Gotta Let a Ho' Be a Ho'

This week's Big Ugly Land of Oz Self-Portrait Challenge, had Osmyn and me taking selfpics in public places where we would definitely be spotted by strangers, while we were in the process...

Luckily for me, the very nice new owner of the local XXX store - gave me permission to have at it out on the roadway in front of his establishment...THANK You!!!

Pinkie Promise

The biggest, hugest, gigundo Thank You to my friends who invited me to come over and stage some self-portraits at their place, last evening! And as if that's not already enough to be grateful for, I also owe you two an enormous THANKS for agreeing to be the subjects in my first real photo shoot where my cameras were aimed at humans other than myself, for once! Seriously one of the most amazing photographic experiences I've ever had - I LOVE You Guys!!!

All That Glitters is not Gold

Last week's "Big Ugly Land of Oz" self-portrait challenge theme was - "glitter"...(curse you, Osmyn Oree - Haha!) May I never havta cover my body in that godawful stuff again! If you're interested in participating in this week's challenge - we're asking that you stage a self-portrait shoot in a public place where strangers will definitely see you. Good Luck!

Also, real quick while I'm here - THANK You to everyone who came by 1 lb. Gallery on Friday night, for Kerri Lane's "LIVE CANVAS" photography exhibition Opening & Reception! What an incredible turnout we had!!!

And Thanks also to those of you who entered your photos into the, "I Know What You Did Last Summer" call for entries! It's gonna be a super cool show, I can't wait for you all to see it!

Idle Hands are the Devil's Playthings

I've got so much going on right now, it's kinda crazy - and believe me when I say, that is definitely not a bad thing! Unfortunately though, the one area of my life that has taken a bit of a backseat over the last couple of months - is my art...self-portraiture, specifically. 

So for this post, although I am dutifully sharing a (regrettably mediocre) selfpic (cuz it's one of the only newish ones that I have in the queue, at the moment) I'm primarily here today, with the sole purpose in mind of using this entry for the shameless promotion of a few of the exciting projects that have kept me distracted from self-portraiture, lately.

Having recently become the proud owner of 1 lb. Gallery (my shiny, new fine art photography gallery, and print studio) - has meant many long hours working in and on the space, learning how to use my kickass Epson printer to make some startlingly beautiful archival quality prints (Yip!), becoming accustomed to working with unfamiliar, and (for me at least) complicated software, lining up future exhibitions, etc... - all while simultaneously making my first ever sincere attempt at becoming a legitimate, contributing member of society - ME?! I know! Shocking, right? (worry not however, I shall always remain a slacker at heart!) Anyway, (somewhat surprisingly) the diametric shift in my daily routine - has changed my approach to each new day, for the better! Without benefit of an alarm clock, I rise absurdly early each morning, eager as hell to hop on my cute, little motorcycle, zip down to the gallery, and get straight to work on the various different projects that I currently have underway.

Segue to the promotional portion of this entry:

The first thing that I wanna either alert you to (assuming that I haven't already), or remind you about (if in fact, I already have) - is 1 lb. Gallery's first ever call for photography entries! 

Et Voila!

"I Know What You Did Last Summer" Call for Entries - August 3rd Deadline Approaching!

Summer (my personal favorite of all four seasons) is in full swing, here in the Western Hemisphere - but before long, the days will start to become noticeably shorter, shadows will gradually grow longer, kids will begrudgingly head back to school, and sadly - all of the summertime fun will be over...until summer rolls around again, next year...

For the September Exhibit - 1 lb. Gallery invites you to submit photos that will let us all know what you did, where you went, what you saw, or perhaps even something a little less literal, like simply how summer made you feel this year...or any year, for that matter...

One Entrant will the "Juror's Choice Award", and will be the featured artist on the 1 lb. website for the month of September, 2013, as well as the special guest at the "I Know What You Did Last Summer" Opening Night & Artist's Reception to be held on September 6th, 2013. "Juror's Choice Award" winners who are unable to attend the exhibition's Opening Night, have the option of, and are encouraged to Skype via the gallery's computer, over the course of the evening - so that they may talk about their work with the event's attendees. "Juror's Choice Award" winner will also receive an 8.5" x 11" archival quality print of one of their images.

30 Images will be chosen from the submissions, and will be on display in the "I Know What You Did Last Summer" exhibition at 1 lb. Gallery - until September 28th, 2013. Along with these images, 20 additional photos will appear on 1 lb. Gallery's online annex.

(Submission Guidelines & Instructions)

The Submission Deadline is Saturday, August 3rd, 2013
Winners will be announced by August 10th, 2013
Images selected for inclusion in the September show, must arrive at the gallery no later than Saturday, August 31st.
We hope that you'll join us for the "I Know What You Did Last Summer" Opening & Artist's Reception on:
Friday, September 6th, 2013

The fee to submit is $25 for up to 5 images, $6 for each additional image. No more than 10 total images per entrant, please.

1 lb. Gallery offers free matting and framing for accepted photographs that fit our pre-cut mat sizes, for the duration of the exhibit. We will also print images that were selected for display in the gallery, should you prefer not to mail your print(s).

1 lb. Gallery does not take a commission on the sale of juried photography show participants, we do however retain 5.3% Virginia sales tax.

Please Click Here to Submit!

Email Lauralyn at: lb@onepoundgallery.com with your questions.

Thank You so much for participating, and Best of Luck to You!

So, come ON, You Guys! I know that you all have plenty of summertime pics. in your photography collections, that I have no doubt would make this a diverse and compelling show...so please consider making a submission - and don't delay! The deadline to enter is just two days away - this Saturday, August 3rd!!!

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K, and my next (and last) order of business, is to invite all of you of course - but particularly those of you who happen to live in the Winchester, Va. are - to please come by the gallery tomorrow, August 2nd - from 6:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m. for the Opening & Artist's Reception in honor of photographer Kerri Lane, and her "LIVE CANVAS" Exhibition! In order to save (what's swiftly becoming precise) time - I've copied yesterday's blog entry from off of the 1 lb. website, and pasted it here:

Kerri Lane's "LIVE CANVAS" Photography Exhibition is officially up on the walls of 1 lb. Gallery - and I've gotta say, it's an utterly fantastic collection of unique portraits that she's made of gorgeous nude models, set against one of a kind backdrops - to both of which - Kerri herself first expertly applies the most delicious array of vivid or jewel-colored paints, before she begins the process of then turning the camera onto her subjects...

...do you see what the heck what I'm talkin' about? Yeah...

Kerri's "LIVE CANVAS" Opening and Reception are this Friday, August 2nd - from 6:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m. at 1 lb. Gallery, and it's shaping up to be a most lively occasion - so do please stop by to join in on all of the merrymaking!

Oh, and here's another little nugget of awesomeness - Kerri will be making a selection of her images available for (limited) print, over the course of the evening. Interested buyers may choose an image, and the type and size of archival quality paper upon which they would like to have their print(s) made, after which I will print the image out on my Epson Stylus Pro 9900 printer - and lastly, Kerri will sign, and number the prints before you handful of lucky collectors out there, get to bring the gorgeous works of art back home with you. Nice, huh?

All righty then, so it's decided - we'll see you at the Opening this Friday night, excellent!

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All right, so there ya' have it yo! I'm not sure which thing I'm hoping for more...to see some (lots?) of you at the opening tomorrow night? Or to see your summertime-themed photography submissions show up in my inbox! Thank You in advance though, if you do decide to partake in one or the other, or both!

*Footnote: 1 lb. Gallery is no longer in operation, and its website is no longer active.

"The Big Ugly Land of Oz" Project

My good friend and photography/self-portraiture cohort, Osmyn Oree - sent me a text a few days ago, in which he proposed the most fantastic idea! He suggested that each week, he and I should alternate posing a different self-portrait challenge to each other - which I immediately thought was positively brilliant...because not only would it allow us to continue collaborating with each other (albeit on a completely different level than our last collaboration), despite the fact that we do live four states apart - but it would also put the fire under my butt to stage a new set of selfpics, on the weekly. And let's face it - I've been horribly remiss about being the dutiful self-portraiteuse that I used to be.

So anyway...the more that I thought about Osmyn's brainchild, the more my own wheels started turning like mad! And after conferring with one another about this, that, and the other - we finally came up with this plan: 

The Big Ugly Land of Oz is Osmyn's and my new, weekly, self-portraiture tumblr. blog (we just launched it today - yip!) on which, we will feature the self-portraits that the two of us shall publish each week. But we also wanna encourage all of you to participate, by submitting your own theme-relevant selfpics to the site.

Every Sunday, Osmyn and I will each choose one photo from the group that stands out to us individually - and those images will be printed on archival quality, double weight matte, 8.5" x 11" paper, at my 1 lb. Gallery (on my kickass Epson Stylus Pro 9900 printer, no less) and then sent to the winning entrants as our "Thanks!" for participating.

The photo above, is my response to this week's challenge - in which Osmyn and I had to photograph ourselves after, or while - doing something that would contrast with our natural skin colors...so there ya' go!

I can't tell you how excited I am about this endeavor - because I really do hope that it'll help me to prioritize making my art over doing the other things that I've been doing lately (at least one day a week?), but I would love to think that it might also motivate you guys to throw your own hats into the self-portraiture ring!

*Footnote: The Big Ugly Land of Oz is now defunct.

Face Down In The Dirt

Tangerine Dreamin'

Was reminded of my recent, completely amazing (albeit abbreviated) visit with Osmyn Oree, after he posted a photo from one of our shoots together, on his tumblr today. You may see it here, if you'd care to...

Seeing the image reminded me of what an incredible couple of days I spent with him in Lancaster - and so, feeling a bit nostalgic - I went back through the self-portraits that I took while I was there, and I came across this one...which I had actually basically put entirely out of my mind. And that might've had something to do with the fact that - on the morning that I took this pic., the hotel manager very kindly came by my room to see if I needed anything...while the curtain in my room was fully open, and while I was in the midst of my shoot, in all of my naked glory, sitting on top of the luggage stand! As soon as I saw him peer at me through the picture window - I screamed, "SORRY!", and raced over to the window to pull the drapes...it was sooooooo incredibly awkward...I just felt awful about it because I could tell that he was way more embarrassed to have seen me naked, than I was to have had him see me...

About a minute after the whole thing went down, the phone in my room rang...and when I reluctantly picked it up (cuz I was pretty sure that I was about to be kicked out), the hotel manager said, "Yeah hi. It's the guy who just came by your room...why don't you close the curtains? And you're gonna break the luggage stand if you keep getting on it." I replied, "I was taking pictures, and I wanted to let the good light in. I won't do it anymore...and the luggage stand is fine."

I did open the curtains again though, and kept my clothes off - just long enough to take one more selfpic up against that pumpkin orange wall, and in that scrummy morning light…SORRY!