Alter Brewing Co. in collaboration with the St Charles Arts Council asked local area artists to submit work to be displayed at their St Charles kitchen and brewery. I’m excited to have two of my images accepted for display at Alter Brewing & Kitchen, 12 South First Street, St Charles, IL 60174.
Come and look at local artists’ work and enjoy the delicious food and beer. The work will be displayed from November 1, 2022, thru January, 2023.
2019 has flown by. After surviving the winter season I traveled to St Louis with my son to watch my grandson Emmett participate in a soccer tournament.
Late April – I went with two high school buddies to the Outer Banks of North Carolina late April. We were able to visit Ocracoke Island before it was hit by Hurricane Dorian.
I also visited Norfolk, VA to tour the shipbuilding docks and Naval Museum.
July – three photos were chosen to be in the “4th Friday Art Show” at the Starline Factory in Harvard, IL.
August – I had the honor of having one of my photos (“Unbroken”) selected for the Black and White 2019 with Juror Geoffrey Koslov photo show. The show was part of a Trifecta (three art shows) weekend (Aug 17 & 18) sponsored by The Center for Fine Art Photography at the Carnegie Center for Creativity in Ft. Collins, CO. I met with over 40 photographers from across the country to share work and participated in two portfolio reviews. I also met with a good friend and former pastor who moved to the area.
September – My wife and I took a two-plus week “glamping” trip in our motorhome to the east coast. We camped for five days on the coast of Maine (just north of Belfast) and also
camped in Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, and New Hampshire. It was a wonderful time to chill with my wife and our two dogs.
This past weekend I had the honor of having two of pieces selected for the 4th Fridays art show and two pieces selected for the 4th Fridays photo dhow. The ‘icing on the cake’ was having “Menagerie” selected for the Lightbox, Inc Award in the art show.
Art Show
Photo Show
Per the website – “4th Fridays Art Event at Starline Factory is a regional art event held 9 months a year in the beautiful, historic Starline Factory in Harvard, Illinois. 4th Fridays rocks the world of art events with our juried mixed art exhibit, juried photo contest, featured artist solo exhibit, vendor artists in the lower level, open Starline artist studios, People’s Choice voting, live music on all 3 levels and a cash bar for beer, wine and mixed drinks.” This is a wonderful building to host art events with artist studios on three floors. The building was built in the 1880s and still contains remnants from its manufacturing days.
https://nancymerkling.com/4th-fridays/4th-fridays-at-the-starline/
My wife and I (along with our dogs) just returned from a wonderful weekend in the Twin Cities. We were able to visit with a dear friend of ours that we had not seen in about 7 years; attend the Arts in Harmony 2018 art show held at the Hopkins Art Center in Hopkins, MN (www.hopkinsartcenter.com); visit our favorite bookstore – Common Good Books in Saint Paul, MN; eat at the Grand Shanghai restaurant in Saint Paul (another favorite); take a good walk around Lake Harriet in Minneapolis, MN (dogs’ favorite); and drink lots of Caribou coffee lattes which we miss since Caribou left Illinois.
I was honored to have my image – Moon Rise Cedar Point – receive the Richard and Carol Wagner Award
Leaving the Twin Cities we encountered sleet/freezing rain, which then turned into snow in northern Wisconsin, which then turned into rain in middle Wisconsin, which finally turned into dense fog from Madison, WI to Marengo, IL. The last 5 miles of our return trip was relaxing. All in all, we had a great time.
My wife and I took a much needed (especially for my wife) vacation in the Smoky Mountains. We rented a cabin overlooking Pigeon Forge and the Smokies. The drive to and from the cabin (up/down) was exciting/terrifying/beautiful… The view was breathtaking. We went to Smoky Mountain National Park and took many images in Cade’s Cove. Hopefully some of them will be good enough to get into an art show here and there. I experimented with my LensBaby Velvet 56 (art lens) on my Canon 5D camera. This was also the first time extensively using my new Fujifilm X-T2 mirrorless camera. What fun!
During that same time period, one of my Palladium images, “Chicago Cultural Center #1” was accepted into the Crooked Tree Arts Center (Petoskey, MI – www.crookedtree.org) Juried Photogaphy Exhibition. I was also honored as it was given a 2nd Place award in the exhibition by juror Bill Schwab (www.billschwab.com). See program below:
Unfortunately, I was unable to attend the reception because, as mentioned above, I was enjoying the Smokey Mountains.
In a little more than two weeks from now, we will be traveling to the Minneapolis/Saint Paul area for another art show (Arts In Harmony 2018). On of my color images, “Moonrise – Cedar Point”, was accepted into that show. I will tell you more about that in my next post.
A lot has happened since my last post over a year ago! My wife and I have purchased a small motorhome and intend to do more traveling around the country. That has not happened yet but we have plans. We have been able to travel to California with family (sans RV) and spend sometime in downtown Chicago. Some of my newer images are from those two excursions.
My work was selected to be in six different shows since Feb, 2016. Beginning in August, “Fontana Harbor #1”, color print, and “Early Planting”, color print, were selected for the 4th Friday Photo Show in Harvard, IL. “Fontana Harbor #1” won an Honorable Mention award.
In September, my platinum/palladium print “Capistrano Lilies”, platinum/palladium print, was selected for the Vicinity 2016 art show at the Norris Cultural Arts Center in St. Charles, IL.
In October, “Unbroken”, color print, was selected for the 4th Friday Art Show and won the Nancy Merkling Selection award. “Williams Bay”, color print, was also selected for the 4th Friday Photo Show.
This past January my work was selected for two shows. “In the Land of Giants”, platinum/palladium print, was selected for the 25th Parkside National Small Print Exhibition at the University of Wisconsin, Parkside.
Four pieces were selected for the Picture This photo show at the Norris Cultural Arts Center in St. Charles, IL. Chosen were “Princeton #3”, platinum/palladium print; “Mill Creek”, color print; “Via Dei Condotti”, black and white print; and “Chicago Cultural Center #1”, platinum/palladium print. “Chicago Cultural Center #1” won the Award of Excellence award.
And finally this past weekend (May 26) “The Staircase”, color print, won the Nancy Merkling Selection award at the 4th Friday Art Show in Harvard, Illinois.
All in all I was very fortunate to have the pieces selected to be in the shows let alone having won some awards. I find it humbling and of course satisfying to have people appreciate the work I do with my photography. I am also very fortunate to participate in shows with other wonderful artists and their works.
The last two weekends have flown by. On the weekend of Feb 5-7 my wife and I traveled to the Twin Cities in Minnesota to visit a long-time high school friend and his wife, and to attend the Elk River, Arts in Harmony 2016 International Juried Art Show. I was honored to have one of my platinum/palladium pieces, Vatican #1, chosen for the show.
The Best of Show was a bronze sculpture, High Hopes II, by Georgene McGonangle. First place in the sculpture category was won by Richards Poey with his Apassionata. These two pieces truly captured the soul of the subjects and beautifully sculpted.
This past Friday, February 12, we attended our niece Kaleigh Johnson’s basketball game at McHenry High School.
It was senior night and Kaleigh, the only senior on the team, was given special attention. We took many pictures, enjoyed the game and the ceremonies honoring Kaleigh. She is clearly the team leader; teammates calling her “mom”. Her parents, Jim and Noelle, are rightly proud of her accomplishments.
This past week I have spent a wonderful, relaxing time in Southeastern Ohio (about one hour southeast of Zainesville) in a cabin on about 35 acres. My wife found a wonderful cabin to rent (www.antlerridgecabinohio.com). We brought our two dogs (Samoyeds) and enjoyed the seclusion of the countryside.
The first day we traveled throughout the area to find various covered bridges. Most were off the beaten path and due to time constraints we were able to see only five. I had planned to visit more. On the next day we traveled about 100 miles north and visited the Amish country of Holmes County, Ohio. We had to visit Lehman’s Hardware store with its amazing variety of goods. Had some good food and visited some furniture shops. The following day we traveled to Dresden, OH to visit the Longeburger Homestead – home of the famous Longeburger baskets. On the way back to the cabin we found the wonderful Tree House Coffeeshop in Zainesville. On our final full day we chilled at the cabin. We hiked the property and had fun (?) sliding (tumbling) down the muddy slopes into the ravine with two dogs in tow. This was a wonderful trip and just what we needed at this time of year. And…I was also able to take pictures.
Barkhurst Mill Bridge (35-58-15)
Built in 1892
Marion Township – NE of Chesterhill
1.25 miles from junct OH377 & Goshen Run Rd
West Branch of Wolf Creek
Manchester Bridge (35-61-33)
Built in 1915
Sharon Township – SW of Caldwell
5 miles from junct I77 & OH78
2.1 miles form junct OH78 & TR3
Olive Green Creek
Parrish Bridge (35-61-34)
Built in 1914
Sharon Township – SW of Caldwell
1.9 miles from junct I77 & OH78
2.6 miles from junct OH78 & Rich Valley Rd
Sharon Fork – Olive Green Creek
Harra Bridge (35-84-11)
Built 1878
Watertown Township – NW of Watertown
2.1 miles from junct OH339 & OH676
.5 miles from junct OH330 & Camp Hervida Rd
South Branch of Wolf Creek
It has been a while since I posted anything but some exciting events have occurred. On March 27th , I was able to show my palladium work at the Nancy Merkling Studio (www.nancymerkling.com) in the Starline Art Gallery, Harvard, IL. I sold some work and had the opportunity to talk to many art fans.
My color digital image “Sanctuary” was accepted in the “4th Fridays” art show at the Starline Gallery on July 24th.
And finally, I just received word that my palladium image “Rookery #1” was accepted into the exhibit “Black and White” at the PhotoPlace Gallery in Middlebury, Vermont. It was one of thirty-five images chosen to exhibit in the gallery August 25 – September 18, 2015. To view the exhibit, click on http://photoplacegallery.com/black-and-white-3/.
The juror for the exhibit is Tillman Crane. He began his career as a photojournalist and later became a teacher of photography. He is a master at platinum/palladium printing. He offers workshops in a variety of locations, has published four books, and exhibited around the world. Check out his website at www.tillmancrane.com.
This past weekend was exciting – visiting with friends and attending the 20th annual Arts in Harmony reception in Elk River, MN. My wife and I were able to spend time with Jeff (high school buddy) and Melanie Locke – recall old times, eat good food, drink wine, tour the JJ Hill mansion (Saint Paul) and spend some time in Common Good Books, Garrison Keillor’s bookstore in Saint Paul. Oh yes, spend a lot of time at Caribou Coffee (no longer in Illinois or Wisconsin).
As a bonus, I was honored to have my image “Rookery #1” receive the first place award in photography in Arts in Harmony. The show has grown to having over 600 submissions, 212 pieces accepted, representing 30 states from Alaska to New York. Thanks to all who make the show what it is today. I would also like to highlight two photography/printers from the Saint Paul/Minneapolis area that have influenced me the past few years.
Keith Taylor (www.keithtaylorphoto.com) is a printer (platinum, polymergravure, 3-color gum dichromate, and silver) and photographer. He has mastered those alternative processes to the point that photographers contract with him to print their work. His current projects are The Badlands and Dark Matter.
Cy DeCosse (www.cydecosse.com) is also a master photographer currently creating primarily platinum and 3-color gum dichromate prints. Mr. DeCosse brings his artistic painting background to his work in photography. Keith Taylor (above) prints Mr. DeCosse’s images. This site has a good description of all three alternative processes that are used in printing his images. His 3-color gum dichromate prints are awe-inspiring. The “Midnight Garden” project was highlighted in LensWork #114. I highly recommend that you spend some time on his site reviewing his collections.
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