my prints

January 28, 2014 by Kat

Sharing a Success with a Giveaway

Life is funny. It really is. If we can learn to laugh at ourselves and the situations that life throws at us, we can respond to almost anything. Of that, I am convinced.

Why is life so funny, you ask?

After baring my soul, sharing my response to a disappointment last week, just two days later I experienced a really nice success. I found out that I received an Honorable Mention in the 2013 Mobile Photography Awards, in the Travel category for my image The Last Tree. Thousands of people apply to this international review and traveling exhibition of Mobile Photography. It’s juried by some fantastically talented people in the photography world. And one of my images got noticed. How cool is that??

So, yeah. Back to last week. When I found out about the Honorable Mention the disappointment I was feeling suddenly evaporated. It’s almost forgotten; replaced with a new success to celebrate. Life is funny that way, with its ups and downs. The whole experience made me laugh at myself, at my short-lived drama, and reflect in my newsletter how life as an artist is like one big roller coaster ride. It’s different every time we get on. There will be more disappointments, more successes too, as long as I keep getting on to ride.

So now that I’m on the upside, it seemed only fair to share my new success with you, after you listened and held my hand and provided such lovely encouragement through my disappointment last week. Thank you, thank you, thank you for that.

I invite you now to share in my little success. And maybe shake your head and laugh with me, at how funny life can be.

GIVEAWAY TIME!!! OK, so to celebrate this success, I’m going to give away a signed print of The Last Tree. Printed size will be the winner’s choice (up to 13×19″). To enter, leave a comment by the end of the day on Monday, February 3rd. I will draw in the morning PST on Tuesday, February 4th, and announce the winner on my blog.

Thank you for being here, sharing in my successes along with my disappointments. I appreciate all of you!

May 15, 2013 by Kat

Going BIG!

I’ve waited. I’ve practiced. I’ve experimented. I’ve made sure I knew how to get my prints to look the way I wanted to before going BIG, as big as my printer can handle. I finally took the plunge this weekend and printed my first 17×22″ print. I chose to print my favorite tree image from Spring Break, The Last Tree.

Even though I wanted to understand the ins and outs before I printed this big, this print was a bit of an experiment, too. The Last Tree is an iPhone 5 image edited in the Noir app. I love Noir for its dramatic monochromatic effects, but the app doesn’t save full resolution files. The info in the app says it does, but that must apply only to phones at the time it was first released (2011) and doesn’t apply to the newer, higher resolution iPhone cameras. I needed to “upsize” the file to increase the resolution, and for that I used the Big Photo app. I was a bit skeptical I would get anything useful out at the end, but the final file came out surprisingly well-processed.

I stepped up to the big print, printing first on 13×19″ paper to verify the new file would look ok, then printing the image on the 17×22″ paper. I was so excited to see the finished print! It came out great. Doesn’t it dwarf my usual prints on 8.5×11″ paper?

The next step was framing. I had purchased some 22×28″ frames and accompanying mats (see my resource page for sources), so that I would have a way to present larger prints. The image at left is the final framed print, temporarily hung on the wall of my family room to give a sense of the scale. The final scene is a bit monochromatic, and the print looks surprisingly small given the size of the frame, but I think it could be a great addition in the right location. In this location, I prefer the color of the painting that usually hangs in above the couch (on right).

So now that I have this print all matted and framed, what am I going to do with it? I’ve no idea! I’ll find a place to hang it in the house, and maybe it will go into an exhibition someday. Until then, I have achieved one of my goals to print as large as I can with my printer, I’ve learned a bit about increasing file resolution with apps and I am ready for the moment I need to print BIG.

April 3, 2013 by Kat

Print Practice Pays Off

One of my goals this year is to print new work weekly. This is partly to stay in practice with printing, because without some reason to print I could let the printer sit for months without use and that’s not good for either the printer or my printing skills. It is also partly to have an ongoing, growing body of work that is “print ready” should the need arise. I’ve learned that while sometimes you can get all of the settings right on the first print, other times it takes repeating the process (print – adjust – print) before it looks the way I want it to. Doing this type of work on a deadline for an exhibition can be stressful, but when I’m doing it as a learning opportunity to have new work on my wall it’s quite fun and interesting.

I’ve been posting these regular endeavors on Instagram, using hashtag #livingwithmywork or #lwmw, if you’d like to see how they progress over time. Here’s an example of my evolving wall display from mid-February:

All of this print practice paid off on Sunday evening, without me consciously realizing it. Here’s the story…

Checking my email last week while on our Spring Break camping trip to Northern California, I read about the upcoming Corvallis Art Guild meeting on April 1. There was an interesting program and there was the opportunity to be juried in as an Exhibiting Member. To be an Exhibiting Member of the guild means that you can participate in the opportunities to display and sell your work at various venues and programs they organize throughout the year. To become an Exhibiting Member, you have to go through a jury process: bring 3 pieces of finished artwork, framed and ready to hang, for review by a panel of jurors. This opportunity only happens twice a year, in April or October.

ACK! I thought, as I read the email. I’d been thinking to submit some of my mobile work, the “digital paintings,” to be juried into the guild. But would I be able to make it? We would be arriving home the evening of March 31, the meeting was the evening of April 1, and I only had one piece framed and ready to go. I would need to get two pieces ready – printed, matted and framed – on Sunday night after we got home. Could I do it? It was worth a try, or I’d have to wait until October. I jotted down a couple of notes about which pieces I might prepare and went on to enjoy the week. (Pics will be coming soon of the awesome week in the Redwoods!)

Sunday night, while unpacking from the trip, doing multiple loads of laundry, and shaking the sand and dirt out of everything, I sat down to print. I looked at my available mats/frames and my “print ready” pieces and selected two more to print, mat and frame. I got them all put together and packed up to load into the car Monday morning – I would need to go to the meeting straight from work – and then went about the business of getting other things ready for the week.

Monday was a loooong day between work and the guild meeting, but all went well. I was accepted as an Exhibiting Member of the guild and the jurors had very nice things to say about my work. (Side Note: It was quite nerve-wracking to go through an in-person jury process like this. Normally for juried exhibitions you send off a digital image into the nether and hear back a “yes” or a “no.” It’s not as physical, personal, as this process.)

It wasn’t until Monday night, laying in bed basking in the glow of this little success, that I realized just how far I had come in my ability to create finished artwork. Without even thinking twice about it, I was able to create two nicely finished and ready-to-hang pieces that I would be proud to submit to any gallery or exhibition. I realized that all of my print practice had paid off. A year ago, I had never printed a single fine art print on my own. In addition, all of the work to learn about matting and framing for exhibitions, paid off too. I now have a stock of mats and frames that work for the sizes I created my artwork. This is not trivial, since most of the work I create doesn’t fit “standard” photo sizes (8×10, 11×14, etc.).

A year and a half ago, I was struggling to figure out what to do for my first exhibition. I hadn’t seriously worked to get a fine art print on the wall before. Now I can prep for an exhibition – or something like this jurying process – without a second thought! These are skills and knowledge that I’ve integrated. Sure, I am always facing new challenges (like square artwork) but each new challenge just expands my growing knowledge base and is easier than the one before. I don’t have to work so hard to create a finished piece of art. That is huge – it means I can spend my energy creating new art and get it out into the world. It means my art can have a different impact – as something real and physical, not just on the computer.

If you are a photographer in the process of figuring out how to bring your art into the real world, keep going. I encourage you set a goal to do one thing new to bring your art into the real world. It’s worth it. It starts with getting just one image off of your computer, printed and hanging on the wall of your home. It starts with something as simple as a postcard. That’s how I started ~3 years ago – with ordering printing postcards to share – and look at what I’m doing now. (This is one reason I love the Liberate Your Art postcard swap! Who knows where this one tiny step will lead you?)

As always, I want to help you. You can cut straight to what I’ve learned by visiting my Online Services & Shops page, listed under Resources on the sidebar of my blog. I’ve just updated it with the latest info on my mat and frame sources, and I update this page periodically as I learn new things. Check it out.

And then go… PRINT!

February 4, 2013 by Kat

What are you apologizing for?

It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly.
— Theodore Roosevelt, 1910

If you’ve heard at all about Brené Brown’s latest book, Daring Greatly, you’ve probably heard this quote. Ever since reading the book it’s been swimming around in my head. We enter the arena in so many different ways, each day. When we share our truest selves with someone else, or when we put our art into the world, we are daring greatly.

It’s easy to get hurt, when you make yourself vulnerable in some way. We protect our hearts by pre-rejecting ourselves, not stepping up to participate at times. I almost did that this weekend, for an exhibition submission that was out of my comfort zone. I took a deep breath and submitted anyway. We protect ourselves by apologizing in advance. In order to avoid the hurt of someone else criticize us, we apologize for the things we fear.

I see this all of the time in online sharing. “So sorry,” someone will write, “Just one more shot of fill-in-the-blank. I promise.” I hear that as fear. Fear of bothering other people with something we love. Maybe fear of abandonment. As if everyone will completely desert the artist for sharing just one more image of something he or she is passionate about. Apologizing gives an out. So if someone says, “Yeah, I was getting tired of seeing fill-in-the-blank,” we are armored up and ready to hear it. It confirmed our fears. That may not be why they write those words, but I identify with them, and see my own fear reflected. I see myself in them, wanting to apologize for sharing just one more image of trees, or scooters, or whatever I’m really excited about at the time.

But here’s the deal… The passion someone has for what they do is usually what draws us to them in the first place. We resonate and reflect that passion back. It inspires us. It’s fun to see.

I don’t think we should ever apologize for sharing something we are passionate about. I think we need to take a deep breath and stand tall and say, “Here I am and this is what I love. When I share this, I am sharing part of who I am.” It’s time to dare greatly, and stop apologizing, stop pre-rejecting ourselves and stop all of the other little things we do to keep ourselves safe. If someone stomps on that, after you’ve nursed your hurt a little bit, I encourage you to look very closely at where it came from. Treat the person who stomped on you with compassion: It’s probably their own issue; their own fears talking.

So what is it you would do or share, if you wiped away your fear? What is it that makes you feel like you are daring greatly, putting yourself out there? For me, it’s submitting to an exhibition outside of my comfort zone. Or agreeing to do something that puts me in the public eye. Or maybe, just maybe, sharing a tree image for the hundredth time.

But one thing I’m not going to do anymore… I’m not going to apologize for what I love to create and share.

One of my activities this weekend was to create a gift for the folks who worked on my team on big project I talked about last week. We had an intense and stress-filled few months, right up to the deadline last Thursday, and they gave it their all. I had shared the “daring greatly” quote with them a couple of months ago, and decided to make these framed prints as a gift to give them at our celebration lunch today. I had no idea I that the art I’ve been creating these last couple of months that would look so good with a quote on them! I’m quite pleased with how they turned out. These 8x8inch frames are available in a 4-pack at Michaels and were perfect for simply finishing the prints. This is another great example of why I love to be able to print my own work.

January 14, 2013 by Kat

Living with my Work

From photons to pixels to print – same day. One of the things I love about being able to print my own work is that I can, almost real time, print the work I am creating. Often I create something and love it so much I just want to enjoy it off of the computer. Or, I tried something new and I want to see how it translates to paper. I want to hold it in my hands, feel as well as see the texture. I can do that now that I have a printer.

A couple of months ago, I started a weekly “print practice.” My goal is to print one or two pieces a week, to get better at editing for print. Get a feel for the effects of different papers and really learn this part off the process. I’ve stuck with it most weeks, and I’m definitely I improving. I really love my prints.

The problem became how to display them. I thought about my magnet boards, but they are really not big enough to hold multiple large prints. I have a bunch of old frames in the garage, but they would need some repainting to match my studio and they are standard sizes. I would either have to start printing standard sizes or get mats. The thought of changing things out of mats and frames all of the time wasn’t appealing either.

So it was synchronicity last week that when I finally put away my painting easel and created some free wall space, I ran across these magnetic photo ropes on Photojojo. I bought three in red, on a whim, hoping they would work in the newly empty space.

They are awesome! I can print and hang within seconds, easily changing images out. Each rope comes with eight super strong magnets, which work great even for the heavy fine art papers I’m using. It’s still a clean, uncluttered look, even with many images on display.

Now when I sit in my comfy chair, this is my view. Nice view, huh?

I’m already learning a lot. It’s interesting to see how some images, loved in the moment, quickly fade away and I want to replace them. Others last longer. Some images don’t translate well from screen to paper, or need a little more work to translate well. After looking at them in different light I can see how I might need to adjust them. I’ve already changed up what’s displayed here several times in the last few days. It looks different this morning than it did when I took these images on Saturday.

In David duChemin’s workshop he encouraged us to “live with our work.” I understand why. We are more picky, we improve, when we have to look at it every day. How do you display your work?

November 26, 2012 by Kat

The Happiest Monday

And why is this the happiest Monday, you ask? Because I feel better! Woohoo! It’s amazing how happy you are for the little things, like getting up early on a Monday morning, when you’ve been feeling a bit under the weather. The four day weekend was just what I needed to recuperate.

You know how I could tell when I was on the mend? Creativity started flowing again. I sat down with my iPad this weekend and some photos I took with my brand new iPhone 5 last week and created a couple of new pieces of digital art. Well, more than a couple, but I’ll share my favorite two with you here.

Tree, Squared

I am still having so much fun with this whole mobile photography/digital art stuff! My excitement for getting the new iPhone last week was a bit damped by all of the coughing and sniffling going on at the time, but after playing with the images this weekend I am so happy to have this higher resolution tool for image capture. And of course, it’s just plain fun to enter the world of the smartphone, although I really wanted it mainly for the camera.

Reaching

I used my other favorite new tool, my printer, to print and hang a few of my recent creations in my hallway from the entry to the kitchen. You can see them there, in the center. (I found the square shadowbox frames at IKEA, if you were wondering.)

From capture to creation to wall, all in a couple of days! I love it. See, it’s a happy Monday!

PS – Don’t miss the giveaway of the Spark & Inspire eBook I have going on this week.