Foto Friday: Oh pumpkin!

Would you like a trick or a treat. Well first I will show you a trick. Then give you a treat. It may not be exiting but I decided to post a scan of a drawing. Yeah it may not be a true photo but 'm posting it anyway. I was going to throw this drawing out then I realized it looked like a view of a lidded pot from above. But I also have a video treat for those of you out there who have taken the time to read this blog post. I hope this is video spooky enough for you on this halloween weekend. 

How To Turn A Pumpkin Into A Camera from NPR on Vimeo.

Back in the day

Ex's, creative photography (or any art form) and the web can be tricky. And I'm not sure how to deal with it. If you have paintings or drawings do you destroy or keep them. It's not like a snapshot of the
two of you that you can casually throw out or delete.
I have always felt awkward about this subject and I think most people do. The problem is that a lot of my work is often autobiographical. I have created a new set on flickr of some old photographs that I took with a pinhole camera made from a Christmas cookie tin. I posted one of them the other day and I have a few more to go. There is one with an ex that I haven't seen or talked for 12 years. This was taken before the web was popular and I obviously didn't have a flickr account or a blog were I often post my work. I think it is small and blurry enough to keep her anonymity. Though when I took them she knew there was a possibility of them being exhibited. http://www.flickr.com/photos/ceramic_landscape/sets/72157625232498958/ 

You blocked the sun

More flickr fun. Sources for inspiration can be boundless. Figure and ground are at play here. The act of concealing or a reversal of roles?

Foto Friday

I've read about issues with facebook lately. People seem to be bothered by the photo memory feature on the site. Many felt hurt that they were constantly faced with photos of ex's and couldn't stand it. I thought it was a bit annoying, it's nice that facebook decided to take it down. I was sorting through some old photos the other day and thought I should post them here. I have a large amount of boring photographs which make the process tedious. I've been holding of on dealing with them. This picture was taken in 1998 with a Christmas cookie tin converted to a pinhole camera for a photography class at BealArt. It's not the best shot of mine from that group but it is one of my favourites.

More photography issues

You have probably noticed I enjoy photography. Almost too much at times. I have been sharing some of my photography in the past few months with my blog. They are scattered all over the place; I feel like I don't even know how many Flickr accounts I have out there. Though it seems easier to be able to separate my work and make it easier for people to see the pictures they want and not mix up my other interests. Here is a post by the potter Kyle Carpenter briefly showing an example of how to do a quick and easy "studio" set up. http://carpenterpottery.blogspot.com/2010/10/i-got-this.html http://carpenterpottery.blogspot.com/2010/10/photographing-pots.html

The Pledge

THE PLEDGE: Everyone deserves to be respected for who they are. I pledge to spread this message to my friends, family and neighbors. I'll speak up against hate and intolerance whenever I see it, at school and at work. I'll provide hope for lesbian, gay, bi, trans and other bullied teens by letting them know that "It Gets Better." http://www.itgetsbetterproject.com/

Here is some info from the it gets better project website. This is an important issue that needs to be discussed in society openly for all youth LGBT or straight.

Justin Aeberg. Billy Lucas. Cody Barker. Asher Brown. Seth Walsh. Raymond Chase. Tyler Clementi. All the names of American teenagers who in recent months have taken their own lives after being bullied in school.

Statistics

• 9 out of 10 LGBT students have experienced harassment at school.
• LGBT teens are bullied 2 to 3 times as much as straight teens.
• More than 1/3 of LGBT kids have attempted to commit suicide.
• LGBT kids are 4 times as likely to attempt suicide then our straight peers.
• LGBT youth with “highly rejecting” families are 8 times more likely to attempt suicide than those whose families accept them.

Wow look at that.

The lighting is bad but I think you can tell who is in this pic. I just wanted to post something completely unrelated to ceramics. Though finding surprises where you least expect them is not uncommon in ceramics. Any one who has fired in reduction can attest to that. But any type of kiln firing is possible of
producing great and horrible surprises. I would dread the possibility of opening a kiln to find my maiolica covered in white spots often caused by firing a few degree too cold or not holding the correct temperature for a sufficient time for the glaze to heal slowly. Go to this website for this simple alteration to any of your photos http://polkaroo.tvo.org/polkaroo/index.php. I hope you have fun being Polkaroo'd.