In the Studio...

This week has been a busy one! I spent most days in the Springfield studio writing, sewing, and framing the folios for the exhibition. I take all the pieces over to the Springfield Museum of Art at the end of the month, and while I think I’ve been pacing myself well, I can’t imagine there won’t be some last-minute fiasco about something. Fingers crossed that I am wrong. Or that I’ve at least given myself enough of a cushion.

I finally decided to give up on the idea of writing without any guide lines. While I wrote three copies of Flying Adventures that way, it was nerve-wracking. I made a DIY light table out of Christmas lights and a piece of propped-up glass, and it’s working brilliantly.

photo by Vicki Rulli

It’s been interesting making a “wall edition” of the book, because I have to make a thread choice for every folio, and while I chose a natural off-white for most of the pages, I thought I’d use the red thread to mimic the pages of the actual book where the sewing thread showed.

My favorite thing about the studio besides hanging out with friends? Mr. Grouchy Pants, the studio cat.

Hope you’ve had a great week and enjoyed your Mother’s Day :-)

My Exhibit at the Meadowlark

It’s up! My exhibit at the Meadowlark Restaurant in Dayton runs from now through March. It was my original intention to just display my Velvet Winter series, but with all the wall space at the Meadowlark I was able to add a sampling of The Blue Hour and Enchanted Kingdom as well. It feels SO good to have photographs up on walls again! I’ve been working on the Flying Adventures book project for such a long time that my other work has taken a back seat, and this show couldn’t be a more perfect way to get that part of my photography life up and running again.

I started by unearthing all the prints I had, signing and labeling them.

Miss Hazel was, of course, helpful in every way possible: “No prints under here!” she says.

I cleaned 42 pieces of glass…

… and did my best to frame prints without the inevitable stray hair of kitten fur finding its way in.

“Ooooh I think I see one right here!” Miss Hazel says.

This was the first time I made wall labels and proper signs for a show. I thought that since each photograph had the same info (size, price, edition number, etc.) that I could just lump all of that together on the larger project statement sign, but I realized each photograph deserves its own. Besides, if someone’s interested in it, why should they have to track down the sign in the foyer?

Each wall at the Meadowlark is unique. Two are brick but the rest are painted bold colors. I wasn’t sure if I’d like how the photographs looked on bright walls, but I love how the images pop!

The foyer is home to two of my favorite images from the series, “Silver Forest” and the title piece, “Velvet Winter.” On busy nights when there’s a wait for a table, hopefully people will enjoy the snowy view.

To view images from all three series click the links below:
Velvet Winter . Enchanted Kingdom . The Blue Hour

To inquire about purchasing photographs or scheduling an exhibit, please email me directly at
studio@claudiaretter.com

Thank you to Wiley and Lisa for the opportunity, and to John for all your help.
xxoo!