Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Happenings

Light Falls Upon the Grove
I have been working on images taken during a four-day weekend in Northwestern Pennsylvania in October. The purpose of the trip was to celebrate the wedding of good friends. It was a picture-perfect weekend by all accounts. We dined by candlelight alongside a lake, danced under the stars, and sat around a fire pit while we listened to the music of a young talent, Joe Robinson, who was flown in the night before the wedding by the groom as a gift for his bride.

Shimmering Ferns
The weather was absolutely beautiful the entire four days and the scenery was breathtaking no matter the direction you looked. If you'd like to get away from it all I recommend checking out The Lodge at Glendorn - you won't be sorry and the cuisine is amazing.

Golden Contrast
Weathered Retreat
Steps To Tranquility
I remain a member of The Art League at the Torpedo Factory. They do a wonderful job of displaying online all juried art from their monthly shows. To view my photographs that have been exhibited since July, and to learn more about each of the monthly juries, click on the following links:
I welcome your comments. Thanks so much for visiting....

    Saturday, November 13, 2010

    As The End Of 2010 Approaches


    The Walking Stick
    It is with sadness that I report I have decided not to renew my membership with the Workhouse Photography Group (WPG) when our current lease with the Workhouse Arts Center comes to a close at the end of November. The past two years with WPG since it officially opened in the Fall of 2008 have been very rewarding in so many ways. However, after a heart-felt decision making process, I came to the conclusion that it is time to move on to new endeavors. I will closely follow the friends I have made in our small group, as well as other artists at the Workhouse, and continue to support the Workhouse any way I can.

    Angel
    The following are works I sold this past year and the venue:
    • The Walking Stick (Workhouse)
    • Angel (The Art League)
    • Afternoon Storm (Workhouse, Cantate Chamber Singers Annual Auction and Washington Ballet Annual Auction)
    • Beach Cottage (Cantate Chamber Singers Annual Auction)
    • Paris Park (Cantate Chamber Singers Annual Auction)
    • Swallowtail (Workhouse)
    Adobe Abstract
    During the month of November my photograph Adobe Abstract (Santa Fe) is on display at The Art League as part of their All-Media Small Works show. The juror, Emily Conover, chose 158 works from all mediums out of a total 530 submissions.

    Beach Cottage
    The women's photography collective, f11, that I joined earlier this year has submitted a proposal to the Edison Place Gallery in Washington, DC and we have just received word that our group has been accepted. Our show will take place March 2011. We are also putting together a proposal to the Schlesinger Art Center at NOVA for a group exhibit in 2011. We currently have an ongoing contract with Buzz Bakery in Alexandria to exhibit our photography monthly. I will have my images on display the months of March and April 2011. Keep a watch for my e-postcard.

    Thanks for keeping in touch...more to come - and Happy Holidays.

    Paris Paris

    Wednesday, July 21, 2010

    Progress Report...


    Weathered Bow
    ©2010CarolSimonsHuddleston
    Wow...half the year gone already! It's been a busy six months since my last post in January. The Workhouse Photography Group, www.workhousearts.org, has hung three separate shows in that period of time. Our current show will be on display for the next two months and my images in the show are from a recent trip to Belize. It was a wonderful destination and I hope to return in the future (if our friends will invite us again) to explore that country more thoroughly. I am including a sample of the images shot while in this Central American paradise. There was beauty at every turn and the people of San Pedro, on the peninsula of Ambergris Caye, could not have been more welcoming. Time did not permit a visit of Mayan ruin sites on the mainland during this trip, but I am looking forward to a future visit and the prospect of additional photo opportunities.

    Layered Shoreline
    ©2010CarolSimonsHuddleston
    The Lorton Arts Foundation currently has on display it's Second Annual Juried Photographic Competition. My photograph "Afternoon Storm" (see my prior posting for image) was chosen to be included in the show by the juror, David Adamson. Mr. Adamson is an internationally renowned master printer who has produced limited edition pigment prints for the world's best fine art photographers for 18 years. Adamson Atelier has recently completed major shows for Al Wertheimer, Lyle Ashton Harris and William Eggleston, and is currently working on a master set of Annie Leibovitz's lifetime work. His Adamson Gallery, www.adamsongallery.com, opened in Washington in 1982 and has hosted numerous exhibitions and represented a group of photographers who presently include: Chuck Close, Titouan Lamazou, Julian Faulhaber and William Wegman. The opening reception for this show is this coming Sunday, July 25 from 2:00-4:00pm and all are welcome to attend in Lorton at the Workhouse Arts Center, Building W-16, 2nd Floor.

    The Tackle Box
    ©2010CarolSimonsHuddleston
    Earlier this year I was approached by a member at The Art League of Alexandria in the Torpedo Factory to entertain the idea of joining a recently formed women's photography group. I took her up on her suggestion and we currently have about 18 members who reside in and around Washington, DC. The group, f11 - A Women's Photography Collective, is comprised of much talent and varying photographic styles. I have already learned so much from these women in the short time since joining and look forward to displaying as a group in and around DC in the months to come.

    Anchors Aweigh
    ©2010CarolSimonsHuddleston

    Tuesday, January 26, 2010

    2010 Resolutions

    I always welcome the new year. Cleaning the slate and setting new resolutions. Only to be broken yet another year, more than likely, but it still feels good to start fresh with a positive outlook.

    One of my resolutions is to scan, scan, scan. I bought the latest and greatest dedicated film scanner...I won't divulge how long ago...and 2010 is the year I will make a considerable dent in the thousands of slides and negatives I have amassed over the years. Some of these images will be subsequently printed, most will be safely stored away. You can't find a lot about scanning online (believe it or not) so last year I ventured up to New York and took a scanning workshop at B&H to learn basics from the pros.

    Another of my resolutions is to travel more. I hope to be able to visit family in the usual places (California, Oregon, Vermont, British Columbia), but my plan is to include a couple of exotic trips as well - Belize for one. Good friends of ours recently bought a newly-built condo in Belize. They live part-time there and part-time in DC. We haven't been yet, but hope to take them up on an invitation later this year. It is surely a photographer's paradise with its history and wildlife...so I'm told. And the diving is some of the best!

    A couple of years ago I purchased a display tent for showing my photography in art shows. However, once I was juried into the Workhouse Arts Center I stored the tent away in the attic for the time being while I learned the ins-and-outs of our newly-formed photography cooperative. I think it's time, however, try my hand at the show circuit. Time will tell, but I'm not so sure I'm cut out for this type of venue. I will start with baby steps - close to home.


    In January my photograph "Weathered Strength" was juried into the Art League's All-Media Show at the Torpedo Factory. Out of a total of 608 works submitted, 182 were chosen to be displayed for the month. The juror, Stephen Munoz, studied at the American University in DC with a concentration in printmaking. He is currently the Director of the Lee Arts Center in Arlington. Prior to this position he was the Grants Officer for Arlington Cultural Affairs, managing the grant program for the arts in Arlington County. My chosen submission was taken in 2008 while my husband and I visited one of our favorite Caribbean islands, Harbour Island, in the Bahamas. This is a rather famous, dead stump of a tree that has been the set for many a fashion shoot. It refuses to be uprooted or washed away. Juror's comments and works on display can be viewed by following this link.


    One of my photos will also be on display as part of a larger grouping of works chosen by the Workhouse Arts Center. This display will take place at the 2010 Art Works for Virginia Conference at the Richmond Marriott on January 27. The Workhouse was invited by the Virginia Commission for the Arts to display at the conference. The image's title is "Afternoon Shadows" and was taken while on a trip to New Mexico last year.


    Finally, from January 23 to sometime in April two of my photos are on display at the McLean branch of Sonabank located at 6830 Old Dominion Drive. This opportunity is in connection with my membership in the Vienna Photographic Society, and my two images are among the 15+- images we are exhibiting. The first photograph titled "Iron Lace" (left) was taken in Cancun in 2005. The second image follows the same them of shadows/iron-work and is titled "Romeo, Romeo" (right). It was taken while visiting Santa Barbara in 2006. The Juliet-style balcony caught my eye with its delicate shadows. I am also very much a fan of anything decorative or utilitarian made out of iron. These works are also offered for sale.