Artists In Our Midst

The rudiments of my interest in photography began during my junior year at a boarding school in Michigan. As always, my best friend was a socially unsuccessful geek, in this case the school photographer. The position wasn’t actually functional, but it gave him sole access to the darkroom, where I would work with him while everyone else was in study hall. I remember printing photos and singing a loud, off-key version of Clementine with him. It was silly, adolescent fun, but it introduced me to the inner world of photography in a way that blossomed later on, at a time when I was at a loss to know what to do with my life.

I spent my senior year at Los Angeles High School, where I offered my services as football photographer. I provided pictures for the school paper without being on their journalism staff, and I gave team members free 8 x 10 prints of themselves in games. Their appreciation went a long way toward giving me a sense of safety during this white boy’s first exposure to integration. It wasn’t until the following year at UCSD that my Republican heritage was washed away forever.

Much of my photographic experience has been covered in previous posts, so I’ll leave the remaining bits of my story to the introductions of individual photos that follow. I’ve selected this group of pictures because for the most part they’re photos I would not submit to On The Road in the normal course of my posting there. My OTR submissions are more of places and things, so for this go-round I’m showing more shots of people.

I invite you to visit my web site, but I warn you that there are far too many pictures there. I apologize for that. I use the site as a repository for all my photos that I can see possibly appearing in some publication, and I’ve given no consideration at all to the needs of potential visitors who might stumble on my work. My overarching goal has been to demonstrate the many techniques and styles I’ve picked up along the way. Visit at your own risk.

In 1965, while at boarding school in Michigan, I borrowed my friend’s Leica and loaded it with a roll of Kodachrome. I had no idea what good photos looked like. I just pointed the camera at things and clicked away. The building in the front of this scene housed staff offices. The big building behind it housed the dining hall, the infirmary, and other functions I no longer remember. The stream in the foreground emptied into Lake Michigan about a hundred yards beyond this point. Cabins were scattered along the beach for boys’ housing, while girls stayed in a dormitory about a mile up the road.

Steve from Mendocino – A Brief Photo HistoryPost + Comments (34)

Don’t let the blurb about On the Road confuse you – this isn’t an On the Road post, it’s the first of several posts that will feature some of our many Balloon Juice “creatives”.  We’re just using the OTR form for ease of submission, and we are tagging these as Artists in Our Midst.

We had planned for the first Artists in Our Midst featured artist to be Steve from Mendocino, sharing his photography with us. But this submission came in with a special offer, so we will run two this weekend, and then go with one a week after that.

Quiltingfool

I made my first quilt when I was 12 years old.  I still have it.  The workmanship is what one would expect from a first attempt (not too great) but I kept making quilts.  I made a few quilts, here and there, in my 20s and 30s, but quilt making back in the day was rather tedious — no rotary cutters! Pattern pieces were traced using cardboard templates and cut with scissors.  Quilting was done by hand, and was very time consuming.  Now we have great tools – rotary cutters, specialized rulers and affordable quilting machines.  And I am lucky that I have all the tools!

I retired from teaching 8th grade science about five years ago.  Teaching science allowed me to be very creative, so when I left the profession, I had to channel that desire for creativity – and making quilts really filled the bill.  I work on some aspect of quilting every day I can and I love it.  I make quilt tops – sometimes I use a published pattern, sometimes I design my own pattern, I quilt my quilt tops, and I quilt tops other people have made.   My avocation has become my vocation, I guess!

Switching gears for a moment, I would like to make you an offer. Many of us here are very concerned with some of the things we see happening in our country (voter suppression is just one of those things).  I’d like to help folks who are working to get people voting – Voces de la Frontera.

Here is my proposal.  I will donate the cost of one quilt to Voces.  Here’s how it would work; it will involve a lottery/drawing.  Let me know – in the comments on this post or by sending email to WaterGirl – if you are interested in buying a quilt from my store, with the proceeds to go to Voces.  Or you can purchase a quilt on my Etsy site, putting “Balloon Juice” in the comments.  Either way, you will be entered in the drawing, and for the winner, I will donate the purchase price to Voces, in your name.

The deadline: To be entered into the drawing, either 1) comment on this thread, 2) send email to WaterGirl, or 3) purchase a quilt on my Etsy store by 10am Eastern time on Monday, July 12.

The winner will be announced on Monday evening.

If you “purchase” a quilt on my site by Monday morning at 10am, and you only want the quilt if the proceeds can go to Voces, I can refund your payment if you are not the winner.

Here is the link to my Etsy store:

Many thanks!

Broken Star Quilt.  A traditional quilt pattern.  Not an easy nor quick quilt, but worth the time.

Quiltingfool – Making Quilts!Post + Comments (33)