Metamorphosis Art Show: Full Success!!

The art show on Sunday at Willow Restaurant in Ballston, VA, was a delightful experience, in which I met some talented local artists, ate an amazing meal, and sold a few of my framed prints! In total, the artists made about $9,100 from art sales! 10% is being donated to Arlington ArtWorks. Thank you to everyone who came out to the event!

See below for photos of my setup:

Details:

On the Ride Home...

I had to stop and photograph these amazing signs next to each other on rt. 15, in Dillsburg, PA.

How I Spent My Summer Vacation

It happened faster than I could snap my fingers: Summer has come and gone. Labor Day weekend has arrived and is quickly slipping away, especially for those of us who don't have Monday off. As I sit here and reflect on the last three months, I am abundantly satisfied. I was back at home in the suburbs of Northern Virginia, spending hundreds of hours of quality time with my family. I reunited with some long-time friends (though not as many as I would have liked) and I made some new friends along the way. I had a wonderful internship with the Smithsonian Photography Initiative, where I wrote several posts for The Bigger Picture.

I volunteered with the Fauquier Community Farm, pulling weeds in the hot sun and picking green beans until the clouds broke into a refreshing summer storm.
I traveled to Sewanee,Tennessee to see friends get married, then traveled an hour southeast to Chattanooga for a brief, but rejuvenating visit (including a delicious breakfast). I picked raspberries at Whittier Fruit Farm in Rochester, NY, and peaches and blackberries at Hollin Farm in Delaplane, VA. My mom and I toured Polyface Farm.And last but not least, this evening, I witnessed the spectacular 28th Annual Dansville Festival of Balloons.
Over the course of the summer, I watched some fabulous films including Food, Inc. and Julie and Julia. And I read some great books including Barbara Kingsolver's Poisonwood Bible, Bill Bryson's A Walk in the Woods, and Barbara Ehrenreich's Nickel and Dimed. I've learned a great deal this summer and am looking forward to working on my thesis in this next year of grad school.

Fresh From the Oven...

For those who don't already know, I began baking my own bread last fall, after a friend gave me a little lesson on the time consuming, but incredibly rewarding custom. Since then, I've experimented with different recipes, all found on the web. And while tasty, my whole wheat loaves were always too crumbly and never quite rose to perfection. Last week on my birthday, my kind friends presented me with Peter Reinhart's Whole Grain Breads book of "innovative techniques and exacting scientific explanations." The very next day I got to work on the first recipe: the 100% Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread. Thanks to the "delayed fermentation method," the result, as seen above, was a delicious loaf with a hint of sourdough flavor, perfect for making sandwiches!

Metamorphosis Art Show 2009

I am pleased to announce that I will be one of 27 artists participating in this year's Fifth Annual Metamorphosis Art Show! I will be showing my Abandoned Houses Series. Come out and enjoy live music and visual art from local and regional artists. Free Admission. 10% of art sales go to Arlington ArtWorks. I hope to see you there!

Sunday, Sept. 13, 2009
11AM - 6PM

Willow Restaurant
4301 N. Fairfax Drive
Arlington, VA 22203

TimeFrames: A Tribute to Henri Cartier-Bresson

Just recently, I stumbled across the Calumet TimeFrames project: a sporadic call for entries based on a chosen theme resulting in a slide show on the website. The latest edition, dated 8/22/09, was based on the 101st anniversary of the birth of Henri Cartier-Bresson, the "father of photojournalism" and the man who coined the "decisive moment."

Contributors were asked: "What image of yours best captures the decisive moment?"

I submitted 9705: one of my very first successful photographs, created in my senior year of high school. I was sitting in traffic on my way home from school one afternoon, with my Nikon manual film camera in tow, when I snapped this shot. It wasn't until after processing and printing the image that I recognized the repetition of shapes and objects, broken up by the car pulling out onto the road. This photograph led to the creation of a portfolio of work, based on reflections.

9705 is included in the first video on the TimeFrames website, near the end. Check out the project and look for the next call for entries.

"Food" : Great Falls Studios Group Show

The Great Falls Studios just hung "Food" : a group show at Katie's Coffee House (part of the Old Brogue) in Great Falls, VA . The show, which includes 23 pieces, will be up for the entire month of August. I entered an image from my Still Life series. Though due to the 154 inch size limit, I printed the image at 6"x10" and mounted it in an exquisitely gaudy faux gold frame. Come on out... have some coffee and enjoy some community art!

Hours: Mon-Fri 6AM-3PM, Sat/Sun 7AM-3PM
(The show can still be seen in the evenings, though you'll have to enter through the main Old Brogue entrance)

Address: 760 Walker Rd # C, Great Falls, VA 22066