Moonrise over Hernandez, © Ansel Adams
I'm making it a goal here and now, to prepare and finally apply to Review Santa Fe in 2009. Kuball, are you with me?
26 May 2008
Santa Fe
One of my best friends moved to Santa Fe three days ago. Another has announced that she'll be relocating there next spring, after graduating from CalArts. And with all the chatter on photo blogs about the upcoming Review Santa Fe, all signs are pointing to the desert.
Moonrise over Hernandez, © Ansel Adams
I'm making it a goal here and now, to prepare and finally apply to Review Santa Fe in 2009. Kuball, are you with me?
Moonrise over Hernandez, © Ansel Adams
I'm making it a goal here and now, to prepare and finally apply to Review Santa Fe in 2009. Kuball, are you with me?
23 May 2008
Seriously, I'm not dead
Hi.
I've been terrible at this blog thing lately. So I want to just take a few minutes to say, here is what's going on with me. Because people have asked, and because I'm really awful at e-mail lately.
After the chaotic process of getting ready for my first full-on exhibition, I decided that a) I need to get on top of this time management thing and b) I need to fully commit to taking better care of myself.
My life right now is a bit of a balancing act; I'm constantly thinking about where I am, where I've been, and where I'm going all at the same time. I've realized that I don't know what I want. I know that I want to take pictures. I know that I want to travel more. I know that I want to keep learning and evolving. But in the Big Picture, what do I really want from my life? It's a hard question, but an important one. And I've been feeling stumped for the past year or so.
Day to day, I'm working part-time for Twitter while also starting to prepare for my next three exhibitions. I'm going to the gym and incorporating advice from a nutritionist. Jason and I are going to Thailand for 3 weeks in July & August. On the downside, I'm falling terribly behind on promoting my freelance work. I don't call my family enough. I miss my friends. And I've started questioning What I'm Doing and Why -- which isn't so much a bad thing, but I often feel confused or conflicted.
Part of the conflict is that Nelson is not a prime market for me to be experimenting in. I've set this year up to be one big learning experience for myself. When I think about all the growing pains that lie ahead -- particularly between now and September -- I get a little overwhelmed. And not just because of the work involved, but because of the practicalities. I've been crunching numbers and am pretty concerned about the financials, owing to the high cost of putting work out there and the low probability that I'll actually sell anything to see a return, or at least to break even. New Zealand (much less Nelson) isn't exactly a hot bed for contemporary art photography and my sales certainly reflect that.
There's also the question of what exactly I'm investing in. I'm prepared to eat costs if I can justify it; if being the operative word. To lay it out, after estimating my costs I'm looking at dropping between 2 and 3 grand on a single upcoming group show, with serious apprehensions about whether or not I'll sell even a single picture. Yeah. Not so much. Building a name locally is great, but is it really a sound investment if I'm planning to eventually go back to school in America or elsewhere? Chalking it up to personal growth is a hard pill to swallow. So far, it means I'm looking for ways to cut costs and re-thinking a lot of best laid plans.
That, in a nutshell, is an outline of some of the things on my mind lately. Mostly, I just can't wait to be in Thailand.
I've been terrible at this blog thing lately. So I want to just take a few minutes to say, here is what's going on with me. Because people have asked, and because I'm really awful at e-mail lately.
After the chaotic process of getting ready for my first full-on exhibition, I decided that a) I need to get on top of this time management thing and b) I need to fully commit to taking better care of myself.
My life right now is a bit of a balancing act; I'm constantly thinking about where I am, where I've been, and where I'm going all at the same time. I've realized that I don't know what I want. I know that I want to take pictures. I know that I want to travel more. I know that I want to keep learning and evolving. But in the Big Picture, what do I really want from my life? It's a hard question, but an important one. And I've been feeling stumped for the past year or so.
Day to day, I'm working part-time for Twitter while also starting to prepare for my next three exhibitions. I'm going to the gym and incorporating advice from a nutritionist. Jason and I are going to Thailand for 3 weeks in July & August. On the downside, I'm falling terribly behind on promoting my freelance work. I don't call my family enough. I miss my friends. And I've started questioning What I'm Doing and Why -- which isn't so much a bad thing, but I often feel confused or conflicted.
Part of the conflict is that Nelson is not a prime market for me to be experimenting in. I've set this year up to be one big learning experience for myself. When I think about all the growing pains that lie ahead -- particularly between now and September -- I get a little overwhelmed. And not just because of the work involved, but because of the practicalities. I've been crunching numbers and am pretty concerned about the financials, owing to the high cost of putting work out there and the low probability that I'll actually sell anything to see a return, or at least to break even. New Zealand (much less Nelson) isn't exactly a hot bed for contemporary art photography and my sales certainly reflect that.
There's also the question of what exactly I'm investing in. I'm prepared to eat costs if I can justify it; if being the operative word. To lay it out, after estimating my costs I'm looking at dropping between 2 and 3 grand on a single upcoming group show, with serious apprehensions about whether or not I'll sell even a single picture. Yeah. Not so much. Building a name locally is great, but is it really a sound investment if I'm planning to eventually go back to school in America or elsewhere? Chalking it up to personal growth is a hard pill to swallow. So far, it means I'm looking for ways to cut costs and re-thinking a lot of best laid plans.
That, in a nutshell, is an outline of some of the things on my mind lately. Mostly, I just can't wait to be in Thailand.
22 May 2008
Hi.
I've been terrible at this blog thing lately. So I want to just take a few minutes to say, here is what's going on with me. Because people have asked, and because I'm really awful at e-mail lately.
After the chaotic process of getting ready for my first full-on exhibition, I decided that a) I need to get on top of this time management thing and b) I need to fully commit to taking better care of myself.
My life right now is a bit of a balancing act; I'm constantly thinking about where I am, where I've been, and where I'm going all at the sahttp://www2.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gifme time. I've realized that I don't know what I want. I know that I want to take pictures. I know that I want to travel more. I know that I want to keep learning and evolving. But in the Big Picture, what do I really want from my life? It's a hard question, but an important one. And I've been feeling stumped for the past year or so.
Day to day, I'm working part-time for Twitter while also starting to prepare for my next three exhibitions. I'm going to the gym and incorporating advice from a nutritionist. Jason and I are going to Thailand for 3 weeks in July & August. On the downside, I'm falling terribly behind on promoting my freelance work. I don't call my family enough. I miss my friends. And I've started questioning What I'm Doing and Why -- which isn't so much a bad thing, but I often feel confused or conflicted.
Part of the conflict is that Nelson is not a prime market for me to be experimenting in. I've set this year up to be one big learning experience for myself. When I think about all the growing pains that lie ahead -- particularly between now and September -- I get a little overwhelmed. And not just because of the work involved, but because of the practicalities. I've been crunching numbers and am pretty concerned about the financials, owing to the high cost of putting work out there and the low probability that I'll actually sell anything to see a return (or at least to break even). New Zealand (and much less Nelson) isn't exactly a hot bed for contemporary art photography and my sales here in Nelson certainly reflect that.
There's also the question of what exactly I'm investing in. I'm prepared to eat costs if I can justify it; if being the operative word. To lay it out, I'm looking at dropping between 2 and 3 grand on a single upcoming group show, with serious apprehensions about whether or not I'll sell even a single picture. Building a name locally is great, but is it really a sound investment if I'm planning to eventually go back to school in America or elsewhere? Chalking it up to personal growth is a hard pill to swallow. So far, it means I'm looking for ways to cut costs and re-thinking a lot of my plans.
I've been terrible at this blog thing lately. So I want to just take a few minutes to say, here is what's going on with me. Because people have asked, and because I'm really awful at e-mail lately.
After the chaotic process of getting ready for my first full-on exhibition, I decided that a) I need to get on top of this time management thing and b) I need to fully commit to taking better care of myself.
My life right now is a bit of a balancing act; I'm constantly thinking about where I am, where I've been, and where I'm going all at the sahttp://www2.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gifme time. I've realized that I don't know what I want. I know that I want to take pictures. I know that I want to travel more. I know that I want to keep learning and evolving. But in the Big Picture, what do I really want from my life? It's a hard question, but an important one. And I've been feeling stumped for the past year or so.
Day to day, I'm working part-time for Twitter while also starting to prepare for my next three exhibitions. I'm going to the gym and incorporating advice from a nutritionist. Jason and I are going to Thailand for 3 weeks in July & August. On the downside, I'm falling terribly behind on promoting my freelance work. I don't call my family enough. I miss my friends. And I've started questioning What I'm Doing and Why -- which isn't so much a bad thing, but I often feel confused or conflicted.
Part of the conflict is that Nelson is not a prime market for me to be experimenting in. I've set this year up to be one big learning experience for myself. When I think about all the growing pains that lie ahead -- particularly between now and September -- I get a little overwhelmed. And not just because of the work involved, but because of the practicalities. I've been crunching numbers and am pretty concerned about the financials, owing to the high cost of putting work out there and the low probability that I'll actually sell anything to see a return (or at least to break even). New Zealand (and much less Nelson) isn't exactly a hot bed for contemporary art photography and my sales here in Nelson certainly reflect that.
There's also the question of what exactly I'm investing in. I'm prepared to eat costs if I can justify it; if being the operative word. To lay it out, I'm looking at dropping between 2 and 3 grand on a single upcoming group show, with serious apprehensions about whether or not I'll sell even a single picture. Building a name locally is great, but is it really a sound investment if I'm planning to eventually go back to school in America or elsewhere? Chalking it up to personal growth is a hard pill to swallow. So far, it means I'm looking for ways to cut costs and re-thinking a lot of my plans.
07 May 2008
I'm not dead
I had planned to document the stress and strain of what happened with my first solo show. Sadly, I sucked at that; I also sucked at pretty much everything else in my life up until the opening. Bills? Who needs to pay those? I HAVE MATS TO CUT.
I've spent the time since the opening first crashing, then scrambling to catch up with all the things I neglected. First on the list of ignored items was myself. In the weeks leading up to the opening, I stopped going to the gym, stopped caring what I was eating (or sometimes if I was eating), and could barely sleep without chemical aid.
I learned a lot about the process of putting together a show, and a lot about the work I'm doing. I put myself through a bit of hell (and next time I will do certain things differently), but I feel as though it was a huge stepping stone. I proved a lot of things to myself; namely, that when it comes down to it, I can get the shit done.
And I did get those 30x30 inch prints after all.
I've spent the time since the opening first crashing, then scrambling to catch up with all the things I neglected. First on the list of ignored items was myself. In the weeks leading up to the opening, I stopped going to the gym, stopped caring what I was eating (or sometimes if I was eating), and could barely sleep without chemical aid.
I learned a lot about the process of putting together a show, and a lot about the work I'm doing. I put myself through a bit of hell (and next time I will do certain things differently), but I feel as though it was a huge stepping stone. I proved a lot of things to myself; namely, that when it comes down to it, I can get the shit done.
And I did get those 30x30 inch prints after all.
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