INteriors: real and imagined

INteriors is a juried exhibit at the the Glen Arbor Arts Center in Glen Arbor, Michigan. The exhibit runs for another month, closing on March 12, 2026. The exhibit challenged artists to look inward and explore “inner spaces, both real and imagined, spaces of the home and of the mind.” One of my photographs, a montage, was accepted into the exhibit and is on display at the Arts Center. (Slide 42 in the Virtual Exhibit.)

If you are in northwest lower Michigan this winter, it is worth stopping by to see the exhibit. If you can’t attend in person, you can view the exhibit virtually by clicking here.

Quiet Moments

Here is my submission to the Glen Arbor Arts Center‘s Members Create exhibit this summer. Titled Quiet Moments, it is a triptych of images taken during in the winter of 2018. Winter is my favorite season in which to do photography. Dressed in layers, I willingly endure the cold so that I can enjoy the solitude of the beach. Except for the sound of the waves, the world is silent, muffled by the layers of snow, and I embrace the peaceful feeling that wells up in me.

The images are separately framed, but have always been exhibited together. The Members Create exhibit runs from June 6 to August 7, 2025, at the Arts Center at 6031 South Lake Street in Glen Arbor. The gallery is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and Saturday from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m.

GAAC Exhibit: The Sky Is Always There

Over the weekend, I attended the opening of “The Sky Is Always There,” a new juried show at the Glen Arbor Arts Center. The Arts Center asked applicants to go beyond direct representation and portraits of puffy clouds “to consider the sky from its atmospheric characteristic to its mythic history.”

I was fortunate that my submission “Noctures” was accepted for the exhibit. Nocturnes is a triptych of photographs of the night sky that I printed as cyanotypes.

From left to right, the images are of a moonrise over Shalda Creek, the Milky Way over Port Oneida, and the northern lights over a farmhouse in Kirkjubæjarklaustur, a village in the south of Iceland.

I shared the inspiration for my entry in my Artist’s Statement: “When my children were young, we would lie on the shore of Sleeping Bear Bay at night and watch for satellites. Those moments when we marveled at the night sky have remained with me all these years. I wanted to recreate that sense of awe for this exhibit.  More recently, my grandchildren and I created cyanotypes of leaves and twigs. We shared a similar sense of wonder as we watched the images coming to life in the developing tray. These experiences gave me the idea to process photographs of the night sky as cyanotypes for this exhibition.”

To create the cyanotypes, I converted my digital photographs to monochrome images and then reversed the tones to create digital negatives. Using a mixture of ammonium iron citrate and potassium ferricyanide, I treated hot-pressed, 100% cotton watercolor paper to sensitize it to UV light.  Then I made a printed image from each negative by exposing the negative and paper to a UV light source. To deepen the blues, I bathed the final prints in hydrogen peroxide.

There are some remarkable works in the exhibit. If you are in the area of Glen Arbor this winter, I encourage you to stop by the Glen Arbor Arts Center and enjoy it. The exhibit runs through March 20.

“Woodland Studies” Update

“Woodland Studies,” an exhibit of six of my photos, opened today at the Glen Arbor Arts Center in Glen Arbor, Michigan. The exhibit will run until April 13. The exhibit can be viewed online at https://glenarborart.org/events/exhibit-woodland-studies/. That page also has a link to a video of a conversation about the exhibit that I had with Gallery Manager Sarah Bearup-Neal. I have also embedded that conversation below.

[Note: “Woodland Studies” is no longer available on the Glen Arbor Arts Center website. You can see the photos in the exhibit on my website by clicking here.]

I am grateful to the Glen Arbor Arts Center for hosting this show and especially to Sarah Bearup-Neal for guiding me through the process of preparing my first exhibit.

Upcoming Exhibit: “Woodland Studies”

I am excited to share information about “Woodland Studies,” a small exhibition of my photographs that will open at the Glen Arbor Art Center on January 7, 2022. The details can be found by following this link. If you happen to be on the Leelenau Peninsula this winter, stop by and have a look. If you can’t make it, the photos will also be available for viewing online at the link above.

[Note: “Woodland Studies” is no longer available on the Glen Arbor Arts Center website. You can see the photos in the exhibit on my website by clicking here.]

I am grateful to the Glen Arbor Art Center for hosting this exhibition, the first of my work. I have enjoyed working with Gallery Director Sarah Bearup-Neal and have learned a great deal in preparing the prints for exhibit.

Venturing out for some art and culture while staying in

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Being under orders to social distance in our homes during the Covid-19 pandemic does not prevent us from getting out and exploring, virtually, some of the world’s greatest museums of art.  I have a gathered here links to four temporary exhibits that no one is able to view right now except on the Internet.  After that I have included links to a host of museums and cultural sites that you can explore in the safety of your home.  If I come across more