Me and Georgia OKeeffe

Oriental Poppies, circa 1928

Last year my younger sister, who has a traditional art degree, started calling me Georgia OKeeffe with a camera.  I laughed it off thinking she was being her normal whimsical self and intended it as a complement.

Orange Poppies, circa 2013

I mean sure, Georgia OKeeffe was a renowned artist who specialized in, among other things, flowers.  And I was a computer geek with a thing for plants and a very flower-centric photography style.  Worlds apart right?

Evidently Georgia and I have more in common than being from the same general geographic region of the country and being fascinated by flowers in general and poppies in specific.

My personal ongoing quest for live oriental poppies to photograph has been the cause of many marathon trips to garden stores around town,  several purchasing binges of bulbs from online plant suppliers (stupid warm Colorado winters led the bulbs to sprout in January and then die in the next snow storm), and even the planning of clandestine garden raids (a friend willingly gave me one from his garden upon hearing my nefarious plan to raid the Botanical Gardens).

Anyway, my knowledge of Georgia's work started with purple morning glories and ended with cow skulls, my college education having focused on math, engineering, and computers.

So this week while looking for cheerful stickers for my new water bottle (that ugly store branding embossed on the side of the teal blue neoprene HAD to go) I finally figured out why my sister said that.

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Art Fair Applications Are Here Again...

Received the email notification yesterday that applications for the annual Cherry Creek Arts Festival are once again being accepted...

I generally experience a fix of trepidation and excitement when applying to shows.  On one hand acceptance is rather like the gold stars they used to hand out in elementary school.  On the other acceptance means scraping up funding for inventory, having to select pieces from my vast photo collection, and entering into organizational hell.

Yay chaos?  I mean I thrive on chaos and spontaneity, but past experience has shown that prepping for a show has a non-zero impact on the production of my actual art.  And summer is one of my prolific times with all the plants available at the garden store :)

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Water Lily Hunting

My obsession lately has been water lilies.  A rather expensive prospect since the only place to purchase them at this time of year is the local garden store, Tagawa Gardens specifically.  And they have a varying selection depending on the phase of the moon and the whims of people.  Transit from the store to the house involves wrapping the plant in a plastic garbage bag.  The flowers tend not to survive :(

A couple of weeks ago I struck on the idea of cutting the flowers off of the plants before transport.  Talking the garden store into letting me cut the flowers off the plant and float them in a plastic bucket before leaving took some doing.  My first little experiment turned out so well that I've been looking for additional plants since, to no avail. 

My friendly local florist can get them as a cut flower but only February - April, strike 2. 

 

Yesterday, at the garden store and coming up empty yet again, I got frustrated and started looking for other sources for water lilies. A sign for the Rocky Mountain Koi Club prompted me to check their website for sponsors.  And enter Enery Water Gardens. 

An hour drive up to Arvada yielded four choice water lilies and a lotus.  And of course happy happy koi fish that couldn't come home with me because Cleo would have sushi.

The lilies made the trip home just fine but they looked so lonely in their half barrels of water.  So onward to to purchase a kiddie pool.  LOL.  

They're much happier now.

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The Secret to Art Fairs...

The entire month of May seems like it was consumed by the voracious beast known as Art Stir 2013, and while a worthwhile experience part of me is very glad its over, and the house has returned to an organized state. 

Don't get me wrong.  I enjoy sharing my work with others, but storing 100+ photos, most of which are in various states of assembly in the living room is a bit to chaotic for my taste.  Especially when certain "assistants" decide the boxes are the most awesome forts ever...

Having done a total of two art fairs I've come to a couple conclusions on how to make life much easier going forward.

1.  Rent a cargo van.  Life is much less stressful when all your stuff fits in one vehicle, and that vehicle can be solely dedicated to art transport. 

2.  Bring lots of water.  Dehydrated people are grouchy people, and grouchy people don't make sales.

3.  Organization is key.  Having your C(ertificates) O(f) A(uthenticity) prefilled out and bagged by size is SO MUCH easier than having all 100+ mixed together in a manilla envelope (as was the case in our very first art fair).  Same goes for price labels.

4.  Tell personal stories about your work.  Most people don't care about the type of lens but are interested in your favorite shots and why you love them.  The reason a french marigold reminds you of a bumblebee will sell a photo much faster than a description your f-stop settings.

5.  Set even prices.  Few things suck more than having to figure out taxes while someone waits to complete a purchase.

And most importantly be nice to everyone from the volunteer staff and fellow artists to people you know for a fact aren't going to buy anything.  Its how emails are sent on your behalf for admittance to other art festivals and how extra hands help hold your pieces to the walls when the wind blows.  Besides as someone who slouches around in flip flops, hole-y jeans, band t-shirts, and baseball hats, few things are more of a turn off than someone disregarding you simply because you don't look affluent.

visit Samantha Byrnes' gallery online...

Intentions & Ego

Last night was the Open House at the Roxborough Arts Gallery where I'm the Featured Artist for this month.  Featured Artist translates into lots of wall space in the front of the gallery.  I'm definitely not one for social gatherings, so the crowd last night was both a blessing and a curse. 

Everyone appeared enjoyed my display of sixteen prints, with the best compliment being someone hoping that one day people would react to their wood working the same way with comments of "How did she do that????"

This morning my boyfriend made a comment that I thought captured things rather succinctly.  He said that the reason I'm so successful in taking photographs is that for me the point is the flower, not the camera.  Too many people mistakenly think that a passion for art begins with the device or tool with which you are creating that art rather than for the subject.

The other battle I've had this week dealt with ego and being placed on the waiting list for yet another art show.  Its like finishing fourth in a race where the first three get to move on to the next event.  Not losing but not winning.  And irritating as all hell when everyone around you is feeding the ego beast and raving about your work.  Lets just say I took it personally for a couple of days before coming to the realization that the judges' possible lack of appreciation for my work wasn't necessarily a failing on my end. 

As my friend, and enabling florist, Arthur recently told an interviewer from the Denver Post, people tend to have a rather polarized reaction to nontraditional pieces.  He was referring to his using living models as props for his floral pieces, but I believe the same principle might apply to my pieces as well.  They love it or they hate it.  And compromising to middle ground isn't one of my strong suits. 

Other people's approval isn't the point, and sometimes I need a reminder.  All I do it put it out there.  People get it or they don't, and neither reaction is mine to own.  So while other artists might be euphoric about the gallery reception last night and making grand plans I find myself still mellow and balanced and reading a book by the fire instead of obsessively checking my online gallery stats on this snowy afternoon. 

Compromise

Electric Sunflower

As part of my on again off again quest to share (and fund) my photographic habit I like to submit entries for photography shows.  A couple of the shows I've looked at entering lately have been interesting but in the end I decided they weren't for me.  The concept of having to compromise what I'm doing in order to fit my work into the boxes provided by the shows doesn't sit well with me.

One show in particular was more about the artist's ability to describe what they were trying to portray in writing rather than through photos, and without the paragraph of explanation the photos were meaningless.  The idea of people trying to psycho-analyze flower photos, trying to assign some deep trauma or conflict beyond a couple of words strikes me entirely missing what I'm trying to convey.  Putting more analytical thought in front of an emotional response is not the point. 

My goal is to take images that speak for themselves, that allow each person an individual interpretation, rather than images that require some lengthy back story from me. 

Ideally I'd like people to look at one of my photos and become suspended in a moment of silence because that's what meditation is in the end is a moment of true silence where the analytical pauses for breath or is struck dumb.

One of the things that Osho talks about is the idea of people compromising in order to gain the approval of others, and through that approval they gain what they, and others, perceive as success.  And then once they feel they've achieved "success" they stop compromising and become more true to themselves.  I think I'd rather be true to me the whole way though, and if other people like what I'm doing then that's fine.  And if they don't well that's fine too.  Which is probably why I have a day job in a non-conformist field :-)

The Balancing Act

Lilies in Sunlight

Right before the holidays I received my very first artistic commission through one of the brick-and-mortar shops I display work in.  A local couple had redone their living room and wanted to create a collage of my work on their very large wall.  And before they placed their order they asked for an consultation with the artist.  They want me to see the wall and make recommendations.  On one hand very exciting and on the other a bit overwhelming.

Photography for me was, in a way, a happy accident, a set of coincidences that lined up one after another.  No one ever believes me when I tell them that though.

As someone who's extremely vata (intuitive, artistic, and spontaneous) and pita (driven, goal oriented, type A) my mind will spin scenario upon scenario of what if, building ever more complex castles in the sky when left unchecked.  (Ayurvedic reference)  Enter endless lists of things to organize and consider, spreadsheets to build, and schedules to make.

 This tendency of mine can be both a good thing and a bad thing.  It allows me to balance what's quickly becoming two very different careers without losing my mind.  It also can become a stumbling block for the creative process.  My photos, while technically correct, tend to lack that indescribable je ne sais quoi when my thinking self is driving the bus rather than my creative self.  Thinking self says things like "take more shots, just in case" when creative self says "no, you already got the good shot in the first five minutes".  And creative self is usually right.

Thinking self is a huge time waster.  O.o

And unfortunately compartmentalizing thinking self away from creative self is becoming more and more difficult.  The company I work for (career #1) is expanding at an ever increasing pace (hello Mr Wireless Controller, two more buildings, and 75 more employees).  And my artistic work is also starting to expand, with applications to two major art festivals pending, with commissions, featured artist segments at galleries, a show in February, and a trip to Japan in less than two weeks, and with all the wondrous side effects of running a business (tax season with all its joys, budgets, and inventory control).  Enter thinking self into my artistic world, cavorting rampantly through my spare time and having hissy fits.  Having to be organized sucks and part of me longs for the days (a whole year ago) when no one knew about my work and if I didn't want to keep inventory logs or accounting spreadsheets I didn't have to.

Currently my best trick to keep thinking self at bay is to shoot first thing in the morning, when thinking self is still mumbling sleepily in the back of my mind.  (Yes, the majority of my best work is shot in socks and yoga pants while clutching my first latte of the day).  My second trick is to hit the dojo, where I first discovered how to just be in the moment instead of thinking all the time.  However, the problem with the dojo is I'm starting to receive more pressure to become involved in teaching instead of just being.  Argh.  Perhaps its time to introduce crazy tree paintings again and hide them from all visitors so the subject of selling them doesn't rear its head AGAIN.  <rolls eyes>

visit Samantha Byrnes' gallery online...