Spain! Spain! Spain!

I'm trying to make it real in my head that in 6 days I am flying to Spain.

My mother and I are going to visit my sister in Granada and will be spending 10 days there. I am super excited and planning on spending a good bit of time photographing the city (oh hey, another thing for the growing list... buy film...). Here is a bit of information, unapologetically taken from Wikipedia:

"On January 2, 1492, the last Muslim sultan in Iberia, Emir Muhammad XII, known as Boabdil to the Spanish, surrendered complete control of Emirate of Granada, to Ferdinand II and Isabella I, Los Reyes Católicos ('The Catholic Monarchs'), after the last battle of the Granada War."

The Moorish influence is prevalent in the architecture of Granada, with the Alhambra being the most well-known example. It will make for an interesting change of scenery, from the rural mountains of NC, to a hill city of southern Spain. Can't wait to tell you about it!

Cedar Waxwings.

Three Cedar Waxwings
Cyanotype and Gum Bichromate Print

These three unfortunate fellows (or ladies) met their demise in the sliding glass doors of the upstairs part of the apartment I rent. Sad, but I appreciated the chance to see these birds up close. Besides the bright yellow ends of their tails, their wings have neon orange filament-like tips on them, not a color I'm used to seeing on local birds. This reminded me of part of Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver. One of the characters, Deanna Wolfe, talks about the now extinct Carolina Parakeet that inhabited the United States, including North Carolina, and how its appearance would now be considered exotic. I guess it is all a matter of the familiar and alien.

Criss cross applesauce.

I just sent in an application for an internship and am crossing all available fingers and toes.



This is one of my application images. A salt print from a waxed paper negative, scanned from a gelatin silver print. Beeswax does great things to computer printouts.

What remains of this tree stands on a bare hillside near Burnsville, NC. I'm still trying to figure out how it came to be above ground.

Nice things about the beach.

Moonlight through the live oaks.




Spanish moss
and these guys...

Shoestring Artists Collective

Here's my work from the Shoestring Artists Collective show at the St. Andrew's-Sewanee Gallery in Sewanee, Tennessee.

(Thanks to Beth Schaible for getting a shot in the gallery since I couldn't make it to the opening... and a super special thanks to Mark Boyd for putting the whole shebang together.)

salt prints and found objects

detail

I have about 10 rolls of film waiting to be developed.

I appreciate the convenience of digital cameras, but they are greatly lacking when it comes to the Christmas morning feeling of developing a roll of film. I guess it also eliminates that disappointed-cry-gift feeling, also known as a roll of film that wasn't loaded properly....

I'll take my chances.

Saturday drive.

Schoolhouse on the drive to Roan Mountain.

Trailer with sentry.

My manual focus on my digital camera is frustrating; I want to go back and reshoot with my old faithful film.

Green things.