So thrilled that Landfall is featured in this week’s summer ready by Don’t Take Pictures. The wonderful and talented Kat Kiernan wrote the foreward to Landfall and it is a better book because of it. Thanks also to Andy Adams for featuring it in FlakPhoto.
Touchstones
My good friend and I Dawn Surratt began a project together when this pandemic began. Sharing images and poems, creating diptychs and inventions to help us navigate this time together. You can check it out at Touchstones or follow us on Instagram @touch__stones. It’s been such a support and inspiration working with Dawn through this time. Here’s my most recent post.
I lie awake, alert
to the scritchscratch
of the night raiders
launching their assault
against the stoic coop.
Their small babyhands, human-like;
panda eyes, needle teeth.
Night thoughts -
like drunken flies
circling the light,
can find no purpose
or direction,
just random, panicked,
instinct.
I turn, and hear
a rustle in the woods,
my eyes snap, open.
thinking not thinking —
Breathe.
Dilemmas,
like pebbles in my mouth
rolling over and over;
my tongue
smoothes their contours
with relentless
consideration,
reconsidering.
Today, tomorrow
then, now, before, after,
this, that, how, which way —
when?
No answers
from the night.
Just the leaves,
whispering their lullaby
for the dreamless.
Dreaming of Waking
Thank you to Photo Place for including my image “Dreaming of Waking” as part of their online exhibition Portraits of Self Isolation during the Corona virus pandemic.
Hot Off The Press
It has been such a pleasure to work with the folks at Datz press on my book Landfall. Last week they sent me this video of the work in progress!
Can you Imagine?
Can you imagine
your son,
with his neck
under the knee,
as his breath came in shorter
and he begged for release?
Or your daughter,
asleep in her bed,
as the door came down
and she woke in
terror to the
shootingshouting roaring
through her ears?
Or your cousin, out running,
brought down
in his prime,
for no
reason?
Or a child,
a young child,
your
child —
beaten,
on the side
of the road,
like she was nothing
like she was not
even
a
thing?
You cannot imagine,
because this,
should be
unimaginable.
But we are
watching
watching
watching
We should be
listening
listening
listening
For the time for watching
is over,
and the time for acting
is now.
This poem is available as a limited edition print with 100% of proceeds going to the NAACP Legal Defense Fund.
How to Make this Moment the Turning Point
Barack Obama
How to Support the Struggle Against Police Brutality
The Cut, New York Magazine
The Leaving
Internal Dialogue Exhibit at One Twelve Publishing
Thank you to Fran Forman and Michael Kirchoff for including my photograph The Leaving in their online exhibit Internal Dialogue. An honor to be amongst such fine photographers.
From the jurors: For all of us, forced social distancing can be accompanied by fear, anger, loneliness - but also a time for self-reflection. None of us has ever experienced a time like this. What are our feelings about this? We artists apply our internal feelings to our creations. How does this manifest in our internal dialogue? We want to see how your inner thoughts are expressed in external ways.
When Would We be ready?
You followed us
to the barn,
late at night.
We played pool
and you slept,
under the table,
barely lifting
your head.
You still ran for the ball,
slower now -
a slight roll to your gait.
Arthritis, we thought.
You swayed as you stood,
steadily watching us,
deciding when
we would be ready
for you to leave.
Our brother,
getting older.
We still thought
we had years
to squander.
You walked with us,
around the field,
swam doggily in the pond,
that one, last, time.
Then you laid down
and would not get up,
would not move for a treat,
nor thump your tail,
at the sound
of your name.
And we knew.
that you were done,
that you were ready
to leave us
to feel you gone.
Sharing Work
Last week I was fortunate enough to teach a very talented group of photographers in my class for Maine Media - Exploring Photographic Styles. I so enjoy teaching this class as it gives students a chance to try their hand at a range of photographic genres. They have to be brave, try new things and not be afraid of making mistakes - because there are none! Here is a selection of their beautiful work from the week.
Abby Raeder
Elizabeth Rowley
Anne Houde
Vanessa Levesque
Ashira Malka
Judith Donath
For more information on upcoming classes and workshops. Please sign up for my newsletter from the homepage.
A Gift for Evening
Finally it is evening.
In the kitchen,
the children chatter,
Outrage, then
laughter breaks
over the dishes.
I am washing up,
bent over,
wiping away,
the endless remains
of dinner.
We careen through chaos,
in each others way —
yet pulled together,
like random space junk
orbiting the sun.
Intent upon routine,
I find comfort in
this domestic rhythm.
Through the window,
the Spring light strikes
a stand of trees,
the sky behind them,
thunder-dark.
The lone birch,
where the swing
hangs vacant,
is lit, as if by torchlight.
All alive in limb and sinew
it calls on us to notice.
We pause and stare
at this, the world cracked open,
light pours in
silver-swift.
Just as quick,
the moment’s gone,
an evening gift
we hold forever.
Upcoming Online Workshop
Like most of you I have found myself weathering extremes of emotion navigating these uncertain waters. My personal routine has remained oddly unchanged, I work from home, in my studio, in what is a fairly solitary practice. But there are changes. My children are both home, but as teens are finding it very hard to be away from their friends. We cook, play scrabble and then they retreat to their online schooling and FaceTiming and silence descends on the house once more. I miss friends, coffees, and collective gatherings terribly, but there are glimmers of excitement.
This May I am working with Maine Media to offer my upcoming class, Exploring Photographic Styles online. We will have class lectures and critiques via Zoom in the mornings, in the afternoons there will be shooting assignments, and we will reconvene once more at the end of the day. So if you have been wanting to push your photography and explore portraiture or landscapes, or still lives and the facets of each, this is a great class for you to get an introductory overview.
Please join me, wherever you are as we explore photographic styles together!
Yesterday
I came in
from the garden,
my hands dirty,
my nails, soiled,
and I wept.
For I’d been lost,
in the brambles,
in the sweet
now of doing,
and had forgotten
for a moment,
that the world
was breaking,
and the people
were dying.
Then the memory came,
like a wave
crashing over me,
and I couldn’t
breathe
for thinking,
of the world
that is breaking,
and the people
that are dying.
But I returned
to the garden,
to the sweet
now of doing,
and I breathed the air,
and I smelled the earth
and I lost myself
in the brambles.
Art for a Cause
In tandem with Page Gallery I am selling these cyanotype prints to raise money for local food banks. All my proceeds are going to charity.
$80 including tax and shipping
Sheltering in Place
I went to the store
just once
this week.
And even then
I didn’t go in,
but pulled up,
curbside,
rolled down my window,
like a furtive user,
collecting my stash
of flour,
quinoa,
eggs and
beans —
the staples
that hold us
together.
Was it only
last week,
that we met
for walks,
keeping our
distance,
playing it safe?
Now the parks are
closed.
We are staying home,
close to home,
keeping home
close.
Upcoming Exhibitions for the Year Ahead
2020 is gearing up to be an exciting year. Here’s a little information for those of you who might be interested, on what’s coming up and where you can see my work.
In May I’ll be exhibiting at the legendary Fox Talbot Museum at Lacock Abbey in England. This is such a highlight for me and I’m deeply honored to be able to show my Janus series at the home of photography where Henry Fox Talbot pioneered the new medium. This is my first show in England which makes it that bit more special.
June 27 sees an exhibition of my island series at the Page Gallery in Rockport. This will also be the launch of a limited edition book featuring poems and photographs, as well as an original print from the series that I’m really excited about. More on that and the opportunity to preorder, to come.
Finally in October I’ll be exhibiting with my good friend Dawn Surratt. Dawn’s work is a constant source of inspiration to me and it is a rare gift indeed to find so much talent in such a lovely person. The reception for that show will be at the wonderful A Smith Gallery in Johnson City on October 31st. I’ve wanted to show there for a long time and am thrilled that Dawn and I will also be teaching a one day workshop the day after the show.
Teaching 2020
I’m so excited to be teaching a whole range of workshops in 2020, both here in Maine at Maine Media Workshops and for the first time in Norway at Nord Photography Saga.
Here are some of the workshops I’ll be presenting.
MAKING YOUR LETTERPRESS BOOK
Maine Media Workshops
MAR 23 - 27 2020
EXPLORING PHOTOGRAPHIC STYLES
Maine Media Workshops
MAY 4 - 8 2020
THE LYRICAL PHOTOGRAPH
Maine Media Worksops
June 7 - June 13 2020
COMBINING TEXT & IMAGE
Nord Photogarphy at Saga, Norway
September 2020
More information can be found on my page about workshops and mentoring opportunities.
Janus Rising Artist Talk
On October 20th I’ll be giving an artist talk about my work at The Griffin Museum of Photography. It’s the last day of the show and I’ll be talking about this exhibition and my work generally. Hope to see you there!
Professional Development & Mentorship
Getting out and making the work is the first essential part of being an artist, but it can be hard to find the time and the motivation to commit to a daily practice and stay on task. With this in mind I am offering a mentorship program, through weekly phone calls and sharing work online, I can help you reignite your creative spark and develop a new series, or work on editing an existing body of work.
If this is something that might be of interest to you, Email me for details
The other step in this journey lies around getting your work exposure and managing your online presence. Before I became an artist I worked for many years in web development and product marketing, and I am now helping other artists manage their online presence so it speaks to their artistic vision and aesthetic.
How I can help:
portfolio development
crafting your vision - artist and project statements
portfolio review preparation
business cards/postcards - exhibition materials
social media strategies
website development
web hosting
copy writing
mailchimp integration
blog best practices
If this is something that might be of interest to you, Email me
September News
Summer is drawing to a close. It’s that wonderful time of year when the days are still warm enough to swim in the pond, but in the evenings I’m putting on socks and getting cosy. So much of the seasonal change is heralded with what I’m cooking and I’m starting to think about soups and curries already.
The kids are back to school and I’m both missing them as well as relishing some uninterrupted time in the studio. This summer was a busy one with family and friends coming in from out of town, so I allowed myself to explore some new ideas whilst leaving space to enjoy and be present with family.
This month, September 5th, sees the opening of a new showing of Janus Rising at The Griffin Museum of Photography. It is such an honor to be showing in this lovely museum in Winchester MA just outside of Boston. I will be showing some traditionally framed pieces as well as an installation of newer works, a couple of which I’m previewing here.
Reception 4pm - 6pm September 6th and October 10th.
Kindred Savannah
It’s not often in life that you get invited to be a part of something that, from the first moment, you sense is going to change everything. This was one such occasion when Tobia Makover and Lori Vrba invited me, together with artist Dawn Surratt to be a part of an installation pop up show in Savannah GA. Tobia had presented her own work in this space before in a stunning solo show called Sheltering Skies. It’s an old house that she had bought for precisely this purpose, a space for herself and other artists to share and present work.
I have admired the work of all three of these women for some time. Tobia and I met through Lori, at Lori’s Pigs Fly Retreats on Ossabaw island in Georgia and felt an instant connection. I had known Lori for some time having discovered her through her poignant and moving book The Moth Wing Diaries. Spending time with Lori on retreat in Georgia and discovering her generous and dedicated spirit allowed a friendship to flourish and I now consider her a dear friend and mentor. Dawn Surratt was the only artist I hadn’t met in person, but I knew of her through her sensitive and beautiful work on Instagram and had always felt a strong intuitive kinship.
The spirit of connection that the four of us felt through our work continued through the evolution of the project. Every phone call and decision fostered a spirit of mutual respect and collaboration that became the heart of the exhibition.
During installation we all stayed at Tobia’s house, (thanks to her generous husband and family) which brought us closer together over wine and free-wheeling conversation. We knew our work shares an aesthetic, but it also a philosophy. As Tobia explains:
““This work is by warrior-type women,” Makover muses. “A lot of time, if you look over art in the ages, the feminine gets a little lost and our voice gets lost. I used to try to harden up my work a little because it was too romantic, but guess what? Fuck you. If it’s too romantic for you, go somewhere else. No apologies. Not only is there a niche for what I make, it’s an important niche. My voice, our voice, matters.””
When you visit the show you can see how whilst each artist has their own moment within the show, there are many spaces where the work becomes seamlessly intertwined with only the smallest notation indicating where one begins and another ends. Putting this together became an exciting puzzle, weaving narrative and form throughout the work in the room.
I am so profoundly grateful to have found these women, and had the opportunity to collaborate with them. We are fellow artistic spirits, looking for creative ways beyond the traditional gallery model, to come together, make and present work. Truly - we are kindred.
The Note
I found this poem today, after talking with friends about the power of lists in our lives. I know when I die my children will have my notebooks, filled with lists of my daily chores, struggles and intentions and through these, perhaps more than anything, they will have a sense of how I lived my days.
This poem was inspired by William Carlos Williams This is Just To Say
The Note
Today I found a note,
tucked in a journal,
it exposed a chink in time
that winked at me
with treacherous mischief.
Blue Hill, it said.
Mozzarella,
coffee,
sopresssata,
avocados.
And don’t forget ,
nasturtiums.
A life distilled
in a simple list
of kindness
and indulgence.