Very Early This Morning

I was awakened this morning around 2:45AM... "the baby is coming, the baby is coming!" I got dressed, grabbed my camera and headed out to the barn. By the time I got there two of the longest legs I have ever seen were sticking out of Mama and shortly after a brand new horse joined our farm. No name yet, but what a future she will have.

La Quinta Arts Festival

Last Thursday I was a judge at the La Quinta Arts Festival. An old friend from school, Charley Akers lives in La Quinta and got me involved with this gig last year and I enjoyed it so much I volunteered again. It's great to see all the artists and their work, but also I get to hang out with Charley and Julia Akers.

Charley and I were two of the three judges. The third was Randy Bernardi. The three of us were judging only the photography portion of the show but that was plenty. There were over twenty photographers showing their work. Much of it was very interesting and creative. The photographers who were there were Bart Aldrich, Timm Chapman, Zeny Cheslikoski, David Forster, Jennifer Fraser, Chris Honeysett, Roger Isabell, Vern Clevenger, Richard and Jill Jackson, Dennis Kohn, Lisa Kristine who won the best in category award, Doug Landreth, Laurent Martres, David Mayhew, Jeffery Murray, Darren Olson, Youngbok Park, John Richter, Martin Roberts & Dan Witte, Mark Stephenson, Kenny Tong and Marna Zanoff & Chuck Boxwell. 

Each of these artists spent four days there and I hope they all sold a lot of work. 

I have included one of my own photos to accompany this entry. To see more of my work, please visit http://eliotcrowley.com.

01/01/10

Ok its a new year. Time for resolutions and renewal. I am not very good at keeping "New Year's Resolutions". I did quit smoking one year, but I'm not sure if that was associated with the calendar changing. So, with that in mind I am not making any promises here. But what has happened that is marked by the date change for me over the last 25 years is my involvement with the Pasadena Tournament of Roses. This is the organization that puts on the "Rose Parade" and the "Rose Bowl." For all of, or at least most of my life January first was spent somewhere watching or being involved with the parade in Pasadena. You could count on me being there.

This year I was on the Music Committee. I have been on many committees before but music afforded me an opportunity to get up close with the bands. I think the bands are the most fun part of that parade. I still love the drums beating out a cadence and the sound of the brass piercing the early morning air. I am always amazed I can actually hear the piccolos and the sousaphones as they march by. My position along the parade route was at the absolute end where the bands made up of mostly high schools, along with a few college and only a couple of what you might think of as professional bands, (the United States Marine Corp Band and the Salvation Army Band) finished the five and half mile march. The temperature this year was over 70 degrees. 

I thought it would be an interesting study to make portraits of those band members as they felt the elation and exhaustion of that moment.

By the way, there was a band made up of blind musicians guided by their helpers who made the whole walk without a single member needing assistance. Very impressive.

For those of you who have never seen the Tournament of Roses Parade on television, I encourage you to do so. And for those who have never seen it in person, it is a spectacle you will never forget.

To see more of my work you can visit my web site.

395 Continues

It is getting towards December. I am spending my time writing my thesis paper and sorting through the images of 395 for my final presentation. There are a lot of details in the final months of a MFA degree.

For your viewing pleasure, more of the people I met along US Highway 395.

Thanks again for coming by and reading. You can see more at my website.

Vault, An Art Space

Porch,"where shelter and nature converge." a retail store in Carpenteria California was originally a bank. It came with the vault. The women who own and run Porch made the great decision to use the vault as a small gallery. This month, my work is being featured in this space. Come see the show and take a look at all the wonderful things these women have found to make your life more enjoyable.

The Artist's reception is Friday, September 25, 2009 from 5:00-7:00pm. I hope to see you there. To see more of my work http:eliotcrowley.com.

Santa Barbara Magazine

Recently, Santa Barbara Magazine did a feature article about me and my work. I was interviewed by Starshine Roshell a wonderful local writer who has a fun viewpoint in her weekly colums for the Santa Barbara Independent.

I like to call these images my cactus work. They were all made using a Holga Camera, an inexpensive plastic lens, and heart... no thinking involved.

I am honored to have Santa Barbara Magazine publish my work and give me such a showcase.



The work included in the magazine is some I have written about before on this blog. The entry is called Series.


For the next month or so more of this work is hanging in a gallery called Porch in Carpinteria California.

Folio Hunt

If you missed it here's a link to an interview I did with Scott Anderson from Folio Hunt.

395 so far

Well, it has been some time since I last posted to this blog. I'm happy to say I have been very busy. Some of what I have been writing has been for the APA (Advertising Photographers of America). If you're interested, you can read it here
http://searchapa.us/wordpress/wordpress/?tag=eliot-crowley

Also, since I passed my Midpoint review I have been working on my Master's of Fine Arts Thesis. It is called Highway 395 Revisited. My projected graduation date is December 2009.

What I am actually doing is meeting strangers along US Highway 395, setting up lights and making a portrait right there on the spot.

It is a pretty exciting project and keeps me thinking, learning, and challenging my creative spirit.

Here are some of them so far.