Stu Jenks' Fezziwig Press: National Parks

December 03, 2021

Pamela's Baby Rocking Chair at the Grand Canyon

This image is one of my favorites. A perfect winter's day at the Canyon. It's also the back cover of my book Pamela's Baby Rocking Chair (The Deaths of Mary and Pamela Jenks)

Speaking of that book, a nice thing happen to me today.

I gave the PBRC book to my father-in-law Norman Smith to read. He's a highly educated gentleman, a voracious reader, and a sweetly religious man. He read the Dementia Blues book a few days ago and liked it.

"It's very well written, Stu," he said. "Thank you, Norman," I said.

High praise from a man of few words.

But this morning as he was dropping off the paper (He lives just up the street from Alexa and I and he shares his newspaper with us), he got out of his car and said:

"You did a wonderful job writing your mother's eulogy. As good if not better than the priest's. And I love the Bible passage you picked for your mother. Oh, my."

That touched me a lot. I know I'm an OK writer and I was the designated eulogist for the Jenks clan for years, because I knew how to write, how to speak, and how to not talk too long at a funeral.

But still.

It was nice to hear such kind words from the only father figure I have in my life. A very sweet moment.

(As always, if you want to buy something: books, prints, and music, you know where to find me. www.stujenks.org, here, bandcamp, CDbaby, Bookbaby, and at Amazon and Apple stores. Have a great day, y'all.)

Posted at 11:15 AM in Ancestors, Angel/Ghosts, Arizona, Art, Emotions, Good Folk, Grand Canyon, Love, Mary Jenks, National Parks, Pamela Jenks, Pamela's Baby Rocking Chair, Prayer, Sickness & Health, The Border, Women | Permalink | Comments (0)

October 15, 2021

A day at the Great Smoky Mountains National Park

All photos (c) Stu Jenks 2021

Posted at 12:17 PM in Art, Black & White Photography, Blue Ridge Parkway, Canyons, Good Folk, Indigenous People, Love, Mountains, National Parks, North Carolina, Photography, Rivers, Sky, Tennessee, The South, The Woods, Travel, Trees, Wildlife | Permalink | Comments (0)

July 29, 2021

"Where am I and what time is it?"

“Where am I and what time is it?”

I think I was around three years sober or so, the late 1980’s. I was walking around Monument Valley in Utah. You know the place. Right Mitten, Left Mitten, John Ford movies. I had parked at the visitor’s center and had walked a half of a mile or so toward The Three Sisters, three tall pillars of sandstone off one of the mesas. I was obsessing about something; either not having enough money or some woman or my job or I really don't remember what I was thinking, but I was driving myself crazy.

Then I remembered Ram Dass’ 1971 square blue book, Be Here Now. I didn’t remember much from it, but I did remember the concept of being present in the moment, staying there as best I can, and how important that is to happy living.

I looked around at the stunning desert beauty of Monument Valley. I gazed up toward The Three Sisters and then back at The Mittens. I smiled and shook my head.

I’m fucking this all up.

I’m off living in Future Land, worrying about something I can do nothing about, at least right now. I’m in Monument Valley, for Christ’s sake.

Then, I thought of a sentence. I believe I said it out loud.

“Where am I? I’m here. What time is it? It’s now.”

I took a deep breath and settled into the moment. I took another breath. Then another. My worries didn’t completely disappeared but they sure did lessen. I continued to smile.

“I need to share this in a meeting when I get home,” I said to myself.

And I did.

And I have.

Fast forward to 2021.

I was in a early morning A.A. Zoom meeting from Los Angeles. Then I heard a member of that group say this:

“It’s like one of our group member's says, ‘Where am I? And what time is it?. I'm here. It's now."

I stared disbelievingly at the screen. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. I didn’t think people really listened to me that close. I smiled weakly and my eyes misted up. I wiped my eyes with the back of my hand.

It was a very good morning.

Posted at 01:08 AM in 12 Step Stuff, Black & White Photography, Love, National Parks, Recovery, The Road, The West, Utah | Permalink | Comments (0)

October 06, 2020

Images From The Fall of 2020.

Well, I finally made it into the loving arms of my wife in Greensboro, North Carolina. Looking for part time work. Loving the people and the food. Even the mosquitoes are biting me too bad. Wish I had more money than I have right now, but I am truly rich in love.

Got behind on putting images up here but I have some time tonight. Alexa sleeps downstairs. I'm typing from my new studio in the garret of our house. I mowed the yard today and I actually enjoy that. I'm hiking in the deep woods, only downside is you don't hike alone on the weekends. Working on some new walking sticks/wall pieces. Newest one is a piece in honor of Ruth Bader Ginsberg. I've been visiting with some old college friends and making new ones here too.

Botton line: Except for the thin checking book, I couldn't be happy.

Hope you dig the new images.

Stu

Religious images, in Nogales, Sonora; Tucson, Arizona, and on the T.O. Reservation, Arizona & Mexico.

Pamela's Baby Rocking Chair and a curtain in a window, in Henry, Virginia.

Black lives do matter now, on Monument Avenue in Richmond, Virginia.

Pamela's Baby Rocking Chair in Lancaster County, in the Rappahannock River in Virginia; on a wall in Bladen County, NC; on the tracks at the Bean Shoals, along the Yadkin River, NC; more tracks at Brown's Summit, NC; by the Tin Man wall in Greensboro; in front of a movie theatre in Yanceyville, NC; surfing at Wrightsville Beach, NC, near the Blue Ridge Parkway, NC; and at Table Rock at Linville Gorge, in North Carolina.

"Legs For Days #2 (A Portrait of Alexa Jenks), sculpture made with batik fabric, eye bolts & a crab pot buoy, our back yard in Greensboro, North Carolina, [Colorado River School photograph]" (c) 2020 Stu Jenks.

Prism Red Maple, our front yard, Lindley Park, Greensboro, North Carolina. (c) Stu Jenks 2020.

Portrait of me by Tom Whittington, with Looking Glass Mountain in the distance, North Carolina.

Posted at 10:54 PM in Alexa McColl Smith Jenks, Angel/Ghosts, Arizona, Art, Black & White Photography, Business, Cactus, Canyons, Churches, Colorado River School, Current Affairs, Deserts, Faith, Forgiveness, Good Folk, Greensboro, NC, Hope, Love, Marriage, Mountains, National Parks, North Carolina, Oceans, Pamela Jenks, Pamela's Baby Rocking Chair, Plants, Religion, Sculpture, Spiral Sticks, Stu Jenks, The Road, The South, The West, Valleys, Women | Permalink | Comments (0)

July 16, 2020

Images from the final months of the Trump Administration.

Yes, it's 4 months before the November election but it's a lock that Trump will no be reelected. I can hear some say "Don't jinx it. We said that about Hillary." Well, many independents disliked Hillary and didn't come out to vote. Now a ton of Democratic-leaning Independents hate Trump even worse than Clinton, and they will show up to end this horrible shit show that is the Trump Administration. And tens of 1000's of young people will be voting too, just like they did in 2018.

Most people look at my Facebook page for photos and info about me, maybe a few look at my Twitter feed, but hardly anyone I know comes here to my blog. That's OK, but I'm going to leave a large Easter egg here and I'm going to see if anyone notices.

In mid-August, I'm moving back to Greensboro, North Carolina, to hopefully find work there and to live the rest of my life with my lovely wife Alexa. All I need to do is find part-time work. I'll be OK.

And I miss Alexa like the Dickens.

My recovery from my radical prostatectomy surgery has been slow but moving forward. Still pain in my groin and sexual functioning is every so slowly returning but it is coming back a bit. The cancer is all gone and I can pretty much hold my piss and shit. That last sentence is a big fucking deal. Many men do not have that result after surgery. I do. I'm grateful.

So before I leave Arizona, here are some photos from the last few months: some good, some mundane, but all heartfelt.

And I'll see who text me, emails me or Facebook messages me and says, "Dude, you're moving? Man, we will miss you, but do what you gotta do."

I am. I need to go home and be with my wife.

Hugs, kisses and deep gratitude, y'all.

Stu

It's mid July and the Bighorn Fire is finally out. We think. It burned all over the Catalina Mountains for what? Six weeks? While the Covid-19 spread so did the fire. It was a bit much after a while. Everything right now is a bit much for many of us.

I may never see this place again. Been coming here for 33 years. And even though I'm sad, this canyon has given me so many things, physical, emotional, and spiritual. Big kiss, Coalmine.

Going to have the sell the Buick for scrap before I leave Arizona. It has a value lifter problem and the car is only worth $1000 at best, with 415,000 miles on it, and the repair would cost over $2000. Luckily, I have the old Pathfinder with a new clutch and a new-ish front end. Strong engine too. 'Spirals' on its license plate. I will be styling when I get to NC. Even the good-old-boys will respect an old truck like mine but the Arizona tags may make them a little suspicious.

This particular juniper tree I have been visiting for over 30 years. Have harvested its boughs for incense more than once. It's an old but very fragrant tree. I'll miss you buckaroo, but I'm taking some of you with me.

Obelisk!!! (Inside family joke.)

"Cast of Richard III, Meredith College, Raleigh, North Carolina, Summer of 1973" (c) Photographer unknown.

The first play I acted in, a couple months before I went off to UNC-Chapel Hill. In the Raleigh News and Observer, in their review of the play, I was mentioned positively in my role as Lord Dorset. That one sentence in the paper propelled me to a career in the Arts. I'm not kidding. All the photographs, music, books, projects, installations, etc., point back to that one role in Raleigh in 1973 and that one tiny bit of encouragement.

Yep. Fucked me up pretty bad. (That's a joke. Sorta.)

Baby, I'm coming home to you.

Posted at 10:02 PM in Alexa McColl Smith Jenks, Angel/Ghosts, Arizona, Art, Cactus, Cancer, Chagford, Death, Deserts, Ethics, Faith, Good Folk, Grand Canyon, Home, Love, National Parks, Night Photography, Nocturnal Photography, North Carolina, Pamela's Baby Rocking Chair, Photography, Pictorialist Photography, Relationships, Rocks, Sky, Stars, The Border, The Four Directions, The Road, The Sky, The West, Trees, Tucson | Permalink | Comments (0)

June 26, 2018

"A Chair in the Wilderness" is coming...

Above image: "Pamela's Baby Rocking Chair, After The Flood, Sonoran Desert National Monument, Arizona" (c) Stu Jenks 2018

A Chair in the Wilderness, my 15th book, is coming. Like my previous tomes, there will be semi-iconic photographs of rocking chairs and such, but unlike my other books, this one will be purposefully funny. And political. And spiritual. And a little sad. But witty and funny is what we are going for, like a dark chuckle in the night from a wounded man while the civilized world burns. Fun stuff. Trump stuff. Good times.

The dedication for ACITW is probably going to be a quote from my good friend Karen Hardy from the Northern Neck of Virginia. We were talking on the phone a while back, mostly about how her mother Victoria was doing, when, as I recall, I talked about how I perhaps cared too much regarding what other people think of me, and that I'm more than a little sensitive to art criticism from strangers on the internet.

Then Karen spoke this chestnut:

"They talked about Jesus Christ, Stu. They are going to talk about you and me, too."

Look for A Chair in the Wilderness before Christmas, wherever you buy your books.

Love you guys,

Stu.

(P.S. below are some images from the past couple of months and some older ones. If you have an questions, don't hesitate to call. Or email. Or tweet. Or message me. Or heaven forbid, talk to me, face to face, like they used to do back In Olden Days. Don't lose hope, y'all. Resist.)

Posted at 09:47 PM in Ancestors, Arizona, Art, Babies, Black & White Photography, Books, Business, California, Canyons, Current Affairs, Dying, Emotions, Fezziwig Press, Forgiveness, Good Folk, Grand Canyon, Home, Hope, Humor, Love, Medium Format, Metaphysics, My Grandmother Nannie's Mirror, Nannie's Mirror, National Parks, Nature, Night Photography, Nocturnal Photography, Oklahoma, Politics, Prairies, Prayer Towers, Rivers, Rocks, Spirituality, Stars, Stu Jenks, The Arizona Trail, The Border, The Road, The Sky, Tucson, Valleys | Permalink | Comments (0)

May 06, 2018

Fezziwig Press' 2018 Premium Fine Art 13" x 19" Print Sale

It's Summer and time for a print sale. All images in this post are 13" x 19" premium fine art prints, printed on archival papers using archival inks, signed and printed by me. If left out of direct sunlight, these prints will not fade for at least 100 to 200 years. $125.00, shipping included. (Retail through my art reps would be $250.00 and above per print.) Click on this link to go to my online store to order your prints.

Many more images are for sale than are shown in this post. These are just the ones that are bagged and boarded for immediate sale. Contact me via email if you are interested in other prints from my portfolio.

Thanks for your continued support of my work. Your purchases help keep me alive and well. Thank you.

Stu.

Posted at 04:44 AM in Ancestors, Angel/Ghosts, Arizona, Art, Beachs, Black & White Photography, Buildings, California, Canyons, Christmas and Winter Solstice, Clouds, Coalmine Canyon, Current Affairs, Deserts, Earth Spirals, Emotions, Faith, Family, Fire, Flame Spirals, Forgiveness, Galaxies, Good Folk, Grief and Loss, Highways, Infrared Photography, Love, Medium Format, Money, Mountains, National Parks, New Mexico, Night Photography, Nocturnal Photography, North Carolina, Pamela's Baby Rocking Chair, Photography, Pictorialist Photography, Prayer, Sepia, Sky, Star Circles, The Apache Wars, The Arizona Trail, The Poor, The Road, Travel | Permalink | Comments (0)

April 03, 2018

Fezziwig Press Images, New & Old, from 17 External Hard Drives...

I've been going through all 17 of my external hard drives, part of a house cleaning and studio cleaning before Alexa and I move to North Carolina (Due to some hickups, looks like it won't be until September of 2018 when my wife and I move to Greensboro.) While doing that, I revisited some old images, and found some discarded images that deserved a second look.

Also, the images from my new "Two Newlyweds" series are in this post as well as some other new stuff. Hope you enjoy them too.

And as always, everything is for sale, either as a digital file or as a print. Simply contact me at [email protected] for prices.

Happy Spring, y'all.

Stu

Posted at 11:40 PM in Ancestors, Arizona, Art, Astronomy, Blues, California, Canyons, Christmas and Winter Solstice, Coalmine Canyon, Current Affairs, Deserts, Earth Spirals, Emotions, Faith, Family, Fezziwig Press, Fire, Flame Spirals, Forgiveness, Good Folk, Hope, Infrared Photography, Medium Format, Moon, Mountains, National Parks, Night Photography, Nocturnal Photography, North Carolina, Panoramics, Petroglyphs, Photography, Pictorialist Photography, Pottery, Sepia, Sexuality, Sky, Snow, Spirituality, Star Circles, Stars, Stu Jenks, The Border, The Road, The West, Tucson, Valleys, Virginia, Washington, DC, Wildlife | Permalink | Comments (0)

August 19, 2017

The Pamela's Baby Rocking Chair Installation at Tohono Chul Park

As part of the Dia De Los Muertos show at Tohono Chul Park in Tucson, The Pamela's Baby Rocking Chair Installation is up and ready to go. The opening is Thursday, August 24 at 5:30 p.m.. The show runs until November 8th. Thanks so much to James and Karen for allowing me to be part of this show.

And this post goes out to all those folk who live outside of Southern Arizona, so you all can see and enjoy the piece too. To read the artist's statement for the piece, just click on this link.

Again, thank you everyone for your financial and emotional support this summer. It's been a tough one for me and for many. You all have helped more than you know.

Posted at 01:02 AM in All Souls' Procession, Ancestors, Arizona, Arkansas, Art, Beachs, Birds, Black & White Photography, Buildings, Cactus, California, Canyons, Cars, Colorado, Current Affairs, Deserts, Dying, Emotions, Faith, Family, Flora & Fauna, Forgiveness, Good Folk, Grand Canyon, Grief and Loss, Los Angeles, Louisiana, Love, Mountains, National Parks, Nature, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, New Orleans, Oklahoma, Photography, Snow, South Dakota, Spirituality, Tennessee, Texas, The West, Travel, Trees, Tucson, Utah, Virginia, Women, Wyoming | Permalink | Comments (1)

May 08, 2017

From the road, south, east, and west...

[One of the best images from my trip south I think, because you can make up your own story about this woman and this chair. Mystery and magic are good things in art and in life.]

[John B. was largely unbanked, and had much hidden gold or so folks thought. I couldn't find his small headstone, but I think John would have found this image amusing, given his views on God, the financial markets, and the world at large. Rest in peace, John B.]

[I worked as a magician at Tweetsie Railroad, near Boone, in 1981. I lived in a mice-infested house just up the hill from Noah and Effie's graves. My old house is still there, looking about the same. Still kinda shitty.]

[Note to those wanting to be professional landscape photographers: Sit in one spot and wait for the light to come to you, and take tons of images. I took around 30 images to get the desired depth of field and to get those green pine needles in the mirror in proper focus. It just takes time, like all good things.]

[A rare moment at the Lincoln Memorial, when there wasn't a ton of people. Perhaps it was because it was late in the day and raining. One of my favorite spots in the District. Fun fact: My mother saw them building the Memorial when she was a child, living just across the river in Alexandria.]

[I bought these silk flowers at a Walmart in Oklahoma expressly for my mother's grave. My mother liked the color purple for it was the color of royalty. Been thinking many kind thoughts about my deceased, very complex mother. She was mostly a pain in the neck, don't you know, but she taught me some wonderful things when I was a kid, and frankly, she, along with her mother Nannie, were the only family members who gave a damn about Little Stu. Fun fact: Mary gave me $30,000 in 2008, before she got sick, so I could quit my day job and be a photographer and a writer full time. It was 10% of her worth at the time. That was very generous. The money is gone now but it gave me a very good kick start. Rest in peace, Mary. The Nannie's Mirror series is now as much about you as it is about your mother.]

[Was this image photoshopped? You bet your sweet bippie it was.]

[An incredibly tragic thing happened here. Google it and read all about it. Ghosts wander these plains.]

[I trespassed and spent all of ten minutes at John's house. The property is now owned by the man who owns K3 Lumber. K3. Get it? A very strong unwelcoming vibe was all around me, both at the house and all throughout the town. I'm guessing they has all heard the S-Town podcast by now. The property felt especially haunted and I don't use that word lightly. Everything is gone from John's house and his clock workshop. I didn't even go searching for the hedge maze, I was that spooked. I said a prayer for John, took photos of a lonely wooden chair on the porch and the three old chimneys and made my exit. As I drove away, I blew a kiss at the South Forty Trailer Park sign and made my way to the Cahaba River. Rest in peace, John B. and much love to all the folks in Shit Town, the good, the bad and the in-between.]