Back in July of this year, there was a blog posting that discussed the first half of the year and what the second half of the year looked like (1st Cutting...).

Now at the end of the year, it seems overwhelming to look backwards. That being said, the point of this entry will be all about the forward.

If there is one lesson learned in this business, it is to trust your gut. If it doesn't feel right, it probably isn't. And if it does feel right, it probably is. 2011 feels very right.

The new web site is close (and late) to being rolled out. Products are being refined and some new projects are already in the queu. It will be very busy and a lot of work.

But it is still a labor of love and that is what really matters.

Thank for your support. We are very grateful for our customers.

Winter in Minnesota is an emotional roller coaster of love-hate-love.

Winter begins beautifully. It is the whitest white, very light and very gentle. Everything looks different and fresh. This is the first 'love'.

This first 'love' will last hopefully through December. Or until the first day in which the high temperature doesn't get above zero. Or the first time you have to jump-start your car. Or change a flat tire.

This is the first 'hate'.

For six to eight weeks you need to be able to tolerate this because there is no escaping it. You can try heading south for a couple of weeks, but you are only running away from reality. And reality will be here when you return.

And you know you will be returning.

And then very suddenly, things begin to feel positive again. Usually it is a bright sunny day in March or the first time you hear a robin sing, but it is enough to give you positive momentum. This is the second 'love'.

Minnesota winters have a sinusoidal rhythm and there is a comfort in that regularity.

It is difficult to take a bad picture of a moving train. They are just that photogenic.

Trains are big and powerful. They kick up dust wherever they go and nothing better get in the way of a moving train.

Slow your shutter speed down, find a static element in the foreground and shoot as many exposure combinations as you can, as quickly as you can.

This business is project driven. Which means we become involved in projects, they begin and then they finish. Some projects have longer life cycles than others and all projects are unique.

The most current project is a series of family portraits. The Human Resource department at Treasure Island Casino has contracted with us to provide family portraits (photos taken, printed and framed) for all of their 1,500 employees who want to participate. At first this might seem like a church directory project in which the goal is to be as efficient as possible and creativity is not a factor.

But it isn't, and here is why.

Each family has their own story to tell. There was the guy who was extremely body conscious, but without hesitation pulled up his shirt to show me his gastric bypass scar. Or the young family who had a little boy with serious skin graft scars all over his body from a bad burn accident and watching this little guy busy running around trying to keep up with his older siblings as much as he could. Or the married couple who have been married for 55 years and who still enjoyed ribbing each other with wisecracks. This photo is a young mom who had just found out she is pregnant. Her joy is obvious and she is so excited that she is exaggerating her pregnant belly.

The other aspect was the challenge of using a very spartan set consisting only of a white vinyl backdrop and a simple bench and still making every image unique. It was easy to fall into patterns of using a common pose that would always work. The challenge was to slowly add to the repertoire of winning poses by experimenting.

This project was not especially welcomed at first because the hours are long and crazy (the casino operates on a 24 hour basis), but after two weeks of photography I am really sorry to see it end. The casino employees are fun and genuinely fond of each other. The demographics are at the lower end of the income scale, so it has been especially well-received perk by the employees.

This has been a lot of fun.

Once again we are delighted to be a red carpet sponsor of Flyway Film Festival. This event is in its third year and is really beginning to collect some traction. The quality of the movies this year is very impressive.

The Festival begins on Thursday, October 21 with a gala event in which the sponsors, directors, actors and organizers get together, nibble on snacks, drink some wine and have creative discussions. At the end of the evening there will be an awards ceremony.

The films begin on Friday, October 22 with the screening of "Baraboo", which sounds like a very interesting film about life and the hand we are dealt. Over the course of the weekend, 21 films will be screened.

Details are at www.FlywayFilmFestival.org. See you in Stockholm in two weeks!

This week marks the final chapter of the poverty awareness photojournalism exhibit entitled "In our own backyard". This exhibit has crisscrossed the United States for the past 18 months and next week the exhibit finishes in Washington DC at the annual Leadership Summit for Catholic Charities.

Since this is the final and highest profile stop of the tour, all of the large format images are being reprinted and remounted, which is close to 120 images.

It is a very moving set of images, that address all manners of poverty and everyday life. It is really hard not to stop and soak up the texture and realism of each image.

This has been a challenging and gratifying project. One of the best parts of this project has been working with Steve Liss. He is a natural-born educator and an amazing photojournalist who gets right into the thick of it. Please visit his web site at: SteveLiss.com.

It has 18 months since the last Max Becherer update. Just to refresh, we came to know Max five years ago when we hosted his photojournalism exhibit entitled "Through the lens; Life in Iraq". Max has been in Iraq since the very beginning of the conflict (remember "shock and awe"?) and has seen action in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Gaza.

Max has since gotten married and splits his time between Cairo, Egypt and California when he isn't in the field. He is still a combat photojournalist and he is still extremely talented. Max's work has been featured in Newsweek, Time, The New York Times, The New Yorker, US News and World Report and Men's Health.

Recently Newsweek Magazine asked Max to retrace the Iraq invasion in reverse, using his photos. That feature can be found here.

After you visit that site, please visit Max's website and enjoy his talent. It is rare to see photography this deep in the action.

Half of the fun of framing (and it is very fun) is researching the art. This was a piece that was recently acquired in an art auction and this artist merits the research.

The piece is entitled "Nude & Flowers" from 1964 and painted by Russell Patterson. It is 12"x16" and it is an oil on hardboard.

Patterson was a fascinating personality who lived from 1893 to 1977. He began his career as a magazine illustrator working for Vogue, Vanity Fair, Cosmopolitan and Redbook. During this period he achieved celebrity status as an illustrator of beautiful women.

In the early 1930's he became restless and decided to become a Broadway costume designer for several successful Broadway productions. By the end of the 1930's he had moved to Hollywood to work on scene and costume design.

Again he became restless and developed a comic strip called 'Mamie', which became a Sunday syndicated cartoon that ran for six years. The Mamie character was glamorously portrayed, which leveraged his artistic talent and his sense of fashion.

By the 1960's he reverted back to being a fine art artist, but was not above exploiting his celebrity status by being a judge for Miss America and Miss Universe pageants and endorsing Medaglia D'Oro coffee and Lord Calvert whiskey.

Patterson was a renaissance man who grew up in the public eye. He enjoyed new challenges and he especially enjoyed his high profile status in the media.

Now the challenge becomes how to best frame this original that does this artist justice.

Tentative arrangements have been made to host an art exhibit later this year that will feature the work of contemporary cartoon artists. Britt Aamodt is a friend and her book will be released at about the same time as the exhibit, which is driving this exhibit. Her book will be available at the Minnesota Historical Society Press and can be found at this link. The intention is to invite several artists, exhibit some large format cartoons, have a cartooning Q&A and a book signing in an event spread out over three venues (Best of Times Bookstore, The Sheldon Theatre mezzanine gallery and at our gallery).

You might be asking yourself if cartooning is a legitimate art medium. It is and I would suggest you keep the comment to yourself, lest you become the parodied target of an offended cartoonist.

Therein lies the beauty of cartooning. It can either lampoon or glamorize their subjects. It can be humorous or it can be brutally and uncomfortably frank. It can address real life or it can fabricate an entirely new universe with it's own laws of physics. In other words, cartoon art defies definition.

This exhibit promises to be a lot of fun. I grew up reading the comics and I still read the comics. I love the comics.

This is completely consistent with past exhibits, including the Brown & Bigelow Pin-up exhibit in 2007, the Cream of Wheat original advertising art in 2008 and the original pulp magazine cover art in 2009 (see the illustration trend going here?). Details as they unfold.

July in Minnesota means the first hay cutting of the season. In a normal year, most farms will have two cuttings and then leave some winter ground cover for the critters. The first cutting will have the most yield, but it isn't until the second cutting that the break-even point is reached.

For a farmer, the first hay cutting is an opportunity to reflect on the business (year-to-date), and also project the business going forward for the rest of the year. Stretching this metaphor to a near-absurdist level, it isn't that much different in the art industry.

Business is up and the industry is cautiously optimistic. The nature of the business has changed and the types of projects have also changed. Anticipating what those changes will be and responding to those changes are some of the biggest challenges a small business owner will face.

We will continue to evolve, but we will also continue to provide the things we enjoy most about being in this business.

A new web based product is under development and should be available before the end of the year (the evolving thing). There are also discussions taking place regarding an original art exhibit in the November/December timeframe (the enjoyment thing).

And of course, thank you for your patronage. Art is good.

Cash's (sometimes called J&J Cash) is a UK company located in Coventry, England. Cash's has been producing silk embroidered bookmarks, luggage and clothing labels and name tags for over 150 years. You might assume something as ubiquitous as a clothing label would not merit museum level custom framing.

But you would be wrong.

Cash's produces a product that is clearly motivated by quality and pride in craftsmanship. It is genuinely a work of art, much in the same vein as a beautifully machined watch. A labor of love, so to speak.

This is a silk embroidered horned owl, which is part of a limited run of coniferous forest animals Cash's produced. Other varmints include a peregrine falcon, an otter and some wood ducks. Each piece is about the size of a business card and each will have their own frame.

Cash's is currently producing a series of Beatrix Potter silks, which is a perfect visual for the embroidery medium. And the price is very, very reasonable.

In 1969, friends of Richard Nixon paid for and had a two lane bowling alley installed in the lower level of the Executive Office Building. Nixon was an avid bowler and spent quite a bit of time at this bowling alley over the next five years. He had been known to bowl up to twenty games without a break.

Ollie Atkins was the official White House photographer and snapped this photo in 1970. Later that year, Nixon's White House staff used this photo to demonstrate that Nixon was not out of touch with the average citizen, and in fact was just like any other citizen.

It later achieved iconic status because of a single scene from the 1998 film "The Big Lebowski".

There is a tremendous amount of public domain imagery available from the US Government, some of it noteworthy and historically significant. Some of it kitschy. Since it was paid for with tax dollars, it really is owned by the public.

It was three years ago today that Charley Harper died.

Charley was a very unassuming artist from Ohio. He began his career as a book illustrator and over time migrated to a wildlife artist. But not the typical wildlife artist. Charley used his graphic art skills, his penchant for precision and his sense of humor to portray the natural world like no other artist ever has.

This piece is called "Isle Royale" and incorporates exactly what a birch tree forest feels like. You might think you are alone, but there are probably dozens of different eyes watching you at any given moment.

Goodbye Charley. You are missed.

This note is being added after the fact. May was a nearly overwhelming month between work, a mini-vacation, graduations and non-profit activity. In lieu of posting anything of substance, here is a photo that was taken in May.

Grand Marias, MN on May 24, 2010. The fog was very thick and the air was very gray. Probably not a good idea to stand in the middle of the road, but it was awesome.

Because the sensor in a digital SLR camera is typically smaller than the 35 mm film that it replaced, the physics of the focal point of the lens are changed. This is known as "The Field of View Crop Factor" or sometimes "The Focal Length Multiplier". The net result means your long lens becomes longer and your wide lens becomes narrower.

Wildlife photographers sing the praises of The Focal Length Multiplier because their 200 mm telephoto lens effectively becomes a 320 mm lens. Creative photographers hate it because now a 24 mm lens becomes a 38 mm lens and you can never get wide enough.

My personal lens investment is from the pre-digital era, so I never had the chance to compensate for this effect. All of my lens became too long for many of my purposes. I satisfy my need for wide by occasionally renting a 14 mm ultra-wide lens (effective focal length of 22 mm), which reminds me of the good old days, when a wide lens was truly a wide lens.

Wide is a lot of fun and it also allows me to keep the header imagery fresh.

The definition of penumbra is 'almost shadow' or 'almost dark' (or light). Penumbra is typically used to describe events in astronomy, such as when an eclipse occurs.

In photography, penumbra is a unique opportunity to capture texture and atmosphere in an almost occult-like light. A strip club has always struck me as kind of sad and desperate. I have been meaning to take this photo for years but the highway has been re-routed and it is especially tricky to get to. This isn't exactly the effect I was looking for (drizzle and water puddles would have been ideal), but I liked the emotion the headlights provided.

Jake's strip club is located in Coates, Minnesota. It had a litigious relationship with the community and for years the town continually passed laws to close it down. In 2002 the Minnesota Supreme Court ruled finally that the town was within it's authority to close Jake's. In an unwise effort to vote the local politicians out of office, Jake's owner had 92 patrons (sometimes called rummy's) fill out voter registration cards, using the strip club as their home address.

You don't mess with the feds. It is never a good idea to break federal voting fraud laws and especially in such a stupid manner. Several hundred thousand dollars later, the case was finally settled. The bar never did reopen and it has been vacant ever since. No doubt it will be torn down and the opportunity to capture Jake's in penumbra light will be gone forever.

Many years ago, a very good framing customer brought in this beautiful antique jigsaw puzzle to be framed. It was from the turn of the 19th century and the construction itself is a work of art. The pieces are scroll sawed and several pieces themselves are shaped as children's toys (monkeys, toy soldiers, etc.). It is a remarkable example of craftsmanship.

The only problem was that a single piece of the puzzle was missing. This seemed very tragic and because of the depth of the puzzle, it was as obvious as a missing tooth on a beautiful model in a toothpaste ad. But, it is what it is, and since it had been in her family for many, many years, it was decided to frame it up regardless, as is.

Jump ahead several years to the present...the customer removes a drawer from a dresser and low-and-behold the missing puzzle piece reappears from behind the drawer.

There is something very therapeutic in knowing that the missing puzzle piece will soon be reunited with its brothers and sisters and now the picture is complete.

The Lord works in mysterious ways.

Yoshitomo Nara is a 51 year old Japanese pop artist that has been influenced by anime and punk rock.  His sculptures seem cartoonish in nature and are typically animals or children.  Very often his subjects will have contradictory elements such as weapons or accusatory looks that belie their wide-eyed expressions.
 
The interesting thing about Nara is his consistency.  Artists like Nara have this pursuit of the same relentless vision regardless of the critics.  Nara says he is helpless in this matter because he is compelled to create them.
 
This fiberglass sculpture is called “Your Dog” and is part of the permanent collection at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. 

It has been a full year since we became involved in the Catholic Charities American Poverty photojournalism project. It has been a rewarding and challenging year and now a certain rhythm takes place as the exhibit crisscrosses the United States. This coming week the exhibit presents itself in Nashville, Tennessee. The map above demonstrates where the exhibit has traveled (in red) and where it is yet to travel (in blue). Additional cites might still be added and no final confirmation yet if the final exhibit will take place at the White House.

Steve Liss is the Project Director and will travel to each city immediately prior to the exhibit reception and artfully and tastefully documents the slices of poverty unique to each community. Our job becomes image preparation (printing, mounting and packaging) all of the images for each exhibit and delivering them directly to the exhibit venue. Usually there isn't a single day to spare and thankfully UPS has delivered each and every package on time and in perfect condition. Ideally there would be a larger buffer of time for production, but then, what would be the challenge in that?

It is a challenge and from every challenge you hope you learn and improve from the experience. The official web site is worth a visit. It is very well done.

Over the years and after working with countless artists, it is easy to forget what an artist really goes through when they exhibit their art. They open themselves up for critical review and there is significant exposure on the part of the artist. They might be appear to be nonchalant or even over-confident about exhibiting, but inside their stomach acids are working overtime. For me, it was time to put up or shut up.

The 'Foot in the Door' exhibit is different in this regard. It is completely democratic, because if it fits in the box, it exhibits. Consequently, it becomes much less about the art and more about just being able to exhibit and have fun. I submitted a photograph I took ten years ago. it is entitled "Midnight on Mason Street". It was taken in San Francisco and the image exposure was on the neon leg. This severely underexposed the rest of the image and you are left with these two illuminated signs on opposite sides of the street. It is a gimmick photo, but I am partial to gimmicks. I was raised on comic books and my favorite part was always the Johnson-Smith page on the inside back cover (x-ray glasses and such). The clearinghouse of gimmicks.

My favorite image from the exhibit has to be the seed art tribute to wrestler Baron von Raschke. Classic.

Just to refresh...a customer had rescued this original Marc Chagall linoleum lithograph from slowly being destroyed by the mounting and the framing (please see: "How to commit art murder", or, "I ruined a masterpiece, but saved on the framing"...). The mats were leeching acid into the art paper, the non-UV glass was allowing the sun to fade the art and the mdf frame was slowly dissolving the art with formaldehyde out-gassing.

The rescued piece will be picked up by the customer today and some type of ceremony will take place to present the art back to the public library. I thought I would share the design details of this project:

It is a double rag mat design (100% acid free) with a filet. The bottom mat is a 1" reveal (this is a museum standard for a design with a filet) and the top mat is a 3.25" reveal. The art paper had some waviness and it is loosely held in place with archival corners on the backside. This allows the art to breathe and respond to the ambient temperature. The outside moulding is called an Amante design and is a classic moulding style. The glazing is a museum quality UV glass, which is almost imperceptible. It was decided not to conceal the staining from the previous mats and try to work the flawed feature into the overall design.

It looks very classy and is totally reversible for future framers in the event of a re-design.

Respect the art. Protect, preserve and present the art.

I love the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. I know that is not a profound observation for anybody who has ever visited the MIA, because anybody who has ever visited it, also falls in love with it. It is a friendly and welcoming arts atmosphere (which isn't as common as you would hope), the art is terrific and it is free. What's not to love?

Be that as it may, the 'Foot in the Door 4' is shaping up nicely. I had the chance to visit a second time before the public unveiling. The total submissions were beyond all estimates and the lines were long for nearly the entire four day submission period. The final number is a closely guarded secret until the public reception, but sources close to the count have provided a range of between 4,700 and 5,000 entries (compared to 1,700 submissions ten years ago, the last time this exhibit took place). Three large gallery rooms will be filled and the raw expression of creativity is almost overwhelming.

I managed to find my piece and two of the three pieces I had submitted on behalf of friends and offspring. It looked as if about half the art was up and I did hear that all of the art had been photographed for the online gallery.

This job provides for a couple of perks, one of which is being involved in interesting art exhibit projects from a 'behind the scenes' perspective. In other words, friends in the art world ask you to volunteer to help them with an event. Yesterday was a perfect example.

Every 10 years (this being the fourth time), The Minneapolis Institute of Arts hosts an event called the "Foot in the Door" exhibit. Essentially, any Minnesota resident, at no expense to themselves, can submit one original piece of art they have created to be exhibited at The Minneapolis Institute of Arts. The art cannot be larger than 12"x12" for wall art or larger than 12"x12"x12" for three dimensional art. It is a terrific opportunity to exhibit in one of the most prestigious museums in the world for four months.

Art check-in takes place over four days. As a volunteer for the art check-in, my responsibilities were 1) insure the art did not violate the size rule, 2) collect the paperwork for each piece, 3) assign a wall location, 4) provide a receipt for the art and then 5) deliver the art to the staging area. In other words, the first point of contact for the artists. The art itself was impressive and the range was amazing. Each piece was cradled by the artists as if it were a newborn.

After the art is received, it is staged in an exhibit room and waits to be registered in the computer and photographed for the on-line catalogue. Over 1,000 artists checked in art the first day and over 3,000 submissions are expected. At the peak crowd size, the wait was 2.5 hours, but everybody was extremely patient and in a very good mood.

One of the other perks in volunteering is checking in your own art (and your friend's art) without the complication of waiting in line. Those will be posted later.

Today my back is killing me (marble floors) and I am exhausted. It cost me a day's pay to be there and the tuna sandwich was stale when I finally had a chance to eat. But I made many new friends and saw many familiar friends and would do it again in a New York minute. I can't wait for the exhibit reception which is on February 18, 2010.

Apparently not.

In any case, it is time for a Red Wing Central Park Band Shell follow-up.

This time last year, the park was a mess. Frozen and snow-covered dirt piles were scattered all over the site. It looked like a project that was going to miss the July 4th deadline. But the Red Wing Construction company is very professional and proud of the product they deliver. The 4th of July deadline was met with days to spare.

After the project was finished, Red Wing Construction presented The Jones Family Foundation (the benefactors of the band shell to the City) with this beautifully framed momento. It is a 36"x32" multi-opening custom framed piece of the band shell from all different angles and during the very first performance. It also includes a custom embossed mat of the Red Wing Construction logo.

We were proud to provide all of the photographs, the printing and the framing and we have since built a few of these pieces for Red Wing Construction.

January is usually a quiet month in the art and framing industry. There might be a small bump in business because of some Christmas follow-up framing, but that trickles away pretty quickly.

This January was an exception. Several projects came in the door because of fiscal calendar years that started January 1st. Another major Catholic Charities project was delivered, this time for a Centennial Leadership Summit in San Jose, CA. This was the largest venue so far (this being the 4th) and it will move across the United States every month until September, where hopefully it will exhibit at the White House. Go to www.AmericanPoverty.org to get the most current updates. I love working on this project because it leverages the power of photography and it is an absolute adrenaline rush in meeting the tight deadlines. In this business, this is known as a 'good gig'.

We also had our first order from Turkmenistan. To be more precise; Ashgabat, Turkmenistan. This is a former Soviet Union republic that declared independence in 1991. It was a nice sized order of 10 large format mounted images and one extremely large canvas print. There is a sense of satisfaction in knowing your handiwork is on the job in some remote part of the world.

On an unrelated note; Downtown Mainstreet agreed to co-sponsor a photography competition with Red Wing Framing & Fine Art Printing. It is always fun to have too much to do.

And finally, if nothing else I learned a long time ago to surround yourself with very smart people. Or at least stand close to them.

I am uber-excited about a new project that some very smart people I have come to know are advising me on. This is on a six-month timetable, so the details will roll out over time.

This is very tragic, but thank God a good samaritan rescued the art.

This original Marc Chagall lithograph had been donated to the local library. Many years ago, somebody made the decision to frame this irreplaceable art with the cheapest framing solution available. This included a cheap mdf frame with standard glass and paper mats. To further insult the art, the art was glued to the back of the mat.

So, let's summarize how this art was nearly ruined;

1) The frame was made from a cheap mdf material which out-gasses formaldehyde (an effective way to dissolve art),
2) The glass provided no UV radiation protection from the sun so fading is inevitable,
3) The mat was a cheap paper mat with acids that leeched into the art and foxing (bacteria) is growing on the paper,
4) The glue. Sigh, don't even get me started about the glue.

A biological, chemical and radioactive attack on the art. A true WMD from an art standpoint.

Friends don't let friends frame drunk.

Be that as it may, it is an amazing piece of creativity. Chagall was a Jewish Russian-French artist who lived from 1887 until 1985. He was a giant in the art world and an early innovator of Modernism. It really is inspiring to examine.

We are working on a new and completely archival frame design. I will post it when the project is finished.

Admittedly it might seem odd to write a haiku to a vehicle, but I feel I owe it at least that, especially since I am about 2,000 miles behind my scheduled oil change.

The 2006 Honda Element has been a beast for me (in a good way). It is the perfect art transport vehicle. Once the rear seats are removed, there is almost 73 cubic feet of very rectangular space, which is perfect for hauling art upright. It is very dependable and practical. On the downside, it is a bit cold blooded and the passenger ride is somewhat upright.

So, in lieu of an oil change (maybe next week) and in the tradition of 5-7-5 haiku rhythm:

Ode to Element
A square can roll round
Even in Winter

Happy new year!