Grounded: The Art of Looking Down

Three things have led to this unexpected series: I love to paint my toenails, I tend to stare at the ground, and I usually have my camera with me.

This was taken when I went to Boston for the PhotoShop World Conference. My group left on Friday but I decided to spend a few extra days in Boston by myself. I was in my hotel room writing in my journal and reflecting on a perfect day. 

On the beach after my graduation from UCF.

This was during an 80's party. Somewhere during the night I noticed a hole in my sock. I thought it was funny how the nail polish almost made it look purposeful. 

The blue dot was actually an accident from the DRIP warehouse. I was moving paint and managed to spill a single drop in the center of my right toenail.  It seemed to compliment my already colorful sandals. 

Savoring the view from my uncle's dock in St. Petersburg Florida. 

This was taken while my friend Ronnie was fixing the bumper on my car. I was enjoying the company of his shop dog, Chig.  

This was at the Photoshop World Conference in Orlando. I was in a hotel finishing up emails when I decided to look at photos from the conference in Boston the previous year. I came across this picture and thought it was hilarious because I was wearing the exact same pair of pajama pants. I had to take a picture. I just couldn't resist. 

This was taken outside of my apartment complex. I was moving my artwork outside to take pictures of it to post on this very blog. I decided to take a picture of my feet against the pebbles of the walkway. That was when I got the idea to turn these photographs into a series. 

Lake Eola

There aren't many places that calm my nerves, but Lake Eola is one of them. I keep finding myself here more and more frequently. The first time I was here I spent two hours wondering around enjoying the company of other people's dogs and the misguided birds who thought I had food. There was so much simple pleasure in having a few hours by myself to enjoy nature. Today a scheduling error has brought me to Lake Eola and I decided to make the best of it.

I went to grab a sub from the Publix supermarket across the street. I walked into the park to find a bench overlooking the lake. Paramedics were attending to a man who had collapsed in the park about 200 feet away from me. He seemed okay, but he still needed medical attention. I selected my bench and went about the business of eating my sandwich. The paramedics proceeded to load the man into the ambulance while several joggers made their laps around the park. Moments like these like these make me feel like I am in a big city. There is so much going on - all you have to do is sit back and watch the chaos of life unfold all around you.

The sun sets thru the trees to my left. Birds flock to the hedges in front of me. A pigeon snatches a chip I had dropped earlier. The other birds storm the pigeon and in a flurry of feathers, chirps and squawks, the chip disappears.

I look across the pond and I notice that the fountain is working again. It had been in disrepair for a few months. People always talk about the fountain as one of those icons of Orlando. It is beautiful but I've always felt that Orlando will be Orlando whether the fountain is working or not.

The city of Orlando has a strange skyline. We don't have many tall buildings and the ones we do have all possess unusual architecture and oddly shaped silhouettes. They are all interesting to look at, however, as a group they are somewhat disjointed.

I pause from my writing to brush an ant off my leg. The breeze feels good. We don't get a lot of this nice weather in August.

Birds land on top of the lighting post to complete the structure. A black swan in the distance reminds me of a miniature Loch Ness monster. The clouds that carried the ran earlier sink further into the distance. The sky opens up to blue for a few brief moments before changing again for sunset.

Sometimes scheduling errors are good for the soul.

Nike Print

My favorite artist is a man named Albrecht Durer. He was a German painter and printmaker. What I love about Albrecht Durer was the seemingly endless detail in his prints and his ability to capture the personality of his subjects in his portrait painting. He was also know for his great curiosity and love of travel. 

I decided to take up printmaking because of my background with graphic design. I wanted to model one of my prints after a piece of art by Albrecht Durer. However, I knew my approach to making the print would have to be very different. Albrecht Durer was a perfectionist and almost fanatical about detail. I, on the other hand, am relatively new to printmaking. I wanted to focus more on the image and getting acquainted with the materials. I chose to create a large image on a rough piece of board to prevent myself from being too overly concerned with detail. 

I modeled this piece after Albrecht Durer's engraving Nemeis.

I was very pleased with the way this print came out.  I love the textures and patterns I was able to get, especially in the background. It ended up have a very expressive feel because the wood grain pattern was so erratic. Because I was so happy with the way this came out, I found ways to keep taking it further.

The color in this print was achieved through chine-colle. Chine-colle is a method where colored paper is added to the main piece of paper before it is printed. 

As a nod to my graphic design background I continued the chine-colle series based on the CMYK color model.

I also ended up taking the cut-outs from the previous prints and used them to create this image. 

Boston Changed Everything

I was lucky enough to be able to go to Boston for the Photoshop World conference in Spring 2009. I had never been to Boston before and I couldn't wait to take it all in. Once we got to our hotel room I noticed this building outside of our hotel window. It was highly reflective and I love the way it caught the light. I took one picture in the late afternoon and the other just after dusk.

The Photoshop Conference was amazing and I learned so much. But the most surprising source of inspiration came from a photographer named Jay Maisel.

The Photoshop conference has multiple class going on at the same time. At that specific time there were no classes pertaining to design so I wondered into Jay Maisel's class. I wasn't expecting to get much out of it because at the time I was not especially interested in photography.

Mr. Maisel went up to give his presentation and I was blown away. He did one segment relating to 9/11. He went to photograph ground zero but he was told he not allowed. Instead he photographed the faces of the people as they walked past where the twin towers once stood. The people were unaware they were being photographed and he ended up with some very raw and emotional portraits.

He then showed a series of photographs he had taken over the years. They were full of interesting perspectives, unusual light, bold color, and expressive gestures. His photographs reminded me of how I see the world. I always end up noticing these interesting and unique things but I never take pictures of them because I though no one would ever find them as interesting as I did. Jay was taking the pictures that I was too shy to take. I left that class and saw the world in a whole new way.

I decided to stop taking pictures like a tourist and and start taking pictures like an artist.

This was a piece of Iranian art from the Boston Museum. Rather than getting a "perfect shot" I captured the reflection of the window because it was made to fit the style of the art work in the room. 

Instead of trying to get the entire statue in one shot I focus on what drew me to look at it in the first place.  I loved the serenity in their faces and the subtle colors in the background. 

One of my favorites! Instead of only filling the photo with the statue, I stood back and gave him a setting. 

I loved the simple elegance and the quiet reflection of their face along with their juxtaposition against the wall.

The Boston sky at dusk.

Instead of taking this shot at eye level I crouched down next to the statue and pointed the camera up towards the ceiling. I think the dynamic angle really makes the shot. I love how it looks like she is reaching up for the light. 

This piece of art was in a room filled with artifacts that related to the afterlife. I have no idea whether it was intentional or not, but this was placed over and exit sign and I thought it was hilarious. 

Once again, rather than taking a picture of the entire statue I decided to focus on what I was most attracted to. The face, the gesture, and the reflection of the window made this image memorable.

This was a practice cast of a bust. This was something that never would have been on display in ancient Egypt, it was only meant for the sculptor  to use as a reference. Simple objects like these tend to make me think more about the individual artist who created them. Almost like you are so close to being able to look back in time because you are so close to an object they have touched. That is why I took a picture that included the objects reflection.

This particular statue was enormous. When in front of it you were forced to look up towards the ceiling. It happened to be raining outside and I wanted to capture the beauty of the statue's face as well as the rain cascading down the skylight. 

I love the way this historic church is surrounded by all of these modern sky scrappers that vanish into the fog. Only the light from the windows lets you know how far up the building rises.

A statue of an angel with outstretched arms in the Boston rain.

This was taken the morning I was leaving to go back to Orlando. It was raining but still wanted to see as much of the city as I possibly could. I'm so glad I went out that morning.

There is still beauty in a cloudy day.

The Break

In 2007 I was enrolled in an Advanced Drawing class. All of our projects were centered around human anatomy. The teacher left the students to decide the context of the imagery. My boyfriend and I were going through a break up and I decided to let the inner workings of the human body become a metaphor for my inner conflict.

We were both grounded on the floor to symbolize how hurt we were. I gave him the musculature and an upright position as a reference to my hope that he would take charge of the situation and be stronger. His hopeless downward gaze and his back being turn to the viewer was meant to represent his detachment and lack of resolve. He extends his feet rather than his arms to signify a disrespect for my feelings. 

I lay across from him with my entire body on the floor and bone structure visible to represent the depth of the hurt I was feeling. My body is more open to the viewer to symbolize my willingness to face the problem. My left arm wraps around my legs to show my desire to save myself. My right arm reaches out to him and I am looking up waiting for him to move. He continues to stare at the floor. 

This is a large multi-panel piece. It starts of with a large portrait of myself lost in thought. The rest of the panels are manifestations of my thoughts. The smaller picture of my ex and I is a reference to the previous two panel piece. However, in this image I am completely turned away from him. I am moving in the opposite direction toward a steep drop.  This is my acknowledgment of the difficult road ahead but also knowing that it is the only way out. The image of myself in the background drawing on the easel was meant to symbolize my change in perspective and willingness to embrace the future. The image of myself sitting in front of the skeleton was my way of expressing a desire to be true to my inner self. 

Nude Study

This was a study of a live nude model I did in junior college. A few years later, with the encouragement of an instructor, I photographed the image, reprinted it on arches paper and drew the musculature over the original. 

Pasta Dish

This was an illustration I made for a recipe card. I don't normally draw food so this ended up being quite a challenge. It took several hours but I love the way it came out. My eyes enjoy the deep contrast between the warm, earthy colors of the plate and the cool, rich colors in the background.