Goings on…

Well…My first group show with the 14th Colony Artists Co-Op has opened and so far we have had some good reviews from those who have walked through.  Not much has sold yet, but that is nothing new for the art world.  A co-op can be a difficult situation as well, because so many levels of skill and medium are represented.  It can confuse some people.  I have already experienced the snobbishness of some ‘critics’ who claim to be collectors towards some of the painted pieces.  Fuck ’em.  My world has little room for them.

I am grateful to have two of my digital pieces in the show but was surprised by how little people know, or more accurately assume, about digital photography.  Many think that because it is a digital photograph that it is some kind of composed artifice, a manipulated image or something.  I assured many people that I do not engage in such trickery or deception nor do I feel that such work is even “photography”.  I am a purest at heart, whether in the wet or dry dark room.  You won’t find me using CS4-5 like a hammer.

Speaking of which–the weather has cooled and my dark room is open once again for the season.  The ambient temperature is a lovely 67*F which means that I only need to warm up the developer a degree or two for a 2 minute full-black development time.  The 14th Colony is putting on a photo show of the groups photographers (called ‘The Photo Show’) which opens on October 2nd and runs for two weekends.  I hope you all can make it!  The reception is on Friday, October 8th.  I will be hanging 7 medium format silver pieces which I am currently working on–local scenes mostly.  So I can be found in the DR most nights when it is quiet and no one calls.

It’s a decent day outside.  I think I’ll try to get put and shoot a roll or two.

Johnnyboy

Updates, new things and decisions…

I have finally finished all of the paperwork needed for my final 12 credits in school.  What a horrible and humiliating process this has been; to justify the work I have done in one school (far superior to the one I currently attend) to a bunch of pencil-pushing bean counters.  Just plain stupid.  If I didn’t know better I’d think I was the subject of discrimination!  We shall see.  I’m pretty sure they’ll find a way to fuck me in some fashion.

I have been invited to be a part of an arts community here which makes me enormously happy, but nervous.  They like my work and want me to be in with them.  This makes sense for some reason.  All of the other traditional paths set before me this summer have come up short: the wedding work–a dud–the work with the pro interior guy–fizzled from nothing.  So it seems like my HP is saying, “Get out there and do it yourself, and take the help when it is offered, but don’t count on it!”  So be it…

I have joined our house up with a local CSA in my little town.  This way we can get a box of assorted veggies every week for the next 13 weeks and be part of a community group at the same time.  I went last week and I was saddened to see that although many people have signed up for and take advantage of this great resource, there were no names on the list of real locals, except us.  The rest seemed to be folks who have transplanted themselves from the city or elsewhere.  This means that many townspeople are still shopping for produce at large supermarkets and buying truck veggies, instead of locally grown and seasonal stuff.  It all comes down to education, in my opinion, and choices.  Without knowledge one cannot make choices.  Knowledge is power.

I have to admit, though, that when I walked into their little store and met the man who is running the operation it made my choice easier…hot damn.  I could crawl over that thing for a few hours…Nice eyes too.  Apparently he’s already dating some other guy, though.  I can dream.

I qualified at my local gay AA group the other night and it felt really good and whole.  Very comfortable and they were able to get to know me a little bit better.  Some good responses.  It felt nice to be able to be ‘out’ in a way that I cannot at other AA groups in the area.  Still, the fellowship rocks and I am slowly getting out in the world.  I attended a dinner last night with some AA and non-AA friends.  the food was superb and I had a good time, but I was a little put off by some of the conversation.  Some of the guests had a lot in common, namely the Big City club scene from the late 1980s and early 1990s.  Not my thing-and I was busy working and practicing my drinking at that time, but I felt envious and left out of the conversation just the same.

OK.  I am off to do some shopping, hit the gym, and take some pictures along the way.  Tomorrow I take my mother to se ‘Oklahoma’ at the nearby Three Corners Art Center.  This will be fun for her-and me too, I hope.

Johnnyboy