Good Times In Michigan...

Have camera? Will travel! Vacations are the one must carry camera event because you desire to document and eventually share your experience.  As an artistic photographer, I see pieces of work where ever my eyes fall. Whether it is the wildlife, scenery or families enjoying themselves there is a story and subsequently a piece of art that normally follows. How great are vacations?!?!

My family and I are currently enjoying ourselves in the great state of Michigan. And I am currently blogging this from the phone. We are staying with family friends and having a blast. The great thing about this wonderful mini vacation has been the numerous photo opportunities that have come my way. So stay tuned for wonderful photos and the image below is just a teaser. It's a photograph of the lake that we are staying on.

Be True To Yourself....

Since deciding back in October of last year to show my work to the public and exhibit when given the opportunity, it has been quite a learning experience.  If you are considering entering the art world and community; and would love to showcase your work, the first piece of advice I can give you is to remain true to yourself, your work, and maintain your artistic integrity.  Do not change your work to satisfy someone else.  There is a reason that you do what you do, it is out of love and passion for your creative medium.  The point of this blog is to explain my creative process and how I come up with ideas about my passion for creative photography.

What I have learned in the past 9 months that I have begun to establish myself in the artistic community, is that there are lots of artists out there creating beautiful works in a variety of mediums.  There are mediums that I never knew existed and new ways to create beautiful pieces of art.  The biggest lesson that I have learned is that everyone will not love your work.  You have to walk around with big shoulders and take criticism when given.  I was fortunate enough to get accepted in the first show that I applied to, a local community college held a regional art exhibit and I was very excited to get my first piece in.  It was a juried competition (meaning one or more persons within the art world look at all the work submitted and decide if yours met their criteria and within the theme of the show).  To get into a juried competition is a significant stepping stone on your artist's resume.  That moment was a great one for me and felt so very satisfying and validating at the same time.  I had arrived and made my first mark as an artist.  My work was good enough, not just for my friends and family to oooh and aahh over but a total stranger in the art world loved my work enough to include me among other artists. 

Soon after my first gallery exhibition in a themed art show, I received my first rejection along with a critique and recently I was rejected from a beloved local art fair that I was dying to get into.  The jurors for these competitions were bold enough to say that my work was that of an amateur and in regards to the art fair that my work didn't define a theme and it is often difficult to do so in photography.  What I learned from these rejections was that not everyone will like your work and you have to remember one thing... stay true to yourself and your art form.  I could have looked at my present body of work and tried to adjust my creative style to conform to what a critic told me, but then I remembered a quote from Benjamin Disraeli, "Critics are the men who have failed in literature and art."  There's beauty in all art even if you don't understand it.  I have subsequently learned that there is also difficulty in being recognized as an artist when your medium is photography.  Some  do not deem it as a true art form.  Not in the same traditions as oils, pastels, watercolors or even sketching.  I disagree, not because I am a creative photographer (I also paint watercolors), but simply a photograph does tell a story, create a mood, and sends a message in the same way that traditional art does.  Two good examples are the famous kissing couple at the end of WWII and the young Afghani girl on the cover of National Geographic.  I could have easily switched and begin to submit my watercolors but I choose to create what I love the most, photography.  Because of my perseverance and dedication to my art, I have been blessed and granted my first solo show! So again, stay true to yourself and your art medium.

The piece below is a true example of my creative body of work, the subject matter is a popular Chicago icon, "Cloudscape" known affectionately as the "Bean."  I have several versions of this icon varying along my many moods when I created them, but this one is my favorite and truly indicative of my style of photography.

"Square Beans" (c) 2011

My First Love....

And no.... this isn't about a boy. That would be an entirely different type of blog.  I have many loves outside of my husband, kids, family and friends.  The most obvious is photography and a second runner up is watercolors.  But within the realm of photography, my first love is architecture.  All types too, from bridges to buildings, old and new, I simply cannot get enough of the art in it's most massive form.  Think of the city you live in and love.  The feeling that you get when you walk through the heart of that city.  For some it is a major metropolis and you are blessed with a skyline.  For others it is the quaint and simple way Main Street is laid out.  All in all, they all have a beauty that is truly unique.  I have always been fascinated by shapes, lines and curves and find that in architecture.

Last summer, I went to see the movie "Inception" and it was a great movie.  However, beyond the thrill and action of the movie, I fell in love with the backdrops that framed each scene.  The architecture, in combination with the special effects was simply superb.  Below is a city shot and I created an piece that was truly inspired by "Inception," thus the name of the piece.

"Inception" (c) 2011

The New ME....

I have had a self-portrait of myself that I have been using as my image in the world of Twitter, Facebook, art shows, and so on.  It was on the darker side and highlighted me holding my beloved camera.  So it was time for a change, I have been very fortunate to have been recognized by numerous galleries for my work and I have been pursuing this option actively since October of 2010; and I thought to myself that it was indeed time to put my best face forward and for my audience to have a clearer image of who I am.... so voila below is my newest self-portrait with absolutely no retouching, nothing creatively done at all (which is the exact opposite of what I typically do with my work hence the previous self portrait).  It was time to show myself in the raw, as I appear in my everday life.  Because, in all honestly, that is what a lot of my work represents..... everyday life.  Talk amongst you all soon.

SHCreativePhoto....

"Self Portrait 4" (c) 2011