Fraser River Dock

Okay, so maybe I haven't gotten down to the business of preparing for the show. But I did get out. And it was the west coast at its moody best.

Artists In Our Midst

I just wanted to let anyone visiting this site know that I will be involved in "Artists In Our Midst" this spring. You can find me by going to the 'Artist' heading and scroll down till you find my name. I have enjoyed exploring the other artists' work. A talented group. Now, down to the business of preparing for the event.

Stanley Park: Part 1

I may have mentioned that I have sleep issues which often make it difficult for me to get up and catch the early light. Winter should be easier, because the morning gets up even later than I do, but the cold and the dark are so depressing and intimidating that I often don't take advantage of it. Over Christmas and New Year we had a spell of clear cold weather and, on what turned out to be the last day of that run, I got up, after a short sleep, with an unusually positive attitude and decided to try to greet the sun with my camera. I got dressed and drove to Stanley Park. Because it was still a holiday the roads were clear and I arrived in time to find some of my favorite conditions. There was a light fog over the park that gave it a magical quality. The light that filtered through it was like a fine dust that settled on the trees, frost and ground ...

Stanley Park: Part 2

The story starts the day before when I took some pictures of a cut glass canter in a backlit window and realized I should charge my batteries. I took them out of the camera and put in the replacements which, I realized later, were very close to drained as well. By the time they were charged Katherine was asleep so I couldn't get my camera out of the closet to put them in the spare battery pocket of my camera bag. Knowing my memory is far from perfect I left them by my computer with the intention of seeing them when I checked my email and putting them in the bag. Of course, when I woke up and decided to go on a photo safari, I didn't have time to use the computer and didn't see the batteries. You can see where this is going. Getting to the magically lit Stanley Park I started taking pictures with my DSLR only to run out of power. I found some batteries in my flash kit and used those but they only had enough juice for a few more shots. I took out my Panasonic point & shoot and fired away until it too was spent. I guess I am grateful to have gotten up early and taken the shots I did. Oh well ...

Happy New Year

Best wishes for a happy & healthy 2011 to anyone who sought out, or stumbled across, this blog.

Banksy

I am creating this blog entry (or phlog as I prefer to call it) simply as en excuse to provide a link to a youtube entry that features the work of Banksy, a British graffiti artist. It is the opening to "The Simpsons" that they allowed him to design. It is wonderful in so many ways.

Bamboo 2

I didn't take any Christmas pictures this year. But I spent Boxing Day scanning old negatives. I don't have a hard and fast artistic philosophy when I work with images and I rely on a less cerebral and more instinctive part of my being. Many of the artists I like are more traditional in their approach to image making and I admire that aspect of their work. I like the fact that I can experiment digitally but I envy the more organic, tactile methods of the master etchers and printers. It might be like writing music but not feeling the smooth neck of a guitar or the weight of a piano's keys against your fingers while you are doing it.