Self Portrait of an Artist

Three Self Portraits

Self Portraits © 2012 Bo Mackison

Be faithful to that which exists within yourself. ~ Andre Gide

PART III – ART SHOW

I slept fitfully the night before the art festival’s opening. Perhaps subconsciously I was afraid I would oversleep and be late for my show. Not a chance! At 2 am, I finally got up and wrote a list of everything I needed to take to Tubac with me. Only then did I sleep until the alarm startled me awake.

I did a hurry-up-get-ready, packed the car, and headed east. It was a cloudy morning, unusually cloudy for southern Arizona, and the new day’s light was slowly filling the valley.

I looked towards the Santa Rita mountain range in the east and the clouds broke ever so slightly. I saw a bright rim of red break through and settle above the peak of Mount Wrightson. A flash of beauty. As quickly as the color appeared, it disappeared. It was a lovely good morning salute from the sun and a good omen for the day!

Getting the booth readied for first day of the show was quite exhilarating. Other artists bustled about, opening their tents, arranging their art while greeting other artists, friends, old acquaintances. Both of my neighbors arrived and we chatted about the day as we readied our booths.

I hung my art on the panels. Each finished photograph brought a smile to my face. Out of the thousands of photographs I’ve taken, here were the eighteen finished pieces I had chosen and readied to hang on my temporary gallery wall. Primary colored macro botanicals from the Midwest filled one side of the booth; bright desert flowers and cacti filled the other side.

Seeded Earth Studio was a gallery of bold color and textures, a gallery filled with nature’s promise and beauty.

I finally finished with the pre-show organizing, and stepped into the street. I watched the other artists for a few moments and I didn’t try to contain my excitement. It was a wonderful sight. With only a few minutes left before the opening of this five-day show, I could see artists wearing their different cloaks, some with expectancy and hopefulness, some showing pride in their work. Others looked at the sky as the sun broke through the clouds and lit up the town, and smiled, grateful for the beginning of a beautiful day in the desert. A sense of camaraderie was in the air.

I was in their midst. I stood in my art booth, mindful that I was a part of the whole. I had done the work, I was ready to begin the day.

It was a glorious feeling.

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Bo Mackison is a photographer and owner of Seeded Earth Studio LLC. She is discovering that every day provides opportunities to learn new and amazing things. And she is discovering that as she learns to do amazing things, the world becomes a glorious place.

Tubac Festival of the Arts

Yard of Pottery

Yard of Pottery © 2011 Bo Mackison

If I’ve been quiet lately on the blog front, it is because I have been busy on the art festival circuit. I set up my booth on Tuesday – a noon to nine experience! – and the Tubac Festival of the Arts show started yesterday. My booth – Seeded Earth Photography – takes on more of a Southwestern theme when I do the shows in Arizona, but I also display my trademark macro-botanicals. I think I have a split photography personality – half Midwest and half Southwest! But then, I am fortunate to photograph two regions of the United States that I love and call home.

My booth is in a lovely spot at the corner of Tubac and Hesselbarth. (Booth number C 26.) I can look out the front and watch the crowd and the horse-drawn trolley shuttling visitors though the town.  I can look to the back and I am on the edge of a fascinating outdoor sculpture garden and the Tumacacori Mountain range in the distance. A tiny slice of heaven!

Horse Trolley at Tubac

Horse Trolley at Tubac © 2011 Bo Mackison

The Tubac Festival of the Arts, located on the main streets in Tubac, continues today through Sunday. Hours are 10:00 am to 5 pm every day. The event is free, although there is a $6 parking fee which supports various local non-profits.

Tubac is surrounded by engaging (to the senses) high desert vistas and mountain ranges in every direction. It is a beautiful location for an art festival, in a village well-known for its art community, art galleries, and dozens of working studios in both newer complexes and in century-old buildings. Located 50 miles from Tucson, it is convenient yet I feel like I am in a totally different, mystical environment.

Truly, a place to see. And it’s a great time to visit when the Art Festival fills the streets with white tents, artists from across the country, and amazing art.

Tubac’s slogan is “Where History and Art Meet” – it is a charming village and a scenic art festival venue.

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Bo Mackison is a photographer and owner of Seeded Earth Studio LLC. If you are looking for Bo this weekend, come to Tubac!

Hanging Around

Hanging Around

Hanging Around © 2012 Bo Mackison

Sometimes it is the simplest things that can bring joy. I was watching several acacia seedpods dangling from a young tree at the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum a few days ago.  My camera, set on a tripod, was set up next to me. Two boys, maybe 8 and 5, came bounding towards me. They stopped at my side and looked at the tree.

“What are you looking at?” the older boy asked me. He had a small camera dangling from his wrist and began twirling it in circles. Perhaps it was his pre-photograph warm-up exercise.

“Oh, I’m watching these acacia seeds. They are moving in the breeze. I was thinking about the photograph I want to take.”

The older boy stared at the seeds a moment, obviously confused. But the younger boy appeared to understand. He pulled at his brother’s shirt, dragging him towards the women waiting for them. “C’mon, Jay,” he said, giving me a backwards glance.  “She’s just hanging around.”

Yep. Me and the acacia seedpods. We’re just hanging around.

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Bo Mackison is a photographer and owner of Seeded Earth Studio LLC. Sometimes Bo hangs around, and sometimes she takes photographs, too.

Magic Wand, Anyone?

Fairy in Light II

Fairy in Pink Light © 2011 Bo Mackison

Being in a place of uncertainty and edginess can be transformative. Stay with those feelings, even for a moment, it is actually a genuine act of kindness to ourselves. Though being compassionate enough to accomodate our own fears takes courage and feels counter-intuitive.  ~ Pema Chodron, from The Places that Scare You

The week between Christmas Day and New Year’s Day has become less of a resting space (as I had envisioned in my fantasies) and more of a deep-breathing-keep-calm-and-keep-moving-forward space. As the above quote states so very clearly, “being in a place of uncertainty and edginess can be transformative.”

Transformation sounds good. I decided to work on some organization during this less hectic time and made progress. I worked on the new timeline on Facebook, and surprisingly, I like the new feature. I’m not an advocate of most of Facebook’s improvements, but this seems to make things more orderly instead of more confusing. I spruced up my Seeded Earth business account on Facebook while I was there. Good.

Then I cleaned up my Twitter account. Removed dead accounts, added some exciting new ones to match some of my developing interests. Changed the background while I was changing everything else. Good.

Anticipating the change from 2011 to 2012, I made new photo sets in Flickr for the 2012 calendar year, moved older sets to a less visible place. Cleaned up some misfiled photographs and added tags to a few forgotten photos. Flickr is one of my most viable vehicles for new business, and so I keep my finished photos up to date. Each photograph is in an easy-to-find organized set. Good.

Late yesterday I opened my folder for art festival applications and took a deep breath. New rules. New definitions of digital vs. photographic art. Changed and now conflicting show dates. Show information that requires corrections and back and forth, back and forth emails. I started in on the paperwork.

Almost immediately I hit a brick wall. I must pick 3 to 5 photographs of my art to submit with the written applications. The photos are the primary source for the jury to judge the hundreds or even thousands of applications.  Those few photographs need to capture the essence of my art, and are ultimately the deciding factor whether I get an invitation to the shows this summer or I am told “sorry, please apply again next year”.

Of course, my inner critic needed to speak up. “What if the only jury liked last year’s photography?” “What if they don’t like the newer photos?” “What if there is too much digital manipulation?” “What if the jurors collectively despise the color red and two of the chosen photos feature red?”

Hmm. It’s like a game. I have to choose the application photos, and then be done with it. Once the apps are out the door, the decisions are out of my hands. Good.

But I’d thought the pressure and the to-do list was going to lighten this week, and that didn’t happen.

I console myself with the fact that I am doing what I love — taking photographs, creating art, showing it at festivals, talking to art enthusiasts about my techniques, adding new collectors. All jobs, including the work of artists, have the fun parts and the not so fun parts. So it’s time to pick out those photographs and get those applications off my to-do list. Summer will be here before I know it!

p.s. In the post I linked to my Facebook, Twitter and Flickr accounts. If you want to connect via Twitter, Facebook, or Flickr, feel free to follow any (or all) of the links. Thanks.

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Bo Mackison is a photographer, owner of Seeded Earth Studio LLC. She is in super-organizer mode during this short work week, and nothing — not even dreaded paperwork — will slow her down!

First Snowfall

First Snow on Strickers Pond

First Snow on Strickers Pond © 2011 Bo Mackison

Listen to your life.
See it for the fathomless mystery that it is …
Touch, taste, smell your way to the holy and hidden heart,
all of it, because in the last analysis all moments are key moments,
and life itself is grace. ~ Frederick Buechner

The snow drifted from the skies this morning. I could make out the swirling white even in the darkness before dawn. As the day began, as the sky lightened to a slate gray, there was just enough snow to cover the ground, the roads, the outlines of the branches. By noon the sidewalks, driveways, and streets were free of snow and as the day continued to warm most of the snow melted into the grass. Only clumps of the white stuff remain.

Madison has had an average of 15″ of snow by this time of the year for at least the last five years. Often the accumulation by the New Year is over the twenty inch mark. We have usually had our first weather warnings and blizzard planning by now. But not this year.

It is looking unlikely that there will be a white Christmas 2011. Better traveling weather. That’s a good thing.

But I’m glad I was able to photograph the pond dressed in white. It may be all the snow I see this year. In a few weeks, I’ll be traveling to Arizona to prepare for the upcoming art shows.

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Bo Mackison is a photographer, owner of Seeded Earth Studio LLC. She took photographs in the snow, sat in the living room with the twinkling lights of the Christmas tree for company and meditated, and then picked up family at the airport – almost everyone is home for the holidays.  Now I am really listening to life!