Nomeca Hartwell Photography: Blog

Glass Forge show Redux

nomeca@msn.com (Nomeca Hartwell Photography) — Wed, 02 Dec 2015 20:52:00 GMT

Quite a Surprise this week. I walked in to the Forge to see how the Show was doing ( and the Calendars) and Steve asked me if I did any baking. Baking? It didn't take long to figure out that he was telling me that my show will probably stay up another month and that they were hoping I would bake some goodies for the December 1st Friday! That is undoubtedly good news that immediately made a liar out of me as I have been telling everyone to go to the Forge before the end of November since the show is/was coming down. Starting the Ornament Lee makes the Ornament hook Colors for the GlassColors for the Glass Now I have 4 'art' locations to take care of this week , including submissions for the Medford Rogue Gallery, training at Gallery One to support my Giftshop status, Club submissions for December and a follow on 1st Friday at the Forge. Whew! All of this following on a fabulous fall trip to the Klamath wildlife Refuge last weekend. Some of the prettiest light I've seen and a great November sunset. There were 7 of us from the club in 2 cars but the vehicles didn't hang together very much. Coming back home over 140 was special too as Mt. McLoughlin was glowing with moonshine. Klamath Field Trip Klamath Field Trip Klamath Field Trip Klamath Field Trip

Rogue Gallery Membership Show

nomeca@msn.com (Nomeca Hartwell Photography) — Wed, 25 Nov 2015 07:16:25 GMT

Yesterday I scooted over to Medford with Marcia to enter in my offering for the annual show. I believe this year's title is Passages, Travels, and Transformations. I had planned on using 'Night Tapestry' from the trip to Nicaragua but that was tied up in the Glass Forge Show so instead I entered a favorite Sepia B&W, 'Folded Figure' . Folded Figure We enjoyed getting a look at what was going up and coming down. Also did a little shopping at my favorite Art Supply house, Central Art , shared a Birthday lunch at Dejeuner Cafe, tried to get a handle on fixing my Epson 3800 printer at Connecting Point, and finished up with a breeze through Costco where I picked up cheeses, nuts, laundry soap and a roasted chicken. I was really excited about finding one cheese in particular.. a 5 year old Tillamook Cheddar. I had never seen this one before anywhere and I will be using it for my Christmas Baskets.

1st Friday at the Glass Forge

nomeca@msn.com (Nomeca Hartwell Photography) — Mon, 16 Nov 2015 02:22:56 GMT

First Friday in Grants Pass ( our local Art Walk) came and went very quickly. I just finished getting all of my images up on the wall, all the 'Show' Calendars in the basket and arrived on the scene just about in time to catch the evening crowd. Can you imagine trying to hang frames in a glass shop full of beautiful, fragile pieces where I had to reach over, under and through to reach the wall? Marcia had to steady me on the stepladder occasionally just so I wouldn't crash into anything. Was I ever grateful when all were hung and labeled! I enjoyed sharing my calendar images, especially with some people new to the area who seemed interested in learning a little local history. Glass Forge Show_15_3355 Even sold one of my favorite framed images to a friend from our camera club.

Now begins all the 'promotion' as I will only be up on the wall for a few weeks and want everyone who might be interested in the photography and/or local History to take a look. And i have promised 10% of framed print sales will be donated to our Local Library which is always needing funds to survive.

Today I did some trading with Steve, the kindly manager at the Glass Forge : Calendars for Glass Ornaments. Glass Forge Show_15_3372 Glass Forge Show_15_3385 And my heavyweight 'Show' Calendars made such an impression on the Museum Gallery's manager that Cindy K. asked if I would put some on display at Gallery One and come in as a 'Giftshop Artist'. Glass Forge Show_15_3399 Happily done as I do want those to get sold before we get deep into 2016 (and they look great as the featured item on the checkout counter). Glass Forge Show_15_3401

Fall Photo Madness

nomeca@msn.com (Nomeca Hartwell Photography) — Sun, 25 Oct 2015 03:31:15 GMT

Oh my.. Looks like I simply don't have the time to properly keep up this blog. So just a notation that I took 1st place in this year's Southern Oregon Show ( Photo division) last August with my Night Tapestry from Nicaragua. And at this point I am in a blazing rush to get ready for a month long show at our local Glass Forge. I spent all summer matting and framing some favorite local images , even decided to make a few calendars at the last minute as the timing seemed right.

Marcia and I recently returned from our 1st 4C's ( Columbia Council of Camera Clubs) Convention, this year's being held in Walla, Walla, WA. What an interesting experience: oodles of classes, workshops, field trips, wonderful photographers. While our recalled prints ( her Mediterranean Window and my Canyon Cathedral) didn't take any year end honors, we were surprised and happy to see that our Club did get an award for 2nd place for High Points in Large Format Color Prints.

Marcia took this very nice picture of me at my request eating salted caramel ice cream ( 1st time and delicious) wrapped in a patriotic cone when we grabbed a bite to eat at the very Americana Country Cupboard deli in Dayton on the way to our next destination,Colfax in the Palouse area.

Palouse Convention

From Colfax we made 4 trips to the top of Steptoe for some very windy shooting ( we were shut out by thick clouds on the first evening) and a leisurely cruise from Colfax up to Rosalia stopping at every interesting barn , viewpoint , granary and train track! Working out of the Best Western was very pleasant since they cater to photographers.. 4:30 AM Breakfast, a map of all the barns and single trees, granaries,etc. My first impression of the Palouse area is that it is a wonderful combination of Vermont and Death Valley all rolled into one... at least at this time of year.

After 1700 fun and photo filled miles we finally arrived back on home turf. Eventually a few of our trip images should make it online here.

Rogue Valley Biennial ( Contemporary Art in So. Oregon)

nomeca@msn.com (Nomeca Hartwell Photography) — Mon, 23 Feb 2015 02:48:13 GMT

I rushed off to my own Artist's Reception at the Rogue Gallery in Medford,OR Friday evening. Marcia and I were able to drive straight to the backdoor and arrived in time to hear the 3 'judges awards' announced. The juried work by some 47 odd artists was nicely displayed and the selection of the awards was interesting but almost obvious in hindsight as they all had a sculptural 3-D dimension which made them stand out from all the 2 dimensional work. I do regret not taking photos of the winning work but since the show runs through April 10th that might be remedied.

I entered 3 pieces. .. all of which were accepted:

and had in-depth conversations with Gallery visitors who showed an interest in my images, particularly re the story of the Mayan women protesting unfair selling advantages of the Mayan street vendors in Antigua. I also enjoyed talking to another woman whose husband had a big beautiful Wyeth- like painting in the exhibit and was extremely flattered when she told me that my 'Introspection' was a favorite of hers in the show.

I had fully expected to see some work from the Medford Photographic group but none was in sight. The only other photography entries I can recall were some large portraits of African children by Dr. Jorizzo from the Eye Clinic. http://www.medicaleyecenter.com/2013/04/dr-jorizzos-2013-expedition-to-ethiopia/ It turns out Dr. Jorizzo is Marcia's eye doctor and I found it interesting to read the following about his work on the clinic site : 'Passionate about giving back, Dr. Jorizzo works with the Himalayan Cataract Project, an international aid organization whose mission is to cure blindness in underdeveloped regions of the world'.

The 2 hours flew by .. we sipped wine , ate crackers with salami and cheese , tried various desserts including a delicious cookie that I suspect came from Harry & David's... observed current fashion trends among the Medford ladies...Marcia obligingly took a few photos of me with my work.. and I felt well rewarded for all the effort that culminated in the 2015 Biennial.

Art Auction & World Views

nomeca@msn.com (Nomeca Hartwell Photography) — Mon, 09 Feb 2015 02:04:09 GMT

I stepped out last Thursday evening in the rain to see my friend's donated art auctioned off for a good cause... to raise monies for the Securing Our Safety (SOS) committee that is valiantly trying for the 3rd or 4th time to get a local safety levy passed in Josephine County. I will bypass the history and politics of the levy but will say that it was great fun to see how the auction went for the artists, some of whom I know very well.

My friend Marcia did a lovely small framed image of maple leaves and seeds lit by a light box..https://flic.kr/p/pAqysL.. and she was happy that it found an owner.

Before her image came up, 2 very nice matted prints from Gene Rimmer did extremely well , probably going for more than he would usually be able to sell them for in this area...http://www.generimmerphotography.com/. Gene is an all around photographer, lately challenging himself with photos of women willing to model for him.

There were 4 donated metal prints at this auction, one quite large of Street Art in Antalya, all very colorful, by a K.David Smith. http://www.kdavidsmith.com/picture/dsc_0274.jpg?pictureId=19876108 . I took the time to find his site online as a potential judge for our camera club and discovered that he is into researching the clash of world viewpoints, East v. West that has been going on for centuries but had a crucial turning point in the 8th century ( read his Sept. 2nd, 2014 blog entry The Islamic State- the original vs. ISIS ) http://www.kdavidsmith.com/imported-20110417134315/2014/9/2/the-islamic-state-the-original-vs-isis.html. Much of this research, including a 2014 trip to Turkey, is focused on writing a 1st historical fiction novel but I found his thoughtful evaluation of the background information very interesting and am glad that someone is trying to have an informed, cohesive, and balanced view of what we are facing in the Middle East.

So there you go, from the local to the global , a journey through the centuries triggered by a little art auction.

Shadow & Light online magazine

nomeca@msn.com (Nomeca Hartwell Photography) — Wed, 07 Jan 2015 23:54:21 GMT

Yesterday I got happy word that this image was accepted for one of the Single Image slots in the new online magazine Shadow & Light ( http://www.shadowandlightmagazine.com/in-this-issue/ ) put together by Tim Anderson , former publisher of CameraArts magazine. I've enjoyed the 2 issues I've poured through so far and I expect this January/February issue to be just as good.

Special Images from 2014

nomeca@msn.com (Nomeca Hartwell Photography) — Sat, 03 Jan 2015 18:01:00 GMT

I have never done a blog before but it seems worthwhile to post some information if I am going to share 'Special' Images from 2014. All of the following images represent some sort of personal growth , challenge met or noteworthy (if accidental) discovery. A few were taken outside of 2014 but not 'developed' until this year. I would love to hear what you think and hope you enjoy looking my little collection. I wish you great success in your 2015 photographic endeavors!

Spalding Pond Moss

Photo 1: Spalding Pond Moss

This was my try at using the Oil filter in Photoshop. I liked the outcome and thought it worked with the water. Most viewers either like it or don't.

Dogwood TrioLight Box creation

Photo 2: Dogwood Trio

A friend does these Lightbox images all the time and they are always beautiful so I was inspired to try one.

Photo 3: Accidental Watercolor

This is as titled, an accidental, overexposed image that caught my attention when I went to delete it. I should do more of these.

Glowing Hill

Photo 4: Glowing Hill

I borrowed a lens with an f/2.8 aperture so that I could shoot the stars quickly enough to eliminate most motion. Having lightning in the distance and clouds moving off revealing the stars made for a nice after dark picture.

Photo 5: Night Tapestry

I took multiple shots with my Canon G1 X from our 3rd story balcony of the night street life in San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua. Later I ran them through Photomatix and thought this image captured the vibrancy of the evening ( though I regret not getting the young boys playing ball in the streets).

Photo 6: Introspection

This was a fun image and done in response to an assignment called 'Inner Child'. Photoshop Motion and Glass filters are primarily responsible for the final look. It is a photo Rorschach of sorts.

Photo 7: Courier Crossroads

I wanted this image to convey the precarious state of newsprint in today's world. I thought the Angle gradient used here helped to do that along with a 'Difference' blend mode.

Starry Eclipse

Photo 8: Starry Eclipse

This was my second attempt at lining up the beautiful blood moon lunar eclipse against a suitable background and I am reasonably happy at the way it turned out.