Sat Mar 14 2020 – Share Your Art!

It’s Saturday March 14, 2020! Pi Day! The Coronavirus is impeding the ability of some to share artwork in a communal space. We have cancelled our traditional Saturday open paint at the gallery as a result.

We’d love to see what you’ve been making at home!

Just leave a comment to this post and let us know what you’re working on. Share a note about your work-in-progress! To let us see photos, share a link to your Instagram page or wherever else you’re posting images!

We’d love to cheer you on!

Fri Mar 13 2020 – Share Your Art!

It’s Friday the 13th, 2020! The Coronavirus is impeding the ability of some to share artwork in a communal space.

We’d love to see what you’ve been making at home!

Just leave a comment to this post and let us know what you’re working on. Share a note about your work-in-progress! To let us see photos, share a link to your Instagram page or wherever else you’re posting images!

We’d love to cheer you on!

BVAA Pet Portrait Painters

The Blackstone Valley Art Association has many talented pet portrait painters in our mix. Here is a listing of the ones we know about so far. If you’re a BVAA member who offers pet portraits and aren’t on this list yet, contact us so we can add you in!

Betty Havens

Betty paints delightful watercolor pet portraits. During the holiday season she even does pet portraits while people wait! The rest of the time, simply email her a photo and she does her magic.

https://www.facebook.com/Bettyhavenscreations/

Karen Pendleton

Karen creates beautiful black and white illustrations of pets. She can add color to those if you wish.

Karen Pendleton Gallery

Scott Nelson

Scott is a talented illustrator and painter. He teaches drawing classes at the Worcester Art Museum and has illustrated many area children’s books.

Scott Nelson Artwork Details

Lynne Randolph

Lynne wins countless awards with her fine pastel work in our shows. Let her turn your pet portrait into a work of beauty.

https://www.facebook.com/Lynneartist/

If you’re a BVAA member who isn’t listed yet, let us know!

I’ll add a gallery of the instructors’ featured paintings here soon, once I hear from them what they want to showcase.

Mike Zeis – Rusty Door 4×5 film photography

It’s like gazing at clouds, looking at the back door of Pearl Art and Craft Supply in Central Square, Cambridge. Over time, stickers collected on the door. Then, probably through a store-manager’s edict, they were removed. Pearl was a three-story art-supply store in Central Square, Cambridge. I believe Blick occupies the space now. Shot with a 4 by 5 view camera, made in the mid ’80s from a kit from Fader Photo Works. Similar kits were offered by Bender Photographic.

This shot was taken in the Boston Public Garden during World Wide Pinhole Photography Day 2006. Click for a larger version.

Below is the full photo before cropping. Film: Fujifilm Velvia 100. Click for larger version. The final image is the bottom-right square.

After sanding and finishing the wooden pieces, assembly begins. Click for a larger version.

 

To see more of Mike Zeis’s images visit:

https://bvaa.org/galleries/gallery-mike-zeis/

 
Here are photos from the Blackstone Valley Art Association Anything Goes Reception 2019 where this photo was showcased.

This video has Mike Zeis explain how his 4×5 film camera works –

Bob See – Nikon N8008 35mm film camera

Both of these photos were taken with a Nikon N8008 35mm film camera. I purchased it around 1989. This was my go-to camera for the 1990 / 2000 time frame until I finally felt digital cameras had caught up to a reasonable quality level. I now primarily shoot with a Canon EOS 7D Mark II. These two film photos were both taken back in the film days, in 1996.

The image of the groundhog and the starling was taken at the St. Louis Zoo in St. Louis, Missouri. There is no Photoshop involved in that image. A friend of mine always joked that if I could catch two animals tussling over food, that would be a great shot.

Bob See film third prize

The image of the water plants was taken at the Missouri Botanical Gardens, in their Japanese garden area. The lotus blossoms and leaves blanket the shoreline along one of the ponds. Inspired by James Hunt’s talk on high key photography, the image was manipulated in photoshop to emphasize the textures of dark and light.

Below is the original image.

Here’s the camera:

To see all images from this show visit:

Blackstone Valley Art Association Anything Goes Reception 2019

To see more images from Bob See visit:

Bob See Photo Gallery

Lisa Shea – Holga Film Photography

I love working with a variety of historic film formats, including making cyanotypes. These two photos were taken using a Holga film camera. The Holga is a medium-format film camera where the film is twice as tall as traditional 35mm film. These plastic cameras have all sorts of light leaks and quirks which make them fun to work with. You never know what you’re going to get. Both images were taken outside this Uxbridge gallery during a Holga workshop.

The double exposure image is not Photoshop. It was wholly done within the camera. I took one photo of a tire. I then did not “wind the film forward”. I then took a photo of a sign. The sign photo went right on top of the tire photo on the film itself. I did not use Photoshop on it.

The grill photo is an abstract done right here on Main Street. I love looking for reflections and unusual views of the world. Again, no Photoshop was used. That is what the camera captured.

Here is an image of the Holga cameras. Since I have multiple Holgas, I label each one with the type of film I have in it.

These images are part of the Blackstone Valley Art Association Anything Goes Photography Show 2019

For a full gallery of Lisa Shea’s images visit:

https://bvaa.org/galleries/gallery-lisa-shea/

Bob See Photography

Bob See explores a variety of photography with both a digital Canon EOS 7D Mark II digital camera and a film camera. This collection of images includes photos from Ireland, Machias Seal Island in Maine, Tucson Arizona, Old Sturbridge Village, the Cape Cod Canal, Myrtle Beach SC, and more.

Ask for information about a particular image and in getting it in print or notecard form.

Please follow him at https://www.facebook.com/BobSeePhotography/

Depth of Field Photography Challenge

The challenge for the week of Feb 26 to March 4, 2018 at 52Frames.com is the theme of “Depth of Field”. This is about exploring the ways in which the aperture setting on a camera cause a shallow area of focus in an image. Here’s an example done by Lisa Shea, of a flower blossom.

See how the petunia itself is in focus, while the world behind it is out of focus? This is created with a shallow depth of field. The aperture of the lens was wide open, causing that to happen.

Be sure to sign up at https://www.52frames.com so you can participate in future weekly challenges! This is a great way to stretch your photography wings :).