Brown Eyed Susan

Brown Eyed Suasan at Allen Centennial Gardens in Madison Wisconsin

Brown Eyed Susan © 2010 Bo Mackison

The flowers that are faithful bloomers in September bloomed in August, and now the fall flowers are blooming in September. The trees are beginning to turn. As I look out my studio window, the leaves that were green only a week ago are fading into a yellow-green and some are already bright yellow.

What are we going to have for color in October?

This Brown Eyed Susan was photographed last week at Allen Centennial Gardens on the University of Wisconsin campus in Madison.

Art Jobs are Jobs, Too

This post, was originally written by Jeffrey E. Salzberg, a lighting designer for theatre, dance, and puppetry troupes in New York City and throughout the United States. It is reprinted here with his permission.

“Recently, I had dinner with some lovely people and the conversation turned, as it so often does these days, to politics and economics.  I mentioned the importance of arts funding, and one of my companions — an artist herself — said something like, “I care about arts funding, too, but jobs are more important.”

Whoa.

It’s time we stopped thinking of ourselves as charity cases.  Arts jobs are no less important just because we make theatre (or music, or sculptures, or ballets, or….) than they would be if we sold cars or built computers — in fact, they have even more impact, proportionally, on our local economies. The arts are huge consumers of materials, which  must be manufactured and transported and, of course, artists and other employees of arts organizations buy the same groceries, clothing, automobiles, and other goods as do those in other occupations.  People who attend arts events are likely to dine out before, and go to bars afterward.  In the United States, more people attend professional arts events than attend professional sports. I’ve seen estimates that every government dollar that goes to arts funding has between six and seven dollars  of economic impact.

I’m writing this in September of 2010.  In 7 weeks, we’ll be electing senators, members of Congress, legislators, and governors.  This is a time when our elected officials — and those who want to be our elected officials — are most likely to listen to us.  Ask…no, demand…that they tell you their positions on arts funding.

Send your opinion to the candidates of your choice.

Let your message be loud and let it be clear: “Arts funding is jobs funding.”

Why Photography? Part V

Basho’s Temple Bell © 2010 Bo Mackison

The temple bell stops but I still hear the sound coming out of the flowers. ~Basho

(Fifth in a series on why I chose photography as my creative medium and the basis of a new career.)

#5. Photography allows me to set aside time each day to play.

Yes, Play.

I take photos nearly every day. I usually process most of them that same evening. Occasionally the weather keeps me inside, so then I pull out my collection of photographs I’ve taken, and I look for a photo I marked as having promise, but one that I never spent time playing with.

When I first started shooting photos, I thought post processing would have no place in my photography. Then I realized I needed a program to manage the thousands of photos I had, or I would never be able to keep track of what I had. I finally settled on Adobe Lightroom and use it not only to organize my photos, but to do some post processing.

I like to challenge myself to take the photo in the camera, but honestly, there are many times when a bit of a crop, or a little more exposure or clarity improves the photograph. I even been known to take some of the color out of a few botanicals, though I’m not too fond of super saturated photographs.

In the case of the above photo, I started out with 42 shots of this flower, most of them nearly the same. Just a few variations in the composition.  I was shooting with a little wind at my back, and though Sherpa was assisting by holding a wind block, occasionally the breeze would sway the flower. And I was shooting with a borrowed camera, and wasn’t totally familiar with all the controls, so I took a few trial and error shots. By the time I culled out the slightly out of focus photos, and the ones that didn’t make the cut, I had seven photos I liked.

Then came the fun part. Which one did I want to work with? I chose this particular shot because I like the suggestion of the stems coming from the deep interior of the flower. Then I started playing. A bit of light. A bit of black. A very slight increase in vibrancy and then a decrease in clarity to give a dreamy feel to this luscious white bloom.

I played with the composition until I had the feeling I wanted. The feeling. That’s important to me.

That’s pretty much how I do many of my photos — by the feeling I get. Hard to explain. That’s why I call it play. Because I spend a lot of time playing with minor adjustments until the photo is just so.

And once in awhile, I end up with a photo I really love. Basho’s Temple Bell is one of these special photos.

Why Photography? Part IV

Japanese anemone hybred 'Queen Charlotte'

‘Queen Charlotte’ Viewing the Gardens © 2010 Bo Mackison

(Fourth in a series on why I chose photography as my creative medium and the basis of a new career.)

#4. Photography provides me with meaningful work and with a career.

For many years, I was unable to do most any kind of work due to a chronic medical condition. I am still unable to do many of the things people take for granted, and many of these things are basic requirements for employment. Employment on someone else’s payroll, that is.

But I discovered that when you own your own business, you create the business environment and you can tailor the work to your abilities. I found that by starting small, and enlisting the aid of Sherpa (my spouse of 30+ years) I was able to gradually produce artwork and start a small business selling my work. I’ve been working on my business model for a couple of years now, and I think I have a great opportunity to build my fledgling business into a viable entity. To put it mildly, this entire process has been nothing short of mind boggling for me.

In the autumn of 2009, I began making and selling note cards, and I did fairly well selling them at small shops and an art fair during the Christmas season. This year, with guidance from a creativity and business coach, I began exploring the different options I had for selling my growing body of fine art photography.

We talked about continuing online sales, sales in galleries and boutique shops, and then we discussed doing art shows. I spoke with experienced show artists, and as we spoke about doing art fairs and festivals, my curiosity was piqued. Well, it was more than piqued. For weeks, I could hardly think of anything else. I even visited several outdoor art festivals when I traveled in the Southwest this early spring. A few weeks after my return home, I made my big decision. I would set up an art booth for the summer art fairs and get some first hand experience. I borrowed a tent and began acquiring the necessary paraphernalia.

The photography and printing, and the setting up of an art booth, turned out to be the easier part. I had a stack of applications to fill out, photographs to take for the juried shows, summer schedules to shuffle, travel plans to arrange. Those were difficult for me to accomplish, but I managed. And then, suddenly, I was faced with financial tasks – I had to get a bank account, set up an account to accept credit cards, file the necessary business papers and tax forms, keep records.

Time after time, I was overwhelmed by the commitment, but even though I was repeatedly tempted to quit and go back to my simpler life, I just couldn’t. I had a taste of a many dimensional, creative life – a life that held deep meaning for me – and I desperately wanted to continue.

I still have much to learn and practice, and that is part of the thrill of my new career. I’m learning to meet new people, interact with customers at art festivals, and share my own vision of art with other interested folks. I’m learning how to travel on my own, speak up for myself, and make decisions based not only on sound business practices, but on what is best for me and what fits with my values.

Being on the art show circuit is hard work, no doubt about that, but for the most part it is fun work, too. I’ve met new friends, been inspired by the talent and creativity of other artists, and seen a bit of the country I might otherwise not have seen. And if all goes well, I’ll be taking Seeded Earth Photography to a few shows in the Phoenix/Tucson area early next spring.

It’s been a long  journey from where I started to where I am now, some of it bumpy, some of it smooth, and some of it in great leaps. But the journey is the important part, and I love the challenges.  I think that is all pretty darn exciting!

~~~

I will be at my last summer art fair of the season, the Rockford Artists’ Fair, in Beattie Park located in downtown Rockford, Illinois this coming weekend, September 18-19, 2010. It will be open both days from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. If you are in the area, I would love for you to stop and say hello.

Look for the bright green and white sign that proudly proclaims Seeded Earth Studio, photography by Bo Mackison.

I can hardly describe the feeling I get when I stand inside my tent, surrounded by my photographs. I feel like I am in my own combination mini-gallery and private flower garden. But please, come in — I want to share it with everyone!

Why Photography? Part III

Blade of Grass © 2010 Bo Mackison

(Third in a series on why I chose photography as my creative medium and the basis of a new career.)

#3. Photography is my reminder to “Don’t Look; Really See!”

When I look at just a tiny bit of my world, I feel so privileged that I can see so many things. Most people pass by and never see many of the things that I see. Sometimes I focus on a tiny piece of the world measured in inches, perhaps only an inch or two square. Sometimes I focus on a single blade of grass. I notice its shape, its color, how it moves in the breeze, how it leans at a rather precarious angle, how it tangles into the earth with millions of other blades of grass.

Or I might study how a flower has managed to thrive in a bit of dirt in the sidewalk crack. Or notice that a lacy, yellowed leaf has fallen in the middle of a worn path and been crumpled by people’s passing feet.

When I concentrate on seeing so intently, so deeply, it makes the passage of time almost meaningless. I tend to push aside other concerns in my life, and so for a few moments all I do is see. At times, my photography practice becomes almost meditative in nature.

I try to capture some of what I see in photographs, and share my tiny visions with others so that they, too, may begin to notice.

No wonder that each night when I write in my gratitude journal I often write that I am thankful that I can see, thankful that I can crawl upon the ground and get up again, thankful that I have the privilege of examining my world.

And I am always thankful that I have discovered photography. If nothing else, the addition of photography to my life has opened my eys to a new world, has slowed my life a bit and made me more observant…and has made me very, very grateful.