The Observation Deck

Fellow Deck Posters/Friends/Neighbors;

Here is your official invitation to join my parents and I on January 17th in the evening (Time will be determined in the next few days) for my first art show since summer of 2007. I am certain the time will be in the evening, I just don't know the exact hours yet.

It is being held at the Beck Center Creative Arts building on the corner of Rockway and Detroit Avenue.

I am ready to place a print order for twenty prints that will be for sale from January 17th throughout the month of March. No one outside of my family has seen any of this work.

The entire show will consist of 25 pieces. 20 photographs and 5 paintings. Most photos will be 12"x18", as well as five smaller prints, and two bigger print (16"x24" and 16"x20"). These are great sizes for Lakewood homes and rooms.

Since I am a local artist, I am proud to say that I did not leave Lakewood to create all but one photograph. The single photograph, of downtown Cleveland, was added to the show in the last minute because I liked it. Proof that every day there is a beautiful moment waiting to be captured here in Lakewood, Ohio.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask.

I hope to see you all there!



PS: there are no Sports or Obama photos in this show.

Sorry, I will not be able to attend this event. The Knitting Channel is having an all day special on knitting etiquette.

Sounds like a good date night with the wife. Dinner and a show!

I'll have to DVR the Knitting Channel special

Stephen Eisel wrote:Sorry, I will not be able to attend this event. The Knitting Channel is having an all day special on knitting etiquette.

No class



Charlie

See you there.


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Jim O'Bryan wrote:

Stephen Eisel wrote:Sorry, I will not be able to attend this event. The Knitting Channel is having an all day special on knitting etiquette.

No class



Charlie

See you there.


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Stephen

Sorry for the comment, but I come from an art/photography background. Also I know first hand what a rare talent Ivor is. I have worked with many, many, many photographers in my life. Ivor is easily in the top ten I have ever worked with, and he is young.

I have stood next to him, taking photos, and later just been devastated by what he was shooting as opposed to myself. I believe Gary Rice a talented photographer in his own right has felt the same pains, along with the feeling of joy and satisfaction from watching this sixteen now nineteen year old grow and get better and better.

I know this will only feed an ever growing ego as well. But Ivor, is a very very rare talent. I am working with professional photographers in New York to get him there, and into a studio. They are amazed at his talents, and see tremendous upside in working with him and more importantly getting him to work for them.

If the paper folded tomorrow, Ivor for one made it all worthwhile.

I am also glad to call him my friend.

I enjoy your posts, even of other people thoughts and ideas.

But this one bothered me.

FWIW

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and you do not think that I will be there??

I will

if i can get a sitter for the kids i will be there.

Jim O'Bryan wrote: Also I know first hand what a rare talent Ivor is. I have worked with many, many, many photographers in my life. Ivor is easily in the top ten I have ever worked with, and he is young.

But Ivor, is a very very rare talent..

The first photo I saw taken by Ivor was the now famous panoramic view shot of the crowd and score board taken at the LHS East Gym Dec. 23, 2005, when the LHS Varsity Boys Basketball Team beat St. Edward. That is just an amazing shot. It captured the emotion, joy, shock, celebration, and most of all the Ranger Pride of all who attended that game.

I had no idea just who this, at the time, LHS Junior was. But just knew from that photo that he must be someone very special with loads of talent. You make all of Lakewood proud Ivor!

Missy Limkemann wrote:if i can get a sitter for the kids i will be there.

Are kids not welcome? I think I have brought my kids to nearly every art opening since they were born. Although we can't stay very long they love it. I would hope to bring them to this one. They are 3 and 5. I would not bring the baby though.

Of course I'll be there. Ivor is my friend and I will support him barring health issues.

Thrilled about this.

Vince Frantz wrote:

Missy Limkemann wrote:if i can get a sitter for the kids i will be there.

Are kids not welcome? I think I have brought my kids to nearly every art opening since they were born. Although we can't stay very long they love it. I would hope to bring them to this one. They are 3 and 5. I would not bring the baby though.

Patrick cannot be in crowds, it would freak him out too much, and Frankie would rather be where Patrick is or worse, he would start to imitate his brother and that is just not pleasant for anyone. LOL.

Vince Frantz wrote: Are kids not welcome? I think I have brought my kids to nearly every art opening since they were born. Although we can't stay very long they love it. I would hope to bring them to this one. They are 3 and 5. I would not bring the baby though.

Vince, everyone;

I hope everyone brings their kids (if they can) because it is a family friendly event. I'm so glad to read that people bring their kids to art shows because they will develop an appreciation for art at an early age and carry it with them throughout their lives.

I'll tell you all a story.

I went to a local gallery one Sunday afternoon back in the summer of 2007 to talk to the owner about having an art show. The owner wasn't there but there was a "private" show going on. I didn't know this, I mean, who has a opening on a Sunday afternoon.

I walked in to ask if the owner was there, and was told that they were not...and without hesitation the photographer who was having the show said "hey! you didn't pay $5 to get in..this is my private show!".

I looked around, saw 8x10 photos of naked people selling for $100-$200, told her I was there to talk to the owner, and that I'll be leaving.

I went down to the Phoenix, talked with the owner, and a week later had the place packed and raised $1400 for the Jerry Gruss Fund. Without charging a cent for admission.

I called Jim immediately afterward and made a commitment to never charge admission to my shows. I consider it a privilege to have anyone show up at my shows. Why should I charge? Art is made to be enjoyed, it's made to inspire others to create art and appreciate it more...and in my photography one of my goals when making a photograph is to show the viewer how beautiful something that we look over every day really is.

So this upcoming event will be very family friendly, it will be FREE, and I promise you the pictures won't be selling for a million dollars.

Sharon, I hope I can see you there. I've got some health issues in the family myself right now which are making me push back the installation to next week, but things will be better with time. I'm typing this as I'm getting ready to head downtown to the CCF for a visit.

Jim,

Thanks for the kind words, maximum respect.

Yeah, I used to do a good bit of photography in my younger days...it's a craft that I did, and did well. Still do a bit of it, but not like back then.

Photographers tend to fall into a couple of simple categories,,

Record-Keepers.

Artsy-Craftsy wanna-be types.

...and the real artists.

To some extent, you can train someone to take better pictures, yeah,

...do the tic-tac-toe grid on your image, put your subject into one or more of the 4 places where those lines intersect...called "composition points...
...shoot vertical subjects vertically and horizontal subjects horizontally...
...fill the frame, keep the wasted space out of the image...
...shoot thematically...let the shot convey a topic, like an English composition (comedy, tragedy, irony etc...)
...get creative with angles...
...capture the essential moment...
...and so on...

And yeah, you'll get better pictures, for sure....

And then you have Ivor, with a God-given eye for those composition points, those angles, those moments...

...a real artist.

...period.

Be there, you'll see.