Here’s the lowdown: DeadHead Lumber reclaims logs that came to rest at the bottom of the Maine lakes as a bi-product of the logging indusry. The logs are indigenous hardwoods that grew in Maine’s pristine virgin forests. These particular hardwood trees were allowed to grow slowly, resulting in the tight growth rings, unrivaled size, density and rich color that are coveted trademarks of old-growth lumber. You can learn more about the company by visiting their website: www.deadheadlumbercompany.com.

Below are shots taken of the owner’s latest project; a loft space converted into a small office. The room boast high ceilings, large windows and of course, an amazing hardwood floor.

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I wholeheartedly agree with what William Albert Allard says above. As a photographer, everything I see is a picture. The mundane, the ordinary, is never ordinary in my eye. I firmly believe that beauty surrounds us, we just have to be open to it. I also believe in using whatever tools I have to hand to capture the beauty around me and often times manipulate that which I choose to bring forward, enhance and expose. In the images below, I took a vase of tulips I received for Valentine’s Day and photographed the flowers specifically with my iPhone to explore the tulips in a way I had not explored flowers before, creating imagery that takes on serveral different qualities, yet in my mind, enhancing the beauty and wonder of the original product. At the end of the day, I like to expose the subjectivity of all the images I make using whatever tools I have to hand. I plan to show some of these images in the upcoming Bideford Art Walk, February 26, 2010.

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For Polaroid lovers everywhere, my first endeavor after a 3 year hiatus of not using my SX-70 camera using TZ Artistic Polaroid film. I purchased the film at http://www.polarpremium.com which had a turn around time of two days (not long to wait seeing as I had waited 3 years to get this particular camera out).

The beauty of the SX-70, for me, is the ability to focus it, adding some depth of field to the final image. I hadn’t used TZ Artisitc before, so I wasn’t sure what the results would be. The film develops quite differently than the SX-70 film I was used to, but that, to me, just adds to the beauty and quality of the final image.

This image was composed soley with natural light coming through the window of my studio. Like any other new photographic product, you do have to experiment with it a bit to get the best results, but I was pleased with the overall tonal quality of the image to the left and look foward to more experiments with the film.

For more Polaroid images, visit http://www.angelacoulombe.com/polaroids.php.

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Elliott Erwitt

I’ve always been facinated with the photographic image, be it constructed from conventional means, digital means, or other. I’ve spent many a moment thinking about the sacrosanct nature of the photographic image and what it means to alter an image. I’ve felt that printing an image itself is an act of manipulation and altering. If I use one type of paper and one type of developer, I end up with something completely different each time I swap one or the other out. Taking this further, does scratching, marking or using any other physical means beyond developer and fixative to mark it, considered desacration, a sacreligious invasion of artist intent, or visual enhancement?

When I was at university studying art, I was strongly influenced by a few people: Kurt Schwitters, generally acknowledged as the twentieth century’s greatest master of collage, Francis Picabia, Christian Ludwig Attersee and Arnulf Rainer. Their artistic vision was in line with mine and I learned more about the manipulated image from both Schwitter’s photographic collages and the paintings and imagery of the others. Though my work does not expound any particular political message, I do use phrases, words and text to illustrate a more subtle view point.

Finally, I’ve come to the conclusion that for me, the photographic image is one tool, one ingredient in the larger piece of work, in the overall way I see things. Below are some examples of some recent work I created in January 2010 that go a little way to explain the way I see things.

^ Colour print from digital montage, Brighton UK, Handpainted canvas (8×8)

^ Colour print from digital. Flower ME, Montage Brighton UK, Handpainted canvas (6×12)

^ Colour print from digital. Flower ME, Montage Brighton UK, Handpainted canvas (8×6)

^ Colour print from digital. Flower Montage, ME (sunflowers), Handpainted canvas (6×8)

^ Colour print from digital. Flowers, ME. (8×8) Handpainted canvas

^Colour print from digital. Flowers, ME. (6×12) Handpainted canvas (6×6)

^ B/w print from digital. Pinhole camera, Nottingham, UK. Handpained canvas (6×6)

^ B/w print from digital. Pinhole camera, Crystal Palace, UK. Handpained canvas (6×6)

^ B/w print from digital. Pinhole camera, Crystal Palace, UK. Handpained canvas (6×6)

^ Colour print from b/w & digital. Mexico City, Ferry Beach Maine. Handpainted canvas (6×12)

^ B/w print from digital. Flowers, Nottingham, UK. Handpainted canvas (8×8)

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“If I saw something in my viewfinder that looked familiar to me, I would do something to shake it up.” – Garry Winogrand

Creating new work for the upcoming Biddeford Art Walk gave me an opportunity to review a variety of photographs I’ve made over the years. In this upcoming body of work, titlted “Private Walk”, I’ve used images I’ve made using a mixed bag of formats: conventional 35mm photography, Polaroids, pinhole cameras and digital means. As connected as we are as humans, especially with the dawn of e-communcations and social media, I feel we’re still struggling at what it truly means to communicate as we persue our own private walks through this life. There are still barriers we struggle with breaking down, whether they’re political, spiritual or racial and our ways of seeing are the ways we take along our journey as we all create our private walks. The photographs below represent my viewpoint along my own personal and private walk.

^ Private Walk, b/w print, Maine, USA

^ Walk, b/w print, Mexico City, Mexico

^ And the band played on. b/w print. Mexico City, Mexico

^ Gary. b/w print on art paper. Brighton, UK.

^ Self Portrait, b/w print, Barcelona, Spain.

^ Fallen Angel series, pinhole camera, Notthingham Cemetary, Notts, UK

Fallen Angel series, pinhole camera, Notthingham Cemetary, Notts, UK

Fallen Angel series, pinhole camera, Notthingham Cemetary, Notts, UK

^ Statues, Crystal Palace Serics, Polaroid, Crystal Palace, London, UK

^ Statues, Crystal Palace Serics, b/w print, Crystal Palace, London, UK

^ Living Room series, b/w print, Nottingham, UK

^ Living Room series, b/w print, Nottingham, UK

^ Don’t Bless War, Polaroid, London West End, London, UK

^ Cottage Window, Polaroid, East Sussex, UK

^ The Door to the Left, Polaroid, East Sussex, UK

^ The Door to the Centre, Polaroid, East Sussex, UK

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My little visit to Boston on the coldest day of the year so far to see Eddie Izzard seems to have been just the tonic I needed to get out from under my duvet and back to some outdoor activity. Thing is, though, IT’S COLD OUTSIDE. Yes, I did choose to live in a place where there is a definite “winter”, but I think as I get older, it is getting much colder in my little winter haven. However, this may be the first year in a very long time that Europe also seems to be in the grips of a cold spell and I thought it was time to comiserate with my brethern abroad. Now, I don’t know about anyone else, but there does come a stage in the winter when everything is blanketed in anywhere from 3″ to 3′ of snow and all I can think about is green grass, flowers and warmth, aka spring!

As I head out to my garden today, it is covered in about 4″ of crusted-over, icy snow. However, the thought of what my garden will look like in the first weeks of spring and early summer fills me with a wonder for the icy white stuff and the ground underneath. Below, you can see an image of what my garden borders look like today compared to how they will look like in the spring. And thinking about spring with all the life, warmth and beauty it brings during these cold, cold days (as well as Eddie Izzard) is what keeps most of us who choose to live in a winter wonderland going! If you need to see more flora, please check out my flower gallery at http://www.angelacoulombe.com/flowers.php,
and remember to keep your sunny side up!

^ Garden view in winter

^ Garden view in spring

^ Garden view in winter

^ Garden view in spring

^ Close up view of garden in spring

^ Garden view in spring

^ Garden view in spring

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The last time I had seen his live show was at the Brixton Academy back in the 1990’s. I fell in love with his performance then and have followed his goings on since. His show last night in Boston made my day, my month, possibly my year, and after seeing him, oddly enough, it didn’t seem quite so cold outside anymore.

Eddie Izzard during his performance at TD Garden, Boston, MA, Jan. 12, 2010

Getting a sense of how large the stage and backdrops were.

Couldn’t take my eyes off Eddie(s).

Collecting animals two by two.

Latin as a language, hmm.

Who else can make the f-word sound like a love song?

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The fifth annual “Fesitval of Trees” is being held at the Saco Museum through December 31, 2009. This is one of my favourite festivals; its colourful, bright, inspiring and nothing quite gets me in the mood for Christmas like this. Though my Christmas tree never lives up to the very high standards set by those who decorate and contribute trees to this event, I do find it such an inspiring feast for the eyes and do go home with new found desire to improve the look of my tree. This year, as I had quite a few children in tow and wanted to photograph quickly, again, I used my iPhone to do so. Okay, iPhone’s DON’T do close up photography well, but they do imbue the images with a certain aged quality (pixelation?) which again lends to the nostalgic feeling in the images and the festivities as a whole. Below is a sample of images. Do check out the festival for yourself AND also check out the rest of the museum, it’s truly worth it!

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The canvases start off blank. Here I’ve already started the painting process.

I layer different paints on the canvases until I have the right colour combinations.

I also paint on paper to create different textures I can use on the canvases.

Cut out stars. Some have been sewn with my sewing machine, some will end up on collages.

Layering textured paper over canvases. Practicing my fancy hand writing before adding text to canvases.

Nothing gets wasted. Even the scrap I clean my brushes on and write on will get used later.

Finished product, canvase with sewn Polaroid.

Polaroid of VW bus door with cut out text from Spanish dictionary on canvas.

More of the finished products - all using Polaroid images.

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Mean and moody, this guys a shouter!

This shady character has a bit of a light hand.

This guy is the school bully either pushing kids into or up against lockers.

This fellow is know for his run-ins with the police and stealing from the needy.

This girls has got some chompers on her. Watch out, she bites!

Watch your parked car around this girl! She’ll take a key to the side of it as fast as you can say "Wot?"

Scratching up a good paint job.

Getting into even more trouble at school.

Bullying isn’t out of the ordinary for this fellow.

He’s not speaking about trouble at school, he’s shouting about it!

Pushing students into lockers is just his way of having fun.

Just don’t make him mad!

Stealing from the local food drive - how low can you go?

Nicked again!

Biting into her brother is a daily occurance.

He’s gotta take his anger out on someone!

Stealing from the church collection basket now that really takes the biscuit!

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