Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Abstract Expressionists

I love postage stamps; they are like little works of art. The USPS has issued an edition of actual art: Abstract Expressionists. This 20st century art movement included the artists:
Hans Hofmann (1810-1966)
Arshile Gorky (1904-1948)
Adolph Gottlieb (1903-1974)
Jean Mitchell (1925-1992)
Clyfford Still (1904-1980)
Barnett Newman (1905-1970)
Willem de Kooning (1904-1997)
Jackson Pollock (1912-1956)
Robert Motherwell (1915-1991)
Mark Rothko (1903-1970)
I have been accused of being an Abstract Expressionist, but this movement was driven by emotion. "The function of the artist is to express reality as felt." Robert Motherwell
My work is strictly an arrangement of shape, line, and color; what is pleasing to the eye not what is felt in the soul.

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Bye, bye, film

My friendly neighborhood photo center has removed the film processing/printing machine. All film must now be sent out to Fuji labs, even to reprint negatives. I guess I knew it was coming, but not soooooo soon. Film will become only a memory.
Oh, the memories! I got my first camera when I was ten. It was a Kodak Brownie with 126 film; black & white of course. It was two blocks and across Lyndale Ave to the drugstore that did the photo finishing. With the completed order came coupons for enlargements: 25cents for a 5x7 and 50cents for an 8x10. I would take photos of my baby sister; I would prop her up on the bed and use a gooseneck desk lamp for the light. With money from my allowance I'd get an enlargement (I still have some of the 5x7's). I felt like a real photographer!

Saturday, March 13, 2010

C, Y, & M

Wow! I got a look inside one of the photo print kiosks recently. What wondrous machines they are. Everything is done dry with light and tinted plastic.
The three colors are:
Cyan
Yellow
Magenta
The three rolls of tinted plastic attach to the photo paper in order as instructed by the machine as it reads the image. Then a final clear plastic protective layer is added. And in just a few minutes your finished print appears.

Years ago I printed 8x10 wedding photos by machine. I sat at the machine, hand fed the negatives into the machine and read the proper exposure with my eyes. Then once the entire roll of paper had been exposed, I unloaded it from the machine in total darkness, slipped it into a light-fast bag and delivered for the developing process (to be run through a batch of chemicals), and then dried and cut. This wet system is quickly disappearing now that digital is here!

Monday, March 8, 2010

Wood Carving

The No Man's Land Museum will be hosting a wood carving workshop April 26-28 (Mon - Wed). Tom Cannon is the teacher, coming from Dumas, TX.
This class is designed for beginners, but experienced carvers are welcome as well.
The cost of the three day workshop is $125 which includes instruction and all materials.
I am looking forward to exploring the skill of carving, and hope to have a walking stick to show for my efforts.