The Fezziwig News by Stu Jenks

"179 Sunrises" by Ignas Kutavicius

"179 Sunrises" by Ignas Kutavicius (c) 2012 (Exposure: 2011.06.27 - 2011.12.23 in Kaunas, Lithuania)

I bought this print today at Photographic Works' Curious Camera Show. Stunning work, and personally, those six months last year when this image was shot, were tough for me, but the Earth still circles the Sun and this image helps me to remember that. To see more of Ignas' work, go to his website. Below are his words.

"Solargraphy is a very primitive and simple technique to take extremely long exposure photos of the Sun's movement. To make this possible you need a pinhole camera made from a lightproof can or box, a sheet of light sensitive photo paper and a tiny hole instead of a lens. Then the camera is placed somewhere in the city away from curious eyes and being kept up to 6 months (sometimes even longer). Later the exposed sheet of paper is taken from the camera in a dark room and scanned as a negative. Surprisingly the resulting images are color even when a monochrome photo paper is used. During the exposure movement of the Sun is fixed (bright lines). From the photograph you can even tell what days were cloudy – short cuts in the Sun-traced lines are made by clouds covering the Sun."-Ignas Kutavicius

Red: A Juried Invitational

Today, Red: A Juried Invitational formally opens at Etherton's Temple Gallery. Click on this link to take you to Etherton's webpage promoting the show. Reception is from 5:30 to 7:30 today. Show will be up until June 1st, 2012.

My photograph Bozo & Bozette At Point Reyes, California is in the show.

And to those of you who have bought my book Bozo In Love, thank you so much for your financial support. It puts a roof over my head, gas in my car and food in my belly.

And for those of you who are creeped out by clowns, I hear you. I know a lot of people hate clowns. I understand.

Can I interest us you perhaps in a flame spiral book or a hoop dancing book or perhaps a nice CD of soothing music. (Shameless promotional grin.)

Come by tonight. It's a great show Etherton Gallery has juried.

And Happy Friday The Thirteen. It's usually my lucky day.

Stu Jenks' Studio BR-549 by Jeff Smith

I've taken a number of good photographs of my studio, but none are better than this one taken by Jeff Smith, last Maundy Thursday.

Three tracks from 'Deaths & Injuries' were recorded at BR-549.

Thanks, Jefe. You are a very good man and a very good artist.

Morley Safer on Contemporary Art

I've been saying this for years. Decades. It's not sore grapes on my part. I make money. Some. I just wish it was any type of grape. Just something grape-like: tasty, sweet, refreshing, with real fiber and good for you too. But no. It's not. Contemporary Art isn't good for you anymore.

One point Morley does explicitly makes in this great 60 Minutes piece is that this is where the super-rich, the .01%, or the .001%, spend their extra cash.

Christ, Daddy Warbucks, donate half of what you spend in Miami to your local Salvation Army, will you?

Did that art dealer just use the word 'organic?' Shoot me now.

It's shameful. Truly shameful. And this is coming from a reasonably successful artist. Me.

Watch the piece at this link.

Best quote from an art dealer: "This is theatre. This is all theatre."

Yes it is. Very bad theatre from The Art World. Very good TV from Morley Safer.

Bear Butte, South Dakota

"Bear Butte, South Dakota"

All images (c) 2012 Stu Jenks

I like to talk. Ask anyone. I'm not going to say much here. Here's a wikipedia excerpt about the place.

"Human artifacts have been found on or near Bear Butte that date back 10,000 years, indicating a long and continuous interest in the mountain.The Cheyenne and Lakota people have maintained a spiritual interest in Bear Butte from their earliest recorded history.

Notable visitors like Red Cloud, Crazy Horse, and Sitting Bull made pilgrimages to the site. In 1857, a council of many Indian nations gathered at Bear Butte to discuss the growing presence of white settlers in the Black Hills.

Violating a treaty of 1868, George Armstrong Custer led an expedition to the Black Hills region in 1874, and according to custom he camped near Bear Butte. Custer verified the rumors of gold in the Black Hills, and Bear Butte then served as an easily identifiable landmark for the rush of invading prospectors and settlers into the region. Indian reaction to the illegal movements of whites into the area was intense and hostile. Ultimately the government reneged on its treaty obligations regarding the Black Hills and instead embarked on a program to confine all northern Plains tribes to reservations.

Ezra Bovee homesteaded on the southern slopes of the mountain, and by the time of World War II, he and his family were the legal owners of the site. In the spring of 1945, the Northern Cheyenne received permission from Bovee to hold a ceremony at Bear Butte to pray for the end of World War II. The Cheyenne found that the Bovee family welcomed their interest in the mountain, and over the years the Bovees continued to encourage native religious ceremonies.

By the mid-1950s Ezra Bovee was attempting to stir up interest in making Bear Butte a national park. After his death, his family continued the effort. When federal interest in the project waned, the state government in Pierre took action, and Bear Butte became a state park in 1961 and was registered as a National Historic Landmark in 1965.

Frank Fools Crow, the Lakota ceremonial chief (d. 1989), made pilgrimages to Bear Butte throughout his lifetime. Fools Crow taught racial harmony not just between whites and Indians, but among all the peoples of the world. He believed the Lakota should never sell the Black Hills. A bust and plaque in front of the education center at Bear Butte State Park honor Fools Crow’s efforts." - Wikipedia.

All 8 1/2" x 11" A/P archival pigment prints by Stu Jenks for $25, shipping, handling and taxes included...

Image: "Queen Esther Baptist Church, Lancaster, Virginia" (c) 2011 Stu Jenks (Just down River Road from Victoria's house. Love that luscious red carpet. And for you nocturnals out there, it was handheld. Rare for me.)

In this time of making photos on iPhones and Macbook Pros and only looking on screens, I forget I'm a old-school guy. I make a 8 1/2 x 11 work print on archival paper of EVERY image I make. EVERY one. It's the only way, for me, to accurately check for color shift, density, composition, etc. I really like my iPad screen but it's no way to make a good print.

And I have hundreds, if not thousands, of work prints artist proofs at my studio.

If you see an image of mine on The StuBlog or on my old website or on the Fezziwig Press Store or in any of my books, there's a beautiful small print in a box somewhere, perhaps with your name on it. And since I'm organized, I can find it.

Many of you can't afford my larger prints. I understand. I don't have an extra 50 or 100 lying around either. But I do have an extra $20 for stuff I really like.

So if you see an image of mine on any of my sites or in any of my books and you want it, it's yours for $25, shipping, handling and tax included. (I believe in paying taxes, sales and otherwise.)

Just email me at my facebook page or through the StuBlog or at stujenks@gmail.com, and tell me what print you would like or just pull the jpeg and send that to me.

I was just watching the Tarhells lose today in basketball, working on images at my computer when I thought, 'I bet people don't realize I have boxes of work prints here.'

You all do now.

Love and light,

Stu

p.s. Ignore the catagories belows. The computer went wacky. Another reason why I prefer a print in the hand as opposed to an image in The Cloud.

Nampeyo (1860?-1942) and Rhonda Holy Bear (1959-

"When I first began to paint, I used to go to the ancient village and pick up pieces of pottery and copy the designs. That is how I learned to paint. But now, I just close my eyes and see designs and I paint them." - Nampeyo.

 

It's worth getting off the Interstate or taking a cab from the airport if you have a three hour layover or simply worth a special trip.

Denver Art Museum's American Indian Art Collection.

I made my third journey to DAM's Native collection just a couple weeks ago. It has a wonderful permanant collection and newer work by living Native artists they rotates in and out.

Included in this post is some work by Nampeyo, the famous Hopi potter and by Rhonda Holy Bear, the Cheyenne River Sioux artist, plus a detail image of Standing Bear's tipi and an Edward Curtis photograph of a Hopi potter.

At each visit, I see something old that I knew I loved and something new I didn't know existed. Isn't that what a great museum visit is all about?

So visit the Denver Art Museum when ever you have the chance.

Oh, and yea, they have some pretty good stuff by some white folk too.

All images (c) Stu Jenks 2012 except for the Curtis of course (but I did take the pic of his photo. And a friend just told me it is of Nampeyo herself. Great image. A great potter.)

 

Now available, on the Apple IPad: The Transpersonal Papers (1861-2010) and Bozo In Love

Been a long time coming for The Transpersonal Papers (1861-2010).

Three editors, two proofreaders, two designers, four printers, and hours, days, weeks, months, years, lifetimes, (I know I'm overstating), of writing, traveling, shooting, editing, remembering, hiking, and more writing, shooting, and editing, but I'm not complaining. No, no, no.

And apologies for not having the dough right now, to print The Transpersonal Papers as a coffee-table book as I had originally planned. ($10,000, it would have cost. Maybe someday.) But you now can buy it, for $14.95, as an Ebook on the Apple IPad, and I expect it to be available within a couple days on the Nook and the Kindle as well.

I just looked at it on my new IPad. The photos, text and design look grand.

And as an extra surprise, Bozo In Love is now up on IBooks too, ($9.95), as well as the rest of my catalog: Flame Spirals, Hoop Dancing, and Dementia Blues, on IBooks, Nook and Kindle.

Just in time for Christmas.

And don't worry. All but The Transpersonal Papers can still be bought as a book book through Fezziwig Press. I have plenty. Just go to www.fezziwigpressonline.com, for the hardbounds and paperbacks, but go to ITunes, today, (and Kindle and Nook, soon) for the ebooks.

Heavy sigh from my third story apartment balcony. I look out onto the Tucson city lights in the valley below. Cold, dry air embraces me. I inhale deeply. Exhale.

A very good night in the desert.

Think I'll make a cup of coffee with egg nog and play some Angry Birds on my new IPad.

Time to celebrate.

 

Vote on these images for the cover of Stu's new CD "Deaths & Injuries"

Hey everyone. I'd like your imput.

Which of the below three images would you like to see as the cover for my next album "Deaths & Injuries".

To help, the album's music has been coined, 'Organica', organic electronica, sonic prayers for those who have died and who have been injured.

Also, the instruments used in this album were an E-MU synthesizer, a spinet and a baby grand piano, and a harmonium.

Vote away.

Thanks, y'all, for your opinion

Stu

p.s. The bottom image, "Stu Stepping Over A Piano Bench" was taken by Jeff Smith at WaveLab Studio in Tucson and will be used on the inside cover somewhere. Nice job, Jefe.

Terri Windling needs our help...

Terri Windling needs our help. It's complicated but help is truly needed. Good people have organized an online auction at Magick 4 Terri where art, books and other wonders can be gotten by the highest bidder. I've donated four books to the auction. Please go and check out the site and give and bid as you can. Terri helped my career greatly a few years back. She is my friend, a wonderful artist and writer, and one of the sweetest people I've ever known. She needs our help. Tis the season. Give as you can.