Monday, January 28, 2008

John Chiara: Land's End Photo Show at Von Lintel gallery



I managed to make it back to Chelsea for a gallery walk this past Saturday and ran into a plethora of wonderful shows. The show that stood out significantly this time, striking that fine art photography chord of my heart, was John Chiara's Land's End show at Von Lintel Gallery. He's produced some fantastic images with a refreshingly new process and perspective. I'm a fine art photographer, so I value process and passion more so than that "perfect print" (I'll leave that to anal retentive commercial photographers-not that there is anything wrong with it). John Chiara's process and final product brought much inspiration to my creative table...

"Chiara takes stunning landscape photographs that involve much more than what is in front of the camera. They are, in essence, images of photography itself. Chiara operates a hand-built, room sized camera that is mounted on a flatbed trailer. He works inside of the camera, physically becoming part of the process. During the long exposures, he dodges and burns by passing his hands in front of the camera's lens. The one-of-a-kind, positive images are then developed utilizing an adapted sewer pipe that he fills iwth photo chemicals."-Von Lintel Gallery release.

The scale of Chiara's pieces is magnificent... 50x60 inches yet retains a very intimate, personal quality. I had the opportunity to speak to the artist himself as he was in the gallery while I was there and hearing his process was truly inspiring. Go see his show...and hopefully you'll have the opportunity to speak to him, as well.

visit the Von Lintel Gallery @ 555 West 25th St, NY, NY 10001. His show will be up until March 1, 2008.
www.vonlintel.com

To watch a video about his process and work, visit

http://www.lightdark.com/


Enjoy!

Friday, January 25, 2008

New York Cares...


If you have some time on your hands and you live in New York City, here's a great organization to join...New York Cares.

http://www.nycares.org/

They have all sorts of volunteering opportunities to participate in from teaching classes to coat drives, painting schools and feeding the poor in our city. And if you don't have a day to give, you can log in some evening hours at one of their charity shindigs about the city. Who'd have thought you could actually be giving back to the community by drinking cocktails? Fantastic!

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

I LOVE This Store...



photo by Richard B. Migot

Once in a great while, you'll wander into a store and just want to buy every single thing in it. I'm talking completely redecorating your entire apartment or summer home according to the store's merchandise. Well, I've found such a store...LT Home. It's cute, it's quaint, reasonably priced and located in a historical house that was once a tavern (no wonder I felt at home!) in Sandisfield, MA. The owner of LT Home, Liana Toscanini, has created a gorgeous new space that features high ceilings, skylights, French doors, slate flooring and built-in bookshelves to showcase a variety of unique goodies.

But where is Sandisfield? Not far...take a drive. I highly recommend seeing the store in person. And if you can't spare a weekend drive in your hectic schedule, Liana, LT Home's fabulous owner, will be more than happy to assist you in aquiring any merchandise you may want to order. Tell her Tricia sent you...

Enjoy!

http://www.lthomegb.com

3 New Hartford Road
Sandisfield, MA 01255
(413) 258-4904
(413) 258-8122 FAX
Email: xxtramktg@aol.com

Now THIS is Interactive Marketing...

HEMA is a Dutch department store. The first store opened on November 4, 1926, in Amsterdam . Now there are 150 stores all over the Netherlands . HEMA also has stores in Belgium, Luxembourg, and Germany . In June of this year, HEMA was sold to British investment company Lion Capital.

Take a look at HEMA's product page. You can't order anything and it's in Dutch but just wait a couple of seconds and watch what happens.

This company has a sense of humor and a brilliant computer programmer.

http://producten.hema.nl/

Thanks to Karyn for sending me this link. Fantastic.

Monday, January 21, 2008

So You Wanna Be a Rockstar...


photo by tricia chatterton

Well, you'll need a guitar...and I have the perfect place for you to contemplate your future rockstar-ness: Matt Umanov's guitar shop in the west village. Chances are, if you play the guitar already, you probably frequent this place to plot your next guitar conquest. I, myself, frequent it just to see what characters might possibly be strumming some tunes or to look at the variety of guitars they have in stock from vintage to new. Having grown up in a house full of guitars (I for a long time thought the names of the 7 dwarves were Fender, Gretsch, Gibson, Rickenbacker, Taylor, Martin, and Epiphone), I get a little bit of "home" each time I walk in that place. I also get to check out how much the 1965 Fender Jaquar my Dad sold for nothing is worth...and cry.

If you want to sigh over some great vintage and brand new guitars or fulfill that rockstar dream, check out Matt Umanov's guitar shop...

273 Bleecker St.
New York, NY 10014
212.675.2157
http://umanovguitars.com

Friday, January 18, 2008

Earth Hour


My friend Lynn invited me to a really great "event" on Facebook and I thought I'd share it with all of you. It involves lights off for only one hour, wherever you are in the WORLD.

Name: Earth Hour
Host: World Wildlife Fund
DateL Saturday, March 29, 2008
Time: 8:00-9:00pm
Location: GLOBAL: THE WORLD

"On March 29th, 2008 at 8pm local time Earth Hour will commence ALL AROUND THE WORLD.

Created to take a stand against the greatest threat our planet has ever faced, Earth Hour uses the simple action of turning off the lights for one hour to deliver a POWERFUL MESSAGE about the need for action on global warming.

Be part of making Earth Hour 2008 a huge, global success by telling your friends and family. Remember, every single light makes a statement and makes a difference.

Last year, on 31 March 2007, 2.2 million people and 2100 Sydney (Australia) businesses turned off their lights for one hour – Earth Hour. This massive collective effort reduced Sydney’s energy consumption by 10.2% for one hour, which is the equivalent effect of taking 48,000 cars off the road for one hour."

PLEASE VISIT THE OFFICIAL SITE:
http://www.earthhour.org/

Some Interesting Stats in Considering the Next Presidency...

Interesting stuff...

http://www.opensecrets.org/pres08/select.asp
http://www.opensecrets.org/pres08/index.asp?cycle=2008

(Thanks, Eva!)

hello human: Just 'Cuz I Love Them...


Actually, I just love the drummer, Steve Copeletti. I've known him since 9th grade and he's been my best guy friend ever since. You gotta love a guy you've known since puberty...

And you gotta love his new band, hello human, 'cuz they just rock quite properly. They're a very talented bunch of guys. If you know anyone who can sign them, just do it.

"the story of hello human begins around mid-2007 in pompano beach, florida. influenced by american indie rock, power pop and shoegaze, hello human was formed by adam rosenberg, mike johnson, steven copeletti (collaborators in early 2k shoegazer band whirlaway) and chris polito (former remedy session guitarist/vocalist). the group is currently mixing tracks to their first series of sound exploration with tony lash of elliot smith, dandy warhol’s fame."

Check out their new song "Since I've Lost You" on myspace: www.myspace.com/hellohumanband

Enjoy!

Bill Armstrong's "Renaissance"


The other show that impressed me on my Thursday night Chelsea art opening walk was Bill Armstrong's "Renaissance" show at ClampArt gallery (521-531 West 25th St. Ground Floor). His work is quite painterly and leaves more to the imagination than the obvious straight photo. Then again, I may be a bit biased because I took a color printing class with Bill Armstrong at the International Center of Photography a few years and really enjoyed the class. Regardless, I enjoy looking at his photography. He's got some great ideas happening...

"Armstrong creates his unique imagery using a process of photographing found images extremely out of focus with his lense set on the infinity setting. In this case, the source materials are master drawings from the Renaissance period which have been radically reworked and presented on vast fields of vivid color. Armstrong's photographs imbue a new life and a new context to the original drawings-a renaissance of the Renaissance, if you will." -ClampArt press release.

I agree.

For more information on this show, visit clampart.com or you can visit his website www.billarmstrongphotography.com

Enjoy!

Chelsea Thursday Night Art Openings

Last night I did the Thursday night Chelsea art opening walk with some friends and two shows in particular stood out for me. Firstly, the show by Nicholas Nixon @ Yossi Milo Gallery (525 West 25th Street). Although I'm not usually drawn to photography that "seems" to capitalize on peoples' pain, I do understand a photographer's/artist's need to investigate life (and himself) through the camera.

"The photographs that comprise the series "Patients" document people who are seriously or terminally ill. Taken while visiting four different hospitals in Boston over the past three years, the project is a continuation of the artists interest in portraiture and in phases of the life cycle rarely shared with other beyond family and close companions."- Yossi Milo Gallery release.

Nixon's 20"x23" silver gelatin prints (yes, real bw photos people, NOT digital prints) are exquisite and emotional. And how could I not respect a man that still uses an 8-by-10-inch large- format camera?