Christmas Cards!

Thanksgiving week is upon us, and my thoughts are turning to this year's Christmas cards. For most of my life, I sent scores of cards. Scores. Then, I moved to Thailand and abandoned the whole thing in favor of perpetual sunshine and summer dresses. This year I am planning to reprise my old habit, as it is the one time of year when the mailbox contains actual letters. With inky signatures. And not just bills.

I am particularly excited, because this year the cards I will send feature my own Polaroid photographs, professionally printed and available on-line at Society6. (Yes! You could send them too.)

So brush up on your penmanship and go buy some stamps!

Polaroid Print Give-Away

Peas in a Pod

To kick off the opening of my Etsy photography shop, I am giving away prints. Five winners will receive a print of their choice. It could be you! (And a friend, if you share this invitation!)

Here's how;

Visit my Etsy shop. Have a look around. Pick out something you'd love to see on your walls,

Leave a comment on this post with the name of your favorite print by 9 am on Monday, July 23rd.

Want more chances to win? Like my Facebook Page. Follow me on Twitter. Favorite my Etsy shop. Each one gives you another chance to win.

On July 23rd, five randomly selected winners will be announced here. Each will receive an 8x8" archival print of their favorite photograph shipped from my Etsy shop.

Good Luck!

Toasted

 

I can be quite literal. Example. Give me a bunch of old Polaroid cameras and a pile of film, and I will happily explore the limits of the cameras for months (and months). But what about the limits of the film? I can be such a slow learner...

Recently I was shuffling through a couple of year's worth of Impossible Project instant prints. They aren't worth much after scanning as they break down chemically with time. As I sighed over the beauty lost, I realized I had a fist full of artistic license.

This particular image never did much for me. Love the composition. Hate the flash. So, I took it to the kitchen and threw it in the toaster. Toaster. The print was young enough that the chemical soup between the layers bubbled up just so. Then I went after the white border with an Exacto. Like it.

Why stop there? We are talking artistic license. So I grabbed a Sharpie. (I have to hide mine because the little man prefers them to crayons.) Not sure I'm groovin' on the obvious drag of the pen tip, but in life this little image is quite satisfying. It's been on my work table ever since.

And how nice to have a good pen in hand once in awhile.

Impossible Project PX680 Cool Film

Polaroid OneStep SE AutoFocus Camera

Socket Set

Summer is for exploring. The beat-up Honda has kicked up dust in our local blueberry fields, baked in the sun at mini-golf, and waited patiently at the curb while we ate big bowls of noodles. Even though it's near 90 degrees most days, I'm hauling along a bag full of cameras. Trying to keep the little boy and the film cool is challenging, but Vietnamese iced coffee helps.

When I pulled out my old, leather Polaroid SX-70, there was an audible flutter among the noodle eaters. You can't be shy and shoot vintage Polaroids. (Luckily, I'm not.) And the golden glow of this DIY chandelier was worth a shot.

Impossible Project PX680 Cool Instant Film

Polaroid SX-70 Camera

Independence Day

Independence is a good thing, but let's not forget that interdependence is what makes us tick. I hope you are with your own unique tribe, grilling and swimming and lighting bottle rockets today. Have a great Fourth of July!

Impossible Project PX680 Cool Color Shade Instant Film
Polaroid OneStep SE AutoFocus Camera

Summer Show in Copake

Now through July 20th, a group of my Polaroid photographs are on view at the Copake Country Club. The photographs were taken with my collection of vintage cameras using expired Polaroid films and experimental instant films by The Impossible Project, a Dutch enterprise whose mission is the revival of instant photography.

Each photograph is enlarged and printed on aluminum with a dye sublimation process. The result is deep color and luminescence, and the imperfections inherent in Polaroid film become painterly in the process.

I am pleased with how the images work together in this show, and I hope you will pay a visit. Join me for a wine and cheese reception on Sunday, July 1st from 3:00 to 5:00.

After the Copake show closes, I will be hanging a large selection of photographs in Tivoli, NY. Stay tuned!

Bigger Every Day

Today is my little boys' sixth birthday. When he woke up today, the first words out of his mouth were, "I feel taller!" And when I visited his Kindergarten class this morning with a plate full of cupcakes, he was so excited that all he could do was stand there big-eyed, like a statue. (A slightly taller statue.)

Little toys like this one are slowly being replaced with soccer balls and Legos. It's a little wistful to pack up these old things, but man, it's exciting to see where he'll go next.

Happy Birthday, Jimmy J!

Impossible Project PX680 Cool Color Shade Instant Film

Polaroid SX-70 Camera

Strawberry Season

Strawberry season reminds me of my grandmother Rosalie's strawberry rhubarb pie. She is a patient cook and a great crust maker. Sadly, she lives too far away for me to drop in on her kitchen with two quarts of fresh strawberries from up the road. 

Making pie crust intimidates me. I prefer to just splash a little cream in the bowl. We can't all be good at everything. And the strawberries don't mind one little bit.

Impossible Project PX680 Color Shade Gold Frame Instant Film

Polaroid SX-70 Camera

Urban Outfitters Print Shop!

Today Urban Outfitters chose one of my Polaroid prints for inclusion in their Print Shop, a partnership with Society6. I couldn't be happier. What I like about this image is, well..., it's sexy. Buttery soft cotton sheets, still warm, with the early morning sun casting deep shadows in the folds. Makes you want to crawl back in. (Who knew an unmade bed could be a potential revenue stream!)

Impossible Project PX100 Silver Shade Instant Film

Polaroid SX-70 Camera

Monk with Chrysanthemums

When I lived in Thailand, garlands of silk chrysanthemums and plastic jasmine blossoms were draped respectfully over every Buddha statue, Thai spirit house and Bodhi tree in my little city. Spiritual practice was woven into the fabric of daily life. We burned incense at our gate to keep wandering spirits at bay. We made food offerings to statues of Thailand's first kings to show respect, and we gave morning alms to the monks who walked barefoot past our house in the early morning.

My son, who is half Thai, has only our little Buddha statues at home and this life-sized statue of a seated Chinese monk to ponder in our Hudson Valley home. Perhaps because of this, each time we go to our favorite local market, we visit the Chinese monk seated quietly in the window of an unrented shopfront nearby. We bow respectfully to him to honor the practice of mindfulness and the teachings of the Buddha.

It always makes me a little homesick for my beloved Chiang Mai. (Not too homesick, however, because there are no raspberries, good chocolate bars or affordable bottles of red wine there!)

Impossible Project Pioneers

You might not know it, but I am a Pioneer. The Impossible Project, makers of new instant film for old Polaroid cameras, rewarded those of us who bought early and often. Our purchases of the first versions of the new instant film were acts of hope and devotion to the project. For this we have been richly rewarded.

A new version of TIP's PX680 color film is available today, and we Pioneers have been putting it through its paces for the past few weeks. Exposing, posting, and commenting on the beautiful results from this latest batch on Flickr.

We've all kept quiet until today. And now that the film is officially available, Pioneers will be posting their images in the usual places.

Yes, that's me. Shooting into the doorway of an antique shop in Hudson, New York. Inside the shop a gold lamp glows right where my big, clunky Polaroid box camera was positioned. Kind of captures the heart of that sweet little hunk of plastic.

I'll post my other (better focused) Pioneer shots in a bit, some of which are extremely satisfying. And, I'll look forward to opening fresh boxes of this film all summer long.

At Least There's Lunch

Shooting Impossible Project film is work. Work I love. But work. Some days you can't win for losin' (as my grandmother Rosalie says). Today was one of those.

Fresh box of instant film. Great food for lunch. Beautiful antique dishes and blossoms composed for a still life. And you forget to install the filter - probably because you're hungry and wanting to tuck into that sushi. Over-exposed. So you plop the back-up filter in place. Then the camera decides it's hungry and starts eating the film. And it chews through the whole box. sigh.

At least there's lunch.

Uncork Your Heart

let loose

let the love flow

Valentine's Day in Polaroid

What's not to love about Valentine's Day? Flowers. Candy. Kisses!

Though as I flip through memories of Valentine's past, it doesn't take long to get all the way back to high school and student council Carnation Day. An annual barometer of social successes (like we needed the reminder).

50 cents each. Ordered in advanced. Handed out in homeroom. Red, the i-love-you carnations (unlikely in 10th grade, but there they were). Pink, the i-like-you carnations. And the sad looking white, i-want-to-be-friends carnations. 

You see where I'm headed with this. Some girls paraded the hallways the rest of the day with arm loads of reds and pinks. The rest of us settled for a couple of ragged whites given by our best girl friends so we would not be utterly pathetic. Some years there was even the occasional pink from a timid boy who never made anything of it anyway.

I still find the smell of carnations a bit revolting.

Grown up is so much better. My little kindergartener is headed off with a backpack full of silly Valentine's for his mates at school. And I'll just pretend that high school is nowhere on the horizon.

Happy Valentine's Day to you. Hope "your man" gives "you" a big box of handmade chocolates. (hint... hint...)