Yvette Meltzer ~ Picasso's Playground in Chicago

I'd like to introduce you to some delightful work by fellow Evanstonian, Yvette Meltzer. These photographs sing and it seems like a wonderful portfolio to share this time of year. This work was produced by Yvette from her office window overlooking the Picasso Statue in downtown Chicago's Daley Plaza. Yvette's creativity and photographic eye are so strong, as she captures the spirit of childhood.





In Yvette's words...

"My office window overlooks Daley Plaza in Chicago in which the Picasso Statue stands. I have been captivated by the freedom and the spontaneity of children’s movements as they play on the Picasso Statue. The children there have a willingness to venture into the unknown, to explore with joy. Their free movements stand in sharp contrast to the photos that were taken of me as a child where I posed stiffly and often against my will. These children appeared to be living dolls which also tapped into my interest in dolls and doll houses which I also collect and photograph. I was also drawn to the interplay of color and light on the form of the sculpture which changes over the course of my eight hour day in the office. The images I captured are not staged but rather the spontaneous movements that I have viewed through my office window over the last three years.



I have been taking photographs of my family since age ten. Next I included my friends as subjects and gradually in my thirties, I turned the camera to people I did not know personally. My photography reflects my interest in people, the narratives of their lives, and the environments that shape them.





Children and youth have inspired my spirit and they continue to be the subject of many of the images which I have captured both locally and in my travels. This comes as no surprise to those who know me as I have been a life long children’s advocate whose professional career has focused on protecting the rights of children, working to keep their spirits free.





I viewed the Picasso sculpture as a playground on which the children were able to exercise their initiative, determination, confidence, and courage, as well as their muscles, as they climbed, often from a running start, away from their parents or grandparents or whatever adult accompanied them, motivated to interact with their environment. I see children as intrinsically strong, competent and powerful, and I think these images illustrate that belief."







You can see more of Yvette's work HERE.

Nelson Armour

Nelson is a new member of our critique group and is proving to have a wonderful eye. The following work is from his travels to the Apostle Islands, located off the coast of northern Wisconsin.







In Nelson's words...

"Apostle Islands

In July of 2012 my wife and I charted a sailboat to explore the Apostle Islands. This National Lakeshore of the U.S. National Park Service constitutes twenty-two islands in Lake Superior within twenty miles of the northern coast of Wisconsin, off of Bayfield, Wisconsin. If you can picture the beauty of northern Wisconsin, transport these north woods into Lake Superior as numerous uninhabited islands with the exception of one.





Most of this series of photographs were taken on Julian Beach, the east side of the island. This beach faces directly into Lake Superior without the protection afforded by other islands. Thus, the storms of Lake Superior, huge and often frightening, bear down on this beach with high waves and gale force winds. The trees and driftwood on the beach bare the scares of these storms. Our morning on Julian was on a glorious summer day with a calm Lake Superior lapping on the beach. In exploring the beach, we also found as estuary colored by the tannic acid of decaying trees and organic matter. One final photograph was taken at dusk in Raspberry Bay, looking north at sundown into an eerily colored sky.





For me, photography is an act of artistically capturing something real. I attempt to see and frame a composition that will motivate a viewer to remain observing the image rather than quickly moving on. Many artists often spend considerable time in developing ideas and in executing their work. Yet, for some photographers obtaining an image occurs quickly, allowing little time to carefully compose the frame and consider thematic elements. In “post-production,” the term for digital darkroom work, the effort is often elaborate and time consuming, but the initial moment of creation can be brief. For these photographers, the challenge is to compress previous work, effort and study into a brief, click of the shutter."



You can see more of Nelson's work HERE.

There seems to be lots of art coming out of that state...I am currently reading a beautifully written book, Driftless by David Rhodes and it is about a small town of Words, Wisconsin. An amazing read...

Alan Leder ~ The Pod Project

I will now take you into another realm....that of Alan Leder. Alan has many interesting bodies of work, including The Pod Project. His painting background clearly influences how he sees and interprets the world.
I will leave the rest for Alan to explain...



In Alan's works...

"In my photography, I tend to document and study images of natural forms and industry's detritus. I'm drawn to the elements of our known world as they are transcribed through the lensing of natural light. At the same time, I am transfixed by the unknowable world, all that glitters in the infinite dark space enveloping our blue planet.





Unable to see what the far distant future might hold for us, I can only imagine; I search for hints in mundane micro matter, for hidden glimpses of a nuclear core or the striated surface of a lifeless stellar mass. The yield is a re-animated crop of primal ovoid forms, invented "astral projections" at once beautiful and mysterious. I imagine these as transformative cosmic events from a galaxy far, far away. Perhaps that galaxy was ours."













Alan will be showing this work at the Bridgeport Art Center, 1200 West 35th Street , Chicago, scheduled to open in May of 2012. Be sure to check out his website HERE.

back from New Orleans


Liminality (from the Latin word līmen, meaning "a threshold") is a psychological, neurological, or metaphysical subjective state, conscious or unconscious, of being on the "threshold" of or between two different existential planes (from Wikipedia). That is what it is like to be in New Orleans. There is just something about that city that is like no other. I felt like Alice in Wonderland falling down the rabbit hole into another world of reality. For me it is a city unparalleled in its music, food, art and soul.

(all photos taken with my iphone)

Treme Creole Gumbo Festival featuring the actors from the HBO Treme show

Friday night on Frenchmen Street at Snug Harbor with Ellis Marsalis


3-6pm half price oysters everyday at Luke

John Boutte at d.b.a., the composer of the Treme theme song...he doesn't sing the song, he is the song!

The Contemporary Arts Center had some wonderful work...including

Kyle Bravo, 2011 Self Portrait, "Reaching"


Club S & S (Stephen Paul Day & Sibylle Peretti), suicide notes, 2011; Mixed Media on napkins



PhotoNola had many offerings for the weekend including a photogravure demonstration at Josephine Sacabo's studio and a Tintype exhibit at HomeSpace Gallery, which included a wet plate demonstration.
Josephine Sacabo giving photogravure demonstration


S. Gayle Stevens speaking about her work at HomeSpace Gallery

Bruce Schultz giving a wet plate demonstration

and I happily went home with a tintype portrait

Suzy Halpin ~ American's Beauty Show

Every wonder about what it would be like to be back stage as models are getting ready for the "lime light?" Take a look at what Suzy Halpin has done. The black and white photographs are beautifully choreographed by Suzy's eye and timing with the release of the shutter button.


In Suzy's words...

"Voyeurism is an unkind word, but perhaps accurate. I have always wanted to be on the inside of people and understand what they are thinking and feeling. My mind has always created stories about the people I notice. The more interesting the person looks, the more interesting the story is. Now, spending my time so often behind the lens, I find I have even more questions as I look at each of my photographs, and my stories get even larger.



This series of ‘American Beauty’ is my latest attempt to understand a group of people who all share a common interest outside of my own interests. As I look at each of these images I notice the drastic contrast between the stylist and their model. Is there something to be learned from this? Does it inspire you to create? Is beauty silent? I wonder all of these questions and many more from these images. What do you wonder?













As always, I am always grateful and encouraged by the openness of the subjects of my photos. All of these people knew they were being photographed and I would thank each of them by name if I could."

You can see more of Suzy's work HERE.

New Orleans, PhotoNOLA and Prospect.2

So many changes occured post Katrina, one of which was the formation of The New Orleans Photo Alliance. It has grown in leaps and bounds since 2006, offering many wonderful opportunities for photographers including juried exhibitions, workshops and educational programs. They also offer an annual photography festival, PhotoNOLA. It is a great organization to belong to, run by a passionate group of artists.


I attended PhotoNola a couple of years back and am returning for the Benefit Party and Print Auction, having donated Burn No 45 to the event. Many people are involved to create this fabulous weekend which includes portfolio reviews, workshops, lectures, and alternative process demonstrations, a true labor of love. Its location can't be beat and any excuse to return to New Orleans is good enough for me! I will be basking in the music, the food and the art...and oh, did I mention Prospect 2?

Dan Cameron Introduces Prospect New Orleans from Newgray on Vimeo.

Francesca Woodman on Self Portraiture


I am taking a short digression from featuring some Chicago artists because there was very interesting article in the New York Times art section on Sunday on Francesca Woodman which featured her parents, both artists in their own right, and how they have gone about working with her archives. I had started a blog post on her last April but it somehow got squirreled away.







Woodman worked from a place of unconsciousness and total surrender. Her life was cut short at the tender age of 22 and some of her images fore shadow her untimely death...raw and riveting.




video posted on You Tube by Arteensilencio

Maggie Meiners ~ Exposed Under Cover

Ever wonder what it would be like to do a series of self portraits? Take a look at what Maggie Meiners has done in her series I Am Who You Want Me to Be. The photographs are so well seen, direct and incredibly compelling.


In her words...

"This is an on-going series of self-portraits that began with an examination of the many roles I play, both assigned and elective. The works detach from the traditional notion of portrait in two ways. The square format allows each work to occupy a space separate from landscape or portrait, just as one’s own experience; environment and appearance map our identity. In addition, the exclusion of the face removes individual identity suggesting that while I possess unique particulars, the role of the any individual is multi-tiered and complex.





Every individual has aspects of their life that they would prefer to deny or disguise. Here, each vignette is unapologetically filled with the accoutrements of my day-to-day life. Cindy Sherman and her commentary on the representations of women in society have certainly influenced me. Yet these works remain personal observations commenting on my own experience, while nodding toward the multiplicities that comprise the totality of every contemporary woman.


My previous work has, even at its most abstract, dealt with specific places, experiences and forms. I am largely self-taught, and as my practice developed, I believe that I had to gain a better understanding of my self. I am an individual, and I am also a wife, mother, consumer, athlete, daughter, sister, and cook, to name a few. Yet, as an artist in an unexpected socio-economic construct I am often a novelty. Looking clearly and unapologetically at these various roles has afforded me a larger view of the human condition; and an awareness of the self we expose and the self we keep private."


Here are a few images to prime us for the upcoming holidays!







You can see Maggie's work up close and personal at the Zia Gallery in Winnetka, IL

Art Fox ~ Walls @ Chicago Cultural Center

In the next several works I am planning on presenting some work of a very talented group of Chicago photographers. I hope you enjoy it! Art Fox currently has work up at the Chicago Cultural Center in his first solo show. He helps us to see the extraordinary in the ordinary.



In Art's Words...

"How, Why, When, and Where: Walls"

"After food and clothing is shelter. Shelter means walls. Even our great cities are made of walls. The lucky dwellers have four and a roof; the unfortunate borrow one as haven from wind, rain, and man. But think China. Think Berlin. Walls keep you out and they keep you in. And ever since the petroglyphs they are blackboard, mural, signboard, journal. Cold and flat but the very mark of mankind. Walls tell us about people."









"I have always been a collector of the common unappreciated objects of art which fill our world. Ever since childhood I have squirreled away curious rocks, fossils, seeds, odd pieces of wood, or manmade objects, for their colors and contours. Walls are a fusion of the natural and the manmade, and like these smaller things, also present fascinating abstract patterns and textures. Street artists may have used them as a canvas worthy of preservation. Walls are too big to bring home, but they are patient and will wait for me, until the light is right or the car moves on. They are forgiving of depth of field and shutter speed. They are also a convenient stage-set, upon which we can view the people around us. I see myself as a collector of light patterns reflected off the walls of our world."







Here is a review from photo critic, Michael Weinstein from the New City Art

"Shooting in lush, muted color, Art Fox continues the modernist tradition of wall photography pioneered by Aaron Siskind, and redeems the ruins, as Siskind put it, by capturing the enthralling blend of textures, splashes of paint, pock marks and blistering lettering and rust that bedeck weathered surfaces that can exert a hypnotic effect. Fox’s images range from straight representational shots to nearly pure abstractions, the latter of which are the most successful by virtue of our ability to concentrate on composition and color to the exclusion of everything extraneous. Fox reaches the perfection that Siskind sought of besting abstract expressionist paintings in “Wire and Wall,” in which the involving cracked and striated gray concrete surface is broken by a vertical swathe of red, orange and yellow paint within which a rigid black vertical line (the wire) sections off the composition."


Through December 21 at the Chicago Cultural Center, 78 East Washington

Pushing the Boundaries of Photography ~ Greg Halvorsen Schreck on The Art of Fixing a Shadow

If you are interested in what is new in photography, be sure to check out the work of Greg Halvorsen Schreck. His work is nothing short of amazing. It is just a matter of time before this goes mainstream. Greg is a Chicago treasure.




in Greg's words....

"Lambertian photographs are digital photographs made out of wood. There is no pigment, ink, or emulsion that define them, nor are they projected images. Rather, the photographs are formed by light and shadow as it rakes across the surface contours. The science of the images is based on Lambert’s Law, from 1760. The equation calculates the diffuse reflection intensity of a surface based upon the angle of illumination and the angle of observation. Programmers have used Lambert’s Law to render objects realistically in 3-d computer programs. Mark Woodworth, a friend, an industrial physicist, coded Lambert’s equation into a software program that translates grayscale pixel densities into angular surface changes that can be milled on to a wood surface. Each photograph combines around 96 separately machined pieces of wood viewed from the side. In normal room light, the images can barely be perceived. They look like a peculiar chunk of wood; maybe something is carved into the surface. Illuminated properly with a single light source, the wood magically transforms into a black and white photograph."




"The poetry of each portrait comes from their concave quality. The photograph is hollowed out of the wood, a subtractive process. So the sitter leaves a space behind, an absence. That absence is reminiscent of the shadow that symbolizes the origins of art, when the Corinthian maid traced the shadow of her beloved the night before he left for war, so she could remember him. As a result of this myth, both art and photography have been described as “fixing a shadow.” John Berger speculates something similar as he reflects on one of his drawings, “What is a likeness? When a person dies, they leave behind, for those who knew them, an emptiness, a space: the space has contours and is different for each person mourned. This space with its contours is the person’s likeness and is what the artist searches for when making a living portrait. A likeness is something left behind invisibly.”

Greg teaches photography at Wheaton College and has his work up at the Schneider Gallery in Chicago until December 31st. His work is extraordinary and must be seen in real life to fully appreciate it.


Scenes from the Front

The smells coming from my home studio are truly bittersweet. The beeswax from the new work is oh so lovely but the camera and case reek of smoke. It will all dissipate in time.

The burning season is over...her are a few images from yesterdays shoot.


When I parked my car near the storage shed, I thought I was having a vision as the corner of my eye spotted this madonna and child. It was so erie as I have many of those images in my new work from Mexico. I really thought I was hallucinating and then one of the ecologist said that she was left in the wood shed and they decided to leave her there to protect them and their work.




The cattails always put on an amazing, breathtaking show.



What remains has become more and more compelling...you can see why. New body of work???????

Return from Ragdale

I am back from another amazing two weeks at Ragdale. It has expanded my work in ways that I did not imagine but in looking back I think...of course! It makes perfect sense!

Before I went, Susan Burnstine, an amazing photographer who captures dreams scapes like no other, asked me if I would be interested in being interviewed for her blog titled, Underexposed. I said that would be fine but it would need to wait until after I got back from my residency.

I happily received the interview questions while I was in the midst of the two weeks. I say happily because when I wrote my first draft, the words just flowed out, a direct consequence of being in a highly creative mode. However, when I read it over, I was shocked at how clumsy the writing was. I edited it many times over.

There were 8 amazing residents at Ragdale while I was there, 4 visual artists and 4 writers. At dinner one night I mentioned how many times I had to edit and re-edit the interview. The writers said, " Yes, that is how it is!" I chuckled to myself because I thought if you were a writer, it was supposed to be easy! I guess there are no short cuts to really good art!

my studio at Ragdale

Anyway, I thought I would share the interview with you that is posted on her blog, which can be found along with many more images HERE. The images I have posted in this blog are newly created from the residency where I explored encaustics.

"Jane Fulton Alt’s The Burn was one of the bodies of work I viewed in Photolucida’s Critical Mass that resonated on a profound level for me. After viewing the work, I contacted Jane who graciously agreed to an interview.

SUSAN BURNSTINE: What were your beginnings as a photographer and when did you realize it would become your chosen form of expression?

JANE FULTON ALT: I started photography after my youngest child began first grade, having dabbled in the arts much of my life. Prior to taking classes at a local art center, I was a proficient quilter but frustrated by the limitation of the materials. I was fortunate to have had a really gifted photography teacher whose vision and curiosity allowed me to consider the potential for poetry with the medium.



SUSAN BURNSTINE: Congratulations on all of your recent successes most recently with your exceptional series, The Burn. Can you discuss the personal impetus behind this body of work?

JANE FULTON ALT: The work found me, as have most of my projects. In 2007 I was awarded the first of several artist residencies at Ragdale which is located in the former Howard Van Doren Shaw’s estate overlooking a beautiful prairie in Lake Forest, Illinois. There is something very magical and compelling about the setting. During my first residency restoration ecologists from a local organization, the Lake Forest Open Lands, were conducting a small burn on the property. Being in a mind state of openness and wonder, I watched the fires and took a few photographs. I inquired about the possibility of following them the following season. In mid April I picked up the phone realizing that I could have very well missed it, as I forgot to call earlier. Well, as fate would have it, they were going out that very morning for the first time that season. It was a monumental day in my mind because my sister was simultaneously undergoing her first chemotherapy treatment after having been recently diagnosed with ovarian cancer.

Photographing the burn that day was a very emotional experience. As I looked thru the view finder I kept thinking about what was occuring in my sister’s body and the parallels were stunning. I could imagine the burn that was happening in her body at the very moment the prairie was burning to make way for the new spring growth. The insight of that first day has influenced how I have photographed, edited and printed the work. It has been a very hopeful and inspiring project and an anchor for me during these past four years. Through this project I have tried to look deeply into the essence of life cycles. If we listen closely, nature has so much to teach us.

SUSAN BURNSTINE: How did you gain access and how did you know about the controlled burns you photographed?

JANE FULTON ALT: After the first spring shoot I developed a trusting and respectful working relationship with the restoration ecologists. I am now familiar with the particular weather conditions that must exist to carry out a controlled burn and am contacted by the team during these times to photograph.



SUSAN BURNSTINE: Can you tell me a bit about the areas where these images photographed? Are they personal properties or publicly owned?

JANE FULTON ALT: All of the properties are part of a land trust located in Lake Forest, Illinois and run by the Lake Forest Open Lands Association whose mission is to conserve the natural environment through land acquisition, habitat restoration, environmental education and conservation advocacy. They have acquired over 800 acres of local native landscapes, including prairies, savannas, woodlands and wetlands.



SUSAN BURNSTINE: You have been photographing this series for four years. Is the series ongoing or complete? If ongoing, do you foresee any new directions for this project?

JANE FULTON ALT: Interesting question. I am in the midst of another artist residency and my goal was to think more deeply about the work. My ideas have been in a state of fluidity, which has been really exciting. I have always felt that the images were fine as photographs but that the series was not fully realized. I love the depth and mystery of the images but wanted more surface to the work. After much grappling with aesthetics and technical issues, I am very pleased to have returned to working with encaustics, which I utilized in two other bodies of work, Mourning Light and Chiapas.

I have also been fascinated by the ash remains and have spent many hours thinking about how to incorporate the found ash and seeds into the new work. Happily, the creative muses paid me a visit and both elements will be incorporated into each piece. I have been working on several small pieces to identify and master the technical challenges. Once I have a handle of the full range of issues that need to be worked out, I plan on creating larger pieces.

The best part of being on an artist residency is the time and space to daydream about one’s work. It is an incredible gift to be able to focus without interruption and has been an amazingly productive time for me. I have also thoroughly enjoyed and appreciated the camaraderie and critiques from the other residents.



SUSAN BURNSTINE: Is there one image in this body of work that speaks to you more so than others? If so, can you discuss why?

JANE FULTON ALT: My favorites keep changing, especially now that I am working with beeswax. I am attracted to images with warm tonalities, quiet compositions and an air of mystery. I am thinking more about the abstracted images and will be culling thru all my files to reconsider or “audition” new images.

SUSAN BURNSTINE: Are there plans for The Burn series to become a book?

JANE FULTON ALT: I would love to make a book of The Burn. I am hoping / waiting for the right time and publisher. Creating a book is a tremendous amount of work and everything needs to line up to start the process. When the work was shown in New York for the Photo District News Curators Choice, I was speaking with one of the judges. His insights and ability to articulate his thoughts about the photographs were thrilling. He did offer to write an essay about the work. Now I just need a publisher. When the work does get published, I plan to dedicate the book to my sister.

SUSAN BURNSTINE: When looking at your career as a whole. You have created varied, but truly fascinating and poignant bodies of work. Is there one element amongst the subject matter or perhaps within your psyche that connects all of these series?

JANE FULTON ALT: I would say that my training and practice as a clinical social worker, my extensive travels and raising my family have greatly influenced my thinking and seeking to understand what is universal to all people. My inquiring mind sought to understand humanity and the meaning of our existence. I have used the camera to explore issues around birth, death, and everything in between. The human condition is what interests me most.

SUSAN BURNSTINE: What are you working on now?

JANE FULTON ALT: I am continuing my work with The Burn but in using the new materials, it feels like a different body of work. The use of encaustics, my interest in ash and the infinite qualities of the subject matter will keep me occupied for many lifetimes!

I am also working on a project from this past summer’s Frontera Grill/Topolobampo staff trip to Mexico. I have been traveling with the award winning Chef, Rick Bayless and 35 members of his staff for 15 years now, creating new work for the entryway to the restaurant. I am collaborating with a writer whose book influenced the current butterfly installation that is in the entryway of the restaurant. I just finished transferring images onto a gold leaf surface, which will then be mounted onto copper…a loose reference to retablos. But that is another story!

SUSAN BURNSTINE: Do you have any upcoming exhibitions?

JANE FULTON ALT: Burn No 49 is currently on exhibit at the Corden Potts Gallery in San Francisco. Images from my Crude Awakening portfolio are currently in a satellite show at the Hereford Photography Festival in England and will also be in a group show at Wall Space Gallery in Canada this spring.

I will be included in the Critical Mass traveling group show and will have a solo show at the Noyes Cultural Arts Center in my home town next fall. Finally, I always have work up at the Frontera Grill and Xoco restaurants in Chicago.

Critical Mass 2011

I am so pleased to announce that I made the final list of the top 50 in the Critical Mass competition. This is the 3rd time, and the second year for the Burn series. It was thru my Critical Mass 2009 participation that the Corden Potts Gallery picked me up for representation. It just so happens that Corden Potts is opening a new show this Thursday featuring selected gallery artists and the work of Sharon Beals.

If you haven't seen Sharon Beals work, it is amazing. I am a sucker for life's beginning moments and her work zeros in on it.



From the Gallery show announcement, Sharon is quoted...

"Bird nests, even without knowing which birds constructed them, seem hardly possible," Sharon says. "Creations of spider's web, caterpillar cocoon, plant down, mud, found modern objects, human and animal hair, mosses, lichen, feathers and down, sticks and twigs--all are woven with beak and claw into a bird's best effort to protect their next generation."

Sharon goes on to say, "But survival for so many birds is tenuous in a modern world where habitat loss is as common as the next housing development, and even subtle changes in climate can affect food supply. It is my hope that capturing the detailed art form of the nests in these photographs will gain appreciation for their builders, and inspire their protection."

Sharon photographed nest and egg specimens, collected over the last two centuries, at The California Academy of Sciences, The Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, and The Western Foundation of Vertebrate Zoology. While few nests are collected today, these nests and eggs are used for research, providing important information about their builder's habitats, DNA, diseases and other survival issues.


I will be showing my Burn No. 49 at the Corden Potts show.

A newer Burn image from the 2011 Critical Mass entry will be traveling in a group show in 2012, curated by Darius Himes, Assistant Director at Fraenkel Gallery to the following locations:
PhotoCenter NW, in Seattle, WA
Newspace Center for Photography, in Portland, OR
RayKo Photo Center, in San Francisco, CA

Other photographers included in the Top 50 are...
Evgenia Arbugaeva
Jessica Auer
Mary Ellen Bartley
Daniel Beltra
Nadine Boughton
Colette Campbell-Jones
Christopher Capozziello/AEVUM
Kirk Crippens
John Cyr
Katrina d'Autremont
Scott Dalton
Christopher Dawson
Nigel Gordon Dickinson
Mitch Dobrowner
Carolyn Drake
Jeremy Dyer
Mark Fernandes
Michelle Frankfurter
Misha Friedman
Lucia Ganieva
Meggan Gould
Gabriela Herman
Sarah Hobbs
Jeroen Hofman
Jennifer Hudson
Yaakov Israel
Heidi Kirkpatrick
Alejandra Laviada
Fritz Liedtke
Sebastian Liste
Gloriann Liu
Larry Louie
Mark Lyon
Michael Marten
Rizwan Mirza
Viviane Moos
Kenneth O Halloran
Susana Raab
Jesse Rieser
Alejandro Rivas
Kent Rogowski
Philipp Scholz Rittermann
Geoffrey H. Short
Youngsuk Suh
Daro Sulakauri
Stephen Vaughan
Toshiya Watanabe
David Welch
Sarah Wilson
Susan Worsham

Be sure to check out the Critical Mass website. Lots of interesting portfolios to browse thru.

The Visitor

Last night I had an unexpected visitor. I was next door watching people's reaction to the worlds most elaborate Halloween display. A family of three strolled up the sidewalk to take in the scene. I had a feeling they may have been Mexican and inquired. They were indeed. I asked if they would be interested in seeing my Dia de los Muertos altar, which they were.


45 minutes later we were hugging each other goodbye. Her name was Yolanda and she was in the neighborhood with her family trick and treating. It turns out Yolanda was from Michoacan and grew up with all the rituals associated with Dia de los Muertos. She really liked the altar but proceeded to share other items I might consider adding. Slowly we refined the altar, adding a glass of water in case the spirits were thirsty, sea salt to keep the path clean, placing the candles in a bowl of water for keeping the vibrations high, and adding an apple and orange for nourishment. She spoke of the importance of having the 4 elements present on the altar...Fire, Water, Earth and Air. She also sprinkled the copal (incense) over the altar. It was truly an amazing experience and now I feel that the altar is finally complete and ready for welcoming of the spirits tonight, November 1st, the official start of Dia De los Muertos.

(note Yolanda's angel earring)

And Yvette, you asked if the altar would be up for the critique group next week. I am happy to say that Yolanda said it was important to keep it intact for 9 days...so yes, it will be up.

Yolanda's mother lived to 120 years old.

Dia de los Muertos Celebration

12: 05 AM

It is two hours since the last guest left. We just had a fund raiser/salon for Ragdale . It felt like a performance art piece that touched all the senses. Art/food/ and friends gathering to celebrate and support the arts.


As I cut each marigold blossom from my yard in preparation for assembling the altar, I was thinking how extravagant it felt to have so many flowers adorning my home in addition to the 50 votive candles transported from Oaxaca. Flowers and candles are just the best along with the very colorful tissue cutout flags. My home was my pallet and when the sun went down and all the candles were lit, it felt like the entire house was floating on air!



The altar was dedicated to the Shaw family who founded The Ragdale Foundation which provides residencies for artists of all disciplines. I loved setting up my home to reflect the generous spirit of both the Shaw family and Dia de los Muertos, a life affirming remembrance of the departed thru celebration. The food was exquisite (as in transformative thanks to Howard and Kevin) and was followed by a fabulous talk by Chicago Chef Rick Bayless on the significance of food in memory, celebration and the creative process.





Every time I passed the altar I kept wanting to photograph it...just couldn't help myself!







The chocolate skulls were made by Nicole's Homemade Treats...and they were yummy! The mescal, Fidencio, was so smooth and from a distillery we visited this past summer in Santiago Matatlan, Oaxaca.

Happy Halloween and Day of the Dead!

The Thin Veil ~ Dia de los Muertos

As we approach the end of October, I am reminded of the "thin veil" that many people think exists this time of the year between the living and the departed.

© Jane Fulton Alt

Much of my photographic life has been spent exploring death and dying, one of the greatest mysteries and the only certainty of our lives. I have photographed and volunteered in hospice programs, been witness to autopsies, slaughter houses, and cremation rituals in Varanasi, the holiest site in India. I also traveled to Oaxaca, Mexico to learn how Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) is celebrated. It was staggeringly beautiful. It is a holiday where families gather at the grave site to celebrate and remember friends and family members who have died. The cemeteries are filled with flowers and the flickering light from hundreds and hundreds of candles. Most families also build altars in their homes to coax the spirits back for a visit. These altars include sugar skulls, marigolds, candles, copal (an incense) and the favorite foods and beverages of the departed.

I do think that we, as Americans, have much to learn from other cultures that have long standing rituals which pay homage to their ancestors.

© Jane Fulton Alt

“To be afraid of death is only another form of thinking that one is wise when one is not; it is to think that one knows what one does not know. No one knows with regard to death wheather it is not really the greatest blessing that can happen to man; but people dread it as though they were certain it is the greatest evil." -The Last Days of Socrates”
― Plato

Zenos Frudakis ~ Freedom Sculpture


Frudakis' statement about his vision of the sculpture

"I wanted to create a sculpture almost anyone, regardless of their background, could look at and instantly recognize that it is about the idea of struggling to break free. This sculpture is about the struggle for achievement of freedom through the creative process.

Although for me, this feeling sprang from a particular personal situation, I was conscious that it was a universal desire with almost everyone; that need to escape from some situation – be it an internal struggle or an adversarial circumstance, and to be free from it....

In the end, this sculpture is a statement about the artist’s attempt to free himself from the constraints of mortality through a long lasting creative form."



Located at the GSK World Headquarters at 16th and Vine Streets, Philadelphia, PA
more of his work can be seen HERE.