Support Team USA Whitewater Slalom Team

http://www2.teamusa.org/Home/USA%20Canoe%20Kayak/Case%20for%20Support.aspx

Who knew that whitewater slalom is an Olympic discipline?
I did, of course, but many people do not.
Being semi-unknown is kind of cool. Amateur sports have a certain purity that big-time sports often forget in the age of hyper-commercialism. But there is a down side; lack of money.

http://www2.teamusa.org/Home/USA%20Canoe%20Kayak/Case%20for%20Support.aspx

Right now, Olympic athletes on the U.S. Team are working odd jobs, teaching kayak/canoe lessons, anything it takes to earn enough money for plane tickets to London this summer. They are as committed to earning their way as they are to their year-round training that rivals any major league sport you can think off. These men and women of whitewater slalom are not million dollar athletes of the NBA, NFL, NHL, MLB who's big-league teams allow them to take a couple of weeks off to go play in the Olympics. The women and men of whitewater slalom train all year, work full time jobs that have nothing to do with their sport, and compete against each other in weekend events that have entry fees, hotel rooms, gas money, and other expenses that come out of their own pockets.

http://www2.teamusa.org/Home/USA%20Canoe%20Kayak/Case%20for%20Support.aspx

Every $20 helps. Give what you can. Even better. Pass the links along to people you know. Everyone can participate. Everyone can be a part of the Olympics. Money donated goes directly to the athletes. This is not some big corporate ad campaign that donates a few bucks to the Olympic Committee so that they can say the "support" the athletes. This IS the athletes. This is direct help, just like giving a family member a couple of bucks when they are sooooooo close to finishing a goal.

Worldwide Pinhole Photography Day

http://www.pinholeday.org/

free-pinhole-book-from-now-until-pinhole-day

A nice video about pinhole photography by Nancy Breslin

Still Point Arts Quarterly

and Still Point Gallery

Three of my pieces are currently in the online gallery for Still Point IV.
Out of that online show, several artists' work (including mine) will appear in the summer edition of Still Point Arts Quarterly, which is an artist-centered publication, on very nice paper, that includes poetry and prose in addition to visual arts.

Sketchbook Tour 2012 starts in Brooklyn

http://www.arthousecoop.com/submissions/58512-kawanhee-boathouse-chair
My sketchbook is catalogue number 156.19-1

at the Brooklyn Art Library

and will continue on across N. America,
so check the schedule and mark your calendars

May 3-5 in Chicago, IL at
Hyde Park Art Center

May 11-13 in Portland, OR at
The Cleaners at the Ace Hotel

May 15-16 in Vancouver, Canada at
W2 Media Cafe

May 24-26 in Los Angeles, CA at
iam8bit

June 2-23 in San Francisco, CA at
Pop-Up Shop

July 6-8 near Boston, MA at
LynnArts

July 11-14 in Portland, Maine at
SPACE Gallery

July 18-22 in Toronto, Canada at
The Gladstone Hotel

Aug 23-25 in Philadelphia, PA at
The Painted Bride

Aug 29 - Sept 1 in Atlanta at
MASS Collective

Sept 8-16 in Austin, TX at
Co-Lab Project Space

Elves Chasm (looking out)

Finished the sepia edition (10) from this photogravure plate.
The sky in this picture is a very close portrayal of the typical sky from the trip last year. Overcast much of the time, but when clear the wind kicked up. This all made for some very flat light. Taking pictures within a tight canyon was good, but as soon as I turned the camera lens skyward, the meter did all sorts of crazy things. I had to rely on what I had learned about light meters, exposure, aperture a very long time ago.

Here is a link to a very cool 360 panoramic view of Elves Chasm that someone else made.

Elve's Chasm (looking in)

I just ran the sepia edition from this photogravure plate.
10 prints in the edition with 1 artist's proof and 1 printer's proof.

Geology of Elve's Chasm

Stone Voices

"The ease of digital photography, with its ability to collect thousands of images rapidly, seems as personal as the thousands of "friends" in the online world. My exploration of historical photographic processes have let me slow down and work with images that are like close friends. The photogravure process demands thorough knowledge of several different workflows, most of which are manual, intimate techniques of creating an image. The process is slow, and allows time for me to get to know the image like a good friend. The final steps of inking, wiping, and printing are like a pat on the back, a handshake, and the revelation of something that only a close relationship can give."

I wrote that when I sent my images in to Stone Voices for (hopeful) participation in the "Inspired By Joy" Summer Issue. I like the premise of the art and literary journal, starting with their tag line (mission statement?), "Connecting Art and Spirit". Each issue is a (mostly) juried competition in which visual artists send in their work with a statement, then writers create work based on the journey the visual work inspires. The collaboration is remote, but the connection is real.

Hopefully someone is inspired enough by my work to write something wonderful.

(I don't think that my work has a link off any of the pages yet, but I was playing with Google Images and what do you know?... there they were, waiting to inspire writers who enter the juried competition)

disclaimer (clarification by expansion): I do enjoy digital photography. I participate heavily. My comments are an explanation of WHY I have been drawn to an older process. Slowing down has a different aesthetic than the fast-paced, instant-gratification world that surrounds us. And, I won't say that it is more or less beautiful. It's just that the beauty is different.

Here is the full gallery with all the artists for writers' viewing.

Pulling up to Deer Creek

Another test print with blue/black ink from a new plate for photogravure.

http://www.zionnational-park.com/map-deer-creek

Tequila Beach

Testing the photogravure plate I just made for this image, using blue black ink on white paper. It looks good, but I think that the edition will use a warmer ink color.

(please excuse the limited range of the cell phone camera used to take the photo of this test print)

http://grandcanyonhistory.clas.asu.edu/sites_coloradorivercorridor_lavafalls.html