My new vintage shop!

I've been busy as a bee lately putting together this new vintage shop on Etsy called Hold The Wire. I found a great faux bois set this weekend, which I've added to the shop along with clothing, patterns and a few other things. I'm trying to continue to work from home since I love being able to get my kids off the bus every afternoon and help them with homework as well as be there for sick days and every other kind of days without having to ask a boss for the time off (guiltily!). I adore vintage and thought it would be a perfect match for me. So, I now have 2 Etsy shops, jenniferdennispotter, which is my photography, and HoldTheWire, my vintage shop. Thanks for any comments or for checking out the shops. I really do appreciate your support.

Etsy feature & new work

Etsy featured my name block photos on their Facebook page a few days ago. Soon after, I had two new sales, which I wanted to share with you (above).

Studio re-do part 3

My lights have arrived! I'm now the proud owner of a set of three small tabletop lights which I will be using today on a custom order. We have hung the roll of paper on a dowel and then from chains on the ceiling. The photo shows what it looks like with two of the lights on. I now have a place to work on a consistent basis. Hooray!

Studio Re-do, Part Two

All of the painting things, buckets and boxes have been moved to the side, the floor has been mopped and I am ready to put up the table. I tend to be a perfectionist, so I'm fighting that by not getting every single thing into the perfect place before I can work here. If I can just start with a workable space, I will later move out more things that I'm not using and get it more organized. I did get my roll of seamless white background paper in the mail and bought a dowel to hang it on. My new lights were shipped five days ago and I breathlessly watch every UPS truck go by my house. Oh, yes, wait a minute Mr. Postman! Is there a package for me? I'm hoping that with new lights, I will be able to reduce my dependence on Photoshop to correct lighting issues. Can't wait!

What Nourishes You?

I ask you this because I love to hear responses to things I post. I'm so interested in what truly works for you in your life.

I've been thinking about this question a lot lately. I used to be able to get away with offering myself junk food, little sleep, no prayer, no time walking in the woods. In short, I have sometimes lived a spiritually and even physically impoverished life. I can only get away with that for so long before I find that my need manifests itself in other ways.

I just left a very part-time job that I had a lot invested in emotionally. I wanted so much for it to be something that it wasn't and wasn't going to be. It was a job of deprivation. I would walk in and feel a wave of fatigue wash over me. I would try to ignore that this job was never going to be what I wanted it to be and even what it needed to be, but that was always there. So, I left.

So, what nourishes you? Because you have to answer the question sooner or later. You can pretend to be cool, pretend to not desire something deeper, better, more, but the need will be there. I will answer for myself. What nourishes me: time with my family, time in the woods, on a beach, with a paintbrush or a camera exploring, time to pray, meditate, read, time to explore a library, dig in the dirt, to knead dough.

It is not so hard to be fed, but to let go of things that don't feed you can sometimes be hard. I've let go and will see what's next.

photo/text: (c)Jennifer Dennis Potter

bunnies!

This is my latest custom "child's name" block photo. It's for a baby-to-be by the cute name of "Brooklyn". The mom didn't think I had any rabbits available for the photo since there are none currently in my shop, but I'm glad she asked because I have three! My son recently got a little Schleich rabbit hutch and two extra bunnies for his birthday. I thought that using all three of them in the photo gave the sense of a new family, with a mom, dad and a baby.

Bunnies are also so "Spring-y"! Welcome, Spring and welcome to the world, Brooklyn!

I am enjoying a wonderful book called The Forest Lover by Susan Vreeland. It's about a Canadian woman in the early 20th c. who is a painter. She has Native Canadian friends and paints Native Canadian themes, which alienates her from her Victorian sisters and most of the people who show up to and critique her art shows. She isn't rewarded for her work until fairly late in life and by that time she has almost given up hope that anyone will respond to her work.
I respond to this book in a very personal way. I love painting, drawing and photography. I also share the protagonist's deep love of the forest and being in the woods (but don't envy her the mosquito bites that she gets in the far north). It's reminding me that no matter how practical I try to be, the deep desire to create will still be there and will keep asking me to answer that call.

Don't touch! Don't worry.

I think that combining my roles of mom and photographer are going to be impossible sometimes. Today I needed to bring a framed photo to the shop where I am now selling work, Williamsville Artisans. But I needed to do so with my four-year-old in tow. The shop is filled with stained glass, hand painted wine glasses and other very fragile items. So, I decided that I would offer McDonald's after the errand if we made it through without touching anything. However, as soon as we got there, Debbie, the store owner, made my son feel right at home and gave him a toy castle to play with while we discussed business. He did not even seem slightly tempted by all of the lovely glass objects when there were battles to be fought and horses to be ridden. I felt such a wave of gratitude toward her. My only difficulty was then, getting my son out of the store and to McDonald's. Toy knights vs. happy meal toy that didn't work? No contest.

The Happy Accident

"The Happy Accident" used to be a much more frequent occurrence in photography. There were so many steps where a photographer could ruin a shot, or end up with a wonderful mistake. Film development, darkroom work, getting the film into and out of the camera, you name it, you could screw something up. Now that we have gone digital, so many images are clear, crisp and precise. Moving cleanly from shutter release to Photoshop and beyond. What I have noticed is that people are creating the happy accident again. TTV, Polaroids, Holgas, Dianas, Photoshopping in dirt and scratches, all to make it look like you messed up your film or that you have a cheap lens, or terrible light leaks. With the mistakes comes a human vulnerability as well as a nostalgia that we have for images that remind of us of old family pictures. The photo at the top of the page is a Polaroid that I took recently, that has either a chemical stain or a light leak down the top. I thought it kind of looked like a shaft of light and added to the mood that I was trying to create for the photo.

(c)2008 Jennifer Dennis Potter, all rights reserved for all photos.

Brenton Hamilton

My last post was about my painting professor and adviser, Angelo Ippolito. Another teacher who I benefited a great deal from working with was Brenton Hamilton . Brenton (or BH, as we called him) is in charge of the Residency Program at the Maine Photographic Workshops (Now Maine Media Workshops). He devoted incredible amounts of time to "eat, sleep and breathe" photography with us. The Residency Program is an intensive six month photography program that I completed about ten years ago, and at the time, had us taking photos, developing film or in the darkroom most hours of the day unless we were eating or sleeping. Our group of residency students developed a strong sense of camaraderie, due partially to some turnover of the teaching staff during our short time there.

One of the things that Brenton helped me to understand was Ansel Adams' Zone System. I remember sitting outside the darkroom one day, for the life of me, not understanding or remembering all of it and he explained it by pointing to the rocks, shadows and grass at our feet letting me know which zone each thing fell into. I finally began to "speak" the peculiar new language and was able to apply it to the world around me and the photographs that I was making in the darkroom.

BH was also instrumental in teaching me that photography could be a language of visual storytelling. Especially in groups, one photograph could lead to another and say something that could not easily be put into words.

For these reasons and more, thanks BH.

Fairy Tales

I've been working through some ideas about fairy tales lately in my photography beginning with Little Red Riding Hood. I started with this image of Red and the shot of the wolf alone. Now I am planning to get more elaborate with designing the image. One of my great dreams is to create a children's book. I've decided to work out some book ideas and give myself a challenge by creating a sequence of shots, kind of "storyboarding" my way through the story. Some of the photos would be a shot of Red Riding Hood and her mother, one with the wolf, with her "grandmother" and so on. This is another fun project that both of my children have had good ideas for. Trees are tough because either they are very large, or they look pretty fake, like model railroad trees, so I'm not sure what to do for them (make your own?). Well, one of the things I've realized is that projects change as you work them out and often art can be a series of creative problems that you work out as you go along.
(c)2008, all images copyrighted by Jennifer Dennis Potter

my young photo assistant

I started my shop on Etsy, jenniferdennispotter in March and since then, my kids, especially my son (pictured) have wanted to get in on the fun. Etsy has given me a way to be with my kids, create my work, and have it seen. My latest body of work has been my toy series. I've been using small toy animals in studio or realistic settings to create little scenes. A typical afternoon for us may be: taking the dog and the little toy animals to the park for a hike and to take photos. My son will clear away little sticks, brush and other things that impede the look of the photo at my request, feels like a big helper and learns some things about photography as we work. We look for just the right moss, just the right light, just the right pose of the deer. After he is asleep at night, I edit the image in Photoshop and post it to Etsy, if it's worthy. If not, we've still had a great hike and the chance to work together.