2nd Annual Midwest Ice Climber's Festival at The Pit

This weekend I will be traveling to Wisconsin's own Ice Pit for the 2nd annual Midwest Ice Climber's festival. Just like last year I am excited to be photographing the event both days and am super psyched to see what another year at The Pit will bring! Last year five of the photos were presented in my Senior Thesis Exhibition at the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design where they were awarded best in show in Photography. The feedback and support from this initial body of work has been more than encouraging, and I started this season with many goals. This year a selection of my thesis work, as well as a few additional prints will be on display during the festival's "after party" at the Ramada Inn. During this time there will be talks from climbers John Hansen of Wautoma, Eric Landmann of Madison, and an informal roundtable discussion with climber and first ascentionist James Loveridge. Beyond the talks there will also be a gear swap, gear raffle, and free beer! My prints will be on display for this one night only, and I'll be available for climbing and photo discussions to whoever is interested in chatting. I look forward to seeing some familiar faces, as well as meeting as many new midwestern climbers as possible... so Cheers! and lets get out there and do something great together this weekend!

Two Show Updates

I am glad to announce the installation of seven prints at Adventure Rock Climbing Gym in Pewaukee Wisconsin. The prints consist of six ice climbing prints from Wisconsin, as well as one rock climbing print from the Red River Gorge in Kentucky. These prints will be installed until January 31st, 2011. These prints are available for purchase in sizes 11x16, 16x24, and 24x36 and are available framed or unframed, prices range based on size and materials.

I am also excited to announce that I will be displaying these ice climbing prints at the 2011 Ice Pit climbing festival in De Pere WI. The prints will be on display the night of the 15th during the events gear swap, raffle, and free beer gathering at the Ramada Inn. I will have a small table set up with more information about my photographic work, as well as slide show displaying more of my work for those who are curious. The prints will be available for purchase, and a percentage of the sales will be donated to The Ice Pit directly, so why resist!

US Bank Building Update

Over the last month I've had a original print from my thesis exhibition "Boreal Exposure" on display in Wisconsin's tallest building, the US Bank building. My work, as well as the work of a small handful of seniors was selected during the MIAD 2010 Senior Thesis Exhibition to be displayed for a month period sometime over the summer. The show was delayed slightly, but was installed and on display from October 19 - November 19. In addition to the print inside, MIAD made a reproduction print of another image from the series to be displayed in a street level window. The work is located on Vanburen and Clybourn, or just after the first stoplight after getting off I-94 via the Vanburen exit. I don't think the window display will be coming down anytime soon, so take a gander next time you head downtown.

The US Bank Building is located at 777 E. Wisconsin Ave, Milwaukee, WI. 53202

Brio Show Recap

The Brio show was a great success! A big thanks to everyone who came out to see the work and who stopped to chat with me about the work, your interest is certainly appreciated. The show wouldn't have possible without the hard work of Aryn Kressol and the other artists Marta Shumylo and Erin Kirkpatrick. So make sure you take a minute to view their sites and take a peak at the new work coming just around the corner.

My work on the brick walls of Brio.

The work of Marta Shumylo.

The work of Erin Kirkpatrick.

Show Preparation Nearly Complete

The mounting and framing is all done for my work in the 3 Cities show this weekend in Rockford Illinois. I'll have seven prints on display, and the work will include rock climbing images from Utah and Kentucky, as well as ice climbing in The Pit in Wisconsin, and not to mention one image from the distant Future being debuted. This body of work was selected by the two organizers of the show, and I think they've picked a diverse and captivating series of images to put on display. Three photos from the show are pictured below...

The Future

Lowering from The Motherload, Red River Gorge, Kentucky.

Ice Fest 2009, De Pere, Wisconsin.

Beyond being time consuming and expensive, the framing process is always an exciting time for me. It has only been in the last year of my life that I have found any of my images in frames. Last years Thesis Show really helped me prepare my work to be displayed in a professional setting, as well as opening up my mind to a lot of new ideas considering how my work can be best displayed in different environments and locations. My photographs are currently being framed pretty traditionally, which encloses them in either black or white metal frames, with 3-4 inch white matte boarder under glass. I find this straight forward look to be a nice way of presenting and protecting the work, while making them easy to transport from show to show.

Think anyone will notice the tape? Photo: Tom Owens

Everything was going quiet smooth, but I have found there are always unexpected

hang ups, and the day I framed was to be no exception. When transporting the

framing materials from the shop to school where I was putting them together,

I managed to snap one of the panes of glass in half. The sound of snapping glass

was unmistakable, and as I carried everything into school I knew I'd already have

to make a trip back to the frame shop for more supplies. Luckily when I assessed

the damage, I had only snapped one pane out of the five, and it was a clean enough

break that I could tape over it and still mount it all so I'd be ready for installation in

Rockford on time. Luckily there was no big delays on my part, and like they say, the

show must go on. Now I just have to quickly swap the broken pane with the new one

just before the show opens this Friday at 4pm. Hope to see some familiar faces out

in Rockford this weekend, so nobody hesitate to come by and say Hey!

2010 Thesis Exhibition Status

The show is up and the opening reception on Gallery Night was a great success. It is still exciting to see everyone's work installed and presented in this massive show, and I'm still walking around and seeing details I missed the first time around. It was great to be able to talk to such a wide variety of people as they walked around the gallery, and I am glad I could have a minute with most people to answer questions and provide some more information about the work. I'd like to thank everyone who came to the opening reception on Friday, especially those who had to travel a bit to come into Milwaukee and weren't expecting to have to compete for parking with such a large group of other attendees, your support does not go unnoticed. For all of you who missed the opening reception, I would like to remind you that the show is still open.

The show will be up until May 15th and open gallery hours are Tuesday - Saturday 10AM-5PM at the MIAD building.

Show Preparation

The last two weeks have brought monumental progress towards my thesis exhibition and I am absolutely excited to share the photographs to such a large group of friends, family, classmates and art enthusiasts from the area. Over the last two weeks I completed my final prints, sent out promo postcards, created an awesome WEBSITE, framed and matted the photos, and started laying out the space for hanging. Every step of the process so far has been a new challenge, but each with their unique rewards and benefits. Framing was unusually exciting for me, I think partially because I rarely frame my photographs, but also because I got to see the final pieces come together right before me.

It was a challenge to frame photos of this scale, and I am glad my instructor Al Balinsky was there to walk me through the process, and provide a helping hand all around (its pretty nerve-racking to move and flip the large thin sheets of glass over during the farming process.) I needed a lot of space to work in, so we modified one of the darkrooms into a makeshift framing area, complete with a big clean table in the middle, a bright light for looking for imperfections, and plenty of easy access shelves to hold all the framing materials like the mat board and glass. I am glad to say the photos are matted and framed with archival museum quality materials which will ensure the photos lifespan is maximized.

My spot in the fourth floor gallery space is coming together, and I brought the finished pieces up there to visualize the final presentation and to see how they fit into my assigned space. Everything seemed to fit well, and the taller wall I requested is going to house the large prints well, so long as the top part is extended a little bit more on the left side to make it the full width. Now I am laying out where I want my nameplate (upper right) as well as the shelf to hold business cards and take-away postcards, which I think will be on the left side in the remaining space before the artist's work next to me. I am also still deciding if I want to include an artist statement or a small informative bio about my work and potential direction. I plan to engage in many conversations with viewers at the opening and hope the work stimulates lots of discussion. I am hoping that I will be able to have a moment to talk personally with everyone who shows interests in the work, but I understand that I won't always be by the work, so am considering the use of text as well.