Send Us A Thanksgiving Cameraphone Image

While I was driving home yesterday in the pre-holiday traffic, I had the idea to ask you to send us a Thanksgiving cameraphone pic. I'll post as many as I can either over the weekend or on Monday. Title them if you want, but make sure you give your name so I can credit you, and link to your website, if you like. If you don't have a cameraphone, and want to participate, just send a small jpg instead (try & keep it under 2 MB).

C'mon... it'll be fun. Send 'em to lysbeth [at] ctphoto.com

Thanks for being inspiring, and for creating some of my favorite artwork.

Happy Thanksgiving!
~Lys

Chris Osborne Exhibiting "Who's Driving? Legendary Cars and Legendary Stars" at the Trucking Museum, Middlebury, Connecticut




"James Dean with a 1949 Mercury"
© Chris Osborne


Fine artist Chris Osborne will be exhibiting "Who's Driving? Legendary Cars and Legendary Stars" at the Golden Age of Trucking Museum from November 15, 2009 until November 2010. There will be an artist's reception from 2-4 pm on November 15. The museum is located at 1101 Southford Rd., Middlebury, CT.
Chris Osborne's art bridges a love of cars and a love of music and film. Often familiar faces are paired with significant automobiles--Marilyn Monroe with a pink 1956 Thunderbird, Johnny Cash with a 1954 Chevy pickup, Robert Johnson with a 1935 Hudson Terraplane. When she is not traveling the country with her artwork, she sometimes drives around in a green vintage Chevy truck of her own.

Osborne says of the museum, "I love the museum for the quality of the displays and the sense of history, and I am grateful for the chance to be a part of it over the next year. The antique trucks are truly impressive. The museum has always been very supportive of my work; they sell my posters in their gift shop."

On exhibit will be original paintings, as well as digital fine art prints and posters.







"Green Bean" and Chris Osborne
© Chris Osborne



Lys

Tony Donovan's "Ardoyne, Belfast, Ireland 1971-1972" at NESOP








© Tony Donovan

Tony Donovan of Ivoryton Studio's portfolio of work from Ardoyne, Belfast, Ireland 1971-1972 will be exhibited from November 16, 2009 to January 8, 2010 at The Garner Center for Photographic Exhibitions, New England School of Photography, 537 Commonwealth Ave., Boston, MA. There is an opening reception November 19, 7-9 pm.

Donovan, who was a 26-year-old filmmaker at the time, ended up by chance living in a brick row housing estate in the small community of Ardoyne, in north Belfast, Ireland and photographing its residents with his Leica. "To a lot of Irish Americans, [Ireland] was the promised land," said Donovan. What he saw when he got there was more like a police state.

"At the time the images were made, no one was interested in the work--people didn't want to talk about it," Donovan said. His time in Ireland coincided with some of the worst civil unrest caused by paramilitary groups who waged a war against British rule. Donovan worked on a scaffolding gang rebuilding houses that were burned during the conflict. He says there was around 60% unemployment among the men of the community, as well as high rates of alcoholism and suicide. Some of these problems continue to this day.

As an outsider, Donovan had to gain the trust of his neighbors, and he often photographed children playing in his neighborhood. His images capture the contradictions in Ardoyne's street life, at once tender and supercharged with tension. The black and white carbon pigment prints for the exhibition were made by Still River Editions from the original negatives.

Lys

Catherine Vanaria Featured in Faculty Exhibition at WCSU, Danbury, CT

"Stacy" © C.A. Vanaria

Catherine Vanaria will be exhibiting two black and white photographs from her series of portraits taken with her 8x10 film camera at the Western Connecticut State University Faculty Art Show. The exhibition takes place at Higgins Hall Gallery, 181 White St., Danbury, CT from November 17 to December 10. The reception will be on the 17th of November from 5-7 pm.

Cathy's use of the 8x10 camera is a counterbalance to the digital approach, which often tempts us to overshoot and underthink. The images themselves are formal and yet extremely intimate; little space stands between the camera's lens (therefore the viewer) and the subject. The narrow area of focus is usually around one eye, and the most arresting visual element is the subject's gaze. The two prints included in the faculty show are of former photography students.

Lys

Catherine Vanaria at the opening party

Loft Artists Open Studios this weekend













This weekend, Stamford's Loft Artists Association will be hosting open studios featuring original artwork by over 40 artists. The event is Nov 6, 7, and 8 (Fri. 6-9 pm, Sat./Sun. 12-6pm). I saw some cards from the last one they held, and it looks like a really interesting mix. The LAA is located at 845 Canal St., Stamford, CT.

I'd also like to note that Nancy Lasar has two large digital fine art pieces in "Narrative Art", a juried group show at the Silvermine Gallery in New Canaan until November 13. We unfortunately missed announcing this earlier, but there is still time to see it. The Silvermine Guild is located at 1037 Silvermine Road, New Canaan, CT.

Lys


PhotoPlus Expo NYC is happening now

PhotoPlus Expo is starting today and runs through Saturday. The candy store of everything to do with photography. Cameras, printers, papers, lighting, books, demos, software, photo exhibits, lectures, workshops, etc. Cathy and I will be attending on Saturday looking for the latest and greatest products to make Connecticut Photographics and Still River Editions continue to offer the best prints possible. Maybe we will run into YOU!

Mark

Christina Dixcy at Rockland Center for the Arts, West Nyack

Client photographer Christina Dixcy is exhibiting in a group show titled Fractions of Sight at the Rockland Center for the Arts, Emerson Gallery, 27 South Greenbush Rd., West Nyack, NY.
Dixcy's landscapes use dramatic depth of field to play with dream-like perception of scale. There is an opening reception on Sunday, October 18, 1-4 pm. Featuring the work of Keliy Anderson-Staley, Katherine Newbegin, Meredith Davenport, Lauren Orchowski, Ingrid Roe, Anna Lise Jensen, Pamela Steinman, and Cybele Lyle. The exhibit runs until December 2, 2009.

~Lys

Barnstorm 2009





2008 class photo


Barnstorm 2009, October 9th - October 12, 2009 - 100 hand-picked students along with 100 photojournalism professionals descend upon Jeffersonville, New York for the XXII annual Eddie Adams Workshop. Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer, Eddie Adams, founded the intensive four-day program 22 years ago. The tuition-free workshop's purpose is to create a forum in which an exchange of ideas, techniques, and philosophies can be shared between both established members and newcomers to the world of visual journalism.

I and Cathy have been to it as guest visitors, it is an amazing thing. So much talent, new and old, in one place, eating, drinking, and breathing photography for four days non-stop.

View some of the final projects from the students.

Mark

New Haven's City-Wide Open Studios, Oct. 3-4





A number of clients, friends, and colleagues are participating in New Haven's 12th annual City -Wide Open Studios, presented by artSPACE this weekend Oct. 3-4, 2009 in New Haven, CT and the surrounding areas.

Some familiar participants include (in no particular order): Keith Johnson, Phyllis Crowley, Joan Fitzsimmons, Joe Fucigna, Kehler Liddell Gallery, Tom Peterson, Sara Bouchard and Leslie Kuo, Valerie Richardson, Margaret Roleke, Andrew Hogan, Dorothy Powers. There are other artists whose names I recognize from reading local arts publications, and far more whose names I don't know whose work looks really interesting.

On Friday, Oct. 2, artSPACE will hold a kickoff party for CWOS and reception for Dispersion, the CWOS juried exhibition, from 6-8 pm at 50 Orange St., New Haven. Saturday Oct. 3 open studio hours are from 11 am to 6 pm, and on Sunday Oct. 4, from 11 am to 5 pm.

In addition, local community-sponsored radio station WPKN will be hosting a fundraising art sale event (including a cat by friend Sue Czark).

If you are participating this weekend and want to send me photos of your lil' corner of the event, please send them to lysbeth [at] ctphoto.com.

Happy lookin'/happy makin',
Lys

A few snaps from Saturday:




Phyllis Crowley
© Photo by Mark Savoia






Joan Fitzsimmons
© Photo by Mark Savoia






Keith Johnson (on right)
© Photo by Mark Savoia

Chris Durante exhibiting at Fairfield Arts Council, reception Friday 9/25










© Chris Durante

Chris Durante is exhibiting at Fairfield Arts Council from September 25 to November 7 along with Mary Jo McGonagle. Durante's recent abstract drawings combine elements from his earlier comic book inspired pieces. These are fractured and exploded until they no longer resemble their representational forebears. His lines are incredibly fluid; in addition he uses marks that are culled from daily life, like coffee stains, and burns. Those marks are used with equal gravity.

McGonagle's multi-layered, abstract, large-scale images combine painting with monotype. I think the artists are a great pairing, and I'm looking forward to seeing the show.

The reception for this exhibition is Friday, September 25 from 6-8 pm. Fairfield Arts Council is located at 70 Sanford St. Fairfield, CT (near the train station).

There is a brown bag lunch discussion with the artists and curator Laura Einstein on Thursday, October 22 from 12:30-1:30 pm.

Chris teaches drawing at Norwalk Community College, and also owns a framing studio in Danbury. He prepares artwork for many galleries, museums and private collectors in and around the area. He is a Silvermine Guild artist and will be showing there in January.

See you around.

~Lys





Chris Durante at the opening
© Photo by Mark Savoia

Florence Froeder / New Fairfield Artist Tour, September 26th







© Florence Froeder


Watercolorist, painter, and client Florence Froeder is opening her studio as part of the New Fairfield Artists' Studio Tour on Saturday, September 26. There are five artists participating in the event sponsored by the Candlewood Arts Fund. Studios will be open from 1-4 pm, and afterward there will be an artists' reception from 4-5pm at Sue Newton's Barn Gallery at 82 Route 37 in New Fairfield.

Check out the above link for more details on the other artists.

If you've never gone on a studio visit before, this is a good opportunity to check out some artists, and see how they work, without having to drive to a major city. It'll be a good weekend to do that, get some apples and cider doughnuts, and see the blushing leaves.

~Lys

Archive of Photojournalist Eddie Adams Donated to Briscoe Center, University of Texas at Austin







© Eddie Adams

The Dolph Briscoe Center for American History at The University of Texas at Austin has received the complete photographic archive of photojournalist Eddie Adams. An exhibition of some of the many photographs will be held at the Sid Richardson Hall location. The exhibit will run through January 16, 2010 Still River Editions printed all the photographs in cooperation with Mr. Adams estate and his widow. Press release info, online gallery of images. NPPA story.

Mark

Ben Larrabee in New Canaan, CT






"Nantucket Lighthouse"
© Ben Larrabee


Cobble Court Interiors and New Canaan Chamber of Commerce are showcasing a selection of Ben Larrabee's fine art photographs at a reception this evening from 5-8 pm. Cobble Court is located at 13 South Ave., New Canaan, CT. The photographs will be on display until December. I hear there will be martinis...

This is the perfect time of year to be going to art openings. Take a drive on the Parkway, see that the leaves have started turning already... bittersweet autumnal beginnings...

Have fun seeing new things,
Lys

Phyllis Crowley at Gallery 195 in New Haven





"Carp, Shanghai - 2008,"
© Phyllis Crowley

Photographer Phyllis Crowley is showing with painter Janet Lage at Gallery 195, a project of the Arts Council of Greater New Haven and Alliance Bank from now until November 13. Crowley's multiple images often destabilize the viewer by suggesting motion; varying points of view reflect a shifting gaze as seen all at once. There is an artists' reception Tuesday, September 15, 5-7 pm. Gallery 195 is on the 4th Floor of 195 Church St., New Haven, CT (across from the New Haven Green.)

~Lys

Edith Morrison at H. Pelham Curtis Gallery in New Canaan











"Betrothed," © Edith Borax-Morrison

Edith Borax-Morrison is currently showing Penweave Drawings at the H. Pelham Curtis Gallery at New Canaan Library. The show is up until October 12, 2009. Borax-Morrison calls her spectacular abstract, and free-flowing mandala drawings "penweaves." The textures created resemble fibers, and the process by which Borax-Morrison creates them recalls the meditative qualities of weaving. The New Canaan Library is located at 151 Main St. New Canaan, CT.

~Lys

Two Keith Johnson exhibitions in Massachusetts open in September








© Keith Johnson


Keith Johnson's photographic series Suite Niagara will be at the Griffin Museum Sept 9-October 18, 2009. Johnson made Suite Niagara during his recent residency at CEPA Gallery in Buffalo, NY. The Griffin Museum is located at 67 Shore Road, Winchester, Massachusetts.

Keith will also be featured in a group show focusing on architecture at Panopticon in Boston in September 10-Nov 10, 2009 with an opening reception Thursday, October 15, 5-7 pm.

The show includes photographs by Steve Rosenthal, John Woolf, Keith Johnson and Peter Vanderwarker. From the gallery's website: "Keith Johnson's new work isolates landscape elements, laying them out in grid and multiple linear formats. He suggests that the presentation of multiple images has a very structured and multilayered effect, creating a visual experience larger than the sum of the individual parts."

~Lys