Category: News

September 25, 2015

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:

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!

September 17, 2015

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!!!

August 2, 2015

Several Exciting Announcements!

First of all…I can’t believe it’s August 2nd!! With all the rain we had late spring, early summer, it felt like we were in some kind of time warp that has just suddenly flashed forward! Lots of great things have come my way recently…and I have been quite busy!

Been working on a new piece for an upcoming show curated by the amazing and accomplished CJ Pressma entitled Photography since the Millennium which will be exhibited at the Carnegie Center for Art & History in New Albany from October 9th, 2015 – January 9th, 2016.

Additionally, my studio space has recently DOUBLED IN SIZE!!! For many years, I have been an Artist in Residence at Highlands Community Campus. In June, a fellow studio mate moved out, making her space available which just so happens to be directly next door! Located in an old church, the upstairs rooms resembled old classrooms with walls that rolled up into the ceiling. This past month that wall came DOWN (!), and I have spent the past two weeks painting and making it my own.

Furthermore, I was recently a guest artist with Studio 2000 and taught a photo transfer workshop at Shawnee Arts and Cultural Center which was super fun and quite successful! I am working on more detailed and individual blog posts about each of the above news…and then some! Stay tuned….I’ve got a lot of posts in the work…and publishing within these next few days.

In the meantime, I am happy to announce more great news…

It is my honor to have been selected as a Featured Artist on the Kentucky Arts Council’s website for the months of January-February 2016!!! Somebody from KAC is coming to my (newly expanded!) studio to conduct an interview and create a 7-10 minute video about my work. I’M TOTALLY STOKED!