Hey Looky!

Bikes & Door, Highway 70, Tennessee 2007 © jwl

PHOTO INVITATIONAL 2008

A Taste of the New

Birdhouse, Goshen Valley, Tennessee 2007 © jwl

I got my film back from the lab yesterday. The film was shot just before Christmas in Tennessee and Virginia. I am terribly excited, so exited that I am getting ahead of myself with scanning and editing. Looks like I will be busy working for a little while.

Here is the first of the bunch. I really like this image, it is the only work I did that day. My mother and I spent the afternoon driving and finding art. As I walked back to the car, I felt like this image would be worth the whole day of working. I hope you like it.

My Little World

Axtell Baptist Church © Keith Dotson

For those who don't know, I am a bit of a rogue fellow when it comes to my photography and art in general. I love it, I adore it, I try and live up to it and make it proud, but I don't reach out and talk about it very much. In fact I keep to myself pretty well on this front. I know that this is not a unique situation for artists, there is value to the solitude we share, but at times we need a community and a group to share with.

The gallery is a handy tool for me in the way that it brings artists, art lovers and art to my door. Without the gallery (and it's online presence) I would probably still be a alone in a small art world of my own.

I was approached recently via email about my origins in Tennessee by a photographer who also has a Tennessee connection. Emails were exchanged and a connection was made. This week I was browsing the photographers website and expressed my desire to own one of his photographs (see above). The wheels went into motion and an agreement was struck. Soon I will own a print of the photograph.

The reason I tell this here is that I am a firm believer in the power of the small pond. By embracing the people closest to us as well as those around us we can create communities of various connectivity and make our little worlds a little bit better. If we become more active in this practice throughout our lives, we will be richer and happier for it.

Thanks to Keith for the photograph and the opportunity to expand my life through art and friendship.

The Haunting

Untitled 2007 © jwg

My buddy Jack sent me this image a few weeks ago. He told me in an email that it was haunting him. I cannot disagree.

I have known Jack for a few years now, but (due his secretive ways) have never seen much photography by him. When he sent me this, I was taken with it immediately. Over the past few weeks I have come back to it again and again, that tells me it is powerful. I can only hope to absorb some of this power.

Good work, Ol' Boy.