Visit Me at the Oregon City Festival of the Arts This Weekend

I am pleased to be showing and selling artwork at the Oregon City Festival of the Arts presented by the Three Rivers Artist Guild.  The event takes place from 10:00 am - 5:00 pm August 11-12, 2018 at the End of the Oregon Trail Visitor Center in Oregon City.

They'll be food, live music, and a ton of great local art.  Painters, Potters, Photographers, Woodworkers, Jewelers, and more will be there.

I will be at my booth for the entire event, so be sure to drop by and say hello.  There will be many different artists with various mediums in attendance selling their work.  I am continually impressed with the quality and variety of artwork from folks in the Three Rivers Artist Guild, so be prepared to like what you see.

I will have canvas and matted prints available for sale as well as greeting cards.  Check out my Prints page for an idea of the sizes, formats, and prices of work I offer.  I won't have everything on hand, but can easily order or create what I don't have on site.

Here's the event page on Facebook, and the address:

1726 Washington St., Oregon City, OR 97045

I am looking forward to seeing you there! 

Ideas and Imagery #135

It's been a while since I have posted.  It isn't for lack of wanting to post, but instead for all of the reasons that we end up lapsing on the things we love to do.  Priorities change or are changed for us by unforeseen circumstances and you look up and six months have gone by.

That's where I am at this point in 2018.  Photography has taken a back seat to the other forces in my life and I am just now able to begin to re-engage.  While I won't likely fully engage for a while yet, there are signs that some engagement will be possible.

My blog feels a bit like this sign, which sits alone with occasional passersby, wondering if there is someone who will eventually take it down or find something to do with it.  Time catches up with us all, and in the hopes of avoiding rust and decay on my blog I will start to resurface it and make it look good again.

I don't know that there is any hope for this sign.  It's likely to be destroyed before anyone ever does anything with it.  At the very least I hope there are pictures of it in better days that remind people that at some point it had a purpose.

Tiles #27

I was really enamored with all of the intersecting lines in this window.  the number of shapes and angles created by this older style window with its ongoing pattern of rectangles made this a busy, but geometrically rich scene.

In fact looking at it over time has revealed not only how interesting it is as a composition on its own, but also within each individual rectangle, especially around the angled staircase.  If I get back to the place where I shot this I would consider making several compositions within some of the singular frames.

Don't be surprised if these elements pop up in my blog at some point in the future.

Merry Christmas!

I wish you a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!  Thank you to those who have supported my work whether through my website, at shows, or through living with my passion for taking pictures (you know who you are).

I feel so lucky to be able to create and follow my passion, and hope that you all have something you are equally passionate about that compels you to create.  It's through art and its creation that we get to express who we are as people, and through which we get to share our thoughts, ideas, and experiences.

Many thanks to you all and I hope that this Christmas finds you happy, healthy, and full of joy!

Tiles #29

It's interesting how much of the world we live in is composed of simple shapes that we learned when we were toddlers.  They get disguised by their combinations into complex objects, but they are often still very visible if you isolate them.

This roof line and vent are of course attached to a much larger section of siding below.  The orange was what first caught my eye, but as I worked through the scene in my viewfinder, the simple triangle with another simple hexagon in the center stood out against the dark contrast of the shingles.

Combined with the rectangular siding and shingles, simple shapes dominate the frame, which is square to make the geometry stand out even further.  The result is complex subject that feels simplified through framing.  It embodies much of what I try to find when I venture out with my camera, and in this case I didn't have to travel far off the beaten path to find it.

Ideas and Imagery #134

I'm not an explicit storyteller in my photography for the most part, but there are some exceptions in my work.  By intention I try not to create photos that require explanation, which means the photo must stand in its own without any setup.

In this photo, I know the subjects and from that knowledge can make my own interpretation of what the story represents.  Maybe because of that I can put a narrative to this image that other viewers can't.

The trick of good photographic storytelling is to do so with no context whatsoever.  The story should tell itself. 

My blog posts undermine that storytelling process to some extent, but I try to not suggest how someone should interpret a photo.  I mostly discuss my process and the components of the photo that make it interesting.

So in the interest of not telling the story here, I'll leave the photo for you interpretation.  If I've done my job right, you'll see a story all on your own. 

A quick thanks and discount for those who enjoy my blog

I appreciate those of you who spend time looking at my photos and reading my thoughts on them.  My photography affords me the ability to both be creative and to get out of my day-to-day routine.

Writing about my photos helps me to see and better understand why I make time for photography, even if there other tasks I should doing instead.

I write and photograph for myself mainly, but I do enjoy when people connect with my work.  It's gratifying when someone likes a photo enough to see it everyday.

I share these thoughts mostly to get them out of my head.  If you are enjoying them, thanks for taking the time to read them.  If not and you just want to see pretty pictures, there is space here for you as well.

Regardless, if you are in Oregon City this weekend, come check out the Three Rivers Artist Guild Holiday Show and I'll give you 25% off your total order amount (excluding demo pieces).  You just need to tell me you saw it here and I will take care of the rest.  This discount is for in-person purchases only, and will end at 4 pm on Sunday, December 3rd.

Check out this link for more show details:  Holiday Show Announcement

Thanks again for all of your support over the past year.  I hope to see you at the show this weekend.

Tiles #26

When shooting for my "Tiles" and "Compressions" photo series, I work hard try and add something to a composition instead of relying on what already in a scene.

For instance in my "Compressions" photos, I try to take subjects with three-dimensional qualities and shoot them in a way that flattens them into two-dimensional space.  I feel in that way I am contributing my vision into the photo and making it an extension of my thoughts.

But sometimes I'll see a potential photo that stands on its own, and if it wins the internal battle between seeing what is already there and feeling the need to add my own filter to it, I'll shoot the scene regardless of feeling that I should have to work harder for it.

I like this photo because it makes me wonder how this wall ended up with such a diversity of colors and textures.  I wonder about why they stopped demolishing the still intact wall along this diagonal line.  Did they run out of money?  Did they find structural issues?

While I'll never know the answers to my musings, I don't know that it matters all that much.  Sometimes mysteries can be much more interesting than having the answers.  Not all stories are meant to be told.

It's Holiday Show Time Again, Come by and Find a Unique Gift

I'll be at the Pioneer Community Center December 2nd and 3rd for the Three Rivers Artist Guild Annual Holiday Show.  If you are searching for a unique gift, our holiday show is the place to go.  I'll have my photography there, but there will be a ton of great art to choose from.

Paintings, jewelry, pottery, wooden gifts, and many other mediums will be on display from some really talented folks. Artists in the show are members of the Three Rivers Artist Guild and make their art in and around Oregon City and the Portland metro area.

So make the trip to Oregon City, get some great gifts and support local folks who make and elevate local art.

Ideas and Imagery #133

I like images that tell a story or whose subjects can represent bigger ideas or themes.  There are various themes that this image can take, but let's start with what it is.

What caught my eye about this image were the two birds, one black and one white, perched together but apart on the top of this concrete pillar overlooking Willamette Falls.  While the subjects are small, the scene overall is complex.

The black and white processing helps keep the birds from being overcome by the other elements of the scene, and the turbulence of the water and industrial buildings render the surroundings inhospitable.  The pillar is the only quiet element of the scene.

I won't make any leaps about how you might interpret the story.  I have my own thoughts about it, but it does lend itself to outside story lines and projection.

That is one of the things I love about art in general.  Everybody imbues a different meaning on each photo based on their own life and experiences.  I try hard not to put my meaning on my photos for folks.  It's hard sometimes when writing about them, but I try to focus my discussion on my process and what I was seeing in the field.

With that I'll leave the interpretation of this photo to you.  I hope it tells you a story that you find interesting.