Litchfield Jazz Festival This Weekend to include Fine Art & Crafts Village: Pat Gullett

© Pat Gullett
Pat Gullett, who makes beautiful, ancient-looking jewelry, will be exhibiting at the Litchfield Jazz Festival this weekend. The festival runs from Aug 6-8, 2010 at Springs Center, Kent School, Kent, CT. Gullett's Howling Moon Studio is participating in the Fine Art and Crafts Village, and will be there Fri. 5-10, Sat. and Sun. 11 am -10 pm

We printed a few large mounted fine art prints for Pat's booth--her work looks great big, so check them out at her booth if you go.  

Music includes Dave Brubeck, Arturo O'Farrill Afro Latin Jazz, a Cannonball Adderley Tribute, Anat Cohen Quarted doing clarinetwork--Benny Goodman and Beyond--just a few highlights, and there are so many great artist. The set I am most inerested in is Bela Fleck, Zakir Hussein, and Edgar Meyer Sunday night at 7 pm. 

~Lys


Cliff Abrams in Juxtapositions at Flinn Gallery, Greenwich

© Cliff Abrams

Photographer Cliff Abrams will be among Greenwich Art Society members whose work is on display in a juried exhibition at the Flinn Gallery from July 30 to Aug. 22 with a reception held from 6 to 8 p.m. on Friday, July 30. The judge of the show is Neil Watson, executive director of the Katonah Museum of Art, Katonah, N.Y.

The Flinn Gallery is located on the 2nd floor of the Greenwich Library, 101 West Putnam Avenue, Greenwich, Connecticut.

~Lys

Garage Sale-Purchased Negatives Found to be Ansel Adams', Appraised at $200 Million

In this Antiques Roadshow era, everyone dreams of finding some lost gem of art or antiquity to cash in on later.

In this case, a box of 65 glass plate negatives found at a garage sale 10 years ago for $45, has now been verified by handwriting and photography experts to be the work of Ansel Adams. Appraisers have valued the treasure trove at around $200 million. It was 10 years of hard work proving that they were authentic. I'm sure the California man who found them invested quite a bit of money toward that end, so I suspect $45 initial price tag may be slightly misleading about the overall net cost.

The reason for their being off-premises is not explained, but that saved them from a fire that claimed 5000 other Adams negs. I have a hunch this was a reject bin Adams used for teaching materials. Granted, Adams' reject bin has amazing stuff in it, but perhaps he never intended some of these to see the light of day. Imagine someone going through your studio's garbage and selling your work after you're dead. Guess we'll never have to worry about that.

Story here on CNNs website.

So... if you see glass plate negs at the Elephant's Trunk flea market one Sunday... look very closely.

By the way, we can print from black-and-white glass negatives and other antique media, both traditionally and digitally. In color, we can reproduce them digitally. We did a job for the Newtown Historical Society a number of years ago and pulled an incredible amount of detail out of some glass plate negs. Gorgeous prints of historical images. Film may be dying, but it is still sending us love letters from bygone eras.

Laurie Lambrecht: "From the Studio of Roy Lichtenstein" at Blue Sky Gallery, and on NPR

© Laurie Lambrecht 

Photographer Laurie Lambrecht worked as an assistant for Pop painter Roy Lichtenstein in the early 90s. While working with him on a major retrospective of his work, she grew close to him, and photographed him in his workspace. She also photographed collections of objects and images, reinterpreting some of his materials to make her own work. There is some very cool imagery that combines elements of Lichtenstein's paintings along with the artist himself--it's as if he has stepped inside his own paintings, and Lambrecht has offered us a rare glimpse of Lichtenstein's imagination.

The exhibit is at Blue Sky Gallery in Portland from July 1, 2010, to August 1, 2010.  The gallery is located at 122 NW 8th Avenue, Portland, OR.

NPR did a story on Lambrecht's exhibit for their online feature Daily Picture Show.

~Lys

This is Your Blog, Too...

Where else but here would you find out the latest about peers' shows, new competitions, new technology, items of interest, and sometimes nutty opinions you can only find written by Mark and me?

This is a reminder to please send me show and other announcements at lysbeth [at] stillrivereditions.com (close up space, and replace [at] with @), or mail them to me at Connecticut Photographics/Still River Editions 128 East Liberty St., Danbury, CT 06810.

A handy-dandy way to keep up with reading the blog is to just click on "subscribe by email" in the right hand column, and you'll be prompted to enter your email address and a code. Then check your email and click on the confirmation link.

You may already have a blog reader, and if you do, you can use that instead. You can also use your email program as a feed reader.

If this is totally confusing to you, call or email me and I will give you a Social Media Pep Talk.

And that's all she wrote.

~Lys

Life in a Day: Participate in a Worldwide Self-documentary Project July 24

Life in a Day's idea is this: to document July 24--a single day on earth---from as many perspectives as possible. It's up to you what and how much you film. Videos must be uploaded to their site between July 24 and 31.

I don't shoot much video, but I think even I might participate. Youtube is calling it an "historic cinematic experiment". There are a few prompts, but the rest is up to you.

Huh... one of the "don'ts" is no music, and others include not infringing on various forms of other people's intellectual property, and trademarks. Makes sense unless you are the owner of that intellectual property... like music, for example? [Can it really be a representative day on earth without music or high art?]

Make a video. Have fun. Upload it. If you do it, can you send me a link?

~Lys

More on "Where did my files go?": Desk, Filing Cabinet, Folders, Files

Have you ever lost a file on your computer?

I want to help clear up any confusion about the concepts of files, folders, and the desktop.

First you need to understand how the information stored on your computer is organized--file management. There's a very good tutorial for Windows here on youtube (not by us.) It'll help you understand where to look for files, and how to store and organize them.

Concrete examples involve a desk, a filing cabinet, folder inside the cabinet, paper (files) inside the folders, and folders inside the folders. There's a kind of patronizing example here.

FYI, when there's computer stuff I don't understand, my first impulse is to check Google, and my second is to look on Youtube, and my third is to consult a friend.

~Lys

Mark Savoia Exhibit at New England School of Photography in Boston




"Fried Doe Just a Buck"
© Mark Savoia



Mark Savoia, photographer (and co-owner of Connecticut Photographics/Still River Editions), is exhibiting at the New England School of Photography's Stairway Gallery for the month of July, 2010.
Mark graduated from the New England School of Photography in 1980.

Savoia's fine art photography records the visual contradictions that pop up just about everywhere, but it takes a trained eye like his to seek them out. Mark shoots primarily digitally, and his prints are carbon pigment giclees, yet his black and white prints have a film feel. Color would probably just distract the eye from the key elements of his compositions that add up to the visual satire.

Mark is one of seven photographers to receive at 2010 artist fellowship from the Connecticut Commission on Culture and Tourism.

NESOP is located at 537 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA.

~Lys

John Shearer: America (Continued) at the Aldrich Contemporary

"Pritchard, Alabama Jail"
© John Shearer
at Aldrich Contemporary

John Shearer's show America (Continued) recently opened at the Aldrich Museum in Ridgefield, Connecticut. Shearer has been a photojournalist since the '60s, first as one of the youngest staff photographers hired at LOOK magazine, and then as a photographer at LIFE until the magazine ceased publishing. Among Shearer's achievements is having covered the civil rights movement of the '60s, the Attica Prison riots of 1972, and the first Ali-Frazier fight--the "Fight of the Century".

A portfolio of Shearer's images can be seen here. The "News Events" section gives a good cross section of his most powerful work. In addition to his photography, Shearer is an author of fiction and nonfiction for children.

Still River Editions printed two large-scale photographs for Shearer's show--the image above, and also the image below. Richard Klein, exhibitions director at the Aldrich, mentions the two images as bookends for the show in the last paragraph on the museum's page about Shearer's show.

artwork 
© John Shearer
at Aldrich Contemporary

The Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art is located at 258 Main St. Ridgefield, Connecticut.

Steve Boyle's Photography at Primer, Inc. in Hatboro, Pennsylvania

© Steve Boyle

Philadelphia-based photographer Steve Boyle is in a solo show at Primer, Inc. during the month of July, 2010. 

There will be an opening reception on Friday, July 2, at 6 pm.

Though Steve Boyle's imagery is usually centered around the athlete as individual and as archetype, and his photographs are varied in texture and feel. Several distinct bodies of work are on exhibit, including an intriguingly different black-and-white series of a dancer in deep shadow and contrast that focuses the viewer on her musculature--dancer as athlete. There are more traditional sports-related photographs, paired with almost abstract shots of winter sports. There are close-up color portraits, and a series of dramatic, colorful sleeping bags, undulating abstractly on a black background. Boyle's work has been commissioned by clients including ESPN Magazine, Runner's World, Gatorade, and the History Channel.

Primer, Inc. is located at 15 Byberry Rd., Hatboro, Pennsylvania. Primer, Inc. is a branding house/design studio that features a gallery with monthly shows.  Boyle's other website is The Philadelphia Photographer.

Still River Editions printed the photographs for this exhibit.

~Lys

Demystifying "Where did my files go?" for newer computer users

Understanding "Where did my files go?" (or the concept of "files" and "folders" in general) is probably one of the most basic problems newer computer users can face. I just stumbled across an article this morning that might help with that question. It's geared toward teachers of computer skills, but I think it might help regular folks. I'm working on a tutorial to illustrate these concepts. Coming soon. In the meantime...

Here's the article.

If you're trying to send us files and you're running into problems--call or stop by! I won't judge you!

~Lys

Equine Expressions: Leslie Hudson-Tolles at Koenig's Newtown


"After the Dance"
© Leslie Hudson-Tolles

Leslie Hudson-Tolles of North Carolina will return to the northeast next week for "Equine Expressions", a show of equine art at Koenig's FrameWorks that includes Hudson-Tolles, Adele Goodman, and Shelley Hunter. 

Leslie Hudson-Tolles is a nationally recognized Equine Artist who works in pastel, pencil and colored pencil, monoprints, block prints and painting. Her knowledge of horses, and mastery of technique create nearly human expressions in those big eyes, and attitude in their demeanor. 

Hudson-Tolles was based in Newtown, Connecticut for 32 years until a relocation a couple of years ago. She will be signing prints at the opening reception on Thursday, July 8, from 6-8 pm.

Adele Goodman works in pastel, and is from Mooresville, North Carolina. Shelley Hunter is a bronze sculptor from Lexington, Kentucky. Their work harmonizes with Hudson-Tolles' perfectly, in that they are not mere illustrators. They use their selected mediums with an eye toward creating emotion and motion.

The show runs from July 8 until August 6. Koenig's Picture Framing and Art Gallery is located at 97 South Main St. (Route 25), Newtown, CT. Opening July 8, 6-8 pm.

~Lys

Cliff Abrams' Dualities at the Greenwich Art Society

Greenwich Art Society will be hosting photographer Cliff Abrams' solo show "Dualities" from July 7-31, 2010. There will be an opening reception Wednesday, July 7, from 6-8 pm.

In "Dualities", Abrams couples his images; the architectural, industrial, and geometric are paired with florals, botanicals, natural processes, or soft things (like skin, in one image). Abrams designs exhibitions, giving him experience grouping objects and images to create emotions or elicit questions. Proximity may change the meaning of his individual photographs, and the viewer must either connect or ultimately disconnect their relationship to each other. In that, there is both duality and simultaneity--which is its own duality.

Greenwich Art Society is located at 299 Greenwich Avenue, Greenwich, Connecticut.

~Lys

Bill Eppridge: An American Treasure at Monroe Gallery of Photography in Santa Fe, NM

© Bill Eppridge
As is the case with most great art--the deep impact of the work often renders the creator invisible. Seeing a cross section of a lifetime's output turns the focus back onto the artist, when a thread of continuity is seen even between vastly disparate subjects.

This is the case for Bill Eppridge, a master photojournalist whose 50 year career is distilled into 50 photographs for the exhibition "Bill Eppridge: An American Treasure" at Monroe Gallery of Photography in Santa Fe, opening July 2, 2010. Connecticut Photographics and Still River Editions printed both traditional gelatin silver prints and digital archival color and black and white prints for this show.

Though Eppridge may be known best for his iconic images of Bobby Kennedy before and during the "Heartbreak Campaign", and his gorgeous black and white coverage of the Beatles' first visit to America, it is the scope of his career that is most remarkable. All of the images are connected by Eppridge's hungry eye and poetic gravity. Quoting from Monroe Gallery's website, "he has covered wars, political campaigns, heroin addiction, the arrival of the Beatles in the United States, Vietnam, Woodstock, the summer and winter Olympics, and perhaps the most dramatic moment of his career - the assassination of Senator Robert Kennedy in Los Angeles. Over the last 50 years, his work has appeared in numerous publications, including National Geographic, Life, and Sports Illustrated."

And when you see the photographs, you understand. Forgive me if I lapse into stream-of-consciousness--going from the Beatles' arrival in America, and the unbridled optimism of the Bobby Kennedy campaign, to Woodstock, America's Cup, you find your heart in your throat seeing the busboy kneeling over a dying RFK, and the funeral procession of James Cheney ("Missisippi Burning"). Portraits of Barbara Streisand, Jonas Salk, and Cesar Chavez... and then sports coverage... and Apollo 11... the shockingly beautiful, but devastating coverage of "Needle Park"... and these are only fifty prints out of an astounding body of work.

Bill Eppridge will be present at the gallery's opening reception on Friday, July 2, from 5-7 pm. The Monroe Gallery of Photography is located at 112 Don Gaspar, Santa Fe, New Mexico.

There's a cover story about Eppridge from 2008 in Double Exposure which gives some good background.

~Lys

Artist As Curator at Kehler Liddell in New Haven, Opening July 11

The artists for "Artist As Curator" were chosen by artists represented by Kehler Liddell Gallery in New Haven. Each artist represented by Kehler Liddell chose a regional guest artist to be in the show.

The guest artists are: Gulgun Aliriza, Melody Best, Janice Bielawa, Richard Carleton, Terry Dagradi, Jean Dalton, Catherine Doocy, Chris Durante, Alanna Fagan, Andrew Hogan, Lori Glavin, Richard Lytle, Fethi Meghelli, Jason Noushin, Douglas Nygren, Tom Reilly, Jeremy Keats Saladyga, Thomas Stavovy, Susan Cutler Tremaine, Kevin Van Aelst, Ting Ou-Yang and Jonathan Waters.

The opening reception is Sunday, July 11, from 3-6 pm, with an artist talk at 3 pm. Kehler Liddell is located at 873 Whalley Avenue, New Haven, CT. The gallery is located in the Westville section of town, and there is parking behind the building.

~Lys

Banjie Getsinger Nicholas Open Studio June 26-27 in Warren, CT




"The Attic of My Soul"
© Banjie Getsinger Nicholas


The studio tour takes place on Saturday, June 26 from 10 am to 5 pm and Sunday, June 27 from 10 am to 4 pm. There are 24 artists participating the free tour in Bantam, Cornwall, Goshen, and Warren. Connecticut's northwest corner is full of creative people making contemporary art who are generously opening their studios for the general public.

Banjie Getsinger Nicholas creates delicate drawings in silverpoint, and luminous painting in egg tempera. Birds, nests, feathers, flowers, and landscapes are often paired with intriguing objects, like antique toys, or paper cutouts. Sometimes text is part of her silverpoint drawings. 

For the studio tour, she will likely go into detail about the processes she uses, and the inspiration she gets from birds (she is also a certified wild bird rehabilitator).

Here's a previous post about Banjie, and an article from the Litchfield County Times that features video about how she makes her own paints.

Information about where to go is on the Open Studio Tour's website.

Go! Have fun!

~Lys

Western Connecticut State University MFA Show in NYC

"Bret Michaels: Rock 'N' Roll Survivor"
©Hiroshi Mizuno

This year's crop of MFA recipients in painting and illustration from Western Connecticut State University in Danbury, CT is showing at Blue Mountain Gallery, 530 W. 25th St., 4th Floor, NYC.

The artists participating in painting are: David Brownell, Betsy Davidson, Brie McDonald, Renee Rossi, and Jill Sarver. Those participating in illustration are: Danielle Alpert, Thomasina Beasley, David Ferreira, Annie Lane, Barbara Mansilla, Hiroshi Mizuno, and Jamison Odone.

Still River Editions printed Hiroshi Mizuno's colorful and cheeky illustrations of celebrities included in the exhibition. Mizuno's eye is sharp and critical, and sometimes he cuts to the quick. Sometimes, though, he gently (and humorously) amplifies the already oversized qualities of the personalities he draws.

The opening reception is Thursday, June 24, 5-8 pm, and the show will run until July 10, 2010.

~Lys

The Gallery at Black Rock: Amber Maida artist talk

"Between the Stars"
© Amber Maida


Amber Maida, whose solo show "Labyrinth" opened earlier this month at The Gallery at Black Rock, will be giving an artist talk on Saturday, June 19 at 1 pm. This new series of mixed-media paintings was inspired by the lyrics of David Bowie. Found materials are often used to create texture to good effect in her abstractions, which are darkly intriguing.

~Lys