pixels, light and hot wax

Occasionally I have conversations with people who don’t understand why I pay more to have my prints made a professional lab instead of using a cheap consumer lab.

On beyond the general higher level of trust I have that they will maintain their chemicals and machines well, and when I send them a pre-color-corrected image they won’t “tweak” it to make it more “poppy”, it’s the guarantee of professional service.

Today, I got a *huge* box from my lab, containing about a third of the show, including the biggest piece in it (which is the biggest print I’ve made in 5 years. ) And it was damaged (which happens easily when dealing with prints that big.) It’s not huge damage; it’s a couple of small dents, but I could see it and certainly didn’t want to show it that way. I’ve had a dented print made by the local one-hour, and when you bring it to their attention, the reaction is usually “so what?”.

My lab? Reprinting for free, with the order in production within 45 minutes of my e-mail to them. With no hassle and no drama (well, there was drama in my *brain*, but that’s because I hang in 8 days and I’ve still got framing to do.)

(all 3 of you, but I wasn’t sure where else to put this)

This is the poster I designed for Jennifer Doering’s dissertation recital, since the physical copies apparently came and went, and several people at the concert asked:

It was a really amazing concert.

Less than a month until the show! So mark your calendars for next months Fremont Art Walk; Friday May 7th, from 6-9 rain or shine. The show will be up pretty much the whole month, though, at Fremont Jewelry Design (and if you missed this month’s art walk (like I did, thanks to a charming little virus), stop in to check out Diana Comstock’s amazing paintings (and the jewelry is worth seeing as well, of course!)

From the “bathtub session” with the yellow cactus dahlia:

Coming up next, I’ve been spending some quality time with white carnations and purple waxflowers, which are full of tiny hidden detail.

There is so much bad news swirling around us I decided I really needed to make some cheerful, comforting art. So here you go:

Let the sun shine in (sunflower)

May all your weeds be Wildflowers (bluebell)

The still-needs-an-evocative-title body of work I’m concentrating on currently develops apace.

White tulip

Red and Yellow Tulip

Square White Tulip

White petals

White Tulip and Red Tulip

Tulip pas de deux

Finally, back on the Photo Friday bus; these are from a walk last week with my youngest:

Elisabeth considers a pine cone

Elisabeth and the heart-shaped leaf

Our grocery store had local tulips on special, which seemed an obvious sign for what I should shoot next for the upcoming show in May.

This was a much more difficult edit for me — these five are my favorite at the moment, but I went ahead and ordered small prints of about 40 for real decision making purposes before I commit to large scale metallic prints.

Images from another shoot, this time with a different kind of red-and-yellow tulip and also a white-and-pink tulip, are downloading as I type.

(well, final shot from Monday morning’s encounter. There is a lot to explore in this flower.)

Gerbera #34 (010410). Photograph. 2010.

I thought that perhaps you might like to see the whole bloom, after seeing so many little parts.