7 posts tagged “camera”

Okay, in an effort to be fair, I will try to give a bit of the positive as well tonight. Some random thoughts/highlights from the past few months:

*My BFF and I bought a letterpress and, with luck, will have it all set up in the next few months. Its home is in the basement of her new gallery/studio space which is pretty exciting. There is also a tiki museum down there which should make things interesting.

*Another good friend, g-jet, hosts weekly craft nights which have been good for my soul (and hopefully all the other fabulously queer souls who attend). I have pretty much stuck to needle felting and knitting, nothing too creative, but it's a good social time for me as well as a making time.

*I sent off a submission for a juried art show in October, so I feel vaguely like I've done something for my artistic career. Who knows if I'll get in (should I have heard somethign by now? I've lost track of the deadlines...) but it's good to be able to say I actually did something. As guess what? It's a fibers (specifcially stitching) show, not photography!

*I'm addicted to buying very small canvases and panels at ArtMedia even though I have no use for them. Small square ones. I fantasize that I will use them for collage pieces. We'll see what happens.

*I just bought a toy camera at a rummage sale that is a "spy camera" and takes little half frame shots on 35mm film. It is ridiculous and I love it. As a bonus, it had a used roll of film in it which I had developed. Unfortunately, I can't say there was anything too exciting on it. The vast majority of the photos were underexposed shots of a cat in a hallway. Oh well.

*I got to attend the Maker Faire once again last month. I hardly took any photos, but it was a delightful time nonetheless. I now am trying to justify wanting a laser cutter.

*Half of my gallery is full of art that is all manner of nekkid people. How can one be sad when surrounded by so many breasts? If only I had the $$ to buy some of the beautiful art.

Okay, that's enough with the positive thinking. It's making me queasy.

1. The camera mail arrived at its destination on Wednesday with about half of the photos taken and the whole unit sealed up in a plastic bag. Hmm, I wonder when the bag got put on. The camera has been dropped off for developing and now I wait for the prints. Stay tuned.

2. Journaling is still spotty. I'm trying not to lose faith in myself.

3. Okay, I take back half of my angst expressed last week over the lack of Cut & Paste submissions. I got a pretty good amount of submissions and some very interesting work. I still would have liked to receive more, but I really can't complain. However, I stand by my frustration over how hard it can be to get people to participate in things, both the artists and the (potential) audience. I'm certainly guilty at times, but really, would it be so hard for people to go out into their communities every so often and participate? Sigh.

I wonder how many people, even (especially?) artists, understand how nerve wracking it can be to put on a juried gallery show. I have this Cut & Paste show that I'm organizing and I have only 5 more days to receive entries. As of tonight I think the official tally is 3 entries. Sure, they usually all come pouring in at the last minute, I've seen it happen before, but I'm still trying to brace myself for the worst case scenario. It's hard feeling like no one gives a crap. Like everyone who I handed an entry form to was lying when they said it sounded cool and they were interested. Like the few people I felt sure would follow through and at least make an ATC for the show weren't even dependable.

Part of this is the frustration I've been feeling about trying to get people to get off their butts and do anything. I invite so many people to gallery openings and they never show up. I put on events at the gallery to give people fun, affordable, community-building, non-intimidating art activities to participate in and no one comes. I don't know if I'm a sucker for trying again and again. So far it hasn't made much difference. I could rant more, but that will lead to pages and pages of bitterness. We'll leave it at this. Please, if you can support your local art scene/small businesses/friends, then please do it. Someone out there has put their heart into this stuff.

In other news, I mailed my camera art last week and am now waiting for it to arrive at its destination (several states away - I hope that gives me good odds for lots of photos). Stay tuned for details.

My journaling has been spotty. Highly spotty. But I promise I have not abandoned it.

I wrote about camera mail a while ago and today I sent off my first attempt at it. I went with the disposable camera after all, mainly because I have a source of free ones and I figure I should keep it cheap and simple to start with. I have high hopes for success (i.e. getting postal workers to actually take photos and fill up the roll) since I know someone who works at the post office I go to and he does the sorting of mail so there's a good chance he'll see my camera mail. I'll post updates and photos when (hopefully I don't have to say "if") the camera gets to its destination and the film gets processed. Yay, I'm excited.

...within the past 24 hours. This page about camera mail has me totally itching to try it out. I have access to some free disposable cameras to get started. Though, as a photographer, I sort of cringe to use a disposable camera. I think I would rather use a $1 plastic point and shoot from the thrift store so I can load it with my own film. It would probably also be a little more durable. I would have to make sure that camera was taped up well enough so the back wouldn't pop open, but that's a minor detail. I'll let you know if I ever get around to trying it.