A PRETTY GENERAL SUBJECT

I’ve been bouncing between the commercial side of life and the art side of life. I love them both, but given the choice, well, there’s a lot more creative freedom on the art side of life. Of course, there’s probably a lot more self criticism too.

While the art side of my life is part of my profession and while I’m thrilled and humbled at the same time for the works displayed in town, besides submitting work to art shows, there’s not often much call for it. Art is somewhat finicky. But yet, it keeps coming up when I think there’s little business for it.

I’ve recently had two requests to display work in local venues (which will be announced at the time of their hanging), and I’ve had two requests for charitable donations of my work. When people are asking, that’s an honor.

The latest request came from the local chamber of commerce asking for a silent auction donation for the Annual Awards and Chamber Gala. They had previously asked for a silent auction donation for another event. That piece (The Door) auctioned to a woman who decided to provide feedback.

On a side note here, artists can be quite needy. We sit in our little comfort zones, be it in front of a computer screen or a canvas or a sketch pad, or behind a guitar or a camera, and our work is our baby and we want the world to ooh and aah our baby. We’ll never tell anyone this. It’s our dirty little secret. So when Anne (thank you, Anne) sent me a note about the response of those she gifted the photo to…well, she didn’t realize the gift she gave to me with that note (or maybe she did). You can read some of it here (seriously, it's the little things in life).

The hardest part of donating or displaying art is choosing which piece or pieces to share with the world. While we artists want the world to ooh and aah, we also fear they will boo and hiss or tell us quite simply that our baby is one ugly thing. You really have to have a thick skin to be an artist of any kind. The problem is I know what I like, but I don’t know what or if someone else will also like it. So it’s a tough choice. I try to stay local (and general) on things like this. Okay, I pushed it a bit with The Door. The Door comes from the Pushing the Edge gallery, which is my gallery for total fun; darkroom madness. I personally love that photo. I don’t know if it’s the memory of discovering the door itself, the fun I had with personalizing it or what, but I’ve always liked it and thought it a bit too far off for someone else to like. Then I show it (originally at Eileen’s Bakery - YUM!) and suddenly I’m getting feedback.

Oh, so that’s the trick. You have to show the art to get the feedback. Kidding. While The Door is a historical building piece in Fredericksburg, it’s still a very general piece in subject matter.

I guess you could say I took the same road with the Gala silent auction. I decided to donate Cannons at Chatham Heights. It was a hard choice (it’s always a hard choice), but we Virginians love our history and I love shooting cannons (No! Not real cannons…shooting…with the camera. Real cannons make too much noise.). I wanted to donate another piece of local history, and cannons, well, in Virginia they’re a pretty general subject. Though, with a touch of darkroom magic to give it that Civil War feel, the two cannons at Chatham Heights tell their own story.

CANNONS AT CHATHAM HEIGHTS

Hope to see you at the Gala!

$4.3M - I JUST DON'T GET IT

Seriously? $4.3 million? I just don't get it.

I'm playing art critic today. Now, I'll be the first to admit that art is way too subjective to be judged, but really, $4.3M for this?

This photo, taken in 1999 and titled Rhein II by Andreas Gursky, a famed German photographer, 81" x 140" and mounted on plexiglass sold at Christie's auction house for $4.3M. Christie's expected the photo to sell for $2.5-$3.5M.

Copyright 1999 Andreas Gusky

I'll just simply take you to the Wikipedia overview of Gursky and his work.

Personally, I can't say I'm impressed. I see the scope of this image, the simplicity, the color scheme. I even get the whole subject content. Not something I'd go for. It's just to.... I'm not even sure what. It's all a matter of style and it's just not my style. I love the green and silver mix of the grass and river, as well as the blue-gray of the sky. Okay, I like the colors. But I'm not at all impressed with the composition. Subject matter is kind of bland. I'm not even sure that the horizon is straight. I think it is, but I'm not sure (and maybe it's not supposed to be straight and maybe it's just the way my computer is angled - who knows).

But is this really worth $4.3M?

Am I jealous? Shoot yeah! What photographer wouldn't want her photo selling for $4.3M? Do I think it's worth it? No. Do I think the artist's name is worth it? Maybe (but then again, who knows).

$4.3M? I just don't get it.

Section 107 contains a list of the various purposes for which the reproduction of a particular work may be considered fair, such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research.

BARE NAKED WALLS

Are you suffering from bare naked walls? You’ve been looking at the same walls for years and years believing they’re just fine. They don’t need dressing. It’s an artistic endeavor you shy away from because you don’t believe you have the talent to put it all together.

Don’t underestimate your creativity in this matter. Putting together an artistic office display is a matter of basics.

Recently I worked with Congressman Rob Wittman’s Fredericksburg office to create such a display. Their office didn’t lack in creativity; they wanted to update their look and knew they wanted local works of the Fredericksburg area. The start of the project was generated through a third party, so the scope wasn’t entirely clear. I put together a portfolio of local shots I took in the area, and while viewed well, and some chosen for the display, the office was interested in local buildings and landmarks. I put together second portfolio for review and we hit the mark.

So how do you dress those naked walls? It’s really quite simple.

START WITH A THEME

Working with Congressman Wittman’s office, their theme was Fredericksburg’s historic district. We put together some local landmarks including City Hall, the Circuit Court steeple, St. George’s Episcopal Church and a view of the city from Chatham Heights. The display also included local bits of the community itself: the horse and carriage ride that tours downtown, a cannon from the Fredericksburg National Cemetery, a sign along Charles Street. It is Fredericksburg to those who know Fredericksburg and it is a representation of the city for those new to the area.

FIND A PHOTO THAT INTERESTS YOU AND BUILD AROUND IT

There are nine galleries on the Studio website. If one particular photo catches your attention, take that photo and find others that compliment the image either through theme, color or design. Or go completely eclectic and create a menagerie of images.

FIND SOMETHING THAT INDENTFIES YOUR PERSONALITY

Say you’re a Civil War buff. Select photos that represent the local battlefields. Presenting a personal interest to a client may open a link to a similar interest and break the ice. Or, it may just make your environment a bit more comforting to work in.

THE JOY OF COLOR; OR NOT

Many offices walls are bland; tan or white and often faded from years of neglect. This isn’t your fault. You have little control over what your landlord allows. Find photos with color and display them around the office to enliven the atmosphere. You’d be surprised what a little color can do to enrich the look of your surroundings. You can even create a theme based solely on color.

Another option to color would be a black and white or a tinted theme. Lack of color sets an atmosphere that often takes the viewer into another world. Lack of color can create an emotional display that may play into your business standards.

Once you start thinking about dressing your walls, the process takes on its own life. Variety not only comes from the photo itself, it’s further highlighted by size, frame and mat choices. The possibilities are endless. Open up your creativity and you’ll find the perfect solution for the bare naked walls of your business or office.

Kerri Williams owns and operates Magpi Studios, a creative studio specializing in photography, graphic design and fine art to meet your businesses marketing needs.

Magpi Studios offers an affordable alternative to purchasing art through ArtLease. With ArtLease, you make the decisions on the art with the guidance of Magpi Studios, all while working within your budget. You also have the option to change the art within the terms of your lease and experiment with different images or update your look. Learn more about ArtLease and the possibilities of creating an inviting environment for your clients, your staff and yourself.

THAT 80/20 THING

I came across an article the other day about becoming a successful artist. It was the 80/20 thing and why artists often fail at business. The 80/20 thing means you're supposed to spend 80% of your time on business (marketing, networking, etc) and 20% on art (you know, the fun side of all of this). My business manager has been telling me this for years. I know the 80/20 thing, but there are times it just doesn't fall into place. This week was a perfect time.

This week was more like a 20/80 thing. But I guess it's really a matter of how you look at it. The week went something like this:

Tuesday - One hour networking event; afterward, three hours roaming Fredericksburg capturing its charm.

Paddle Boat at City Dock - Fredericksburg, VA

Physick Garden behind Hugh Mercer's Apothecary Shop - Fredericksburg, VA

Thursday - Two hour networking event (that offered a great opportunity for photography while networking).

Home grown plants at the Market at Courthouse Village

Scratching it off the bucket list - the inside of a hot air balloon

Harry Wilson (of Harry & Larry & Buck) on the vibraphone

Friday - Look 3 Festival of the Photograph in Charlottesville (and while I missed the ticket sale before it sold out, I did find time to take a shot or two).

Outside cafe in Charlottesville, VA

So all in all, since the photos go in the portfolio and the majority are for sale, and since two of these shoots were associated with networking events, maybe it was an 80/20 week.

REDEFINING ART

I've had some very eye opening views on art during the past two weeks (maybe that's why I'm a week behind on posting). You see, being a self taught artist doesn't really give you a lot of room to say much about art. I can't comment on the "greats". I have no idea what makes a piece outstanding. I don't have the art vocabulary. Nor do I have the art snobbery. Really, I get defensive about the whole thing. How can you define what can't be defined?

Honestly, I'm not bitching. This all started brewing in my head when a very, very dear friend and I were discussing the award for Dinner for Two. My friend told me it was a nice shot, she really liked it, she didn't get it, but she liked it. While I heard the "liked it" phrases, the one that really stuck was "I didn't get it". Right there, the problem with art. There isn't necessarily anything to get. Dinner for Two is a shot of an empty outside dinner table with a white tablecloth, silver wrapped in white napkins resting on top of two white plates, all set against a pale pink stucco background and the top edge of red chair. I saw the image, I saw the colors and I shot. It caught me. It didn't really represent anything until I downloaded it onto the computer and started keywording. How do I keyword this? Love? Hope? Romance? Happiness? Yeah, that was all there. But that's not what I saw when I took the shot. I saw color and texture. The pink and all that white. The stucco wall. Really, the red chair was the kicker.

I got to thinking about what my friend said. "I didn't get it, but I liked it." You know, that's the whole purpose. You liked it. You may not know why you liked it, but you liked it. It set something off, maybe an emotion, a memory. Maybe nothing and you just liked it. Point is, there's nothing to get. Art is too subjective to either get it or not.

The second awakening was making presentations for a client showcase. I'm very honored to have received a request to present my work to them, but it was nerve wracking to say the least. I'm sending over photos of images of Fredericksburg, and while they liked them, they wanted buildings and landmarks (where I have a tendency to capture quirky, up close detail of buildings and shadows and things nobody really wants). Nothing wrong with what they were looking for, I understood the reason, but to me, that's not necessarily art, and the purpose was to showcase local art. And so again, we have a difference (or am I being an art snob). Fortunately, I have this thing about the church steeples piercing the skies of old town, so I did have what they were looking for. That and a few other location type shots. Not what I normally shoot. To me, landmarks and buildings are tourist shots, travel memories for the scrapbook (remember when you'd watch slides of your family vacations?). But then again, I've seen some gorgeous artistic travel shots. I mean, Nat Geo lives on that stuff. All in all, we're talking style here. It's like that old saying - One man's junk is another man's treasure.

But let me wrap this up because I'm getting a little too wordy. Art has this perceived definition (and I apparently fell into it). It's a world that seems to belong to a certain social class and the best the rest of us can  do is purchase prints of long dead artists from the local arts and crafts store. No, that's not snobbery. In fact, my favorite print on the wall in my home is by Paul DeLaroche - La Jeune Martyre. And guess what? I got it at the local Michael's.

La Jeune Martyre

Art needs to be redefined. It doesn't need to belong to one particular class of people, but to the world; and while there are amazing artists out there redefining (in a good way) what art really is, it seems a struggle at times. Not just for me, but for all of us; because art has been pre-defined by the academics of this world. I say we just leave it subjective, because really, there's nothing to get. It's simply a matter of something to enjoy.

WISDOM LISTENS

No, we're not getting into a philosophical discussion here. It's something I found painted on a wall. Probably the most profound bit of graffiti I've seen. And they say our youth are troubled. I don't know. This tag has a great deal of intelligent logic to it.

But I have another one that's pretty much equal in the line of the mesage.

  

I particularly like LIVE. It's something to many people forget to do. In fact, I use this image on my photography/graphic design business card; just as a reminder to anyone I may hand it out to. Not that I'm some grand philosopher here. I just like the message. Unless, of course, it's actually an adoration for the now defunct group Live. I guess we'll never know.

And then there's this one - which sets a completely different tone.

I call this one DOOMED YOUTH because of the message it screams. It makes you wonder what's brewing in the tagger's mind.

All this comes about because every time I snap a shot of graffiti, the question pops into my brain - is graffiti art? I do know it makes great art. I see these three shots and could easily envision them in some retro record store, some funky used book store or a kick ass coffee shop. I like a little graffiti with my latte, thank you.

But back to art. Is it art? I know one thing about many taggers, they're usually damn good artists. Many years ago, I read an article about convicted taggers taking part in an outreach program with the sign industry. Now for those of you that don't know, I've been part of that industry for too many years, and over the course of that time, I've seen the artistry of signage turn into cookie cutter slap on the vinyl and put it up garbage. Yeah, it's gotten ugly. If you take a look in the Sign Gallery, you'll see most of the work I shoot is hand painted. At a certain point, they're also known as ghost signs. There's a definite talent with hand painting. I worked with a hand painter at one time and it was fascinating watching his skill. He tried to teach me a few things, but it was useless. I just didn't have the knack; or the patience. I also worked with a muralist. This stuff takes skill. And it's becoming a lost art. In regards to the article about the taggers, they joined up with some sign shops and found these young people to be quite talented on the hand painting side of things. There was hope in the industry that the lost art of hand painting could be found again.

So, is graffiti art? It's hard to say. Are taggers artists? Quite well could be.

But, if nothing else, taggers can be quite profound in their wisdom.

Quick Note: Take a look at the link Lost Art of Hand Painting. It's really quite interesting on how a hand painted sign is done. Not as easy as you'd think.

SMALL VICTORIES

Fine art is a funny thing. Just defining the term is trying. Sometimes I think it has more to do with not being labeled, but allowing yourself to shoot anything from landscapes to nature to portraits to wildlife to products to....

The reason this post is appearing has to do with competitions. And that's where the fine art definition either plays a huge role or no role. There are competitions for all those photographers who specialize in a particular form of photography, and there are those that have no rules. My definition of fine art. No rules.

I entered a competition last month where I impatiently waited for the results. This competition had two rounds of judging. From the first round, they chose two from the four photos I entered. From the second round, they chose one of the two. For me, that was a huge accomplishment. This competition pulled in over 6,000 entries. And to be one of the 83 chosen out of 6,000...well, it's quite an honor.

Being a photographer, or an artist of any kind requires a thick skin. A very thick skin. I remember entering my first juried competition. I had been putting it off and putting it off and I finally just resolved to do it. Send it in and forget about it. Forgetting about it wasn't so easy, but I had the rejection already set in my head. Who am I to think that I'm good enough to exhibit in a juried photography competition? Well, the notice came back and it had been accepted. Accepted! My first time entering. I think I rode that high out for a week. This was back in 2009 with a photograph I call Wednesday Afternoon in a competition titled Connections. I didn't think it was a particularly good shot, but somebody did. It was a bit blurry so I water colored the photo to give it a more artistic look. Actually felt like I was cheating by doing this. Now, you wouldn't believe what I do to some of the photos. Hey, art is art.

WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON

I enjoy the story of that photo more than I do the photo itself. I was in Guatemala for an animal vet clinic. The group that sponsored this clinic, Mayan Families, also provides various programs for the indigenous people of the area. We were at a school Christmas party and I needed a break from the crowd after shooting all morning, so I decided to walk the streets. They were quiet. It was a hot December day (remember, we're in Guatemala) and there's this woman with, I assume her daughter, sitting on the stoop of their home. I looked at them and saw the beauty of that image. I asked if I could take their picture, which is a hard thing to do for someone who doesn't speak Spanish in a country that understands very little English. The question comes out as a basic move of holding up the camera and asking in English, "Can I take your picture?". She smiled and nodded. It's my favorite shot from the trip. And it was taken on a Wednesday afternoon.

Back to the current competition. I was strolling around Fredericksburg, VA one morning. It's a haunt I visit on many occasions and for a small downtown, I find something new every time I'm there. I saw this color, this pink wall and red chair and the white tablecloth with the simplicity of the two napkins. It was too cold that morning to dine outside, but the charm of that setting...I couldn't pass it up. I saw a romantic breakfast that morning, a ghost couple in love - Dinner for Two.

DINNER FOR TWO

This really was supposed to be a post about dealing with rejection as an artist, but you know, sometimes the small victories are just worth sharing.

THESE FOUR WALLS

Been busy, busy, busy - shooting, processing and revamping the website. I'll be adding a few new galleries and lots of new photos. In the meantime, here's a preview of These Four Walls which will be up in the Pushing the Edge gallery.

This shot was taken on Cary Street in Richmond. Totally amazing what you can find in a 4-6 block area.

On a side note, though I didn't go in the store, while walking around the corner of it, I peered through the glass and this place has some truly cool, funky stuff (so I had to give the photo a truly cool, funky look - and btw, the building is white and there are no storm clouds looming overhead - just in case you want to check the place out). I'll be making a shopping visit in the near future.