"The peonies are getting ready to break my heart"

Wild and Perfect Peonies, May 2016

 Peonies: A Poem By Mary Oliver

"This morning the green fists of the peonies are getting ready
to break my heart
as the sun rises,
as the sun strokes them with his old, buttery fingers
and they open —
pools of lace,
white and pink —
and all day the black ants climb over them,
boring their deep and mysterious holes
into the curls,
craving the sweet sap,
taking it away
to their dark, underground cities —
and all day
under the shifty wind,
as in a dance to the great wedding,
the flowers bend their bright bodies,
and tip their fragrance to the air,
and rise,
their red stems holding
all that dampness and recklessness
gladly and lightly,
and there it is again —
beauty the brave, the exemplary,
blazing open.

Do you love this world?
Do you cherish your humble and silky life?
Do you adore the green grass, with its terror beneath?
Do you also hurry, half-dressed and barefoot, into the garden,
and softly,
and exclaiming of their dearness,
fill your arms with the white and pink flowers,
with their honeyed heaviness, their lush trembling,
their eagerness
to be wild and perfect for a moment, before they are
nothing, forever?"

from New And Selected Poems by Mary Oliver

You Are Simply Irresistible

Simply Irresistible, March 2016

How can one resist an early morning bouquet of peonies that are hand delivered by a kind and generous neighbor?  I cannot.

I had packed up all my photography studio equipment four days ago because I was totally convinced that I had created everything I wanted to create with the flowers I had on hand.

But early in the morning I got a telephone call from my neighbor Sarah  saying she had peonies she wanted to share with me.  They were in full bloom which meant they were drooping and were going to be laying on the ground soon. She couldn't bring them in her own home because her cat, Rocky, eats everything in sight, including her flowers.  I was helping her out by accepting the flowers.

Needless to say, I accepted the flowers with much gratitude and appreciation.

I quickly pulled my posing table and table top mirror into action, posed the flowers in a vase as fast as possible and captured these simply irresistible peonies on my mobile device and ran off to work.

They are simply irresistible. 

The Business Bouquet

The Business Bouquet, March 2016

Two main things about this floral portrait prompts me to title it "The Business Bouquet."

The vase was painted at a Do It Yourself ceramic studio in N.E. Mpls. when my co-workers and I went all together for an afternoon outing that was a "business outing" so to speak.  I was taught the "painting with bubbles" technique and it was very fun, very creative and was the perfect style for me since I'm not a painter, really.

Tomorrow is the 19th annual Women In Business awards luncheon and expo hosted by the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal (my employer) and it seemed appropriate that, since I was going to bring a vase and flowers anyway, I bring this vase filled with flowers from our garden.

Now, all I have to do is pack it up and try to safely deliver it to the venue without ruining the flowers.  Wish me luck.

Still Life On White

Still Life On White, March 2016

Still Life on White is another extraordinary collaboration with a little help from my friends.

It's funny because when I started this floral still life project ten years ago I was usually working alone.  It was just me, the sun and the objects being photographed.  I was able to pull things together pretty well with available props in my environment plus artifacts that my husband or I had collected.

Now it's quite the opposite. The portraits that I love the most have been created with the help of, usually, one of the neighbors on either side of my home.  Sometimes even guests who stop by for dinner gift me with a beautiful bouquet of flowers or something.  So unbeknownst to them, they are my co-collaborators on the portrait.

This portrait On White was partially pre-planned with the background ironed for 15 minutes to remove most of the wrinkles and hung up the day before.  I actually had planned it for a new business head shot to update my previous one that is over two years old.  But I was gifted with everything seen in the portrait so I felt compelled to put them all together in a portrait. 

Thanks to Sharon for the bridal wreath flowers in the vase, Sarah for the fresh onion bun and goat cheese rolled in dill and Patrick for the limoncello liqueur.

Headshot will be postponed for a couple of weeks, I guess.

Sweet Lilacs

Sweet Lilacs, May 2016

Lilacs, oh sweet lilacs, how I love the sight and smell of you every spring.
But oh,  how I hate how quickly your petals turn brown and drop.

The day prior to this photo session I made a mental note to myself that if I was going to photograph the lilacs from my garden it would have to be tomorrow afternoon. I couldn't predict the exact time or the quality of the light at sunset but I was going to start getting prepared.

I set up a background using a deep rich red throw for my couch and spent ten minutes removing the worst of the cat hair that still remained after washing and drying it.  Animal lovers understand, I'm sure.

Did a quick pre-visualization of the various flowers I was going to pull fresh from the garden tomorrow: lilac, bleeding hearts, bridal wreath and wildflowers. Next I set down a purple vase and also my deep purple infinity scarf that worked so well one other time.

Lastly, I set down my two brand new books that I had recently purchased.

I was as prepared as I could be since it was difficult for me to know what the light was actually going to be like 24 hours from now.  Now, all I could do was wait and see.

And so 20 plus hours later, the Sunday still life photo session began.

I filled the purple glass vase with water and went outside with scissors in hand to clip the flowers that would be placed in the vase.  My neighbor on the north side gave me permission to snip one branch from his lilac bush to fill in a gap that needed to be filled.  Thank you, Patrick.

Once the arrangement was designed to my satisfaction I knew I'd have 1 - 2 hours to play with various set elements before I lost the magic light at sunset.

This day was changes a go-go.  I hated the red throw as my background because it looked too orange in today's light. After five photos I looked around and saw a similar fabric in a light soft tan color. I decided to try that one and took about 15 pictures but wasn't in love with that either. The sun was just too high and too bright. It simply blasted out every bit of color and texture in the fabric.  I took down that second throw and looked at the base fabric which is actually simply a light blocker. But that didn't work either because it was again, too red.

Then I started to get nervous.

I looked at the flower arrangement for some inspiration and instruction.  Something told me to look through my inventory of shawls to find one with complimentary colors. Eureka, I found a beautiful shawl that worked perfect and clipped it at mid-height to the light blocking background.  A couple test photos revealed it was a good fit but it had a fold that was unacceptable and just had to be straightened. I raced downstairs to get my hand held iron and an extension cord and got to work. It only took 3 - 4 minutes for the iron to heat up and I ironed the shawl while it was hanging up.

Then, what next?  Something else was needed,  but what?  I did the typical liquor in a fancy glass but that was boring and cliche. Not today. I thought it would be fun to add my favorite set of Royal Albert polka dot coffee mugs which always make me happy.  How can polka dots not make one smile?

Outside for one last flower clipping, my neighbor Lori surprised me by shouting over to me "Do you want a couple of cookies, I made too many?"   I thought for a moment and then asked "What kind of cookies?" thinking I should say no (too many calories). She said "chocolate chip cookies."  So of course, I weakened and said "Yes, I'll give them to my husband.":  Sweet Lori walked over with a small plastic bag containing two cookies that I immediately brought inside and put on my husband's dinner plate telling him the cookies were for him.

But within minutes, I realized that was a terrible mistake.  That would have been the finishing touch to the portrait - flowers, vase, books, coffee and COOKIES!  What was I going to do? I couldn't take back the cookies from my husband.

Well, I did the only logical thing. I walked over to Lori's house and rang the door bell. She greeted me by saying "Oh good, you want more cookies, right?"  Sheepishly I said, "yes, actually, could I have three or four cookies that I'll photograph and return to you after I'm done?"  Honestly, she was delighted that I was  removing these oh-so-tempting cookies from her house.

Because time was now of the essence, I ran back in the house, dashed down the basement to get my tiny little dessert plates which would be perfect to hold the cookies and placed the final sweet addition to today's "Sweet Lilacs" still life portrait.

I find it delightfully amazing and wonderful how each of  my still life sessions evolve into their own little adventure story of how they are created "with a little help from my <sweet>  friends."

Each one is a gift that I give myself and, of course,  I gift my friend with a reproduction as well.

Sweet! .

Sarah's Gift

Sarah's Gift, March 2016

Have you ever been blessed with the kindest person in your life? And if you're extra fortunate they live near you?  I am that doubly fortunate.

My neighbor Sarah with an "h," (unlike my sister Sara with no "h")  lives across the street from us and in the last few years we've all become great friends.  We look out for each other, cook with each other, feed each other and try to do kind things for each other.

This lovely bouquet was a gift from Sarah to brighten up our house on a cold dark March Saturday afternoon.  I didn't over work the set and simply added the minimum amount of complimentary colors with a silky, shiny neck scarf and my favorite rich green background.

I think the flowers speak for themselves. Sweet. Simple. Fragrant. Thoughtful.

Just Because in Blue

Just Because in Blue, February 2016

I think I've fallen in love with this blue tone style of imagery.

"Back in the day" of film processing they called this style Cyanotype and it was a very rare photographer who created these well.  It was before my time but I always loved them.

Thanks to today's post-processing technology I converted the warm tone image into a Cyanotype-like portrait.

I used most of the elements from the Warm Tone portrait shown previously and added a few elegant items to make this classy and feminine.  As I said when I was a portrait photographer, women can rarely go wrong with pearls.

Just Because - Warm Tones

I don't ever really need a reason to buy a flower arrangement.  Sometimes it is simply just because I want one to brighten up my day.

Having friends over for a dinner, however, is always a good reason to buy a fresh bouquet of flowers.  So I visited one of my favorite florist shops with the intention of just buying a small, inexpensive, bouquet.

This day I actually purchased an already stylized bouquet because it seemed to call my name.  It was simple, yet varied and had nice muted colors, in other words not a big screaming at you arrangement.

But the surprise was that after paying for the bouquet I saw this moderately priced gold/bronze vase and I knew it would be a good investment for this arrangement and others.

As always I came home and watched the evening light through the windows of my home studio to see if it was going to give me some of her magic light and yes, she did.  So I started the process and let it organically evolve.

Just Because in Warm Tones, February 2016

Backdrop was set up from a previous session and I thought it worked perfectly.
Two surface clothes from my inventory of shawls
Flowers in the new vase
And then I paused and looked around my studio room to see what was calling to me saying it wanted to be included in the photo.

Since it was still a cold  February day outside my friend Doug Sievers' book "Trees In Winter" seemed the perfect literary addition to work as the base.

Beverages in beautiful glasses were added.
Two pears
The final object d'art was my glass bird - just because.

I played with the sunset light for about an hour and chose this one as my favorite.

Conspiracy

Valentine Still Life no. 5529

Valentine Still Life Portraits Dedicated to Karl Blomseth who gave me all of this, and so much more.
“I love you because the entire universe conspired to help me find you.” Paulo Coelho.

Naughty Naughty

Valentine Still Life no.5521

Naughty, Naughty.

How Do I Love Thee?

Falling In Love, 2016

"How do I love thee? Let me count the ways...

I love thee to the level of every day’s

Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light.

 

For the artist who falls in love with their own work ...  "thee" can be anything, from a person to a plant. Today, it was the Light. Capital "L."  For me, a life long photographer, it's always been and always will be about the Light.

At around 5:00 pm today the angle of the sun created a beautiful light and shadow pattern illuminating the fabric that still hung from last week's portrait session.  It was truly breathtaking and caused an internal alarm that almost shook me. I literally fell in love at first sight.  But I knew that I had a finite amount of time to create the artistic still life portrait I desired.

I started with the beautiful flowers purchased last week from Bachman's that were still looking good eight days later. I loved seeing them each and every day this week even though I was aware of  many minor changes as they aged and wilted.

While I was freshening the flower arrangement and changing the vase I was reminded of comments repeatedly shared by artist friend Jim Marion Foreman that "as we create our favorite art pieces we fall in love with them. We develop an intimate relationship with them that, in that moment, is an intense love affair between the artist and the art."

This was more true than ever today.  

I loved the first session of portraits that was just the flower vase when I was merely "flirting" with the sunlight and shadows. Then the Muse, who was my stand-in, caught my attention as she communicated that she too had an extraordinary attraction to the warmth and embrace of the sun. 

To add a thoughtful conversation to the budding relationship I added two big art books "so we'd have something to talk about" and liqueur in a glass so we could whet our thirst after talking.

As the sun went down and the colors became softer and warmer with a golden palette, the final token was shared, pearls. Pearls that spoke of our sophisticated, sexy and sensual affair that lasted only as long as the light illuminated our scene.

Standing in the dark later I couldn't see the vase or the Muse or the pearls but I remembered the deep love that we had shared during those moments together in the sun and the shadows.

How do I love thee?  

Truly, let me count the ways.

How Do I Love Thee? (Sonnet 43)

Elizabeth Barrett Browning, 1806 - 1861

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.

I love thee to the depth and breadth and height

My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight

For the ends of being and ideal grace.

I love thee to the level of every day’s

Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light.

I love thee freely, as men strive for right.

I love thee purely, as they turn from praise.

I love thee with the passion put to use

In my old griefs, and with my childhood’s faith.

I love thee with a love I seemed to lose

With my lost saints. I love thee with the breath,

Smiles, tears, of all my life; and, if God choose,

I shall but love thee better after death.

Bread, Wine, Cheese and Thou

Bread, Wine, Cheese and Thou, 2016

All my images are a photo journal of my life events, of course, so that means they also overtly or covertly represent my spouse, family and friends.  This image is a Valentine's Day still life created with the intention of representing the lovely verses by Omar Khhayyam

XII

A Book of Verses underneath the Bough.

A Jug of Wine, A Loaf of Bread--and Thou

Beside me singing in the Wilderness--

Oh, Wilderness were Paradise enow!

I love how I get focused on a theme or a verse and it all magically comes together into a still life portrait. When others see the still life portrait they see the objects, but I see and feel the people who helped bring it all together and the magical creation process. 

Today this portrait started with a backdrop curtain gifted to me from friend Sarah M. when she moved out of her previous studio. I'd been waiting for the right opportunity to use it and thought it would be ideal for a Valentine still life that would look like a classic painting. 

Coincidentally, the second friend who contributed was also a Sarah.  Our neighbor Sarah S. had generously shared hearty sour dough bread, Newton label red wine and Stilton blue cheese, all yummy. Sarah was alongside Karl and I when I purchased the lovely flower arrangement at Bachman's during their Winter Farmer's Market open house.

The remaining objects called to me asking to be included in the portrait also,  i.e. set of poetry books,  olive oil and vinegar from Vom Foss, an orange, nuts and lastly, cinnamon candies.

I created about 20 images as the afternoon winter sunlight peaked in and out of hazy clouds and illuminated this scene. As always I had the camera firmly planted on my Bogen studio tripod and a reflector positioned to bounce back the available light. But this time I did a little experimentation for a change at the prompting from an art exhibit attendee who I chatted with recently. He queried why didn't I photograph at the wide open end of the focal settings such as f1.4, f2, f4 and the like so it looked like a contemporary photo.

My answer was basically that, for my purposes I feel I get the desired effect by photographing at f8,  or f11 so everything is sharp and in focus and has the look and feel of a classic painting. 

But, just for a little variety and to overcompensate for the hazy sunlight I thought I'd play at both ends today and compare the results.  

I'm happy to say that I loved three different images at three different settings:  f2, f5 and f10 so I had test prints made of all of them so I could carefully examine them up close.

Final favorite that is now going to the next production level, a canvas enlargement, is the f5 image because it helped to soften the pattern of the curtains and yet keep all the objects in sharp focus. 

I just love it when I get to play, experiment and do something a little different each time.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Dreams

Dreams, 2015

 What would you do if someone invited you to create your own still life from their supplied elements?  Would this be a dream come true, or a nightmare?

This portrait was created November 2015 during the annual Vine Arts Center member show. I set up elements of a still life and invited exhibition attendees to move things around, make it feel like their own and then create a portrait using the mobile device of their choice. 

This blue tint, cyanotype, was my creation with the added touch of my earring on the ring finger of the hand statute.

I apologize for the big gap between postings this past fall, 2015 when I was working toward curating the group art exhibit, The Space Between The Words, at the Vine Arts Center and late January 2016.

As time and energy allows, I'll go back in and fill in some art and stories about the exhibition process.

Thank you for understanding.

Video: Wendy Blomseth explains the still life photography process

Oh my, could life be any more exciting than to have a short video recorded of oneself during the big, Grand Opening Night of the exhibit: The Space Between The Words?

We had a wonderful opening with 114 guests in attendance.  We heard positive feedback about the lay out of the show, the individual artists' work, the food, the beverages and even the weather.  Couldn't have asked for anything better.

Here's a short video where I'm talking about the exhibit timeline, my love affair with light and photography and a quick announcement about the upcoming October 3rd Vine Arts Center member show titled
"Process | Presentation: Get Behind the Work, III." 

This is all I imagined it to be and more.

Life is good!

Tonight is the night of the Grand Opening

Tonight is the night. 

 

The realization of a bucket list item initiated June 24, 2014 when I said, "Let's do a show at the Vine Arts Center next year." 

 

Well, the moment has come. The artists of Karl's group, The Art Salon For Fertile Minds took up the challenge and everyone created new work, pushed their comfort zone, tried totally new things, collaborated with new friends and are ready to bare their souls as seen in their art.

Come if you dare to meet the people who are following their passions.

www.vineartscenter.org for details tonight and throughout the month of Sept.

When One Door Closes Another Opens

Door Closes, Another Opens

When one door closes, another opens; but we often look so long and 

so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the one which 

has opened for us.    Alexander Graham Bell 

When one door closes, another one opens, so they say.
Breathe.

Well the time is right. I finally took the big step(s) on my personal photography journey:
(1) I started a new Facebook business page: Wendy H. Blomseth Fine Art Photography that will be a new platform to promote my fine art photography endeavors in addition to this blog and my identity at http://www.mnartists.org/wendy-h-blomseth  Instagram, Pinterest and Twitter, etc. I've got a lot of work to do on it but I am excited to confidently build this brand.

(2) It seemed only fitting and proper, therefore, that I immediately proceeded without hesitation to finally delete the InBeaute Photography business page that I had held onto for so many extra years after we actually closed down the business.

Prior to this moment I was never ready to walk away from my identity, my brand, as THAT PERSON, THAT PHOTOGRAPHER.  Knowing that the FB business page still displayed InBeaute Photography validated my twelve years under that brand.

Even though it feels like a soft stab in the heart, it is a small one now that I know I will recover from.

I can again walk tall as a photographer, now independent, who is seriously pursuing a body of photographic image work that I am proud of and passionate to continue to create.

Breathe.
Yes.
A new door has opened and I'm going through it.

I imagine that you understand this feeling as well.
If so, Namaste.

Can You Hear Me Now?

Can You Hear Me Now?

Yes, Karl actually said this as he tried out the new portable microphone system for our upcoming events during the exhibit The Space Between The Words at the Vine Arts Center www.vineartscenter.org.

Tomorrow evening is the regularly scheduled  Art Salon For Fertile Minds with the double bonus:
(1) a sneak preview of the art exhibit

(2) Art Salon Member Susan Gainen will facilitate "lightning speed Q&A of the artists" participating in the exhibit "The Space Between The Words" and invite the visiting guests to view the art, offer up their questions and be inspired into further discussions.
Why do you make art?
How did you make this/these pieces? (pick one or two)
Why did you make this/these pieces? (pick one or two)
What is your favorite art-making tool?

The grand opening is officially September 12th so early visitors get the first look and, if interested, first chance to purchase pieces that are for sale. More info at

Time will be allowed for the guests to ask questions as well so the new microphone will be well utilized tomorrow evening at the Art Salon For Fertile Minds.  www.artsalonforfertileminds.blogspot.com

How Long Does It Take?

Still Life in Black & White: September 6, 2015, no. 4324

“Being with you and not being with you is the only way I have to measure time.”
― Jorge Luis Borges

How long does it take for understanding and acceptance? Ten years. Sixteen years. Never.

Today is the sixteenth wedding anniversary for my husband, Karl and I. It has been quite a journey of miles, years, experiences and we are both probably still learning about each other.

We are, as we often do, spending the weekend together up north at the cabin that he originally purchased to be the "boy cabin" for hunting, fishing and man time with friends.  Throughout the years the ambiance has changed considerably as we've used it as our photography workshop headquarters, artists' retreat, friends play ground and couples intimate personal time. How long did it take? I'd estimate it was an evolving process from 2000 to 2008 with small embellishments added each year. When I look at it now, it's hard to remember what it looked like back in 1999 before we got married.

I've been working on a photo still life series to "honor the emotive moment." It started as a learning experience to teach myself how to create fine art quality images with a new digital camera. Over a period of ten years I've been creating these still life portraits at a time/place when it had a special meaning for me, from birthdays to anniversaries to holidays.

Even though I consider one portrait to the best from each series, I usually work "in the zone" for two morning sunrise sessions before I pack it up and say, yes. I've got what I need.  How long does it take? Overall: ten years. Each session: two - four hours over two days. 

Today I came away with two favorites, the black and white at the top is in honor of all the years Karl and I spent in our black and white darkroom.

Still Life: September 6, 2015 no. 4336

The color portrait above I love because of the quality of the morning light and the props that Karl produced:  backdrop fabric and the coffee cup set he had purchased years ago for one of his past photo sets.

So, how long does it all take?  Most days I have very little patience and a short attention span. But when I take a step or two back to pause and reflect I love our years together, our many past collaborations and the ones that we're creating each and every day now in these present "emotive moments."

Stop by for the Soft Opening of the art exhibit

Have you heard of the "soft opening" event?

Tonight, September 3rd is the soft opening of the art exhibit "The Space Between The Words" celebrating the group art exhibit from the members of the Art Salon For Fertile Minds.  It's showing off the exhibit for the artists, family, friends who cannot wait for the big grand opening.  A few things still need to be tweaked but we're about 90% ready to host guests.

I hope you can join us for one of the five, fun, free, interactive events we've got planned for September so this is a very inclusive experience for visitors. see www.artsalonforfertileminds.blogspot.com for details.

If you cannot make it tonight, here's a very short, low budget video sneak preview made last night.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NSNft76a8qs 

Fifteen Days and Counting

Wednesday night's meeting of the artists participating in The Space Between The Words exhibit kicked off with a few moment of personal sharing.

I intentionally invited each artist to look within and share "How do you feel about your experience thus far working toward this exhibit?  What's been fun? What's been a challenge? What's the biggest surprise? "

This discussion brought us together as artists sharing the excitement and joy of creating new art pieces that would shortly be viewed by the public at an exhibit at the Vine Arts Center. Comments shared ranged from working towards goals, trying new materials and  first time exhibition jitters.

The evening discussions continued for two hours with participants seeking clarification on the display space allocated for each artist.

About 50% of the participants took advantage of the meeting venue being the Vine Arts Center and dropped off their art work. Everyone was circling around their own work and others so they could get a sneak preview of what had been created.  Something like an early Christmas viewing of packages, some partially wrapped, some fully wrapped and a handful of works totally open for all to see.

I can feel the excitement that everyone is experiencing and share the same anticipation as they're having.  It's been several years since I've been in an exhibit like this one and it's been both challenging and rewarding.

Fifteen days and counting til the "soft opening."