Ice Skating in Charlotte on Christmas Eve

Welcome 2010!

Being fond of transitions - at least the good ones - the marking of a year past and entry into a new one, holds much significance to me. Like most people over the age of 25 (at least that was the age this happened for me) I tend to notice the progression of time more acutely than before that age. More conscious of my own mortality and yet no real desire to stand still; not that it would matter because time marches on anyway. I also think that if you are more aware of the passage of time, it moves more slowly - similar to the old wives tale of a 'watched pot never boils'. This New Year was very interesting to say the least. Living with teens and almost teens is certainly not boring. So with the music loud, lights strobing, subterfuge and hormones, the New Year was rung in with a host of friends and family, all focused on the same thing for a few minutes around midnight; Dick Clark's Rockin' Eve.

This is one of my works from the evening.

Walking on Tryon

This is a sketch of uptown Charlotte inspired very recently by a particularly great outing to Chima, a Brazilian Steakhouse in the heart of uptown. With a group of seven in place to celebrate a coming of age birthday, we braved the cold - yes cold - Charlotte December weather, and plenty of teenage enthusiasm for eating large quantities of meat.

After spending the equivalent monies on Guarana as we might have on a fine bottle of wine, tasting every meat offering, salmon, swordfish, filet mignon, all cuts of steak, ribs, pork, chicken, some wrapped in bacon, and an intense salad bar, and the tiramisu birthday cake finale, we took a rather quick walk (remember the cold) up Tryon taking in the activity.

So this is a memory of the energy, the happiness, and of being on the edge of having every door wide open, in full light, straight ahead.

Finally! Covered Bridge from Carolina Touch

Well this one has taken forever to finish. Must be the time of year or something, but I have so many things in progress and just cannot seem to finish any of them. This painting belongs to the Carolina Touch trio along with Master Potter and Potters Wheel. It completes the series as they all are from the Seagrove / Ashboro area of NC. A beautiful area with a rich history of artists and for the appreciative, just amazing scenery.

Inspiration is in the serenity and the beauty of the area. The bridge, the last time I visited it, was marred by spray paint, in large unimaginative swirls, likely done by the same sort of people that randomly message on the walls of public restrooms. The historic society that is responsible for the care of the bridge, challenged by limited funds, doubtless allowed the markings to remain longer than they would like.

Even with the low-brow graffiti, the bridge was stalwart in it's reflection of a long history and it's overarching visual remained untainted.

Press release for '140 Hours of Fame'

This is the press release for the first ever international Twitter art auction '140 Hours of Fame'. My entry is Whimsy Sunrise, a magical and colorful depiction of the fleeting nature of a moment in time.

21 June 2009

For Immediate Release

Contact: Gary Brant, Director

Galerie St. George

Tel: 513-ART-SHOW

Email: gb@140hours.com

Galerie St. George Announces

“140 Hours of Fame®” Online Art Auction

Galerie St. George today announced its “140 Hours of Fame®”, a unique online art auction designed to introduce emerging artists to a global marketplace. The auction will begin on 5 November 2009 at 12:01 p.m. EST and last 140 hours, through 11 November 2009 at 8:01 p.m. EST.

The 140-hour auction will take place entirely on the World Wide Web. The gallery has designed an auction system allowing TWITTER® users worldwide to enter their bids online.

Gary Brant, Director, explained, “With the huge popularity of TWITTER®, we wanted to reach out directly to this group of highly sophisticated users. This event will give our participating artists an opportunity to be seen by art buyers and collectors alerted to the event through the power of social networking.”

The event is free for all artists worldwide. Early reports indicate that the auction will be a popular venue for emerging artists, as well as art collectors and patrons globally.

The “140 Hours of Fame®” rules and artist agreement may be downloaded free of charge from Galerie St. George’s website at: www.galeriestgeorge.com/news-events/.

Collectors/Bidders must register by simply following @140hours on Twitter, a process that takes five seconds and can be accomplished before or during the auction.

Founded in July 2008, Galerie St. George is a cooperative artist’s gallery based in Staten Island, New York. The gallery operates a sprawling facility with two main galleries, a video theatre and a sculpture garden.

For further information about “140 Hours of Fame®”, kindly contact:

Gary Brant, Director & Host

140 Hours of Fame – New York

Tel: 513-ART-SHOW – Fax: 917-591-3183

Email: gb@140hours.com

www.twitter.com/140hours

140%20Hours%20Media%20Release%20NEW.doc

Facets

Finished a new work, called Facets. This is different -- I'm almost not sure how it wound up on the 'page'. As I think about all of my art and photography, I realize that it is an extension of my holistic memory - so not just visual memory, but all senses, emotions, and thoughts.

As I was working on Facets, I was thinking of my kids, growing up, the possibility, their blank pages ahead. To capture the innocence and the desire, the good and the touch of evil, the flight from childhood into maturity, invincibility and fear, the chaos and the calm -- the awake-ness, the alive-ness, and the ability to see things others don't.

The absolute magic of being 17!

Full Circle

The only real question is where did the circle start?

I got my first camera when I was 11 years old and at that age had a fairly thick portfolio of pencil-sketched portraits. I had a 'good eye', and without knowing much of anything technically about composition, etc., my snapshots looked a lot better than my mother's or any of her friends pictures.

I remember the thrill of going to pick up the processed prints, after waiting a full week for them to be developed and printed. Standing in the store looking at the prints, too impatient to go back out to the car.

I continued to be passionate about photography and art throughout high school, taking the requisite art classes, and always doing well in these. It was never a consideration or even a thought that I would pursue this beyond what it was - a hobby - 'because you can't make money being an artist'. My dad really wanted a doctor in the family and he lobbied pretty hard for that. In the end, I decided on a degree set more aligned to engineering.

I began working in photography while in college. I worked for two newspapers and did wedding photography. I loved the newspaper work. It was creative and the lines were often blurry. I covered police blotter type stuff, accidents, arrests, and I covered the interest articles, like featherweight boxing champion in town for training, or the state fair, or local high school holding a Plymouth Rock re-enactment. I was paid by the photo printed in the paper -- not how many photos I took -- and I had no editorial input. So what I learned - in order to maximize my income - was that I had to make several shots for the same event be so compelling and different enough that the editor would want to print them all.

As for the wedding photography business, I had a lot of customers, but made no money at it. In the old days of film I over shot and over proofed every wedding, because I was so paranoid about messing up something that could not be re-captured. All hail the digital revolution!

I took art classes and photography classes all through college and I rarely went anywhere without my camera in tow. I entered photo competitions, at the local and state level, won a few and placed in many, and I continued working at the newspapers until I graduated.

Then I got a 'real job'.

Now to condense a period of time, so as not to bore anyone...

...got real job, moved away, still took photos, camera always nearby, not as much time for drawing...had kids, took even more photos, mostly of the kids, did a bit of drawing, but still working at 'real job', still in love with photography, invest in awesome digital camera, buy Photoshop and a Wacom, no time to fully learn either, dabble in Photoshop, brightness, constrast, curves, then learned layers, textures, and still working really hard at real job... fast forward to June 1, 2009...became essentially unemployed, and then...

I focused on what I love to do - painting and photography. As an added bonus, I have been able to establish a presence for my work online and walk that avenue of connection with other people, and share with them. So what was a less than positive event (being released) turned out to be the catalyst for an idyllic summer, and the start of something that I will not allow to be forgotten or turned off, even as I start back to my 'real job' next week.

BTW - the takeaway from this post shouldn't be one of regret for not pursuing a different career path. Because I don't. I am immensely lucky in that I have the opportunity to do things I love at least some of the time and I have a 'real' job that allows me to be creative, albeit in different ways, every day.

The picture above is the first photo I ever took - classic, right?