PATTERNS AND TONES

Flora as Fashion: Kirsten Andersen Thomas I've been thinking a lot about the surface of images this week. As I try to break free of the two dimensionality of photography by stitching into the photographic paper, the fact of the matter is - it still remains a surface when I once again photograph it to show you for this blog. You need to see them in person. The fiber of the string creates the texture and depth that I've been striving for. Hopefully I can find a gallery or space to show these pieces so that you can indeed see them first hand. Today's image for my new Flora as Fashion series was a labor of love. I spent every spare moment I had stitching this piece together. I quickly realized that the skirt needed to be extended to fit the agave in front of Kirsten. The scale needed to be adjusted to the proportions of the vegetation. I ended up with what I think is one of my finest pieces yet. I've been excited by the challenge to interpret flora as a garment...

"Flora as Fashion: Edith Ann"  Cute as a daisy, Edith Ann is wearing a custom made ballgown inspired by the flowers she posed in. Seeing dress patterns in flora is of course a lot more organic than the framed hat structures of a roof and lot more difficult to interpret. But it also allows me a lot more visual freedom. My desire to work with fiber on photographs takes the craft out of embroidery. I want to elevate the common thread from a traditionally female domestic craft to a visual work of art. The exploration of feminism in the history of this craft was first introduced to me in The Feminist Art History Collective 's founding member Rozsika Parker's 1984 groundbreaking publication "The Subversive Stitch: Embroidery and the Making of the Feminine" . Getting back to making something by hand is rewarding and contemplative. It takes me away from the constant use of technology back to a place where creating takes time and allows for introspection. ...

Flora as Fashion: Stacy Ellen Rich Throughout 2016 and 2017, I crafted 16 images in a series that I called " Home as Hat ". These images where inspired by an image I shot while I was photographing Kim Shattuck from The Muffs for my " Day in the Life of a Rock 'n' Roller " series.  As we walking around her neighborhood, I had her stand in front of a lovely gabled home. I quickly saw through my lens the shape of a hat emerging from the pointed roof behind her and I excitedly snapped the shutter to capture her in front of it. It became clear in that instant that there was a new body of work waiting to be created. I've just started to embark on a new angle to this series inspired by the wildly talented Costume designer Stacy Ellen Rich. The photograph above was taken with the intention of adding it to my Hat series but I quickly realized that the vegetation around her could be repurposed into a colorful skirt and adjusted my perspective to concentra...

"4th Annual Bob Baker Day No. 1" 2018 My fascination with carnivals, puppets and handmade continue in documenting the festivities annual held in honor of Los Angeles's favorite puppet master Bob Baker. As always, crowds gathered in front of his famed Marionette Theater on 1st Street to celebrate the memory of a man who gave so much to the children of Southern California. I was honored to get to know Bob before he passed away 4 years ago, and documented him in several blog entries for Patterns and Tones. In " Bob Baker and His Magical Marionettes ", I talked with Bob about the evolution of his amazing puppets and the space he ran for over 54 years. Then he gave me a tour of his incredible warehouse as well as gave me a demonstration of how to make a puppet breath in " Bob Baker: The Making of His Magical Marionettes ". Now I too celebrate this wonderful artist by documenting his yearly birthday celebration ! I was happy to see Bob's m...

Five years ago on February 4th I started my weekly blog Patterns and Tones because I was stuck. I needed a self imposed deadline that would drive me to create work, as a way to push myself to perpetually create. It's been an inspirating platform for me to explore ideas and create visual narratives that I want to share with others. This year I thought I would explore my passion for painting but quickly realized that it takes large swaths of time and that is one luxury I do not have much of these days. I also missed shooting and thinking about the photographic processes.  So back to the darkroom I go and hope you continue to visit and enjoy my weekly blog. Every anniversary I like to look back at the top 10 most visited posts in the Patterns and Tones departments.  I'm very happy to see that the Tone of the year went to punk rock legend and all around great guy Frank Portman in " A Rock 'n' Roll Checkup with Dr. Frank ". This blog post saw more than 1...