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12.31.2007

Looking Ahead to 2008

2007 is ending quietly. Aaron is napping on the couch next to me, Itchie-bon is asleep under the blanket next to him. But I'm awake, organizing my online platforms: blogs, domains, websites. There is much work to be done in 2008, and the development of my printed promotional materials begins soon.

One of the highlights of this latest, vacation-time flurry of work is that www.jessicabeagan.com is now ready, and should be pointing to a beautiful online gallery, courtesy of www.otherpeoplespixels.com. I cannot speak highly enough about this company, their products, and their service. It's been a godsend to find. Now if only the domain name will stop pointing to Blogger and start pointing to OPP, we'll be golden.

It's been long overdue that I get my online presence established. I'm now motivated to make my photography work for me. Related to my goal of exhibiting, selling, and publishing my photographs in 2008, I start a six-week continuing education course at RISD next week. It's called Professional Practices for the Visual Artist, and it focuses on the business of selling one's work. I took a terrific course my Senior year at UMM, called "Real World Writing", which introduced me to a number of the same principles but for the Writing market. I successfully published and exhibited both writing and photography almost 10 years ago, as an undergraduate, thanks to what I learned in that class. Now it's time to start doing it again with all of the much-improved material I've been creating since then.

And now for something closer to home: This post marks the 440th for ICON this year, which is 400% increase over last year, and more than one post per day on average in 2007. I plan to continue this trend, showing you new work and sharing with you my ideas and ramblings throughout the year. ICON is the outlet, the platform, that I always hoped to find, where I can share words and images and ideas as they are ready to find an audience. I love to hear your feedback, and look forward to continuing to hear from readers in the coming year.

2007 saw a number of changes take place, and it's good to look back and take stock of how far things can come in just 12 months. One big difference in the next 12 months will be TRAVEL. I was back and forth domestically so much this year that it sapped my international travel plans for 2007. 2008 will be a different story. I'm also going to be 30 in June, which feels exactly like the milestone that it is. All told, I can't say I've ever looked so forward to a new year as I do this year.

So here at home, we're wrapping up a very relaxing and low-key vacation, rested and ready for a productive and eventful 2008. Time to wake the boys up and start getting ready for the evening's festivities.

Happy New Year!

Best 3 for Street Photography Submission

2007-12-31 Best 3 for Street Photography Submission, originally uploaded by jessica_beagan.

Amity put these three images together so we could see them as a set. One of my New Year's Resolutions to get my photography exhibited and published widely in 2008. I had success with this 8 or 10 years ago, when I was only just starting out. My work has improved, obviously, since then, and it's time to get it out there.

The submission for the juried exhibition on Street Photography is due January 15. I've begun gather these and other submissions guidelines for a big push in 2008. As always, I'll keep you posted.

12.27.2007

Other People's Pixels

Thank you, Ms. Chrystal!

Tonight she popped up on IM and told me about OPP: www.otherpeoplespixels.com. I am HOOKED! I finally got my website up and running, EXACTLY the way I want it to look. OPP is designed specifically for artists to create online galleries using various templates. I have been avoiding the creation of my own photography website because I couldn't bear the task of trying to figure out how to make it work. OPP has done that for me.

To check out the early draft, click here.

I'm working on getting the domain name www.jessicabeagan.com attached to the site, and there will be a new email address as well. I'll post more once the site is complete.

12.26.2007

FOUR DIRECTIONS: A collection of Polaroid Transfer Lamps

2007-12-26 Gracie Ballerina, Polaroid Transfer Lamps (2002) 006 A, originally uploaded by jessica_beagan.

Inspired by a course called "Designing with Light and Paper", I made these Screens in 2002. Two images are from London, two from Iowa. They were shot with slide film. I used a Daylab Jr. Slide Printer and Polaroid 669 film to create Polaroid Transfers. The roughly 3x4 inch images were them glued to wooden frames to make lampshades.

The following collection of Screens is called Four Directions. The first image is Thunderhead (Iowa), which is followed by Flowers (Iowa). The third image is Snail & Tile (London), which is followed by Door (London).

I'm in the process of revisiting these lamps, redesigning them and creating new Polaroid Transfer lamps. In 2008 I plan to produce and market these and other Polaroid Transfer lamps. I'll keep you posted. Any feedback or ideas are welcome.

Thunderhead (Iowa) Detail

2007-12-26 Gracie Ballerina, Polaroid Transfer Lamps (2002) 008 A, originally uploaded by jessica_beagan.

The muted saturation of the Thunderhead (Iowa) Screen is echoed in the Flowers (Iowa) Screen, shown next.

Flowers (Iowa) Screen

2007-12-26 Gracie Ballerina, Polaroid Transfer Lamps (2002) 021 A, originally uploaded by jessica_beagan.

This transfer resulted in an impressionistic image on the Flowers (Iowa) Screen. The colors are deep, muted, and saturated, suggesting an organic form while retaining a touch of abstraction.

Flowers (Iowa) Detail

2007-12-26 Gracie Ballerina, Polaroid Transfer Lamps (2002) 024 A, originally uploaded by jessica_beagan.

A close-up of the muted saturated look of the Flowers (Iowa) Screen.

Snail on Tile (London) Screen

2007-12-26 Gracie Ballerina, Polaroid Transfer Lamps (2002) 026 A, originally uploaded by jessica_beagan.

This is a horizontal screen, therefore shorter and wider than the others seen here. This is a snail on a pavement tile in London. The graphic geometric form of the tiles contrasts the round dark snail to the right. This image is sharper than the impressionistic Flowers (Iowa), but still retains some of the painterly characteristics of Thunderhead (Iowa).