I'm excited to announce that two of my pieces were awarded 1st Place (traditional photography) and 2nd Place (hybrid photography) in the GACA annual photography juried exhibition.
Admittedly, this is not my typical venue, but I have been spending more time in the area, and thought I would give it a shot. I also don't participate much in photography exhibitions, historically, mainly because much of my work is non-traditional, and tends to be better recieved in traditional art exhibitions.
Needless to say, that was an exciting and unexpected boost.
I also began work on a new studio at the farm this past week. It has been a serious struggle trying to find any momentum without a consistent place to work, particularly outside of environmental settings. The setup and tear down of lighting, backdrops, etc, tends to be tedious and typically destructive to the creative process, especially when I'm working on a whim or experimenting with ideas. It's going to be a long haul, however, as my space was previously a pole barn acting as my wood shop with some art storage on the side, so there is much to do in terms of remodeling, cleaning, organizing, etc. I tend to have many things that I've collected with the thought that, "someday I'll find a use for this", and then those things get lost in a stack of other "useful" things without any matching intention...
The short term plan is to install a new wood stove, so that I can work through the cooler months, two, possibly three new windows, revised amibient lighting, and a catwalk for elevated shooting. The ceilings are nearly 20' at the peak, so there's a lot of overhead space for lighting, backdrops, whatever I can fit into the space. Progress photos to follow, of course....
It's time to get back at it.