Jane Linders

ST. LOUIS – Salt of the Earth, an importer and retailer of artisan goods from Mexico and Europe is celebrating its tenth anniversary with the introduction of its new concept, called “Close to Home.” This store within a store features the work of local and regional artists and artisans.

Salt of the Earth – Close to Home will debut at the Webster Groves store, 8150 Big Bend Blvd, 63119, with a reception at 6:00 p.m., Friday, November 6, as part of the 63119art 3 Day Art Crawl, and at the Downtown Saint Louis store, 1123 Locust, 63101, at 5:00 p.m. Friday, November 20. Some of the featured artists will be on hand to discuss their work.

Salt of the Earth has two locations, one in Webster Groves, the other in Downtown St. Louis. The following is the information about each space.

Webster Groves - 8150 Big Bend Blvd, 63119, 314-963-1919

Downtown - 1123 Locust Ave, 63101, 314-241-8008

Website – www.salt-earth.com

Cyanotype sewed to sketchbook page for the Sketchbook Project.   I've been printing cyanotype images for the past month for the Sketchbook Project.    The Sketchbook Project Volume 4, started by Art House in Atlanta, Georgia is an ambitious project.   Here's how it works.   You send Art House $18 and they send you a blank sketchbook.  You fill up the sketchbook with anything, words, art, photos and mail it back.   Art House collects all the sketchbooks and goes on tour.  In 2010, the sketchbooks are coming to Soulard Art Market in April 2010.   There are sketchbooks from around the world and I  believe they have sent out over 3,000 sketchbooks to date. What's in it for the artist?  Ummm..........errr......... nothing, except  they get to participate in this most interesting project.    The 2009 Sketchbook project theme was "everyone you know" and all the sketchbooks that did not sell while on tour were returned to the artist.  This year the sketchbooks will not be returned as Art House is keeping the sketchbooks and intend to make the largest collection of sketchbooks in the world.   A library of sorts.  It kind of reminds me of  Richard Brautigan's book "The Abortion" where the character collected self published books, 'zines, etc and made a library. 

I have about 30 cyanotype images, printed on heavy watercolor paper.  Mostly my images are of the cemetery variety.    I suspect these sketchbooks will be man-handled quite a bit and I was concerned about how to attach my  printed watercolor paper to the flimsy sketchbook pages.  I want my book to be durable.  I ended up gluing the images to the sketchbook paper and then I went over to my friend Dian's house and she showed me how to use her sewing machine and sewed the edges in a zig-zag pattern using blue thread.     My books is really fat.  Really fat.  I am excited to see the other sketchbooks in April when they go on tour and come to St. Louis.

Although I did not get to attend the Burningman festival this year, I was there in spirit.   One of my photos that I shot for the WDYDWYD? project was exhibited at Burningman  near center camp.  My niece attended the week long event and took a photo of burners looking at my photo.    I will post the image as soon as it's available.   I definately plan on returning to Burningman  in 2010.

It It it Americans use 2,663 plastic grocery bags every second.  In order to raise awareness on overconsumption in America, I collected 2, 663 plast grocery bags from my co-workers at Covidien and hung them in the meeting room for our company Earth Day event.  It took about 4 weeks to collect 2,663 bags and it took about 4 hours and 6 people to hang all the bags.  I call the installation , "URBAN TUMBLEWEEDS"   Hopefully this visual cue made people more aware of the impact of consumerism on our environment.  The Covidien Green Team also handed out re-usable canvas bags to everyone at our Earth Day event.  Terri Reilly, the organizer for St. Louis' Forest Park Earth Day event saw  all the bags and wanted them installed at Earth Day 2009.   We loaded up her van with all the bags and intended to install them in one long line along the fence in Forest Park.   Gale-forrce winds prevented the installation to be strung  in one line, so instead the bags were all glommed together in one giant ball 0' bags.  Not quite the visual impact of bags all in a row, but  we couldn't risk the bags blowing lose on earth day and trashing out Forest Park in front of 50,000 angry tree huggers.

This is my entry into the "Wish You Were Here" fabric postcard exhibit.   It is a cyanotype on cotton fabric with gold thread embellishment, titled "The Lunatic Is In My Head".

About 2 months ago I was contacted by The Getty Conservation Institute in Los Angeles, CA to be part of the Getty Institutes’ Preserving the Chemical Photography Era Project.   They asked me to send them a sample of  one of my cyanotype images as well as a coated piece of watercolor paper for them to analyze.    I also sent them my lab notebook detailing what chemicals  I used, what kind of paper, rinse techniques, etc.  Since my “day job” is working in a chemical laboratory testing pharmaceuticals , this detailed documentation came very easily to me.  The goal of  the Getty Conservation Institute is to help future photograph conservators, photography historians, photography collections and museum curators and provide them with well characterized collection of alternative photographic processes and process variants.  By adding to their collection of alternative processes it will aid in the development of a scientifically based methodology for the identification of these alternative processes.  For more information about the project or if you would like to contribute, go to http://www.getty.edu/conservation.   The image I sent them was a cyanotype of the FRANKENSTIEN grave at a local St. Louis cemetery. 

For all you non-science readers, I suggest you stop reading this blog now. If your eyes haven’t already glazed over from boredom, they will from this point on.   If you want to get your chemical geek-on, continue reading.

The cyanotype process is over 150 years old and was invented by John Herschel in 1842.  It was the first successful non-silver photographic printing process.  It was cheap and simple way to copy plans.   The word “blueprint” is used in everyday language long after photocopies became a more economical way to copy images.

A solution of Ammonium Iron (III) citrate is mixed with Potassium Ferricyanide and coated on watercolor paper and left to dry.  A negative is placed over the coated paper and exposed to UV light.    Under  UV light the  Fe III gets reduced to Fe II and creates a permanent image in the paper.  The image is washed and rinsed in a weak solution of HCl and dried.    (Non science types……….why are still reading this?  Why don’t you play tennis with a friend, or take walk?  Will you deny that you just read this sentence?  How about this one?)

My cyanotype was first analyzed using a nondestructive method of chemical analysis (XRF-X-ray fluorescence spectrometry).  The microscopic structure of the image layer was observed using a Leica S6D zoom digital stero-microscope.      They found Iron, Calcium (paper filler) and Strontium (calcium compound impurity). 

The next analysis was by FTIR (Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy).  They found  a major spectral band at –3300 cm (absorbed and residual water), , -2887 cm (C-H bond, organic materials) , 2067 cm (C=N bond typical for the blue complex dye from the cyanotype process) and –1400-850 cm spectral envelope from cellulose.  

Maybe they didn’t want to destroy the sample I sent them and preserve it for future generations, but I thought they would analyze  my photo by Atomic Absorption and  figure out how much Fe was in there.    The Getty Institue even sent me copies of the FTIR  and XRF scan.   I was amazed at how well documented  and detailed the report was and am happy to contribute to such an ambitious project. 

Kick off the Mardi Gras season at St. Louis's most titillating event:  Naughti-Gras 2, an erotic art exhibit.

Seducing The Third Eye

The Nurturing Spirit is hosting an art show featuring ten of St. Louis area’s most exciting artist in a variety of media.

Artist will be on hand to discuss their work

Saturday, February 7, 2009 from 12:00 to 4:00pm

The Nurturing Spirit

Located in The Grove

4301 Arco Avenue

ST. Louis, MO  63110

www.thenurturingspirit.com

314-533-8888

Featured artists:

Jennica Abrams

Melissa Bales

Patricia Carter

Genevieve Esson

William C. Hutton, Jr.

Levi Lancaster

Jane Linders

Steve Merritt

R.D. Peters

Timothy E. Wagner

Wow, the Holga Polka at the Regional Arts Commission was a huge blow-out!  There were tons of people there and some fabulous photography.  Thanks to all to came out to support local artists.

My photo was featured in the Riverfront Times article:

http://www.riverfronttimes.com/events/holga-polka-invitational-641397/

Here is the Saint Louis Beacon Video and Review...
http://www.stlbeaco n.org/visual_ arts/review_ holga_show_ at_rac_gets_ fancy

West End Review:  http://www.westendword.com/NC/0/1190.html

Wow, the Holga Polka at the Regional Arts Commission was a huge blow-out!  There were tons of people there and some fabulous photography.  Thanks to all to came out to support local artists.

My photo was featured in the Riverfront Times article:

http://www.riverfronttimes.com/events/holga-polka-invitational-641397/

One of my black and white infrared photos will be in Literal Chaos............lit from the landlocked. 

www.literalchaos.com

check it:  http://www.literalchaos.com/Poetry.php

Photo titled , "Blood is the New Black"

Melancholia is an all girl group show curated by Cate Anevski. Cate (and a few volunteers) have hand selected work by some of the most stunning female artists working today. The exhibition is a dreary mix of classical oddities, soft curiosities, and snowy circus dream-scapes.

This beautiful collection of work will open on December 6th in conjunction with the Wounded Bird Vintage Clothing Store (located inside of Cranky Yellow). The work will be on display through the end of February 2009.

Melancholia is part two of the Winter Wounded Bird Series

Date & Time:
Dec. 6th, 2008
7-11 pm.

Event Location:
Cranky Yellow
2122 Cherokee Street.
Saint Louis, MO
63118

Event Links:
http://www.cateanevski.com

I am pleased to announce one of my photos has been accepted to be exhibited at the upcoming WDYDWYD? exhibit on the campus of UCLA.  An image I captured at the Burningman festival in 2008 will be exhibited at this event.

WDYDWYD? Exhibition.

December 3 ?7, 2008

Freud Theater

UCLA

Answer ?why do you do what you do?? using text and imagery in a creative way.

UCLA Live is collaborating with artist Toney Defill to create a major participatory public art exhibiton called ?wdydwyd?? in front of the Freud Playhouse on the campus of UCLA.  Since 2004, over 4,000 people have answered the question Why Do You Do What You Do? From groups diverse as Harvard Business School, Echoing Green Foundation, Kellogg Foundation Fellows, Burning Man Art Festival, including notable figures like Steve Case, the founder of AOL and Gloria Steinem.

www.wdydwyd.org

My photo:  http://wdydwyd.ning.com/xn/detail/1199681:Photo:25593

Holga Polka Invitational Captures St. Louis

 -Forty-two local artists use a cheap, plastic camera for stunning results-

ST. LOUIS (October 31, 2008): In this age of digital photography, forty-two local artists have taken the Holga challenge. Forget about using expensive, technology-laden cameras. The Holga, categorized as a toy camera because it is made of plastic, doesn?t have any bells and whistles. Yet, the Holga has a loyal following dedicated to its signature style of shocking simplicity and unpredictable results.

?The Holga only has one f-stop,? explained Mark A. Fisher, photographer and curator of the Holga Polka Invitational. ?The back of the camera might fall off if you don?t tape it on. You?ll get double exposures, either intentionally or unintentionally, if you don?t advance the film. Little about the Holga says it?s a camera, but people are still using it as another tool for creating stunning work.?

To celebrate creative Holga photography in a contemporary assortment of media types and styles, the Regional Arts Commission (RAC), located at 6128 Delmar, will host the Holga Polka Invitational from January 9, 2009 ? February 22, 2009. Each of the forty-two participating artists were encouraged to experiment with alternate approaches to their own primary medium to create a variety of art ? ceramics, hand made books, alternative photographic processes, printmaking, mixed media, and if all else fails, traditional photographs - based on their own Holga images. The opening reception on January 9th from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. will feature a live polka band to help set the quirky atmosphere.

A handful of writers from local publications have also been invited to try their luck with the mysterious Holga. Stefene Russell of St. Louis Magazine, Alison Sieloff of the Riverfront Times, and Byron Kerman of Playback St. Louis will each take photos with a Holga for two weeks. Their results will be displayed at the Holga Polka Invitational and their experiment chronicled in their respective publications.

Holga Polka Invitational participant Tony Schanuel has been a photographer since the 1970s, but he didn?t begin using the Holga until Fisher gave him one in 2006. ?I hadn?t shot film in some time,? recalled Schanuel. ?I?d been using digital cameras. I have some very expensive film cameras that have been sitting on the shelf for the past seven years, and then Mark gives me this twenty-dollar plastic camera that has the lens quality of a cataract. It?s very limited in what it can do. You don?t have an incredible amount of control. Consequently, it?s a risky camera to work with.?

Despite the Holga?s flaws, or maybe because of them, Schanuel couldn?t put down his Holga. The Holga is known for producing soft-focus images, leaking light spontaneously into pictures, and casting a hazy vignette around the image without a definitive foreground or background. ?It?s a strange camera and in my case it was kind of like an odd magnet,? said Schanuel, who described the camera as ?fun? and ?wacky.? 

Schanuel said the Holga encouraged him to go back to his roots as a photographer. He found liberation in the lack of control and began to rethink subject matter. ?The Holga is the perfect camera for quirky subject matter like six-foot lawn bunnies,? said Schanuel.

The possibilities are endless for the results of the 2009 Holga Polka Invitational. Since the Holga?s birth as a kitschy, mass-produced camera in Hong Kong in the 1980s, the Holga has become an additional tool for many amateur as well as professional photographers world-wide, producing wide-ranging imagery from whimsical student work to award-winning photographs.  Photographer David Burnett won a top prize at the 2001 White House News Photographers? Association?s Eyes of History contest for a photo he took with a Holga of Al Gore on the campaign trail in 2000.

Still, the Holga remains stubbornly itself. ?It?s a Holga? you?re always going to have problems,? Fisher said. ?If there?s nothing falling off, it?s not a Holga. They are marvelous instruments for the pure purpose of ?seeing?.  All technology is relegated to how well you apply your electrical tape and whether you remember to manually advance the film.  The essence of the photographic process is distilled, producing fascinating images when placed in the hands of talented and creative artists.?

List of Holga Polka Participants

David Angell ? Photographer

Tom Bremer ? Photographer

Jim Brooks ? Photographer

Paul Callaway ? Photographer

John Cross ? Painter/ Sculptor

John Dean ? Landscape Painter

Valerie Dratwick ? Photographer

Doug Gaubatz ? Photographer

M.J. Goerke ? Hand Made Books / Mixed Media

Benjamin Guffee ? Painter/Photographer

David Hanlon ? Photographer

Robin Hirsch ? Photographer

Hilary Hitchcock ? Photographer

Noah Kirby ? Sculptor

Bob Kitt ? Photographer

Robert Langnas ? Printmaker

Jane Linders ? Photographer

Donna Lochmann ? Photographer

Don McKenna ? Photographer

Bill Meeks ? Ceramist

Janice Nesser ? Mixed Media/Photographer

Marion Noll ? Photographer

Alison Ouellette-Kirby ? Photographer,/Sculptor/ Metal Arts

Marianne Pepper ? Photographer

Joan Proffer ? Painter/Photographer

Ruth Reese ? Ceramics

Garrett Roberts ? Photographer

Russ Rosener ? Photographer

Jan Sago ? Photographer

Kathleen Sanker ? Photographer

Tony Schanuel ? Photographer/Digital Artist

Jami Schoenewies ? Painter

Michael Schoenewies ? Mixed Media

Eric Shultis ?  Painter/Mixed Media/Photographer

Jennifer Silverberg ? Photographer

Megan Singleton ? Photographer,/Hand Made Paper

Brian D. Smith ? Painter

Susan Hacker Stang ? Photographer

Maria Sweney ? Photographer

Robert M. Witte ? Photographer

Kay Wood ? Photographer

Barbara Zucker ? Photographer

About the Regional Arts Commission