This is what I would shoot for "PUZZLE COMPOSITE"

These pics were taken outide balcony of my mom-mom's apt in center city Philly. This would be the perfect spot for me to shoot Hockney style in b+w + re-composite the prints together...
I will do one day soon!

Posting a pic just to say I did...

This next week we are doing the class pics at CPFA...after that Advanced Photo and I will get it together with this blog and post at least one new pic every week! Everyone will view each other's work and give feedback to at least one photo they see. I will give feedback on the images that I think we should print in class!

To blog or not to blog...

...that is the question....

Hello Everyone - Is anyone there? We have to decide if we should use the blog as integral part of class or not this year! This blog is a fun, creative way to share our pictures just because we want to or for assignments we can have in class. I LOVE it because you can post whenever you want AND you can nicely attach writing to accompany your photos. I don't love it because it is another form of technology that I have to "contend" with. What does anyone else think? Let's discuss it in class - I esp. think Advanced Photo should do some stuff with the blog this year...now I just have to remember all the tricks I learned on here since it's been a while! Nonetheless, I am looking forward to a great CPFA school year!

I will miss you...

Hello Everyone...just a quick blog to say GREAT ART SHOW this year! Thanks for all of your written critiques...if you did not do - you MUST bring it to your Portfolio Review. Digital class remember to post one more time and talk/write about how you will move forward "INSPIRED" with your camera.

"I shut my eyes in order to see." - Paul Gaughin...

I really needed to chill yesterday and I literally had the experience of this quote...I layed on a hot bench in the awesome hot sun in a park while my babies played and dared to shut my tired eyes for a moment...ahhhh - it was so nice and clear in my head...when I opened them I was face to face with nothing but TRUE blue sky with the new ULTRA green leaves of Spring branching out everywhere w/ flecks of bright YELLOW from the setting sun...I did not have my camera - which is RARE!, but that was good - I stayed calm not moving - breathing - silent with that green + blue + yellow...now it's part of me forever and I can "see" better for that moment of shutting my eyes and opening them again... with more clarity then I had ever before...the vision is contained within me forever.

"pretty" flower still lifes w/ textures

big pic of Sasha

2 babes

sisters

in our yard in lovely hot sun today...

some stuff I did for PFA classes...COME TO THE SENIOR ART SHOW!

Hey everybody - welcome back after Spring break - hope yours was relaxing + fun...

I am posting a few pics I made as examples for Digital class - using "text" in two and "textures" in one...things we have been doing in our assignments.

DON'T FORGET ABOUT THE SENIOR ART SHOW THIS THURSDAY FROM 5-7.
HOPE TO SEE YOU ALL THERE!

Jerry and END OF THE 3RD MP

If you recently got a post from me re: a quote, it was not meant to be sent to all of you. Tori was sending it to me and somehow I posted it to all of you...so if u were wondering if it has anything to do with class it did not.

END OF THE 3RD MARKING PERIOD! WOW! That went fast.

All students in both classes have had time to reflect on what you need to get in as of today for a good grade. I am checking the blogs now and will check them one more time before grades are entered, at around 1pm today.

The photo above is by Jerry Uelsmann, who is a photographer that we will look at in darkroom class a lot to inspire "Double Exposure" assignment coming up soon. In Digital class we will look at him as well for upcoming assignments...

Bryce found some other GREAT abstract photographers to share with darkroom class for our current assignment. Much of this work should fuel inspiration for the still life assignment we have coming up...
check out + google Brett Weston below here.

Also google Imogen Cunningham, Karl Blossfeldt, Irving Penn, Josef Sudek, and Aaron Siskind.

• • Silverstein Photography
  • Weston Gallery
  • JRB Art at the Elms
  
  

• 

  Locomotive, 1927

• 

  Wrecked Building, 1976

• 

  Abstraction, 1975

• 

  Mud Cracks, 1977

TEXT + THE PHOTOGRAPH - Digital Assignment

This is a Barbara Kruger photo incorporating "text" or a "truism". In digital class you have been assigned to experiment with text 3 ways - hope you have begun playing. We looked at Jenny Holzer's work + my own in class.

I used lots of old photos and scans of objects in my work - start scanning or bring some stuff to class to import into Photoshop.

Remember to do your mini blog report on another artist that incorporates text into their work.

Come up with some "truisms" or quotes that you have always liked to use with your photos - or make up your own. ...I just remembered I always liked "Practice random acts of kindness." and "Practice senseless acts of beauty."

This is a still life I did in my studio at home and added the same texture layer as the photo below of the landscape. As you can see here the layer in Photoshop has been tweaked differently to go with the color scheme. In both Digital class and Darkroom we will do still lifes soon. We will use studio lights and photograph found objects. I would like everyone to create your own textures to scan in soon in digital class. As Amy T. said you can photograph the "texture" also, but it would be great to scan some in created by your own hand with painting, drawing, and silkscreening....FUN! I want to make ART all day!

ps- How do I post my photos real big like cool Mr. Reeder? anyone know? Mr. R - r u out there?

I posted this pic here before. This is it with a texture layer that is my own silkscreen/painting - a part of it scanned, croppped, tweeked in Photoshop... the text is a quote about my dad who died two years ago....can you see his face in the pathway between the 2 benches?

The next assignment in digital class will be to "Illustrate a Poem" - your images will have TEXT in them - all or part of the poem. Let's try to use your own poems. You can write the poem 1st or have the photo inspire the poem.

Darkroom students - we may have time to do this too...if not you can try it with x-tra time you have if you finish other assignments - talk to me about your idea and I can give you some techniques to do this in the darkroom. This image is a "montage". We will be doing an assignment called "Double Exposure", where we play with montaging different photos together as one...

A thanks to Grayson for helping me come up with this good idea for a class project!

ok...so it took me a week to get posting again + to add all of you as blogs to follow! Please post your unique assignment idea...work due Feb 5th -oops did I say 6th last week? you know I mean tomorrow...

my thoughts from last week in class - every time I so this it is different...

GOOD - white snow covering everything clean, play time, breathing

ART - my babies expressing themselves in their unique ways. bursting at the seams energy that cannot be contained.

PHOTO - light made permanent catching specs of eternity

ME + LAST SEMESTER - family, Sasha becoming human, more time with Isobel, still-lifes, cleaning my house + messing it up again + you can't tell I cleaned, dealing with the concept of being mother, teacher, artist, wife, artist-photographer, + trying to be a good person for the lucky and blessed 100 or so years I get on planet earth

Hey everyone it was sooo great to meet all of you yesterday!

PLEASE post your thoughts re: What is "GOOD" , "ART" , "PHOTO", and reflections on "YOU + 1st SEMESTER IN PHOTO CLASS"?

I had some thoughts too... after meeting with all of you that I will post later today...

REMEMBER to shoot a new roll/ 30 images for digital by next Thurs. Feb 6th - influenced by your thoughts + inspirations of where you are creatively with photography at this point...

YOU ALL HAD EXCELLENT/INSPIRED ideas...

get shooting...

Snow Landscape... + I am coming back....

I just shot these today in my other "landscape place" that is my favorite place to take pics - Everhart Park. It is where I had my wedding, the park I played in as a child, the park around the corner form my home now, the park where my older daughter 1st swung on a swing and sled down a hill - she just went today as she does every time it SNOWS!!! The snow is in "my" park, and I have photographed seriously there every season except winter - so in the name of that - and teaching - and blogging - and a landscape assignment on all of your plate, I went today and took these shots - they are unedited and I have many more...after I shoot - I usually need 24hrs to let my pics sit and "breathe" before I know which ones are the "ones"...

I am coming in tomorrow...yay! I am looking forward to working with all of you...ps-it was definaltely a challenge for me to post on here every day - how about you?

I'll try once I return to be your teacher to not have ALL my pics be of my daughters...however, I do believe that photography should be what you are passionate about, interested in, LOVE, what is in your own backyard, that you feel comfortable, inspired, and connected to your subject matter - that your camera is an extension of your hand...so for now - it might be hard for me to NOT photograph these girls...

I have no idea how I got this
layout..I have a few things to learn about arranging my photos and text in blog world...maybe some of you PFA students can show me!?

Holiday pics...

Our girls are happy that Santa was good to them...

Doll Face

This photo of Isobel is from over a year ago when she was in her 1st ballet dance recital. She does not like ballet anymore and is currently really into gymnastics. However, she claimed recently that she wants to be a dancer and singer when she grows up...so we will look into some modern dance classes for her...she wants to go to PFA one day! I am posting it because I love to look at those blue eyes of hers...

Brandywine River

This is my husband and baby girl Sasha and the afternoon light overlooking the river at the Brandywine River Art Museum. PFA went on a field trip there a couple of years ago...it would be nice to go again on a "shooting" field trip - one of my all time favorite places to take photos.

Mr. Reeder and I are also talking about the possibility of a photo field trip to Eastern State Penitentiary in Philly...we'll see...!

Pink Roses

I DEFINITELY will be doing a still-life assignment with you all this 2nd semester...I have been doing some very recently of traditional objects flowers, fruit, shells etc... I want to do some with you all where we REALLY experiment a lot with different kinds of light, objects, and meanings...I like the "found" still life that Mr. Reeder shot about school grounds - great texture + color!

"Daphne"

This is one of the 1st composites I ever did in Photoshop almost 15 years ago! It si still one of my favorite artworks...I have it printed very large - about 3x4 feet and framed in a beautiful rustic wood frame. I would like to do some "collage" orinted work like this with you all...and I would like to do some very large scale prints with a few of you this year for the Spring art show...

This piece is about the story behind my 1st name "Daphne" - Daphne is a Greek myth - look up the story and see if you can tell me what you think this piece is about/what is the imagery?

Isobel in morning light

pic #2 for Mr. Reeder challenge...here I can see my daughter getting ready for school every day in our bathroom down the hall from my bedroom...with many of my photos it is the LIGHT that captivates me 1st in to running to pick up my camera to catch a moment...usually for me to bother with a photo there has to be something also, besides the light - something "sentimental" to me about why I am taking it - and what it could mean to others as well...

accepting Mr. Reeder's challenge...

Figured I'd better accept the challenge too!!!! - so as to keep up with all of you students for my return in two weeks - I am looking forward to YOU guys teaching me more about blogging + sharing photos this way...

MR. REEDER! - WILL U PLEASE HELP ME GET CONNECTED WITH ALL THE STUDENTS CORRECTLY SO I CAN BE PROPERLY FOLLOWING THEIR BLOGS?

THANK YOU MR. REEDER FOR DOING A TREMENDOUS JOB WITH BLOGGING AND EVERYTHING ELSE WHILE I WAS AWAY ON MATERNITY LEAVE - REMEMBER TO COME BACK ANY DAY- ANY TIME!

The photo here was my holiday card this year of my daughters taken in my in home studio...I wanted to replicate the feeling of some of the 1st prints in photography's history - the daguerreotypes...