The Vacation Purpose

I was the tag-along spouse for part of this trip to Carmel last weekend. The primary “purpose” was to attend a gathering of esteemed art photographers (emphasis on ART) who were coming from around the country, Canada and even Austria, to attend an opening of of the 2018 Biennial Juried Depth of Field Exhibition curated by Rfotofolio at the Center for Photographic Art in Carmel. One of the first events was “20 Tables” where invited artists displayed their work and got to meet each other and share techniques, ideas, and approaches.

While Bob was enjoying the exchange with other artists, I was able to be a fly on the wall so to speak and sketch from my vantage point in the corner!

But only after I’d made the rounds and listened to these amazing artists tell the stories of their work and show it off. No doubt some of what I learned will show up in future Muse Group lessons!

Diana Bloomfield‘s refined nature and mystical portrait work with gauzy layers of gum bichromate over palladium. Joanne Teasdale‘s work documenting the relations between women and water around the world. Sandra Klein‘s “portrait” series of Inner Dialogues relating to her relationship with her mother who has dementia. And so many more. It was a great honor to be able to hang out with these folks.

And then of course Bob Cornelis sitting here at his table with his palladium prints in books and portfolios he made and printed with letterpress, and answering the questions of some very interested photographers.

I got in a bit of sketching in the garden too. This fellow was another photographer’s helpmate enjoying the garden unaware that he was posing.

And brunch at a French bistro in town, where the people had left their table long before I got the color on. I loved the hanging lamps draped with vintage kitchen towels!

The event ended with a memorial for two beloved photographers who passed away recently, Judy Sherrod and Denis Roussel. We gathered on the  beach in Carmel in late afternoon. Each person was given a different cyanotype print made into a kite to be flown. With a wind and rain storm brewing, there was just enough time for some pictures and final goodbyes.

And I made a valiant (?) effort to sketch the story of the event, adding color later out of the wind and rain.

This lovely Hahnemühle Watercolor Book was a great companion for the trip. At 8X6″ it’s the right size for the purse or sketch gear bag. The CP watercolor paper is as good as it gets in a book that opens flat as this one does. Great for getting a whole scene in. If you paint wetly, then it is likely to curl up, so you need clips to keep the edges down while painting. I’ll write more about sketchbook papers in another post.

 

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