Ephemera from my great-grandmother

From May 1896 to January 1897, my great grandmother, Eleanor Van der Beek traveled to Europe by boat. She kept a scrapbook of her trip that is now in my possession. It's a yellowed and fragile book that smells of dust. The spine has crumbled away, but the pages are still intact. I plan on gradually reading through the letters and notes she kept of her voyage. I'm sure I'll post more materials here as time goes on.

For the moment, here are a couple illustrations from a tourist map she had.

My piece from Quotes Illustrated

I got the go-ahead to show my artwork that is published in Quotes Illustrated by Lesley Riley. This is a digital collage that has scans of painted surfaces and black and white negatives that I further manipulated in Photoshop. I was happy that I was given the Diane Arbus quotation since she's one of my photo heroes.

Published art!

I'm really excited to share that I have had one of my digital collages included in a book on quotations. The book is by Lesley Riley and is called "Quotes Illustrated." The book is now available through CreateSpace and Amazon. I'm awaiting my copy, which should arrive on Wednesday. I'll report on the book when it arrives.

Nothing like having some of your art included in a collection to make you feel like it's worthwhile. I'd work even without the recognition, but it's still nice.

My first quilting adventure

A couple weekends ago I took a workshop with an artist named Bergen Rose. The workshop was called "Transforming Fabric with Digital Image Transfer Techniques." Such a great workshop with a lot of different techniques covered. Bergen's work is beautiful - combining paintings, photographs, transfers and fabric - a perfect combination for her pieces. You should check out her artwork at the Fountainhead gallery in Queen Anne, Seattle or her online shop at mochimochifiberart.com.

Anyhow, I tried a number of the transfer techniques with varying degrees of success. My goal this week was to actually finish one of the pieces. Whether it was good or bad, I just wanted a finished piece from the workshop to hang on my wall. This piece is pretty simple...I printed a 6 image grid of dahlia pinholes I took recently onto silk organza. I then applied free-motion stitching to a quilt "sandwich" (backing, batting, top fabric). I attached the organza to the quilted part using 2-sided tape. I then attached a sleeve to the back so I can run a dowel or a piece of bamboo through it and hang the piece.

I think any self-respecting quilter would have a minor heart attack to see my quilting technique but I don't care. I like the way it looks with the silk over it...almost like the flowers are on the quilted part.

I'm very excited to try out more daring things with the transfer techniques I learned and my trusty Brother sewing machine (thanks to my pal, Darcy).

The whole piece, front side.

Detail of a few of the squares.

The reverse.

August 14, 2013 Smoke Farm - The Builders Dinner tableau

This is a tableau that I created in InDesign from Richard Levenson's polaroids. The portraits are from the 2013 Smoke Farm Builders Dinner.

Water clowns

As a kid, I always loved the water clown games at the boardwalk on the Jersey shore. This photo was taken at the Puyallup Fair last weekend (a far cry from the Atlantic Ocean). I've applied some filters to it to give it that vintage look (OMG, does that mean anything from my childhood is vintage? I know you can find the fashions from the 70s in vintage shops, so I guess that makes me vintage as well.)

Do you feel lucky? Well do ya, punk?

Homage of sorts to William Henry Fox Talbot

A while back I took one of my old cameras, a Kodak duoflex and attached a "shooting chute" of sorts. The idea is that you use an old camera and shoot a digital image through the lens, so you're getting a picture that doesn't look like what you would normally get from a digital camera (or from the original, film camera either). The set up looks like this:

It's pretty ugly and wonky to shoot through. I had originally made it a pinhole camera by removing the lower lens, which is why it looks more like an "unoflex"than a duoflex.

Anyhow, I shot some photos through this contraption, using the Canon G9. Here is an example of one of the shots:

I decided that this reminded me a bit of a William Henry Fox Talbot photograph. This one:

"The Open Door" - William Henry Fox Talbot, 1844

Honestly, it's just that both photographs have a lone broom as the subject that makes the association for me. I decided to try to imitate the tonal qualities of the Talbot original. Here is the result:

"The Neglected Deck" - Leslie Levenson, 2013

Way more greenish than the original. But it's fun to try to mimic photos. I'm always amazed at how I overestimate my own skills when I try to do something like this. I know soooo little. It's good to keep trying though.

Puyallup Fair 2013

I took this photo at one of the 4H events last Sunday morning. My way of approaching the fair is to go early in the morning, when it first opens and leave within about 2 hours. The perfect arrival and departure times for a person who wants to be where crowds show up but who hates the crowds.

4H Angus Cow and Calf Pairs Judging

Fresh art

I've recently committed to doing at least one hour of art every day. I try to give myself a list of the projects I'm working on and my next actions so I can just start when it's time. One of my projects is putting together a collection of 100 digital prints. The goal is to print the digital images and have them in a physical collection ready to show when necessary. This has forced me to troll through my Lightroom catalog to look for images that go together or that I want to manipulate in Photoshop.

Here is an example of some sort of tree seed/pod that I photographed a while back. I made some preliminary adjustments in Lightroom and then moved to Photoshop and played around with a variety of plug-in filters I have. I'm pretty pleased, though I think I'd like to see some sort of texture over the top of the image.

Recent pinhole

This photo was taken with the Zero Image pinhole camera. I took it in the Tide Flats area of Tacoma. I especially love the glowing amber color that can be seen inside the pipes.

Collection of unknowns

I have a huge collection of old photos from my great-aunt and great-grandfather that I periodically dip into. Recently, I've been trying to scan them with the idea that I would put the scanned photographs into deep storage or use them in art projects. There are many photos of people that appear to have no connection to my family at all. There is usually no identifying information on the back. Not even a date. Even if the people in these photos did, at one point, have a connection to my family, there is really no one left to identify the people who could be former acquaintances, lovers, co-workers, etc. The pictures I am talking about are those that have none of my relatives (that I can identify) in them. The unknowns who were photographed with an obvious relative could possibly be identified by my father (that's another aspect of the project - getting people identified and stories told). What to do with all the photos of unknowns? I could at least post some of them here.

Who are these unknowns? Are they actors? Dinner theater performers? Circus performers? Costume party guests? Who knows, but it looks as though they were having fun.

Dried picture of fern

Here is the final, dried photo from yesterday. The ends are still a bit curled but they'll settle down with more flattening. 

Inkodye on paper

The past couple of days I have been printing using Inkodye to print some botanicals from my garden. Yesterday, I printed on fabric. Today I decided to try printing on paper. When I researched it briefly online, most of the comments didn't sound too positive about using paper (you have to wash your print in very hot, soapy water with agitation). I wanted to try it anyhow so I got out some Fabriano Artistico watercolor paper, picked a few plants and went to work. 

I have to say, I had virtually no problems using paper. The color faded a bit during the washing process but it wasn't too bad. I'm pretty pleased with the end results. Here are a few shots of the progression:

The freshly coated paper at the start of the printing process. It was really sunny today so it immediately began to change color. 

This is the print right before washing. Notice the color change to dark violet. 

The final image as it's drying. I would show the dried version but the print is under a heavy book right now, flattening. I'll try to post a final version of it once it lays flat. 

I'm really enjoying this process, at least for contact printing objects. I'm not overly pleased with my results from enlarged negatives yet. I think I need to use very contrasty negatives to get something I will like. 

New website

Well, I've finally created my Steaming Fork website. I've had the domain name for many many years and have put off building the site for just as many. I started to build it in HTML and CSS but decided that it was far more important for me to work on my artwork than it was for me to futz around with coding (not that coding is bad...it was a matter of what was the most expedient method for me to get the site up and running).

Please check it out and let me know what you think (steamingfork.com). I've used SquareSpace to host the site, and their templates are very easy to use so I plan on keeping the site fresh and up-to-date.

Cabinet of Lost Teeth

I have been taking an online class through Coursera & U Penn called Introduction to the Elements of Art. It's been interesting. Though I would probably call it "Introduction to the Elements of Modern Art" or something like that. The different themes/mediums we've been exploring have been collage, mail art, environmental art, photography, and collections.

You can opt to watch the lectures, read the handouts and take a quiz for each unit in order to get a basic certificate of completion. If you do at least two of the art assignments you'll get a studio certificate (something like that...I'm taking it primarily for fun). If you do the art assignments, you are obligated to peer review at least two other students' works. Fine. But that also means you get peer reviewed. The peer reviews I've received have been primarily good. However, last week I received a scathing review for my piece (it was an environmental piece). Initially, I was surprised at how sharp the criticism was. I thought, "Well, the hell with it. I've done my minimum. I don't need abuse." Then, after thinking about it for a while, I realized the person was right. I hadn't done a good job on the piece. Frankly, it sucked and he/she was correct. I may not have liked the way the message was delivered, but it was accurate. So, I decided to redeem myself and make something that I could be proud of.

This week, we were to "(create) a unique cabinet of curiosities that displays your personal interpretation of collecting." My cabinet was dedicated to lost teeth.

I created all the teeth with polymer clay, which I cured and then glue-gunned into the box (I gave myself a wicked couple burns with the glue-gun). I then added tags that were written with pen and ink. Here is my artist's statement for the piece:

Teeth are an extremely important element in survival. Without teeth, we cannot eat solid foods, we cannot speak properly, and our lives are shortened. Dental records are a way that bodies are identified. We appreciate a smile with beautiful teeth. Our age can be determined by our teeth. Although we care for them on a daily basis, we rarely think about them until they cause us pain.

This collection is an homage to the humble tooth. In the specimens, I have tried to conceptualize the possible ways they came to be separated from their owners. By examining the tooth on its own, we begin to appreciate how important this seemingly minor piece of our bodies is. Though it may be a small part of ourselves as living beings, without our teeth our lives would be lesser and shorter things.

I'm much happier with this piece. I feel as though I've redeemed myself and deserve my certificate.

A couple of encaustics

I have every intention of writing more frequently here. However, tonight I will just post a couple encaustics that I have neglected to show. They are both ATC (Artist Trading Card) size and both have color transfers of odd insect eggs on them.

This first one is actually now in the wall next to our front door. We had an unused switch box there that was the perfect dimensions to house this piece.

This piece still needs a home. I'm thinking I'd like it to also be installed in a wall since it looks so cool to have a piece of art that appears to be built into the house.

Goat head with shadows

It's been too long since I've posted. It's not for lack of time. More for lack of feeling inspired to write anything. I'm not writing much today either. Just posting a photo I was messing around with...

Iceland wildflowers

Recently, I had some film developed that had been sitting in my Lomo Fisheye for an extended period of time. I was surprised to find that some of the shots dated back to our 2009 trip to Iceland. This is one of the pictures on the roll that I like quite a bit.

Endless fog

It feels like it's been endless days of fog. It's cold and damp and makes one feel that going outside is asking for a bout of claustrophobia and a chill. However, even on days like these when the mountains see more sun than we do, it's important to get out a bit. We took a photo walk around Clark's Creek Park this morning. The fog gave the forest an eerie quality. The moss glowed and everything was lovely quiet. It was really beautiful and good to get out of the house.

No visible moss on this tree. It's a giant, old snag of a tree that could come down with a mighty crash in the right windstorm.

Old tintype

I've been trying to photograph every day, but today I got caught up in scanning a bunch of old photos from my great aunt's scrapbooks. With that came some online searches for a place I knew as a kid and people that Pat was friends with. The day seemed to escape from me (as it does when I get sucked into the rabbit hole of the web...perhaps I should say something silly like, "caught in the web of the web" - ugh!).

There was a tintype in Pat's collection that may have been of her mother. I can't really tell but I see a similarity to another photo that has "your mother" written on the back. The tintype is pretty damaged but the picture is intact. I did a little Photoshop work but wasn't really interested in doing a ton of restorative work on it today. If this was my great-grandmother, then the girl is Mary Louise Butler who was born in 1887 and died about 5 weeks after I was born in 1965.

Mary Louise Butler?

Detail

Trains on the move

We decided to have a date afternoon today. This meant we went to a couple museums, had coffee and then saw "Lincoln" at the Grand. Excellent movie with acting rather than action (what a novel idea).

The Washington State history museum is located in Tacoma and always has something interesting to look at and ponder. There is a large model train on permanent display that is fun to look at...very detailed (it's a realistic representation of the historical rail lines in the area). Anyhow, I took this picture while the trains were in motion. I put the shutter speed down to about an 1/8 of a second which gives the picture the effect of the train speeding through the scene.

A walk in the park

Went for a walk in the park with my mother this morning. We saw lots of ducks and geese and a cool tree. My mother told me that she sees parents frequently photographing their children sitting in this tree. I processed the picture in Silver Efex Pro. Not sure if it's something I will use. I'll have to try some printing to see if it's worth the cost of purchasing the software. The photo is much more interesting in sepia than it was in color.

Frost

Frosty morning. I stopped by the side of the road to photograph a beautiful old oak and found these little frozen delights. It's supposed to be similar conditions tomorrow morning. Maybe I'll take a few more snaps with the macro.

Winter sunshine

With the beginning of a new year comes surprises. The past two days have been notable for the sunshine and blue skies - a rarity in these parts. This morning there was fog and lovely frost covering the world. I'm hoping for a repeat of this morning's weather tomorrow since I have a photo scoped out that I spied en route to an appointment. 

I've been puttering around the house today (that's actually a lie...I've really been puttering around my computer cleaning up photos, researching, and organizing a bit, though I did wash most of the dishes). During one of my breaks to stare at the light outside, I ventured onto the deck to get some shots of long shadows and the blinding light. I managed to get a blur of a hummingbird heading to the feeder. Not a technically good photo, but I still like something about it. Maybe it was the fact that I couldn't actually see the photo as I shot it since the sun was right in my eyes. Maybe it was just the fun of getting buzzed by the hummingbird.

Even the flies were enjoying their time in the winter sun...