Category: Awards and Honors

KNLT Pine Mountain Artist Retreat

This past fall, I was invited to attend an artist retreat with the Kentucky Natural Lands Trust in Pine Mountain State Park.  KNLT has started hosting retreats where they invite 20-25 artists to join them in the Pine Mountain Wildlands Corridor, their primary project area, to learn more about this special place and their efforts to preserve and protect it.

Pine Mountain Collective
Fall 2015 Artists’ Retreat ~ photo by Guy Mendes

 

The big weekend activity was a day long hike in Bad Branch State Nature Preserve.  The specific hike was to High Rock, a massive sandstone extending along the summit offering spectacular views of the Cumberland Plateau.  It was a beautiful autumn weekend.  Clouds in the sky made for the most spectacular light and the views were stunning!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The weekend sparked a moving conversation about the role of art and conservation.  As we drove nearly an hour through the mountains to arrive at our departure hiking point at Bad Branch, we passed large mined areas of the ridge, devastating to see and truly sobering.  What can we do as artists to be the voice for nature?  Science doesn’t seem to be getting very far with facts alone.  Art is crucial to making that emotional connection which inspires change.  It got me thinking about my creative voice for nature!

The weekend was transformational.    I was inspired by KNLT and charmed by the Pine Mountain Settlement School.  There was a bonfire and bonafide entertainment.  Met a lot of great people.  Took a lot of deep breaths.  Felt connected.

Thanks to Greg Abernathy from KNLT for all his hard work in making this weekend a success!!  Click to access KNLT Fall Artist Retreat blog post to see who was on the retreat with me!!

Stay tuned for the announcement of an upcoming group show with artists from both the 2015 spring and fall retreats!

 

 

 

 

Alien Nation, CreativeLive & #PhotoWeek2015

Ya know, I gotta say, I LOVE CreativeLive, the online learning platform that broadcasts live classes in photography, film, music, crafts and more!   I learned of them two years ago when I first starting teaching photography to high school students.  CreativeLive has been an invaluable tool for me…not only in my role as a photography instructor, but also as a fine art photographer.

creativelive

I have viewed many live classes and have actually purchased several for watching at my leisure at a later date.  In fact, I designed this website after purchasing Brian Wood’s class, Creating a Responsive Website with WordPress!!

So I couldn’t help but be excited by their #PhotoWeek2015 photo contest, where the winner was awarded an all expenses trip to Seattle to be a member of the guest audience during CreativeLive #PhotoWeek2015!  Gotta admit, most of the time, I do not participate in FaceBook contests because they seem to pretty much be based on popularity…who’s got the discipline to ask their friends, ON A DAILY BASIS, to vote for them??  Not daily, but more times than I felt comfortable, I put it out there…because the prize was just that good…and many of you took the time out to vote for me and I still can’t thank you enough!!

But imagine my excitement when I received an email from CreativeLive’s Lindsey Bluher stating...”We loved your entry in our Photo Week 2015 contest! So much so that we’re planning on including it on our social networks.”

I was more than happy to answer their questions about the image entitled ‘Alien Nation’ which is part of an on going series entitled Alt-Country:

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And while I was not the grand prize winner…CreativeLive promoted my work more times than they needed to…on Twitter, Instagram AND Facebook…which was almost better than actually winning the grand prize itself! The above screen shot is their promotion on my image in Instagram…which generated 1101 likes (and counting since captured!!!) …mostly from individuals who do not know me personally.  I know that in the real world of ‘likes’ and social media, this is not much to brag about…but I still can’t help to look at this as a total victory!!
Check out CreativeLive for yourself and see why it is such an amazing site!!   Join me as I’ve been geeking out all week!
jz

Kentucky Arts Council’s Featured Artist September/October 2015

The Kentucky Arts Council continues to be very good to me.   In 2014, I was awarded an Al Smith Fellowship and most recently I was selected to be their Featured Artist for September/October 2015!!  Receiving these recognitions validate the pursuits of my creative passions and further encourages me to work!

One of the perks of being featured, was having KAC’s Folk and Traditional Arts Director, Mark Brown pay a visit to my newly expanded studio; where he took pictures and recorded an audio interview which he later compiled into the video below currently featured on their website!

I love that the video is informal, offering a brief glimpse of my life as an artist, rather than attempting to tell my whole story.  Mark did a great job of piecing the audio together in that way that didn’t make me sound pretentious or flat out ridiculous.  I only cringed a few times upon seeing my un-photogenic self…and that’s a frickin’ miracle!!  What was easily a 2+ hour interview (feeling quite therapeutic I must add) is condensed into just under 11 minutes.  If you have a moment, take a listen and let me know what you think.

Click HERE to visit my official Featured Artist page, read more about my work and see other featured artists on the Kentucky Arts Council website.  Thank you Mark Brown and Kentucky Arts Council!!!