Stu Jenks' Fezziwig Press (I'm just a simple man...): Tucson

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, Ancients, Arizona, Art, Babies, Black & White Photography, Books, Business, California, Canyons, Color Photography, 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)

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 stujenks@gmail.com for prices.

Happy Spring, y'all.

Stu

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

February 06, 2018

"Two Newlyweds: 1948, 2018"

“Two Newlyweds: 1948, 2018” © Stu Jenks.

Both of their right arms are straight.
Both of their left arms are bent.
Both were raised and educated in The South.
Both were born into the Episcopal Church.
Both are lifelong Democrats.
One is cooking one of her first meals for her husband.  
The other talks worriedly on the phone to her lawyer.
One deeply loved her husband til the day he died in 2001.
The other fiercely loves her husband today.
One photograph was taken 70 years ago.
The other was taken last month.
One is my mother.
The other is my wife.

February 6th, 2018.
Flame Spiral Studios
Tucson, Arizona.

Posted at 06:51 PM in Arizona, Art, Black & White Photography, Current Affairs, Emotions, Family, Love, North Carolina, Sex, Stu Jenks, Tucson, Virginia | Permalink | Comments (0)

December 07, 2017

Boots, Mugshots, Churches and Sheep...

"Stu In Trouble With The Law, For Painting Art On The Streets" (c) Chapel Hill Newspaper, photographer unknown, 1978, 2017.

Posted at 09:44 AM in Arizona, Art, Churches, Faith, Love, Mexico, Mountains, Religion, Sculpture, Snow, Stu Jenks, The West, Travel, Tucson, Wildlife | Permalink | Comments (1)

November 28, 2017

I'm getting married and moving to North Carolina...

Yep. I'm getting married to a wonderful woman named Alexa! (As a writer, you're not supposed to overuse exclamation points, but this is the time for them!)

You can donate to our wedding registry at www.stujenks.org, to help me move my studio and my life to North Carolina in early 2018.

We will be getting married very soon, and neither of us are rich people. If you would like to give a cash wedding gift, you can do so at www.stujenks.org. It will really help. The money will go for things like a washer and dryer, a rented Penske truck to get my stuff to North Carolina, and resources to help us begin our life together. No gift is too small.

And if you would like to give a physical wedding gift or write us a check, just send it to P.O.Box 161, Tucson, Arizona 85702. Make the check out to me.

Thanks y'all for all your help, now and over the years, so I could be a working artist, writer and musician. It means the world to me.

You will like Alexa. I sure do. Photos of us will be forthcoming, on this blog and on my Facebook page.

I'm so happy to soon be Alexa's husband and she's very excited to soon be Mrs. Alexa Jenks! I'm joyfully misty-eyed much of the time these days.

Again, thanks for your help. And don't forget to give me your snail mail address so I can send you a thank-you card.

www.stujenks.org

Photos from top to bottom: "Alexa Reading, Mark Hewitt's Studio, Pittsboro, North Carolina", "Alexa Walking Away From the PBRC, Lake Brandt, North Carolina", & "Pamela's Baby Rocking Chair, Lake Brandt, North Carolina" (c) 2017 Stu Jenks.

Posted at 12:59 PM in Ancestors, Arizona, Christmas and Winter Solstice, Color Photography, Emotions, Family, Flora & Fauna, Forgiveness, Home, Hope, Love, Money, North Carolina, Pamela's Baby Rocking Chair, Plants, Sex, Sickness & Health, Spirituality, Stu Jenks, The South, The West, Tucson, Water, Women | Permalink | Comments (0)

October 17, 2017

Mom's Bowl...

1993: Mark Hewitt threw this bowl. My sister Pamela bought it for our mother for Christmas.

1993-2008: Mark's bowl sat on Mom's dining room table for years, a vessel where Mom put old greeting cards and this month's bills.

2008: Mary Jenks moved to Arizona and quickly became very demented and very ill. She moved into an adult care home within months. She could only take a few things with her. The bowl came to live with me.

2011: Mary and Pamela Jenks died that summer, within three weeks of each other. Yeah. I know. It was tough but a blessing. Life is complicated.

2017: Maybe I'm starting a new series. Maybe not. But I seem to be traveling hither and yon with Mom's bowl, taking photos of it in pretty and interesting places. And it's not just for the memory of Mary Jenks or as an acknowledgment of Mark Hewitt's body of work. It is partly that, but it's also a walking prayer of sorts, for a woman I love very much who is going through some tough times.

So those are the ideas around the bowl. Remembrance, respect, love and prayer.

(Oh. And at some point, this bowl is going to break. It is clay. Pottery breaks. And I am trucking it around rocks and hard things. Pottery is not fond of rocks and hard things. But the plan when it breaks is to glue it back together and keep photographing it. We all have cracks. We all have wounds and scars. It's what makes us interestingly and lovingly human. This bowl will have scars too. But I'll be careful until that happens. Promise.)

#pottery, #stujenks, #markhewitt, #maryjenks, #ceramicbowl, #remembrance, #love, #prayer.

Posted at 04:46 PM in Arizona, Art, Black & White Photography, Canyons, Ceramics, Color Photography, Current Affairs, Faith, Family, Forgiveness, History, Love, Mary Jenks, Mountains, Nature, Pamela Jenks, Pottery, Relationships, Rocks, Spirituality, Tucson | 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, Bridges, Buildings, Cactus, California, Canyons, Cars, Colorado, Current Affairs, Deserts, Dying, Emotions, 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)

July 14, 2017

Recent images...and a snippet from the upcoming Christmas album

All image rights are for sale along with fine art prints, personally printed by me. I don't do internet third-party printing, because they pretty much suck. Hard contrast, poor quality control, blacks are too black. All prints signed. All image rights reasonably priced.

Hope you enjoy these images and look for new releases from Fezziwig Press: a new photography book, Nannie's Mirror (My Family Owed Slaves) and a new music CD, Snow: A Christmas Album, both in the Fall of 2017. A free download from Snow is at the bottom of this post.

Images from Robert E. Lee's tomb at Washington and Lee University, Lexington, Virginia (c) 2017 Stu Jenks (And I hate racism, sexism, violence and slavery, but I'm a Virginian and a part of me will always love Robert E. Lee. He denounced slavery soon after the Civil War, but yes, he did fight on the wrong side of things, but later in life, he knew it and regretted it.)

New images for the book, Nannie's Mirror (My Family Owed Slaves), to be released October 1st, 2017.

From top to bottom:

"Newspaper Rock, Utah", "Four Corners Area, Utah", "The Needles, Canyonlands National Park, Utah", "Hovenweep National Monument, Utah", "Arches National Park, Utah", "Delicate Arch, Arches National Park, Utah", "Confluence Trail, The Needles, Canyonlands National Park, Utah." and "Four Corners Monument, Navajo Reservation, Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona (c) 2017 Stu Jenks.

And a ton of Nannie's Mirror images can be found on this website. Just hit the button on the left marked "Nannie's MIrror".

And below is a track from my soon-to-be-released Christmas album, Snow. The piece is called Nogales Christmas Eve Snow Waltz.

Hopefully this pensive music will provide some Summer comfort to you. As the old Southern expression goes: "Sad music makes you happy, and happy music makes you sad". Enjoy, y'all.

Nogales Christmas Eve Snow Waltz (Jenks); a free download from Stu

Posted at 06:39 PM in Ancients, Angel/Ghosts, Arizona, Art, Atmospheric Music, Black & White Photography, Books, Canyons, Cds, Color Photography, Current Affairs, Day Spirals, Fezziwig Press, Flora & Fauna, Love, My Grandmother Nannie's Mirror, Nannie's Mirror, Nocturnal Photography, North Carolina, People, Politics, Sculpture, Sky, Spirals, Stu Jenks, The Four Directions, The Heavens, The Poor, The Road, The West, Travel, Trees, Tucson, Valleys, Virginia, Washington, DC, Women | Permalink | Comments (0)

June 20, 2017

It's a 110 in Gila Bend. In Buckeye, it's a 102. Summer's here and I just can't find a way to stop loving you...

It's a 112 in the shade in Tucson right now, and I'm almost done the initial recordings of my Snow album, an Christmas/Winter Solstice CD of original ambient and instrumental pieces. I'm keeping the music under wraps for now, but here are some images for the front and back covers of Snow and other winter images too. Visual air-conditioning, don't you think? Also below are some other photographs from the last month or so.

Snow will be available on CDbaby, Bandcamp and iTunes in early Fall. It'll also be available as a physical Hi-Fi CD as well. It's coming along nicely I think. A very odd experience recording Christmas music when it's 112 outside. Living the life in the Sonoran high desert.

"It's a 110 in Gila Bend. In Buckeye, it's a 102. Summer's here and I just can't find a way to stop loving you..." - Heatstroke by Dusty Chaps.

Images from the recent Dragoon Fire, Dragoon Mountains, Arizona. (c) Stu Jenks 2017

[Needless to say, the photo images of Mr. Marshall's work is not for sale. Not from me at least. All other images and rights of my work are, as always, for sale. Needless to say too.]

The books Nannie's Mirror and A Chair In The Wilderness are at the book designers now. Expect them to be released, as hardbounds and as ebooks, in the early Fall too.