#roc

My Artist Talk is Live on YouTube!

/ kallitypegirl

On May 31, as part of the May Artist Talk Series sponsored by the Flower City Arts Center, I delivered a short lecture on my journey as a kallitype print maker. It was a great experience, and I was thrilled to be a part of it and to share this process that I really love!

During the talk, I showed some of my past alternative process work leading up to my  focus on kallitypes, plus I illustrated (through GIFs) the kallitype process, and shared recent work. I spoke for roughly 40 min and then there was another 20 or so minutes of Q&A.

Here is the link if you missed it and would like to watch:

The rest of the May artist talks can be seen on the YouTube channel for the Flower City Arts Center. Click here to see the recordings of presentations by Fernando Muller, Linda VanArtsdalen and Jonathan Merritt.

The Artist Talk Series continues in June with more exciting artists! If you’re interested to sign up and attend, they are free, but you do need to register. Click here to read more about the upcoming talks. To sign up, just scroll down on the page and click the ‘Register for this Class’ link!

If you have any questions or comments please let me know! You can email me directly at kallitypegirl@gmail.com.

Artist Talk – this Sunday, May 31!

/ kallitypegirl

Hi everyone!

Just a quick reminder that this upcoming Sunday, May 31, is my Artist Talk, which is the final talk for the month-of-May-Sunday-Afternoon-Artist-Talk series sponsored by the Department of Photography and Digital Arts at the Flower City Arts Center. 

We will start promptly at  1:00 pm Eastern Time. For those of you in other time zones: this is 10:00 am Pacific Time / 11:00 am Mountain Time / 12:00 pm Central Time /  18:00 pm British Summer Time / 19:00 pm Central Europe Summer Time.

These talks are free and open to the public, no matter if you are local here in Rochester or somewhere else in the world. You just need to register so you can receive the Zoom link to join in: https://www.rochesterarts.org/classes/artist_talks_online_spring_2020/

 

My plan is to present for 30-40 min, show new work, talk about the kallitype process, what inspires me, and my current projects. Then we’ll have a few minutes for Q&A. We should be finished within an hour. I’ve really enjoyed the other artist talks in the series, and am excited to share my work and this process with you!

During the talk, I’m also hoping to show a few short kallitype process videos I put together on Youtube. I’m not confident the audio will work through Zoom, and depending on your connection the video may not be super clear, so I’m including this links here too in case you want to watch before, during or after!

PS – We are planning to record the session, and as soon as the full talk is available I will share a link to it here as well.

Coming soon: Virtual Artist Talks!

/ kallitypegirl

Welcome to May! It’s definitely spring here in Rochester, per the calendar, and according to the flowers….but winter is still trying to keep it’s icy hold with flurries, overnight freezes, and more dull gray skies. Despite all that, one bright spot is that more and more arts organizations, museums, educational institutions and galleries are getting creative with ways for us all to engage with the arts online!

For example, the Department of Photography and Digital Arts at the Flower City Arts Center has organized this series of upcoming virtual Artist Talks for the month of May:

  • Sunday, May 10, 1:00 to 2:00 pm EST – Fernando Muller (current FCAC artist in residence; this one already happened, but when the Youtube link is available, I’ll update this post)
  • Sunday, May 17, 1:00 to 2:00 pm EST – Linda Van Artsdalen (fiber and alternative photographic process artist – AMAZING work)
  • Saturday, May 23, 1:00 to 2:00 pm EST – Jonathan Merritt (current FCAC alternative photographic process artist and teacher – and the person who taught me kallitypes!)
  • Sunday, May 31, 1:00 to 2:00 pm EST – me! I’ll be talking about my kallitypes and showing current work.

These talks are free and open to the public, no matter if you are local here in Rochester or somewhere else in the world. You just need to register so you can receive the Zoom link to join in: https://www.rochesterarts.org/classes/artist_talks_online_spring_2020/

Each talk runs roughly an hour with approximately 30 min for the artist’s presentation and then time for Q&A. They are also being recorded, and I’ll make another post with the Youtube links once the series concludes.
I’m excited to be one of the presenters, rounding out the month with the final talk for May!  Please mark your calendars and plan to join me!

Alternate Paths Exhibit – Coronavirus Update #2

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Well folks, we are just a day away from what was to be the closing reception for the Alternate Paths group exhibit (scheduled for this Friday, May 1st), but since we are still under the New York State on Pause executive order, it isn’t happening. Not tomorrow anyway…

Not gonna lie, I am feeling bummed that no one can see the work in person. But, to help share it virtually, in addition to the 7+ minute video tour I shared in the last blog post,  I’ve made a few mini videos spotlighting the work of each artist in the show. They definitely don’t do the work justice, but they are better than nothing! And if you’ve been following me on instagram, you’ve probably already seen them (albeit, chopped into pieces)…but here are links to all the full videos for reference:

Now that we’re at the end of our 7th week of self isolation, with non-essential businesses still closed, people are starting to feel the crunch, and artists are particularly hard hit, as educational institutions where we teach and take classes, galleries where we exhibit, studios where we make work, etc., are all closed. But many of us are still making work at home and selling our work online as best we can (more on what I’ve been doing in the next post!).

As a reminder, all of the works in this exhibit (except for the pieces by Bill Bates), are for sale. If you’re interested in helping us out by making a purchase, you can:

PS: we are still in talks with the folks running the Nu Movement Studio gallery to discuss extending the show so that ‘when things finally open back up’ (will this ever happen??), we can have a small reception before we de-install. Another idea is to do a ‘live’ virtual reception that you can see via video afterward…..Stay tuned!

Save the Date! “Alternate Paths” Opens Friday, April 3

/ kallitypegirl

I’m super excited to announce the upcoming exhibit Alternate Paths, a group show featuring new work by photographers Pat Bacon (photogravures), Marianne Pojman (fiber prints toned with tea, coffee and sepia), Bill Bates (lith prints), Jon Merritt (cyanotypes) and me (kallitypes). It will open at the Nu Movement Studio with a reception on Friday, April 3, 2020, and will close with a (2nd) reception on Friday, May 1, 2020.

For this exhibit, I asked a few of my friends whose work I admire if they would be interested in doing a group show…we started talking about the concept in the fall of 2019, and after they all expressed interest, I went back into the darkroom to make some new negatives and test my old chemistry. I was pleasantly surprised that all of my silver nitrate, ferric oxalate, developer, fixer and toner was still good, after it had sat all summer with no love!  So I was able to get right to work with a new group of images, this time focusing on doors, windows, architectural details, and because I can’t help it, more botanicals! Here are a few draft prints that I’ve been working on:

A few of my recent works

Have you been to the Nu Movement Studio before? It’s a great little space that is typically filled with yoga and other fitness classes by day/night, which uses their wall space to support local artists. Exhibits are installed roughly a month before the opening reception, so artists get exposure for a two-month span through folks attending classes and events, and through the two receptions that the gallery allows the artists to run.

A couple views of the Nu Movement Studio with different exhibits

They don’t charge to use the space, don’t take any commissions on sales, and they assist the artists with printing of statements and labels and with the installation of the show.  They have receptions for their exhibits on the first Friday of each month, usually from around 6 to 9  pm. It’s a pretty rare opportunity for artists, and one that is greatly appreciated! Here’s some info on where they are located:

I’m hoping to share another post as we get closer to the exhibit, but for now, just a little teaser to get you to mark your calendars!

 

Using Photography to Foster Community

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About 5 years ago, a small group of co-workers and I put up a photo exhibit in a big empty room (the ‘Purple Room’) at our work, featuring a theme of “Nature”. Our goal was just to highlight work by the few of us that regularly take photos, and add some visual interest to a big empty space. We thought it would be a one-time thing, something fun to do since there was lots of wall space left unadorned after a building expansion.

But the space was large, and there were initially only 6 of us who knew we had work that fit the theme, so in the spirit of wanting to fill the space, we invited everyone in the company who might also have a nature photo to join us. We were pleasantly surprised when a number of other employees submitted work, and together we showed something like 30 images! Little did we know, but we started something GOOD!

Our first exhibit, focused on Nature

We followed the “Nature” show with one featuring Architecture, and another group of employees joined us! It felt like we had hit on something that was really resonating, building morale, and providing another reason to get together once in a while and celebrate each other.

Attendance at our exhibits is always great!

A year later, we had had 3 exhibits and there was a buzz around the building when the shows would open, and a curiosity among everyone as to what theme would come next. It was an exciting time!

Then, some of my co-workers nominated me for an award for the work I did to establish regular exhibits, including building a photo committee, reviewing all the submitted photos, ordering prints, helping folks with matting and framing, making tags and promoting the show internally using our own in-house social media. Basically, creating something everyone could participate in, in some way, either as a photographer or a viewer.  And after back to back nominations (two years in a row), I was honored to win the annual IDI Billing Solutions IDIology Award!

Me with my IDIology award

Fast forward through the years, and as our building was renovated, IDI’s leadership team decided to carve out a dedicated gallery space, with a proper rail-hanging system and spot lighting, just so we could continue showing our work! On top of that, almost half of all employees have participated in at least one exhibit, and we’ve exhibited a variety of themes, including Travel, Animals, People, Black & Whites, Action Shots and Seasons. The gallery is even featured on the company website as one of the perks of working at IDI!!

A couple shots from recent exhibits in our new gallery space (at left, “Animals”, at right, “Black and Whites”)

Then last year, we were asked to expand our exhibits to another wall which is part of IDI’s entry area and visible to all visitors. We’re using this space to focus on individual employees, calling it an ‘Artist Spotlight’. So at any point in time, we have two exhibits going on, the greater gallery group show and the mini individual show! And now that we’ve had numerous exhibits, fellow employees have started to develop bodies of work, noting the themes they are most drawn to, and improving their skills by taking more and more photos.

Me with my mini Employee/Artist spotlight exhibit at work (November 2019 to January 2020)

And just last week, we installed our 9th exhibit, featuring Macro images, and it looks fantastic! Leading up to it, groups of us met at lunch time to talk about taking macro images and to play with macro lens attachments for our phones, and most of us ended up making new work just for this theme. (Themes are suggested by and voted on by all employees….)

A group of us at the soft opening of our 9th exhibit, “Macros”

I am grateful for my fellow committee members, without whom these exhibits wouldn’t happen, and hugely thankful for the support of our company; I feel lucky to work at IDI, and for these experiences which are so fulfilling, allowing us to get to know each other better. Photography has provided us a way develop a sense of community  and a connection beyond the regular comradery of just working on projects together. And I look forward to the next years as we continue to come up with new themes and encourage even more employees to get involved!

The Post-Holiday Pop-Up Shop Update….

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Here we are about to enter the last week of January, and I am just finally feeling like there is some breathing room from the holidays. After my last post, there was a frenzy of visiting with family in from out of town, special dinners, holiday events, shopping, ice skating, and trying to enjoy the season, the spirit and the company of those we rarely see. I had actually taken the week of Christmas off, hoping to feel less rushed and “hecticized”, but then work picked back up, and as soon as we crested the New Year, I was back to busy days followed by meeting-filled evenings….and now here we are. Really, where does the time go??

With that said, I want to keep this blog as sort of a historic look at all the things that have spun off from my artist residency, and since the Pop-up shop back in Dec was such a cool event, I feel I have to add another post about it.

Promo poster that I had made for the event

First off, the morning of the Pop-up, our local Fox news stations “Good Day Rochester” morning show did a series of short pieces where they visited some of the businesses that would be participating in the night-time holiday market, and Kelli Berg, owner of Warehouse 127, was profiled. She talked about some of the items that were for sale in her shop, and she highlighted me as the featured artist, showing my photo book and talking about my kallitypes. A very exciting and unexpected plug!

With my mini exhibit

Unfortunately though, as the day went on, that evening was probably the coldest night of the year, definitely the coldest of December, with wind chills in the single digits, light snow and wind. And though the stretch of Railroad Street where Warehouse 127 is located is usually busy during the day-time market days, foot traffic for the night-time market was minimal, and we didn’t end up with very many shoppers.

Here you can see the table where I had loose prints, matted prints and books, the sliding magnetic doors where my framed prints were (above), and the entrance area of the shop (below)

That said, being inside the beautiful and festively-decorated space was warm and cozy, and I was so happy to have a chance to show and talk about my work with complete strangers.

Talking about my work with shoppers

I ended up selling one photo book and one loose (unmatted/unframed) print, and that was enough to make the effort of carrying everything over and setting up worth it. But I’m not sure I’ll do another….maybe I can be convinced to do one more in the spring….but we’ll see.

The interior space of Warehouse 127 with the 20-foot tall Christmas tree, and my Photo Book on display

For now, I am really thankful that Kelli invited me to participate, and I hope there is more to come from the connection in the future!

Holiday Pop-Up at Warehouse 127!

/ kallitypegirl

Are you feeling the holiday spirit yet? This year it seems like Rochester has an abundance of events just for that effect: from Sunday Holidays at the Market where you can get your trees and wreathes, to the various curated holiday markets all around town, from the Wonderful Life festival in the South Wedge, complete with live music, caroling and food trucks, to the ROC Holiday Village with ice skating, Santa’s workshop, and festive igloos. Now all we need is a little more snow and that will about do it for me!

Holidays at the Market poster

Holidays at the Market Thursday night poster

And how is that shopping coming along? To help you out 😉 I’m having my first-ever holiday pop-up at Warehouse 127 in the Rochester Public Market (120 Railroad Street) on Thursday, Dec 19. I’ll be part of the Public Market’s special ‘EXTRA’ Holidays at the Market event, which is that night from 5 to 9 pm.

Vegetation Kallitypes

A few of the images from my Vegetation series that will be available for sale (plus many more)

I’ll be showing and selling my hand-colored vegetation and winter-themed kallitypes – there will be framed items (ready for hanging), matted-only items (you frame) and loose prints, at a variety of price points. I’ll also have a few of my photo books available.

Winter Kallitypes

And these images from my Winter Series for sale (plus many more!)

Find me in the back of the Warehouse 127 shop, hopefully lounging in a luxurious vignette surrounded by my work, receiving all the market visitors, talking about my process and soaking up the energy from the crowds.

Not sure about coming downtown on a weeknight? Here’s what else you can expect if you come down to the Public Market that night:

“New this year …a special evening market Thursday, December 19th, 5 pm -9 pm, in collaboration with the Market District Business Association and Roc Holiday Village. (Shuttles run between the Market and Roc Holiday Village continuous from 4:30 – 10: 30 p.m.) Specials at all Market District restaurants and shops, horse-drawn wagon rides around the District and much more!!”

It looks like a lot of fun, and I am really looking forward to it. Hope to see you there!

And if you can’t make it out and are interested in buying something from me, just let me know! You can message me through the Contact page on this site, or contact me through instagram (links also on this page) or email or call.

As a reminder, there is street parking, plus the free market lots, plus the couple paid lots off of Railroad Street.