I got hooked on fine art photography, the first night I spent in the darkroom printing my first black and white image.  It was like falling down a rabbit hole. There I was in Wonderland.

Photography is a medium that allows an artist nearly unlimited ways to express herself. I treasure the fact that I can make all kinds of images, many taken right from my imagination. The list includes blurry out-of-focus “street” images, staged doll scenarios, mysterious night shots, quiet observations of everyday life, digital composites and most recently, dreamy encaustic images. My work has evolved from the darkroom, to the computer and recently back to hands on play with alternative processes. Photography, for me, almost always involves an exploration, a journey on which I continue to explore my imagination and ideas. My most recent work is inspired by the magic and lore of fairy tales, the timeless stories that continue to fascinate.

Gravitating between reality and abstraction, I am drawn equally to sculptural curves and geometric motifs, seeking order and beauty in chaotic times. The Discovery series blurs the lines between organic form and manufactured design in an opulent awakening of light, shadow and pattern. It's a serene journey into an intimate world, inviting unique interpretations dependent upon the viewer's mood and experience. Painted with a camera, the series is printed in toned black and white, beckoning everyday objects to become animate. A lamp serpentines into a curvaceous nude, crystal droplets dance and dissolve into the ether, a silk chandelier bursts with raw emotion, a stairwell transforms into a woman's stocking-covered thigh, and a skylight opens a window to the soul. A silent room, a gentle breeze, a rhythmic sound can serve to quiet the mind. In these images, it is the emerging form that guides us into visual meditation. Discovery is a personal Rorschach Test, an invitation to uncover fresh meaning on a well-traveled path. May we find therein whatever we need, whatever it is we seek.

For several years I considered myself primarily a printmaker, but my interest in pushing the boundaries of printmaking has led me more and more into collage and mixed media. I began my life in art as a painter and graphic designer, and that background still informs all that I do. My work is filled with layers of information and of meaning, and often contains odd juxtapositions with their own resonance, open to endless interpretations.

When foreclosures began to occur in the early 2000’s, as a former urban planner, I was acutely aware of the impact this would have on our cities. However, very little was mentioned in the news about the real causes of the crisis and how widespread it had become. I began to create quilts of foreclosures maps in the hopes of capturing people’s attention around the crisis. Quilts act as a functional memory, an historical record of difficult times. The quilts are pieced together using the block patterns taken from neighborhood maps. Within these, foreclosed lots are shown as holes in the quilts. The lot locations are completely random and they yield an unexpected beauty when laid out on fabric. These torn holes question the protective nature of a quilt. The neighborhoods shown are not an anomaly; they are a recurring pattern seen from coast to coast, urban to suburban neighborhoods across the US.

Kathryn also writes a blog to inspire and inform other artists who work in the unique genre called Articraft: artists who use craft in their work and craftspeople who make art:
www.kathrynclark.blogspot.com

Visitors from the Past

Found Photographs from the Late 19th Century

For a brief span of only a few decades, from the late 1860's to the dawn of the twentieth century, ordinary people were photographed in a way that often yielded extraordinary results.

The durable, card-mounted albumen photo prints that were so popular during this period can still be found in antique shops. The larger size prints (usually 6.5" x 4.5") were known as "cabinet card" photographs and were often mailed to relatives for display in their homes. To fully appreciate the magic of this, you have to take yourself back to those days and imagine the wonder and excitement of seeing a photograph of a loved one for the first time! 

Unlike modern photographs where the moment of exposure is nearly instantaneous, these images were recorded on glass plate negatives that required long exposure times, sometimes as long as five minutes. Compared with sitting for a painted portrait, this may not have seemed like such a long time, but it still required that the subject find a facial expression that could be held comfortably for the duration of the exposure. 

In the best of these photographs, this requirement helped to create natural, truthful portraits that have an uncanny feeling of presence. These long exposure times captured a succession of moments — almost like a short video — during which the person remained still, but also very alive and present. 

There is something in these pictures that is not found in later photographs. They capture light, but they also capture presence. This is a distinct subjective feature, and it gives these portraits their striking combination of immediacy and timelessness.

If the subject maintained good eye contact with the camera during the exposure, the resulting photograph would then convey the impression that he or she was actually looking out into the room from the cabinet card print when it was put up for display! The presence of the individuals in these pictures is not diminished by time. Even though we now have almost no information about who they were, we can still feel who they were. 

This means that we can feel their qualities of character. This feeling can grow over time, and perhaps even tell us something about the wisdom of their day. As members of the human family, we are all related to the people in these pictures — they are all our "relatives."

In spite of their durability, most cabinet card photos have suffered significant deterioration over the past hundred years. Painstaking digital restoration is very much like cleaning a window. It gives us a clear view into the past, undiminished by spots, scratches, fading and discoloration. Given the nature of the original process, these photographs often contain rich detail, which allows the making of large life-size prints.

This would not be possible without high-resolution digital scanning and today's image editing software tools. These finished pieces thus represent an unusual bridge across time that is anchored at each end by very different, but uniquely complementary, possibilities.

Visionary Artist & Teacher Illuminating the Possibilities Elizabeth Gibbons is a visionary artist and teacher. Her art depicts a spiritual journey, the telling of a story that contacts us at the level of the soul. As we view layers and layers of prayer, hope, paradox and spirit woven between particles of paint, bead, glitter and rhinestone we are inspired to embark upon our own journey. As a teacher, Elizabeth encourages us to explore materials that animate our sense of wonder, joy and play. By playing with the sparkle of jewels, beads & glitter the divine spark of imagination that lives within each of us is illuminated and we are transported to the land of infinite possibilities.

As an adult I’ve continually been drawn to the forest. Studying and working as a Translator and Interpreter, I’ve visited 25 countries on 5 continents and during my travels, I’ve hiked the forests first and time permitting, I would then explore the cities.

My dream has always been to own a large parcel of land and spend my spare time planting trees to personally contribute to the reforestation of this beautiful planet.

What began as a very personal desire to experience nature has now become a campaign to bring attention to the plight of the deforestation and the damage that the activity is causing to this planet and its biosphere.

as a visual artist I am open to different series of work, keeping my creative process fluid open to a variety of ideas and explorations, free of considerations of style, the craft the quality of it, is the challenge I seek. Inspired by materials as well as subject matter relating to the human figure, lines around the body created by clothing designs and structures. The produced object has a sculptural dimension a decisive edge much like in a bas-relief. In this state of mind I have along the way produced works with wood, metal, paper, wire and charcoals. One common material to many of those works is the resin which is applied with different casting techniques, often born out of experimentation and necessity to bring forth the initial idea.

SFHQ offers an exciting selection of artwork celebrating America's Favorite City by San Francisco artist, Stephen C. Wagner. Whimsy and humor abound throughout Fog City in the SFarOut series of digital prints. The essence of San Francisco cool-hunters is captured in the SF Hip digital prints on kraft paper. Color explodes all over San Francisco in the SFab series of screen-prints on vintage wallpaper. Close-ups of San Francisco street signs, cable cars, and tracks highlight the SFocus series of sepia-tone photographs.

BIOGRAPHY Stephen C. Wagner has studied art since the age of six, including workshops at the Witte Museum, Trinity University, and private study, all in San Antonio, TX. During his early years, Stephen showed his works in many venues, including juried shows, art fairs, coffeehouses, and galleries. He obtained his Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Texas at Arlington in painting and graphic communication. Stephen has exhibited and sold his artwork in galleries in London, Chicago, Dallas, Beverly Hills, Santa Monica, Laguna Beach, San Diego, Seattle, New Orleans, Palm Springs, and Kauai. His artwork is included in the permanent collections of the Riverside Art Museum and the Museum of the Living Artist, and in the corporate collections of Johnson & Johnson and Kaiser Permanente. His artwork has been featured in the film "Antwone Fisher" directed by Denzel Washington, and was featured on the set of the Bravo TV show "Boy Meets Boy."