Capturing the Light

As I mentioned last month, in my post about a new pin I had made, I created a new photography set-up. I am finally getting around to telling you guys about it today.

I am a member of the handemadeology team on etsy, which is a business and promotion oriented team open to all. There is a great blog set up by the founders of the team that you can visit at http://handmadeology.com that  is a wonderful resource for and support for etsy sellers. They have advertising tips and photography tips, and they also promote sellers, which is always appreciated!

I decided to build a cheap little light box based on the instructions provided by handmadeology here.  I didn't want to buy foam board as the tutorial recommends because, as we all know by now, I am CHEAP. Rather,  I currently have several large rolls of lovely artist paper that I bought on sale from a local art supply store, and I figured I could use that instead to line the cardboard box. So, I cut off two sides of a small cardboard box, and measured the bottom and sides of the box against the large roll of lightly-textured white paper.

Ta-dahhhh!  This is my wee little lightbox. I didn't do it perfectly, 
obviously, since there is a little area the paper 

doesn't cover in the corner. I need to do something about that.

We Saunter in and out of Art Shows

My household loves the Elizabeth Gordon Gallery (EGG!) in SB, primarily because we all adore the paintings of one of their mainstay artists, Sherri Bellassen. The more venal reason is because the owner of the gallery is very generous with goodies -- truffles, good cheese, lots of wine.... what else could a grad student ask for? Every time they have an opening, we trot down to it, but the one last weekend was special because it had Belassen presenting her newest work. I know little to nothing about fine art, but what I love about Belassen is how still her figures are, even though she is usually capturing them in motion (swimming, dancing), and how stylized they are. Also, being the daughter of a surfer, I love her paintings of surfers in the long hours of watching and waiting.

At the opening, we got to really spend time up close with the paintings, and I noticed the texture, the way that Belassen layered paint and left these interesting little squares open in the layers that showed other colors beneath, or even the canvas. From a distance, they looked just like little splashes or sparks, but they were so carefully planned in these perfect squares when we looked closely. My favorites were the divers and the surfers, but the hammock loungers also caught my eye.

Pssst... In the photo, I am wearing one of the pins I sell in my etsy shop.