Old Florida

Pond, Ozello, FL

Another image to add to the series.

Old Florida

Spanish moss always reminds me of north central Florida.

Tree with Spanish Moss, Ozello, FL

This tree seems to be morphing into some kind of signpost - its limbs pointing in different directions. Florida at a crossroads.

Old Florida

I love this time of year. The semester is winding down and the summer is stretching out before me. My mind starts to wander back to my own work. I have so many subjects that I'd like to photograph and the time is nearly here when I can really focus on it.

So since today is a rainy kind of day, I figured I'd spend some time tying up loose ends... and believe it or not I still have photos that I haven't edited yet... some photos from Florida. So here's one of 3 or 4 that I'll be posting.

Cans, Ozello, FL

If I was able to travel back home more often, I'd photograph images of what I refer to as "old Florida." There's plenty of small towns that still feel completely wild, like Florida once was before Disney World culture took over. This photo was taken in Ozello, a tiny little town on Florida's northwest coast. I was struck by the aluminum cans decorating the shrubs like ornaments on a christmas tree, a trace of human presence in this wild place.

Opening Reception Friday April 16th, 5-7 pm

Hope you can make it to the opening of Alumni on 5: Greater than 16x20; Less than 4x5 this Friday April 16th 5-7 pm at Columbia College Library, 624 S. Michigan, 5th floor.

I have 3 pieces in the show, 2 of which are brand new works!

If you can't make it to the opening, the show will be up from April 16 - September 1.

De Pavones

Another image from the series. This is someone's driveway... as seen from the main road. I was interested in the light, but now I wish I would've included a figure in the space. It's still an interesting space, but I'm not sure that it's a keeper.

A doorway to the church into Punta Banco... a town at the end of the main road, south of Pavones.

Don Ricardio. His family has lived in the area for a very long time. I've photographed him previously. He donated land for a new school that was built recently. In this picture, he leans on my sister's truck, as he tells stories.

This is a shed that is on the grounds of the new school. I loved the way the chickens were strutting around.

Both of the above photographs were taken during a soccer game in town.

New Year's Day at Rio Claro. This is where the river flows into the ocean. It created a little pool that was great for kids to swim in. I've never seen this many people at the point before. All the locals came out to celebrate the holiday.

Chele. He's a mechanic. I talked to him for quite awhile and found myself understanding most of what he said... kind of a break through in my Spanish listening skills.

Surfboard locker. I love the traces of care that went into creating the locker, and also the traces of wear that have come from years of use.

Upcoming Exhibition

Just found out today that I got into a Columbia College Alumni exhibition entitled Greater than 16x20; less than 4x5.

Opening Reception

3rd Floor of Columbia College Library

Friday April 16, 5pm-7pm

Exhibition runs from April 16 - October 1, 2010

I will have 3 pieces in the exhibit, 2 of them are brand spanking new images that I shot in January!

More info to come.

De Pavones - more new images

I've been working on some more images from the series. I'm just about done working with what I've already scanned, so I'll have do some more scanning next week.

Pavones tag

Macho

This image was made at the big Pavones town event, Bingo. Macho is a fisherman and takes tourists out in boats to go fishing. Jesse and I went out with him many years ago. Here, Macho is making and selling a juice made out of sugar cane. He gave me a little sample, it was very sweet without much flavor. You can purchase the regular sugar cane juice, or get a spiked version which is probably much more enjoyable...

Hector

I photographed Hector on my previous visit to Pavones. His family runs the ceviche restaurant, Brisas Del Mar. Hector, age 11, has quite an artistic eye. He loves to draw. The mural behind him was sketched by him and a friend. I gave Hector some drawing paper and colored pencils and when I saw him the next day, he had done about a dozen detailed images of the local scenery and of monster trucks. He let me pick one of his drawings to keep. I chose one that he had drawn of his house, with detailed depictions of local flora along the uphill incline of his driveway that leads to the house.

The Road

This is one of my favorite things about Pavones. I love walking, riding bikes, and driving up and down the twisting and bumpy dirt roads. A completely different vista is at every turn, and the condition of the road and roadside vegetation varies with the seasons.

Surf Pavones O Not

I finished another image from my de Pavones series - a sleepy guard dog taking an afternoon siesta. This was taken on the side of the ferreteria, Pavones' local hardware store. I was attracted to this scene by the sleeping dog, bold color and text. The sleeping dog references the ubiquitous presence of dogs both in Costa Rica in general, and Pavones specifically. It is always quite a shock for us Americans to see so many beloved dogs roaming freely in the streets, and a surprise to realize that most all of them have homes.

The tag on the wall is a curious detail because it is almost a threat, as in the standard construction to do (a particular activity) or die. But it is softened with the change of die to "or not". The text is an interesting combination of macho surfer talk combined with humble Tico talk. It is also a confusing mix of languages, an attempt at English, but instead of "or" the tagger wrote "o," slipping back into the Spanish equivalent.

This image speaks to both the Tico culture, and specifically Pavones culture, which revolves around surfing the world's second longest wave.

New Photos - Evan & Zoey

These are some photos I shot of my nephew Evan and my niece Zoey while I was in Florida for Christmas. Evan is age 7 and Zoey was 10 at the time, although she'll be turning 11 in one week. I've been photographing both of them since they were babies, but photos are now fewer and farther apart since I live in Chicago.

Evan

Zoey

I miss these kiddos... another reason why I'd like to get back to Florida permanently! Relocating halfway across the country as an adult is so much harder than it was a grad student. Hopefully a teaching job in Florida will be in my near future...

Andrea & Faviana - de Pavones

Andrea

Here are a couple more portraits of local ticas: two young girls from Pavones, Costa Rica. Andrea was in town for the big Bingo event. My sister Angela used to tutor Andrea in English. I love Andrea's colorful and carefully coordinated outfit, and how the light is illuminating her.

Faviana

My limited knowledge of Spanish makes it difficult to communicate sometimes, but from what I understand, Faviana's mom works at the town's Super (grocery store), and Faviana was waiting for her mom. Faviana seems to present that typical tween mixture of both boredom and curiousity.

Marlon - de Pavones

Marlon

This is Marlon, age 12. He was one of the many curious kids who were intrigued by my large camera while I was shooting in town during a Bingo fundraiser. Marlon is a local kid who has grown up in the Pavones area. I found his somewhat urban style of dress interesting, particularly his shirt which has dollar signs and English words on it professing his "Rawthentic" and "Raw and Uncut" persona. Both the language and the symbols on the shirt are signs of the influence of American culture in Costa Rica. Costa Rican currency is called colones, and the symbol for it looks more like the symbol for a cent.

The familiarity with American dollars, also speaks to the location of Pavones and its proximity to the Panamanian border. Pavones is only about 1 1/2 hours from the border town Paso Canoas. Many locals go there to shop, and I would bet that this shirt was purchased there. Panama uses American currency.

As I tried to communicate with Marlon in my garbled and simplistic Spanish, I told him I would send him a copy of the photo. He responded politely by saying "thank you" in English.

First New Image from de Pavones series

So I've been having a hard time trying to find time to work on my most recent images taken in Costa Rica. I finally have one of the images scanned and edited, and I'm working on printing it right now. This one took a lot of work because I had some sort of light leak, but I was able to repair the image.

Anixia y Tatiana

Anixia and Tatiana are a mother and daughter team that run Brisas del Mar, an open air restaurant with ocean view, that serves the best ceviche in the area (or anywhere for that matter). It is located between the two villages of Pavones and Punta Banco.

Ellen Gale (Hopkins) Green to be honored this weekend

So this has nothing really to do with photography, but as a feminist I am really proud of my grandmother, now 92 years old. She will be inducted into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame this weekend.

Ellen Gale Hopkins Green is being honored for her swimming achievements in the 1930s. While still in high school, Ellen Gale was named one of the Men of the Year for 1936 by the Springfield News-Leader, the only woman to ever achieve that honor.

Ellen Gale and her sisters were known around town as the "Hopkins Mermaids". All 3 of them were swimmers, but my grandmother was the sister who excelled at the sport.

"One of Ellen Gale Hopkins' most memorable performances came in 1936, when she swam at the Grant Beach AAU meet and won the 50-yard freestyle, 100-yard freestyle and the 440-yard freestyle, setting pool records in each race in front of a crowd of 1200. Her performance prompted the News-Leader to say 'She's [Hopkins] perhaps the most outstanding swimmer in the Missouri Valley Division.' " (Missouri State University Athletics)

Congratulations to Ellen Gale Hopkins Green!

For more info, visit:

Springfield News-Leader

http://www.missouristatebears.com/

http://www.kspr.com/sports/

While In Class

opening reception Friday Jan. 22, 6-9 pm

*image by Elise Hibbard, student at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago

The exhibition I juried for Woman Made Gallery will be opening THIS FRIDAY, Jan. 22.

Featuring photography, painting, sculpture, & video installation works by women student artists from Columbia College Chicago, The Art Institute of Chicago, University of Illinois Chicago, Depaul University, and other national institutions.

I went to help hang the work on Saturday and I was quite impressed with the quality of the works on display. Not to be missed!

While In Class

Jan. 22 - Feb. 25 2010

Opening Reception Jan. 22, 6-9 pm

Woman Made Gallery

685 N Milwaukee

Chicago, IL 60642

Go to womanmade.org for a preview of the exhibition

Artists: Kristyna Archer, Margaret Carsello, Mary Chiaramonte, In Kyoung Chun, Renee Couture, Kelsey Curkeet, Hope Esser, Anna Gratovich, Erin Hernsberger, Elise Hibbard, Gwynne Johnson, Julie Jones, Robin Juan, Mel Keiser, Kaitlin Kostus, Susan Kwon, Elizabeth Larew, Mary Laube, Laurie LeBreton, Miranda Maher, Molly Nuzzo, Rachael Olmstead, Megan Ory, Katherine Perryman, Nirmal Raja, Rebecca Sonnack, Elizabeth Start, Jamie Steele, Sara Stubblefield, Olivia Swider, Katie Swietlik, Anna Timmerman, Davana Wilkins, Nicole Wingate, Rachel Wunsch

More From the Westside... Douglas Park

Here's a few new photos... shot these in mid November, but haven't had time to work on them until now. I've been wanting to photograph in Douglas Park for awhile. It's an amazing space that just seems to go on and on... it has a mini golf course, pool, baseball & soccer fields, ponds with stone bridges, trails, native prairie grass gardens, etc. Douglas Park is also an example of a Westside site that has fallen into a state of neglect and disrepair. Not to say that this park isn't used, but it doesn't seem to be utilized or valued for its full potential.

More images shot from the pink line platform...

And another Westside graffiti shot...

Spent some time printing this weekend - printed these 3 recent shots, plus a few others. I still have more editing to do of images that I shot a week ago. It seems like I can't ever get caught up on my own work, at least not while the semester is in full swing. Only 5 more weeks to go!

More from the Westside... The Pink Line

Okay so here's a quick post before I go off to teach my next class. Took some images about two weeks ago of interesting things I noticed as I ride the pink line. Can I just say how much I really love the pink line? My favorite parts of the blue line were always the areas that are on elevated tracks, well the pink line is completely above ground, and you see amazing things as you ride through the various neighborhoods on Chicago's westside. Here's an image I took at the polk station - propbably my favorite stop on the pink line because it has such interesting 60s-style windows that frame various views of the city. Here's one of the photos... will post more.

More from the Westside...

There's an amazing block in Little Village that is covered by graffiti on 4 sides - nearly the whole block. I had noticed the ever-changing graffiti before, but recently my husband and I took the time to walk all the way around it and really study the artwork on it. This section of the wall was made by the "Saw Crew". The wall features several different graffiti crews who seem to be battling it out with their paint. I thought it had an interesting use of color, and liked the way it fit into the late October foliage.

I printed this image on my new (well new to me) Espon 7880 printer - what a powerful machine it is! Love it!!

More photos to come when I have time to sit down and work on them...

Upcoming Events - Around the Coyote Fall Festival, and Mirando Al Sur at Woman Made Gallery - October 16-18

This is a busy month! But then again, October is Chicago Artists Month. Next weekend I will be super duper busy. I have 2 art opening events, plus I'm shooting an event for someone else, and I have tickets to see MeShell Ndegeocello at the Oldtown School of Folk Music! Whew! Trying to catch my breath in preparation...

So the first event I want to announce is:

Foto-op Collective has a booth at Around the Coyote Fall Festival and we will be displaying works by our members: Nicole Wingate, Gwynne Johnson, Mark Marano, and myself. Please stop by and say hello! If you haven't been to Around the Coyote before, it is quite an event featuring some amazing works by local and national emerging artists. Here's the info:

Venues
1817 W Division St Visual Art (this is where Foto-op will be located, booth #1)
1287 N Milwaukee Ave Theatre, Performance, and SlideLuck PotShow!
1275 N Milwaukee Ave Visual Arts
1240 N Milwaukee Ave Video and New Media by LiveBox
1238-40 N Ashland Ave Visual Arts

Hours
Opening Party Friday, October 16
All venues open: 7:00pm to 11pm, Special Evening Lounge Hours at Blue Coral Sushi from 9-11pm
Saturday, October 17
all venues open from noon to 10pm
Sunday, October 18
all venues open from noon to 6pm

The 2nd event I want announce is:

Opening reception Friday Oct. 16th, 6-9 pm.

Exhibition runs from Oct. 16 - Nov. 12 2009

I have one of my very favorite images from my de Pavones series in this show. This exhibit is also featuring works by fellow Foto-op member Gwynne Johnson! Not to be missed!

Thoughts on jurying an exhibition of works by women students...

As an undergrad and graduate student of art, I noticed the way art programs are dominated (at least in numbers) by women. As an instructor I see the same thing. My student populations are generally at least 75% women. And yet, high-paying full-time positions in academia, in galleries, and in museums - all of these prestigious positions seem to be heavily dominated by men. STILL. Look at works being exhibited in any gallery or museum space - the artists are STILL predominantly male. The numbers just don't add up. This may all sound like the guerilla girls circa 1989. But in 2009, representation of women artists is a huge problem. STILL.

How can this be?

What happens to our young women artists? Where do these women with BFA and MFA degrees disappear to? This discrepancy in representation both silences and de-emphasizes women's contribution to the arts. If I attend a gallery and I see that the artists are 50% women (which statistically they should be), I am absolutely astounded.

That's why Woman Made Gallery is so important - it more closely resembles the reality of who is creating art. Of course it is an extreme representation (100%), but it more closely reflects the ratios I have seen firsthand of young student artists in training.

So WHY are women artists disappearing post-BFA and post-MFA? I think it is certainly a reflection of our society - a male-dominated world where the sensibility and subjectivity of men is the "norm". Women's sensibility, point of view, and subjectivity is therefore regarded as "other". STILL.

Woman Made Gallery is a haven from the realities of the art world - a place where "other" becomes "norm". There you will find the women artists dominating (or perhaps trying to make an appearance in) the art world. Let's support them so they may begin to have a larger sphere of influence. Let's turn these others into the norm.

WHILE IN CLASS - the deadline is approaching! Submit your work by OCTOBER 14

Juried exhibition at Woman Made Gallery. We are looking for women student artists (undergrad or grad) to submit works. Works can be of any subject matter, and in any medium.

Go to the Woman Made website to submit your jpg images and artist statement:

http://womanmade.org/entryform.html