Elizabeth Carls: Works with paper, mostly

My Favorite Words Today

Most of my days have a lot of words. I read a ton. I listen. I write, although not often enough. And still, on most days I have clear favorites. The words that linger, the ones I carry around for days, sometimes longer. They are the words I often share with others-  a friend or unsuspecting colleague. 

A month or so ago I was loving something John Updike said - "Give the mundane its beautiful due." (I confess I don't know where he said it, I came across it jotted on a scrap of paper someone left, discarded at my job). 

One day last week the words I loved most came to me in a Daily Rumpus, they are Stephen Elliot's words - "Every story is a love story. Or a story about loneliness."

Yesterday's lingering words came from a letter written by John Steinbeck to his son Thom. I read the letter on the blog Letters of Note. It was a letter about love and Mr. Steinbeck wrote "Nothing good gets away." 

My point is this; there is an abundance of beautiful words out there and if you listen, if you pay attention you're bound to encounter a few.  

The Art of the Book

The Art of the Book 17 Artists from the MN Center for Book Arts Members of the Artist Cooperative at MN Center for Book Arts will be showing their recent work at The Anderson Center at Tower View in Red Wing MN May 11th - June 25th 2012.

Opening day activities are scheduled for this Saturday May 12th, 2012. There will be hands-on demonstrations in book binding and letterpress printing from 3-5PM. Beginning at 5:30 there will be readings by local writers Andrew Heuer, Steven Schild, Joann Bren Guernsey and Ethna McKiernan. The Opening reception in the main gallery begins at 6:30PM. 

For more information there was a nice write-up this week about the event, the show, and the artists in The Redwing Republican Eagle. 

Opening Night

The opening reception for Reader's Art 12: Longing for Home - the 12th Annual exhibition of Artist books at the Susan Hensel Gallery in Minneapolis is this Friday, March 16th from 7-10 PM.  Reader's Art 12 will be on exhibit March 16th - April 26th 2012. 

My Changing Landscapes will  be a part of the show. Other artists participating in the exhibit include Alicia Bailey, Lindsey Beal, Kendra Greene, Esther Smith, and Karen Hamner among others. 

It should be a great show!

Happy New Year

As this new year dawns I find myself completely resolved that 2011 was exactly as it should be and that 2012 will have a brilliance all its own. I face the new year filled with the hope that each and everyone of us will have as much love as we need, all the happiness our hearts can stand, and that we can all find our way to being peaceful to one another. 

Cheers!

Happy Holidays Y'all

This photo was taken last year. We're not having a white Christmas this year. But rather an unseasonable warm and snow-free December. Doesn't much matter though, it's still Christmas and a new year is glistening brightly on the very near horizon...

Another Bit of Tricky Business

As I stated in my previous post, my recent trip to Ireland was an opportunity, or series of opportunities, for me to take photographs I could not or would not have taken otherwise, and that has me feeling inspired. 

Just as candid portraits are  sometimes difficult photos to take, street photography is often even more daunting for me. It can be unnerving to shoot photos of strangers. After all, not all strangers want to have their photo taken. 

As a tourist, street photography is a bit easier and here's why: First, as a tourist you will often find yourself in the presence of other tourists-we tend to go to the same places. Being in the presence  of other tourists means you are also in the presence of other cameras. You and your camera are less conspicuous in this situation, and that makes it easier to shoot. 

If you are shooting photos on crowded streets with lots of other tourists, it is a safe assumption that the non-tourists milling around have grown accustomed to and accepting of the fact that there are cameras about and they are less on edge about it. In fact, I noticed that they pretty much ignore you, which again, makes it easier to have the camera to your face. 

Finally, like moths to the light, we as tourists, are attracted to the action. When travelling in a city of any significant size you will inevitably happen upon a performance of some kind - street performance or a parade perhaps. This is another opportunity to safely photograph. The buskers and the gawkers alike expect that there will be people taking photographs, it's just a part of the scene. 

Ultimately it is worth the effort to find situations where you feel comfortable shooting on the street because street photography more often than not tells a great story.

Candid Portraits Are a Tricky Business

This trip to Ireland was an opportunity, or series of opportunities, for me to take photographs I could not or would not have taken otherwise, and that has me feeling inspired. I'd like to share these photographs in the spirit of sharing how I was inspired and what I learned.

First, this trip was an opportunity for me to meet some really fabulous people. And I was inspired to take candid portraits of several  of these people.

Candid portraits are a tricky business. I like to get people's approval before I point my camera in their face, but if they know your taking their photo, the portraits tend not to be all that candid. I learned that you can ask someone's permission to take their picture, and then continue to shoot after they have stopped posing and/or feeling self-conscious about the camera. This is when the best photos happen. 

Ah Ireland!

I'm back from my trip to Irleand and I must admit I am more than a bit smitten.

The best part of Ireland? The Irish - they drink, they sing, they flirt, and they tell stories. In general, the people are charming and spirited with a deep sense of tradition and a high regard for friendship. The countryside is rolling, green and lush. The weather is sublime.

I took a total of 863 photographs, a few of them good. I visited the Rock of Cashell, and rode a Jaunting cart through Killarney National Park. I watched a parade of High Nelly bikes in the town of Abbeyliex.

I chatted with several artists in their studios at Killkenny Design Center, and spent a couple hours with Philip Cushen at the woolen mill that's been in his family for 4 generations.

I had tea in a tiny yarn shop in the town of Naas and listened to music in a different pub every night. I walked about 100 miles a day. In Dublin City, I visited The National Gallery and The National Museum of Deocrative Arts.

I fell in love at least six times. And I am certain I will be making a return trip, probably within a year.

Ireland Adventure

Irish Arts Adventure - My good friend Amy Sharpe - Weaver, Artist, and Co-Owner of Ripple River Gallery has organized a group trip to Ireland. Our itinerary is focused on the arts and traditional crafts of Ireland and includes, among other things; The Book of Kells, Donegal Craft Village, Kilkenny Design Center, Belleek Pottery, and the Museum of Decorative Arts in Dublin. I'll be away from October 14th - 23rd, 2011.

This means I won't be fulfilling any orders until I return. If it's a knitting pattern you seek, you can find them here in my Ravelry shop. (Ravelry takes care of delivery so you'll get your purcahsed pattern right away.) Thanks so much for visiting! I'll see you when I return.

Changing Landscapes

My latest work Changing Landscapes is a series of 4 one-of-a-kind mixed media works designed to engage their audience and encourage a physical interaction between the viewer and the piece. On the surface the idea is simple—you can change the landscape. On another level, Changing Landscapes presents an un-sequenced narrative. A narrative about our individual sense of place and the ephemeral nature of the world we live in.

Each of the Changing Landscapes consists of cubes and trays built by hand from binder’s board. Each cube is collaged with original photographs printed on Arches paper with Epson Ultra-chrome pigment based inks. The cubes and trays were also painted with walnut ink and a beeswax medium.

Two of the Changing Landscapes are currently on display as a part of Beyond the Basic Box — an invitational exhibit at Ripple River Gallery from September 21 through October 31, 2011. From gallery owner, Amy Sharpe: "Consider the basic box — commonplace, functional, familiar. The basic box is meant to conceal and contain; to safeguard its contents. So useful, so commonplace, the basic box is a ubiquitous element in our daily lives. Now look beyond the basic box…"

An artist reception for “Beyond the Basic Box” will be held Saturday, October 1 in conjunction with Ripple River Gallery’s annual fall open house and raku firing.

 text and images copyright Elizabeth Carls 2011