Summer to do...

... so the two major projects - the arbor and the porch painting were done by July 1. So now I have to come up with other ones. I will be doing the three other interior door replacements when dad gets back from Italy - I need his power tools. I also have to patch up holes in the stone foundation. Definitely fun projects. I have been plowing through the reading too. I was slugging through Bleak House, but I am now on a roll. Past page 550! And, there was a case of spontaneous combustion! Now, if you know me, unexplained phenomena like that really appeals to me, so needless to say, that excited me as well as shocked me. I mean, this is Dickens! Bleak stuff, downers, sure. But SHC? Whoa!

I also read through most of the pile of photo magazines from sister. One had interviews with pros. One thing mentioned was to enter as many shows as possible. That made me feel real good. Sometimes I feel like I am chasing some unattainable goal and spending much money on those entries. But I do get in some shows and this artist pointed out that the best way to get your work out there for others to see is by getting into shows. I felt like my efforts were validated. Sure, it is a part time job in itself just looking for and applying for the shows - not even including making the art! But, it made me feel better.

The other thing that was not so nice was the fact that many of these publications were from the late 90s to early 2000s - prior to the digital takeover. Some were steadfastly sticking to a "no digital" rule. Some were proclaiming the death of film, and some were proclaiming the future existence of both. I took solace in the point many made that the aesthetics of a darkroom produced black and white print can never be duplicated digitally. I find that for all the technological advances at this point, that still holds true. But the speed with which other advances have been made is shocking. I think this is why I see so much crap out there on the photo sites I troll. Honestly, I don't know how you students find the cool photographers you find because it is like finding a needle in a haystack. Just because you can afford the $1,000 toy, does not mean you are making art with it. My students create better pictures - and they are just at the beginning of their art-making lives - than most of the dopes I see out there.

The other thing that made me sad was the amount of companies no longer making stuff. Agfa, for one. I remember passing the Agfa building on Route 80 in Bergen County when I was younger. I don't even know what it is now. There were many other ones too. I did like the one letter I read regarding Kodak's abandonment of the photographer. Nice attitude. Since film is not dying, they really missed the boat on two points - digital (their camera stink) and film as a specialty. But one thing I did not know was that Foma was not available in some markets because of patent issues. Now they are. So, you lose a lot and gain a bit of something else.

Sigh...

ps...loving the heat...:)