Lawrence Weiner. 

After thirty years of meticulous collecting and buying, the Vogels managed to accumulate over 2,000 pieces, filling every corner of their tiny one bedroom apartment. "Not even a toothpick could be squeezed into the apartment," recalls Dorothy. In 1992, the Vogels decided to move their entire collection to the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC. The vast majority of their collection was given as a gift to the institution. Many of the works they acquired appreciated so significantly over the years that their collection today is worth millions of dollars. Still, the Vogels never sold a single piece. Today Herb and Dorothy still live in the same apartment in New York with 19 turtles, lots of fish, and one cat. They've refilled it with piles of new art they've acquired. 

Change Is...

Welcome to a new year! We are looking forward to many changes and experiences in 2011. In our best effort to share this with family and friends, I have decided to start a family blog for Nathan, Memphis and I. 

We just got back from a two day stay at our family's home in Chicago. It was a great get away and an awesome way to ring in the new year. Memphis is such a great little traveler. It was his third time staying there, and luckily he slips away into dreamland so easily these days. We are spoiled by his great nature and beautiful spirit. He is a joy to everyone he encounters.  

Christmas was full of blessings this year as well. Last Christmas was spent in the hospital thinking that we were losing our son. After that day, I was put on bed rest and the emotional roller coaster began. I find myself, just recently, beginning to come to terms and revisit that experience. The strength that I had to have within at that time in my life was more taxing than I realized. I was so fortunate to have Nathan to take care of me. He cooked, cleaned, and kept me as sane as possible. But the battle within myself to keep my usual calm, cool and collected self did damage to me mentally. Pregnancy is a unique experience for everyone. In the end, for me, it turned out wonderful. The ride it took me on was incredible, heart wrenching and life changing all at the same time. I need to learn to be thankful for my outcome and relax into our new world as a family of three. Forget the past, yet learn from it. 

As we begin and refresh into a new year I plan to let go more. I plan to forgive more, especially myself. As a partnership with my husband, we plan to strive to make it in this world self-employed and focused on our little son. I promise to them both that I will enjoy life more. 

As an end note I have included lyrics from a Ryan Bingham song titled: "Change Is." Nathan made a great Texas Country mixed CD with this song on it for our road trip this past weekend. If any of you have ever received one of his mix cd's you know this is his specialty. I thought the words to this song clearly fit a mentality that we should all look to for the new year. 

Take yourself out of your mind

Open everything they say you are

A breeding bed of lies builds nothing at all

I'd rather be standing up tall and strong

Take yourself out of your mind

Open your eyes to the morning sun

Take into yourself everything you have become

If you believe enough to lead, there's nothing to be won

Take yourself out of your mind

Listen to the rhythm of a different drum

Start with just a walk and break into a run

Together we will come and see the madness be undone

Take yourself out of your mind

Move out the way or tear down the wall

Don't start it all over if there's nothing to resolved

If you stray there is no change, in the end you're gonna fall

Change is part of your life

Change is in your mind

Change is in your life

Change is in your eyes

Change is in your mind

Take yourself out of your mind

Wake up into the morning sun

If you believe than you can lead, there's nothing to be won

Open everything they say you are
A breeding bed of lies builds nothing at all
I'd rather be standing up tall and strong

Take yourself out of your mind
Open your eyes to the morning sun
Take into yourself everything you have become
If you believe enough to lead, there's nothing to be won

Take yourself out of your mind
Listen to the rhythm of a different drum
Start with just a walk and break into a run
Together we will come and see the madness be undone

Take yourself out of your mind
Move out the way or tear down the wall
Don't start it all over if there's nothing to resolved
If you stray there is no change, in the end you're gonna fall

Change is part of your life
Change is in your mind
Change is in your mind
Change is in your life
Change is in your eyes
Change is in your mind
Change is in your mind

Take yourself out of your mind
Take yourself out of your mind
Take yourself out of your mind
Take yourself out of your mind

Take yourself out of your mind
Wake up into the morning sun
Get down [Incomprehensible] you have become
If you believe than you can lead, there's nothing to be won