Apple Orchard - Easton, Connecticut

In honor of the Winter's exit: a little reminder of how beautiful it can be.

Leaping Man

Leaping man - digital collage

I've recently received a couple very old scrapbooks. One is from my great-grandmother and the other is from my grandmother (both on my father's side). In one of the scrapbooks, I found an odd little magazine clipping of a performer named Hal Sherman. The promotional photograph was from a revue called "Hellz-a-Poppin." I don't know who the writer was but Sherman was referred to as "..a misfit, a little man in a big world; still a tramp, but a worldly Broadway tramp, a bitter, dancing humorist of the banana-peel school." I like that.

I created the background by scanning a hand-written letter from my great-grandmother and repeating and overlapping the text. The "leaping man" is Sherman.

Madame Marie

Madam Marie's - Asbury Park, December 2013

"Did you hear the cops finally busted Madame Marie for tellin' fortunes better than they do.

For me this boardwalk life is through babe. 

You ought to quit this scene too." 

- Bruce Springsteen

Greetings from Prague

I've reworked this photo of Prague apartment building that was partially demolished using a variety of filters. I think it has that antique, "Wish you were here" postcard feel.

Industrial remains - Ostrava, Czech Republic

I guess I'm in post-pictures-of-empty-places mode. This is a former industrial complex that has been converted to a large concert venue. I attended the Colours of Ostrava two summers ago. Rufus Wainwright, who was performing, talked during his set about how he imagined many people died in this place. I'm sure he was right - it probably manufactured all sorts of nasty chemicals and I can't imagine that there was a strong emphasis on worker safety during the Communist era.

Don't lick the walls.

Wheatridge Grange

This is a film photograph I took in Eastern Washington a couple years ago. I may have posted the original before (though I don't think so). This is a version where I've used filters to "scuff" it up a bit (uh...just a bit). This picture just makes me feel sad when I look at it...completely covered with siding, no windows, abandoned. The only people who see it are the few people that pass by it as they're speeding down the road.

Quilt of the aerialist

I have been "working" on this piece for a while (since this past autumn, I believe). I took the photograph of an aerialist at an event at Smoke Farm a couple years ago. First, I worked on it in Photoshop - masked out the background, added the repeating textured background, filtered and adjusted the entire image. Next, I printed it on a Habotai silk specifically made to go through a printer (visit dharmatrading.com to see other fabrics that are ready to print in your printer). I then added quilt batting and backing. After that, I stitched the vertical lines. Finally, I added the binding. This is only the second time I've bound a quilt, so it's a bit of a struggle and a little wonky looking, but it does the trick. My final step will be to create a hanging loop to the back and add a dowel so I can hang the piece from the wall. 

I have another piece that includes the same woman in this position and two other positions. Eventually, I'll figure out how I'm going to turn it into something I can display.