Guest Spot: Tom Burnett

Posted on February 4, 2011 by CatRutgers4Art
Shenandoah Sunset © Tom Burnett

The original sunset, by Tom Burnett.

Tom’s current screen saver displays every single one of his pictures. The images shown here made me think, “Wish I could post them on CatRutgers4art.” Fact is, of course I can! And Guest Spot was born.

Guest Spot will be a monthly-or-so feature, expanding the dialogue on art and artists. By the way, did you catch the anagram? Spot. Post. I love words (and am betting you do too).

Here’s the good word from Mr. Burnett: “The original photo was taken at sunset, overlooking the Shenandoah Valley. I imagined that different life forms may perceive light waves differently than we do and sought to simulate those portals of perception, thus exploring the many possibilities of how a sunset is actually experienced depending on who or what is perceiving it. It’s also fun just to mess around with Photoshop and find a happy place to stop.” Enjoy the view.

Bright © Tom BurnettFirst Transformation © Tom BurnettDetail 594 © Tom BurnettBlie © Tom BurnettAll images in this post are by Tom Burnett © 2011.

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Revealing the Image Within

Posted on January 25, 2011 by CatRutgers4Art

Image 0755 Unexpected Self Portrait © Catherine Rutgers 2011I like to take pictures with the light at hand. Sometimes they come out pretty cool. But what about ones showing just a tiny glimpse of image?

You’ve seen this kind of digital thumbnail or film negative: it looks almost completely dark, but you think there might be something in there.

What would happen if the brightness was increased and the contrast adjusted? Piqued my interest enough to find out. Select results are shown here. The texture is exceptional, colors amazingly quirky. They remind me to slow down and not delete everything that looks blank. Sometimes it can be changed into a gem.

Image 0826 Meditation in Monochrome © Catherine Rutgers 2011 Image 0442 Toes First © Catherine Rutgers 2011 Image 0728 Athena and the Rosehip © Catherine Rutgers 2011 Image 1268 Garden Night © Catherine Rutgers 2011

All images in this post are by Catherine Rutgers © 2011.

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Altered State: In Motion

Posted on January 18, 2011 by CatRutgers4Art

Image 1210 As Close as You Can Get © Catherine Rutgers

It’s not so easy to trick a digital camera.
Set on auto, its instincts are to correct your “mistakes.” However, I’m not generally looking for the “perfect picture”; I want to create source material for new artwork.

For altering an image while it’s being taken, there are but so many options. I can move into the subject, without changing the focus. Move my body into strange positions while holding the camera. Or both. At the same time.Image 1535 Across the Tracks © Catherine Rutgers Sometimes the outcome is quite satisfying, but static nonetheless.

In my quest for representing motion, I occasionally photograph something that’s moving, and even less frequently manage to capture its movement. Although Photoshop filters can create an illusion of motion, and they’re a lot of fun to work with, nine times out of ten you can recognize the technique in the final image.
Image 0818 Candlelit Corner Straight On © Catherine Rutgers

I love a blur that is created without a filter and was determined to figure it out.

So, it was a happy day in April 2008 when I discovered how to move from a perfectly fine photo to a really cool impact by swooping the camera through space.

Four favorites are shown below, dimensions reduced and brightness slightly adjusted. Otherwise, straight out of the camera.

Image 0828 Perspective Arc © Catherine Rutgers

Image 0819 Orange Vibrations © Catherine RutgersImage 1014 My Garden Walk © Catherine RutgersImage 0825 © Catherine RutgersThe images in this post are © Catherine Rutgers 2011.

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Handwritten, Typewriter, Type

Posted on January 11, 2011 by CatRutgers4Art
Quantity Survey: scanned blueprint date unknown © Catherine Rutgers

Detail from “Design No. 6-G-4: Quantity Survey,” a blueprint that belonged to my grandfather, date unknown. The paper is strong and flexible, the blue is waxy. I can see that the text has somehow been created by removing the color but have no idea how the process actually worked.

What tools do we use for writing? Until you get to computer-generated type, everything is potentially messy, sometimes smelly, and always ready for appropriation into an art project. Used typewriter ribbons? Exquisite. Outtakes from the mimeograph? Fabulous.

I had a manual typewriter in college and wasn’t all that skilled at creating neat pages. Now, however, I am crazy about the way the red bleeds out of the black and how the paper yellowed but the whiteout stayed white. Although the IBM Selectric was introduced in 1961, they were expensive, big, and heavy. I can’t remember anyone who had one at home.

Photo by Etan J. Tal: IBM Selectric II dual Latin-Hebrew Hadar typeball, Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported

Typeball. Photograph by Etan J. Tal, November 12, 2009 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:SelectricII_Hadar.jpg

As described at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Typewriter,
“The Selectric used a system of latches, metal tapes, and pulleys driven by an electric motor to rotate the ball into the correct position and then strike it against the ribbon and platen. The typeball moved laterally in front of the paper instead of the former platen-carrying carriage moving the paper across a stationary print position.”

There was no doubt you were using a machine: awkward,
noisy, busy in and of itself. Office procedures as the frame
for analyzing change over time will reappear in future posts.
For now, the essay’s visual.

Endnotes Detail 1976 © Catherine RutgersHandwritten on paper circa 1991 © Catherine RutgersScanned from printout: font is Courier New - CatRutgers4art 2011Dada-Surrealism: handwritten in pencil 1976 © Catherine RutgersTime Machine: handwriting inverted © Catherine RutgersText and images by Catherine Rutgers © 2011.


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Party Over Here

Posted on January 4, 2011 by CatRutgers4Art

The whole nine yards are essential;  Amethyst Dish CatRutgers4art © Catherine Rutgersthe aesthetic is abundance. Put everything you have into making it happen, and you’ll get back more than you ever imagined.

Every party should envelop guests in an alternative environment, swallow you up in happiness, and not ever let you know how it was done.

Preparation is the prelude to the fun. When everything glows and the colors make me feel like dancing, I’m ready to think about the food, music, lights. For this special occasion, in 2007, I couldn’t resist snapping the place settings, dishes, and other ingredients beforehand. The glass pebbles and polished stones are now in the garden, a happy reminder of a really good time.

Cleanup? Also part of the pleasure: if there isn’t any mess, there wasn’t any party.

Party Image 0552 CatRutgers4art © Catherine RutgersParty Image 0567 CatRutgers4art © Catherine RutgersParty Image 0557 CatRutgers4art © Catherine Rutgers 2011Original photographs by Catherine Rutgers © January 2011

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