:sacred and profane:

I had two photography-related events this past weekend, both decided upon at the last minute, and I'm glad that I did both.

Mt. Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, MA is an amazing place, both for some amazing funerary sculpture and the grounds itself. I've done at least two photoshoots there in the past, and regularly visit and photograph in there still. I haven't done so again with a model because I tend to think that the posing in a cemetery theme has been done to death (ha), and plus I believe you need special permission to do so now.

This past weekend they held an event called "A Glimpse Beyond," which was a musical and dance-oriented performance that moved throughout the grounds with the audience led from piece to piece as the sun gradually set. I believe it was meant to show the stages of grief, as depicted by one main woman, and the final part was less morose, with a New Orleans-type band playing as the performers danced. I didn't go with the intention of capturing it, but as ever I always have a camera of some sort with me, so I'm glad that I did.

A fellow photographer that I know in Salem, MA regularly hosts photography sessions in his studio, and I've been meaning to go but time and money had always conspired against me. This past weekend the stars and my bank account aligned so I finally went. This session had one model and several photographers present, and we rotated turns of four minutes each, which actually felt a lot longer than I initially thought it would. This was also my first time shooting in RAW format, which I have avoided in the past because of the large file sizes, but the clarity in it is stunning.

For the indoor portion of the shoot we got to use studio lighting and remote flashes, which makes me want to obtain some for myself even more. I was really pleased with the results. It was certainly more of a pin-up sort of shoot, quickly becoming a nude one. The model was no newcomer (she told me she had been doing it since she was 10) and very easy to work with, requiring very little direction but I still told her to turn this way and that. I noticed that the other photographers tended to stay in one spot to take their shots, but as per usual I was all over the place trying different angles.

Me being me, I also asked if other things in the shop were usable as props, like a Ducati motorcycle.

I also took note of a skull, since she was from Arizona and had a "wild wild west" tattoo. I've been musing about somehow getting to do shoots for the Suicide Girls site, which mostly involves tattooed women, so I consider this practice for that.

Being on the tail end of summer, the weather was still nice so we all ventured outside to a nearby isolated site by the water that they apparently use a lot on shoots. The sun was facing towards us in some shots but I liked some of the effects that caused, either backlighting or lens flares.

Me playing around with props again.

All told I got nearly 300 shots from this, most that I'm happy with, and I don't think I'll be altering them much if at all, which is a more regular theme in my photography as of late but I hope to get weird and conceptual again too.

:city of lights:

There was no blog last week, the first that I've missed in a long while, because I was in Montreal for a few days, a much-needed time away, if only for a short while. I drove there because even for an hour flight, the cost of airfare (for me) is ridiculous. I've only been there once before, in 2002, and the first changes that I noticed was in the money, which now has partially transparent parts (I assume to really confound counterfeiters), and a similar issue that's plaguing Boston as well, the rampant building of luxury high-rises, probably displacing places with more character (and affordability). But that's the only negative bit that comes to mind.

I did much walking around, maybe a bit too much before I had confidence in using the metro subway system. My lasting impressions are of a place that really seems to embrace all arts. Many walls (and some sidewalks) were adorned with murals or graffiti - elaborate pieces, not the sort thrown up in the middle of the night - no shortage of street performers, and a large section of one street was converted to pedestrian traffic only, also near museums and concert halls. It was brightly lit with many colors at night, and some buildings became screens for moving images. I don't know if the latter were just for an event while I was there or if it's always that way. I spent a good half hour by an illuminated water fountain that cycled through many different patterns, while some people were filming others dancing around and through them, and passersby and spectators did not make a big deal of that. I sadly could see something of that sort back here either meeting harassment or even arrest.

I took many photos of course, viewable on my flickr page, helpfully in my "Turista" album, which sadly has been very empty. I traveled with no real schedule in mind, it's easier to discover things that way. I ended up in a large garden area nearby the 1976 Olympic Stadium, and found out that after dusk parts of it would be illuminated, so I eagerly stuck around for that. I definitely plan to return here, hopefully before another 10 years go by.

Naturally being away put some projects on hold, so it's back to that now. I still need to finish this, somehow, painting this bank in a Dia de Los Muertos style. The challenge so far is that it's a cat, and a cat's skull is slightly different than a human's to say the least. And also the shape of this is less than realistic, so the dimensions are a bit off, but I'm making progress.

:on assignment:

In retrospect, I feel that one of the good things about art school was given challenges (better known as "homework" back then) to create images both in the assigned way and adding your own touches to them. I recall a bigger challenge was giving the work from many different classes equal attention, and sometimes it felt to me that some teachers assumed that theirs was your only class, to judge from the expectations.

I've had very few "clients" in my time, partially from having a less-than-marketable style, I suppose, and also very little training in how to find said clients. Paying ones, that is. Though I've heard and read plenty of horror stories, about constantly changing design requests, or just the plain inability to describe what is actually wanted. Which is presumably why people hire artists/designers in the first place, to get a visual message across that they themselves can't create. That's ideally how it should work, of course.

In the absence of clients, and being a bit stuck currently, I've taken to trying to create for themes in gallery shows, or, I guess what you'd call contests. Through Instagram this past weekend I attempted two such assignments. One is a local Boston Instagram group that regularly assigns a subject or more accurately a place to photograph. I went to a meetup for that at MIT recently - got a few good shots from that -

- and this past weekend they asked people to go around Charlestown, which I did for an afternoon. And it was a challenge, because frankly I found very little there worthy of capture. One of the main tourist draws, the USS Constitution, is currently undergoing some sort of renovations and is surrounded in scaffolding. I settled for another tourist spot, one which I've never been to, the Bunker Hill monument. Since it's basically just a large obelisk, and there's only so many angles that one can take of that, I at least tried to show the scale of it, by the tourists at the base of it.

Another contest was from Instagram's own blog, they do a "weekend hashtag project," and this weekend's was supposed to be of one's personal oasis. I often end up in Hull, MA and arrived this day just in time for a glorious sunset. One good thing that one can say about this summer (other than it's not winter) is that we've had quite a few amazing ones.

I didn't win either of them, but for all that I find annoying about "hashtags," they certainly get your posts viewed more than if you don't use them.

Sometimes my family has been a "client," and my sister has asked me for a few things to work on. One was a photo of someone for a memorial, to try and enhance it somehow. The original was a bit low-res and dully-colored, so I had to fix that first.

She wanted a more interesting beach scene in the background, so thankfully I had plenty to choose from, seeing as how it's a favorite place of mine. I gave up trying to save the railing in the original photo. You can see more of the beach without it anyway.

Next week I'm taking a much-needed and long overdue trip out of town, to Montreal, so it may be the first time in many years without a weekly blog entry from me, unless I find a way to post while I'm up there. I'm sure you'll understand if I don't stress out about it.

:deadline:

I believe that one reason why so many of my projects take so long to complete or go unfinished, besides the ever-present time issue, is the lack of real deadlines. I can impose fake ones, but who's going to police me on those? A lot of projects truly get done in their own time, and often spend a scary amount of time just in my head, but that doesn't increase my output.

Most gallery shows that I've entered in I've taken past works that fit the themes, if there were any, as opposed to creating a whole new piece for it, although there were a long string of shows in Salem, MA where I did do just that. So for the next batch of gallery entries I hope to do that again. The third recent show that I'm in is opening soon, which will contain the photo below. If my currently brewing plans work out, I may be out of town during the opening reception, though.

I don't have any clients to speak of currently, so I don't have that as a deadline creator, although of all people my sister has asked for my help on a few things art-wise, and they do have deadlines, so that'll serve as an impetus, one hopes. Look for alterations to these over the next month or so.

And remember, summer doesn't officially end on Labor Day, so don't rush it out the door.

:nontraditional:

I continue to wring as much out of this summer as I possibly can, heading to the ocean once again this past weekend. This time it was to Misquamicut Beach in Rhode Island, which sounded vaguely familiar to me when someone else posted pictures from it the previous week. It was probably one of, if not the first beach I went to as a child, but nothing while I was there this time jogged any sort of memory. I'm sure much has changed since then. Additions and subtractions. But no less enjoyable. A sparse amount of amusement park rides left over, and of course the ever-encroaching replacement of real arcade games with the kind that spit out tickets for some repetitive task to exchange for trinkets.

A continuing high point of this summer has been the sunsets, which often get enhanced by approaching stormy weather, and many lightning storms were in the area this past Saturday. Very often photos don't do it justice but I do my best. Often the best shots present themselves while I'm driving and that's a tricky shot at best. I don't recall ever being impressed by many winter sunsets. Of course it doesn't help that the sun sets at 4 PM then, which is more depressing than beautiful. No hurry to see that again, though of course it's getting darker earlier with every passing day, just like every year. No idea why I'm more conscious of it these days than in the past.

Doing my best to get in some daily creative time too, continuing to get some progress towards the Kali piece that I'm planning. In my dream or vision (take your pick), she was more beautiful than terrifying, so I'm aiming in that direction. In my research I've found that that's not an uncommon depiction. She also sometimes has only two arms as opposed the multiple limbs seen in most versions. But I also want some of that terror in it too, so I'm trying to find a way to combine it all. As ever I need more hours in the days to do this.

Also trying to find a place somewhere between realism and exaggeration, when I usually choose one over the other. My knowledge of anatomy often fights against any drawing out of proportion limbs and muscles, so more challenges to overcome. I'm thinking along the lines of Peter Chung's work, who created Aeon Flux.

I continue to investigate more printing methods, recently I ordered a selection of Instagram photos, which the printing company clearly designed to look like Polaroid shots. This also reminds me that I need to convert the old Polaroid camera that I've obtained to accept newer film, which I've finally managed to find without it costing an arm and leg.

:missionary:

Regular readers of this blog (and I'd like to believe that there are a few) might notice that I sometimes write more about creating than actually creating at times. I'm really trying to fix this, though it's odd that I should have to. It's still something that I enjoy, so I don't know why it should be difficult to begin at times. I can blame "adult" stuff getting in the way, as obviously I didn't have such worries when I spent hours drawing as a child, but I still don't know when I'm supposed to finally feel like an adult, even at my age, which I'm not sharing.

I just have to make it a daily habit somehow. I keep reading about writers (which I've had experience doing as well) setting aside a set amount of time a day to write, no matter what comes out at these sessions. So I'm feeling if I can't find time to draw for 15 minutes to half an hour a day, then I have no right calling myself an artist. Things may come up and get in the way; they always do, but I'm going to do my best. I've tried to draw on breaks at work, but that place is so uninspiring, very little fruit was born during such sessions. I made some attempts last night, including some ideas for the Kali piece that is crawling along in my mind, I need to get it out onto paper or monitor.

Still investigating further print options, I received one on glass recently. Like the metal print, it's best seen in person, but I think you at least get the idea of the reflective qualities here.

One of the gallery shows that I'm in had a reception last week that I went to briefly. I'm not always sure how to act at these events, especially when my artwork is only one of many others, as opposed to a show of entirely my work. It's not like I'd hover by my piece and hope people that will ask about it, although of course I watched for reactions at times. At another show, which is at work, I actually got complimented by someone on the pieces that I had on display, and the possibility of purchasing them. Now I just need to think of a price.

Making art is a solitary activity, but I still hope to find others that I can relate to and associate with. It's still a struggle. I'm actually going to attempt to meet with a group of Instagramers tomorrow and see how that goes.

I'll mention again that this blog is set up to allow comments, so it'd be nice to get some now and again. If you choose to do so anonymously, at least sign or initial your comment so I know that you're human. Assuming that I'm human as well. Blush response.

:oceanic:

As stated last week, one way I ended my vacation was by venturing out to Boston Light, a 299-year old lighthouse in Boston Harbor. They did major restoration to it last year, well ahead of next year's anniversary. As with most voyages I've taken out to into the bay it was quite enjoyable, enough to make me wonder again if there's any job doing that sort of thing for me, but of course this was on calm seas and in summer. I talked to several people who worked on the island about their jobs there too, but unsurprisingly most are seasonal, or volunteer, and not plentiful. I'm convinced that there must be something I can do in this area.

In the photo below you can see Boston in the far distance and how far out the lighthouse is.

I pretty much spent most of my time off near the ocean or other bodies of water, so clearly I am still drawn to it. I ended up in Rockport, MA on Saturday, which like a lot of seaside towns around here has quite a few galleries and artists there, another draw for me, even if I create very little artwork depicting seaside scenes. Talked to a few shop owners as well. I've found that the older ones tend to be more conversational. Some of the younger ones seem like they'd rather be anywhere else than in the shop that they're taking care of. Probably not how they envisioned spending their summers.

Two of the three gallery shows that I'm currently in are up, with the reception for one being tomorrow night. I'm going to see if I can keep going on in this way, just applying to every show possible and seeing what sticks. As ever the struggle to stay focused can get derailed by distractions, external ones or ones of my own making.