Behind the scenes of the Manual Project. During a week’s artist residency at the Hospitalfield Arts Center in Arbroath Scotland I photographed about 25 people from all walks of life and many countries including Scotland, New Zealand, England, and Pakistan
2016
Wet-Plate Collodion on Laser etched Trophy Aluminum (Tintype) 6"x8" or 6"x6" or 4.25"x5.5"
After 35 years of making photograms I felt challenged to make something new, but it seemed I had photogrammed every kind of object. I decided to create my own objects to make photograms with - and the best place to start is with simple geometric shapes. I 3D printed geometric shapes which were placed on the wet tintype and exposed to light. Before making the photogram I laser-etched photographs of the geometric objects onto the aluminum to achieve a layered effect. I was able to produce new imagery of timeless shapes using 19th century analog process combined with 21st century laser etching and 3D printing.
2014 - ongoing
3D printed artist books/sculptures of photography and text. PLA resin, digital prints on paper, USB drives, fabric, wood, found objects, pens, pencils, cameras - various sizes 2"x3" up to 8"x5" - some are edition 1 of 1 others are in editions of 10
The Gutenberg series of 3D printed books deals with the evolution of books and how knowledge may be distributed in the future. The content of these 3D printed books cannot be accessed – it is sealed inside the PLA resin binding. You must destroy the book to read the book. These books require the viewer/reader to trust the artist - is the content really in there or not? You can see something is inside but you don't know if it is really as the artist claims. Much of the artwork which is bought and sold requires trust in the artist and the dealer, and these books expand upon that leap of faith.
Creativity is a phenomenon whereby something new and somehow valuable is formed. The created item may be intangible (such as an idea, a scientific theory, a musical composition, or a joke) or a physical object (such as an invention, a printed literary work, or a painting).
The nature prints in my Herbarium series are incredibly simple. You coat a sheet of watercolor paper – I use Fabriano Artistico – with a salt solution and let it dry. Then when it is time to make the print you paint silver nitrate on your specimen – mine are leaves – with a foam …
What we’ve been doing…. Lisa and I presented our work for the Peters Valley Artist Talk Series on May 5th, 2021. I love to talk about my art but talking about myself is excruciating. It was a wonderful opportunity to explain how my various projects relate to each other and fit into the context of …
A wonderful feature on the Lenscratch.com website and Lenscratch Daily about Borderlands! It was exciting to get the attention and amazing how many people emailed, called, texted.. and got in touch. Old friends and new, we have a great community in the photo world! Thanks to Aline Smithson for the thoughtful write-up. – article below …
How do I get there from here? You might wonder where is here? and there? Good questions! First – The Exhibition Lab run by Michael Foley of the Foley Gallery helps participants get from here to there. The Exhibition Lab is a monthly critique group which helps participants refine their work to be exhibition ready. …
“There’s nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and open a vein.” (said to be from Ernest Hemingway, but the quote has been attributed to others and the source probably predates Hemingway.) Regardless of who said it, the sentiment is real. Writing isn’t hard, but writing well is very hard. …
When I was little we used to “play war” which meant the neighborhood kids would roam the neighborhood with fake guns and hide behind bushes and sheds to surprise ambush their friends shouting “Bombs away!” or “Bang!” or “Boom: you’re dead!” That was the 1950’s and 60’s when the true war fears had caused the …
Artist, Photographer, Activist, and Educator Jerry Burchfield died on September 11, 2009 from Colon Cancer. We’ll remember Jerry as an incredibly imaginative and creative artist, a generous and insightful mentor and educator, and a dedicated activist who took action to make his Southern California community a better place. The LA Times obituary provides a good …