pixels, light and hot wax

My entry is here (which is my usual “your choice of print”). Bidding is from July 15 until July 30.

Information about the recipient are here. Information about bidding and offering is here.

Since my only digital camera is currently dormant and awaiting the delivery of a new battery charger *sigh* I had to go a little more … old school for this Photo Friday (but how could I miss Bloom, really? I should practically put flower photographer on my business cards…)

So, today, little Miss Elisabeth, age 5, and I made a quickie contact printer out of a piece of plexi and some cardboard, grabbed a box of Ilford Multigrade Cooltone RC 5×7 paper that is older than she is, and made some lumen prints. (quick version: photograms made by catastrophic overexposure of otherwise normal b/w photo paper. Alternative Photography.com has more concrete info.)

The colors are unaltered.

This one is probably my favorite, and yes, it was done by the 5 year old.

Dandelions, by Elisabeth

Fern and Clover Bud, Lumen print

These are using a really adorable yellow-flowered weed I have not been able to identify; I thought it was odd that the stems disappeared entirely.

Mysterious yellow flowers, lumen print

Dandelion and Leaf, Lumen Print

Fern, my first lumen print

2 Leaves, by Elisabeth, Lumen Print

I didn’t actually have any fixer on hand, so I scanned them immediately and stuck them in a dark drawer; we will see if there is any image left on them by next week. I also tried to contact print some color 120 negatives, but that was pretty much a train wreck.

I am, however, delighted to have something to do, on very sunny days at least, with the many boxes of not-refrigerated photo paper I have left over from my darkroom days.

I am tickled pink that a short story inspired by a piece of mine is appearing this week in one of my favorite spec-fic magazines: Red Bride, by Samantha Henderson, at Strange Horizons

You should go read it. I’ll wait.

…

…

I must say that I am pleased not only that a story which touched one of my pieces was published, but that it is such a good story; it snuck quietly under my skin and then sent prickles skittering along my shoulderblades when I realized where it was headed. I like the story a LOT.

Oh, you wanted to see the piece? It looks like this:

And to celebrate, use the coupon code REDBRIDE in my online shop at artfire and shipping is free!

(And, uh, by Tuesday night many more pieces will have been added to the shop. Making art is fun. Remembering to try and sell it, much less so. Also, thanks to AnthologyBuilder for sponsoring the initial Match-that-Artwork contest, and for giving me the great pleasure of knowing books exist out there with my art on the covers, even if only in very small doses.

Unrequited has been accepted into the gallery for this month’s EMG-Zine on the theme Familiars.

(And despite the fact that I’ve been showing it for two years, I apparently never added it to the website. Oops.)

I just spent a whirlwind afternoon acquiring bits and bobs to make my display equipment work for the Shoreline Arts Festival this weekend, as well as getting all those boring but necessary things like bags.

And, for my post-festival indulgence, I signed up for SoFoBoMo after Denise reminded me of it’s existence. Given that July will also be the month of both kids at home, I am choosing for my subject things 20 steps from my front door, which ought to be both highly manageable and a fun artistic challenge.

(Okay, an intense project is perhaps an odd choice for an indulgence, but given that I design photo books professionally, I suspect it will be less difficult for me than for some, and it will be fun to have a project with nothing financially or professionally hinging on its completion.)

While looking for something else, I found discs full of film scans I had done back in 2002, when I first got access to a medium format film scanner (thank you, PCNW!). These are from both that year’s shooting and way back in past (since I have been doing this since 1988) and there is quite a bit that is still pleasing to my eye (and of course, assorted images I will now class as juvenalia and hide away . Most of these were raw, unfinished film scans, so these won’t be ready for printing for another couple weeks yet, but at web resolution, you can’t see dust.

(More to come throughout the week)

From my father's garden (coneflowers?)

Purple and white cactus dahlia

And remember, I (and Tammy) will be at the Shoreline Arts Festival next weekend — come on by and say hi!

I knew I’d get to do book covers eventually. (Actually, through A La Carte, I do tons of book covers, but they don’t usually have pictures I’ve made on them.)

Book is a poetry memoir by a friend, I designed the cover (at her request) around a mixed-media experimental piece from my “sketchbook” involving a photograph of my oldest and a great deal of white gouache.

Due to some last-minute serendipity, I will be showing my floral photography at Ombu Salon & Spa in Edmonds for the upcoming Edmonds Art Walk, and (most of) the show will remain up through mid-July. There will be at least two, maybe more, new pieces for people who saw the Fremont show I just took down. And if the Edmonds Art Walk site is to be believed, there will be a wine tasting as well.

I am really excited about this –this will be my first show in my hometown (I’m so from Edmonds I used to dance around at games as “Bonnie Bengal” for the Edmonds High School Tigers. Fear my fierce school spirit!)

A new piece which may, or may not, be in this show:

When I was at Tufts, they had one of her sculptures on display; I could spend hours with it.

Trailblazing sculptor Louise Bourgeois, 98, dies

Tomorrow is the last day my show will be up at Fremont Jewelry Design, so if you want to see it in person, I suggest you have lunch in Fremont tomorrow.

While some of the pieces in the show will also be at the Shoreline Arts Festival in 4 weeks, about half of it will not, and it probably will not be exhibited again in the next 6 months.