Held a garage sale the last two days and included some framed prints. I met a lot people and had some great conversations. Many or you said you looked forward to looking at my work online. For all you new visitors, welcome! Take a look around, ask questions if you wish!
I know you all loved my classy sign, so I decided to post a picture of it for posterity sake, ha!
keep reading, there's more »
With the winter 2012 catalog launched last week, I have begun my foray into the “fashion world” by contributing design work to LoH Inspired and their latest clothing line. A new year brings a new layout to their page with new features being added daily, a new catalog, and fresh new designs. I was asked to submit a few designs and I was fortunate enough to have three selected. I’m super excited to be a part and to help celebrate the ethos of what LoH represents:
[keep reading to see my contribution]
keep reading, there's more »
It’s the crux of every serious photographer I know. It is a serious issue that gets over looked and it has happened to every photographer I have ever known. It IS copyright infringement. Everyone of them has an opinion on it one way or another. I stand firm on my opinion and I will do what I have to protect my integrity. A few months ago I had a situation arise with a good friend who did this, and made it his profile picture on facebook. I over-reacted. He was a very close life long friend and I treated him like a dirty thief, was very rude, and damn near caused irreparable damage to our friendship. Thanks to my lovely wife playing mediator, our friendship is unharmed.
Recently I photographed an event that caused a high amount of traffic to my web page. The next day I found a contact had posted an image to facebook from the event. I sent a nicer email to this person than I did my friend, and it was seamlessly rectified right away. Yesterday, it happened a third time; and another smooth transaction rectified the situation. But these are only two people from the event who happen to be my contacts. The damage is done at this point.
This morning I awoke to a caring email from the contact that did this a few days ago. A fellow creative herself (sculptor), she wanted to apologize profusely for stepping on my toes and took the time to do a little research for me. I am grateful for her email as it caused me to do more searching and actually find a solution to cover the majority of the problem ((it’s like birth control. Nothing is 100%) embarrassed to admit ….
keep reading, there's more »
I had my first fire of the season tonight. “Wait, what?” you say. “I thought you were some kind of campfire junky?” It was my first fire of the season, in the fireplace. As the above thought is accurate, I just don’t burn enough wood at home – for several reasons; my firebox is just huge and in order to make it look proportional or have any kind of heat I need to burn a lot of wood – my supply of firewood is low and whatever variety I stole from my parent’s place doesn’t burn very well (I think it’s cherry) – and I don’t like the mechanics of the fire-grate.
So I tried to fix all that tonight. I started by removing the fire-grate. If I’m going to have this big firebox than I’m at least going to enjoy staring at it. I opened the screen as far as I could, jammed my head, one arm, and a screwdriver inside and found the bolts – that thing is gone. And now it’s a wide open expanse that’s beautiful to look at. I’ve been wanting to do that for quite some time now. I’ve always felt I wasn’t utilizing the fireplace in a smart way as far as aesthetics go. The grate was dated and the fireplace needed to breath. (Years ago I painted the hearth deep orange in an effort to liven it up and it did. But it’s time to do it again and bring it up to the next step. I have a plan for the finished product but it will take a little time; a photo of that will come eventually.)
The pile of wood I stole from my folks place has been dwindling the last few years and I have just a enough for two small or one large fire. I made a large fire to utilize that whole box and get rid of that wood. It was nice. But now I have no wood. I have a few sources, but it’s not the same as just having a fire on a whim.
______
There’s something about fire that always mesmerizes me; makes me think, zone out and get lost. It was no different tonight. My wife was …. (keep reading)
keep reading, there's more »
Well, I decided to do a complete harvest of everything remaining in my garden today – other than the brussels sprouts. I had boat loads, actually three large pot loads, of tomatoes in various stages of ripeness hanging out. I’ve been really diligent about getting the garden covered the last few weeks and actually had not even removed the cover the last three days. It was time to call it a season. We just weren’t going to get the warmth to get the tomatoes ripe. The season was over. It was time to pull them before I lost them for good.
I started by grabbing my largest pot to collect them as I knew I had several out there still. Quickly I realized I would need….
It’s supposed to get down to 34 degrees tonight with the wind chill factor (ps, when I was a kid, I always thought they were talking about the “windshield factory” and never understood why it was colder there) but my garden should do fine still. It’s been raining for two days and it will remain drizzly all night. The rain is actually preventing the cold from doing any damage. If it was dry, the frost would hit and kill em’ all. But, now I don’t even need to cover. We’re good to go – I have too many tomatoes and peppers out there yet to enjoy. I had two ‘maters for breakfast today.
I’m thinking about going up to the UP one more time before the season becomes too over bearingly cold; even if it’s just one night. The nights have been right around freezing. With a proper fire and some warm clothes, maybe a tottie, I should be just fine. I’ve since had my rainfly repaired as well and it should be able to handle the rain. I’ll just breathe real hard to keep it warm in there. After last spring’s adventure up there, I should be able to swing a night of 33 degrees and rain no problem.
That piece of land is probably the best place I have for freeing my thought processes. Whenever I get in a funk and need to get away, that place provides me with everything I need. After 48 hours alone there I am recharged and ready to get back to society and dive back into the world in front of me. I feel I am approaching …
keep reading, there's more »
With the post I made the other day, I felt it appropriate to share different framing examples I’ve worked with and used in the past on my finished pieces. Through all the example photos below, you’ll notice a wide array of styling and matting techniques that I’ve employed – though all are of a traditional fashion. Though I have my favorites, I make sure that the finished piece works for the environment that becomes it’s final home.
Forgive me for some of the image qualities below as some were with cell phones and others were quickly shot in passing. Let me know if you have any questions!
![[141/365] cuore di bue by patrick j garrett](http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2588/3896865465_d93f21282a.jpg)
A few years ago I made this photo, here on the right-hand side of the screen, and posted it on my flickr account. The subject matter happened to be just a tomato – a special tomato though. It was my very fist tomato from seed, in my own garden, in my own backyard. I was pretty pleased. I think homegrown veggies are beautiful and I have been known to photograph almost every vegetable that’s ever come out of my garden. But, this image still remains my favorite. It was the start of a new era in my eating prowess. It was at this point when my red meat intake decreased drastically and switched away from beef and onto venison.
Okay, so now to get to the point of this post. This simple tomato image was the inspiration to my latest commissioned piece – of which was delivered to the client today. I wanted to share it with you and express how grateful I am to be able to work with individuals like that and …
keep reading, there's more »
Please forgive the cell phone pics – but here is my section up at the Peninsula Market that I mentioned in my previous post. I got everything all set up on Thursday evening, and so far as of Monday I had sold one print. A good start for a new location! Yeah!
I am very happy with how the presentation turned out. I have my own wall space nestled between two windows that fits my framed pieces perfectly, and each has it’s own light directed at it from track lighting above. The prints below are spread out nicely in a way that is casual enough to let patrons pick up and hold the work while still remaining in a professional package. Over-all it is a very approachable environment. I am pleased.
Old Mission Peninsula is calling my name for the Holiday weekend. I’m heading up a day early as I’ve been asked to display and sell prints at The Peninsula Market! Starting tonight I will have 17 different limited edition prints available – two of which are framed.
I’m pretty pumped about this. I’m also excited to share my work with a whole new market of people. If you should happen to find yourself up on the peninsula, stop by the market and check it out. If you have any questions, please ask me! Other limited edition print sizes are available – and I truly believe that one of my pieces is not complete until it’s framed and hanging on your wall. I’d love to be the one to do that for you.
From my favorite poet,
an excerpt from the poem “An American Prayer”
Do you know the warm progress under the stars?
Do you know we exist?
Have you forgotten the keys to the kingdom?
Have you been born yet and are you alive?
-Jim Morrison
I lay awake listening. I lie there and tell myself, “don’t forget this. Write this down in your head now – then get it on paper later. Remember it this way so you can make the comparison later on. Good, now fall asleep – hear it, listen to it.”
I’m lying by myself in my tent – at the edge of ….
keep reading, there's more »
It’s been an interesting August. Well, more specifically, it’s been an interesting two weeks. I’ve been far removed from the city and closer to the other half of my lifestyle that I don’t get to enjoy the way in which I want to. Additionally, I did it all without my camera (though it was in the car at all times). The same way in which from time to time I will quit something for a short period of time, such as coffee, alcohol, television, meat, food, I’ll ‘quit’ the need to photograph everything. It really forces me to burn the scene into my brain and remember all the little things. No need to go back and rely on a photograph to tell me about it. It keeps me inline.
On the fifth of August I loaded up my camp gear and headed for the Manistee River in a section that runs through the little town of Brethren, Michigan, the childhood home of James Earl Jones, current population estimated around 1000. I was up that……
keep reading, there's more »
Today I delivered this stretched canvas print to a client. But before I did, I took it to my friend’s studio and did a reading room mock-up on his repurposed palette-wall. I loved the way the print looked on the stretched canvas and I’ve always loved that wall. I felt I needed to show a few photos of how this image looked completed in this format. I absolutely love it! Tell me what you think!!
I love that lady. She’s pretty good to me.
(ps, an excellent beverage as well)
So, remember when I rebuilt my deck last month and it turned out super awesome? It’s still super awesome but it left me with a crap load of old decking to deal with. I don’t have a truck and I can’t burn it so it was just piling up in my garage. It would cost me $37 to take it to the dump, not to mention borrowing someone’s truck and gas money to drive it the 50 mile round trip. There had to be a better solution; god knows why my first thought was to attach all of it to the interior walls of my unfinished garage and make a neat rustic wall with horizontal slats – it could be a really neat background for photos?!? Salvaged wood and repurposed materials are “all the rage” right now. No, but seriously – it’s the right thing to do as opposed to sticking it in a land fill. Repurposed items can be done really well if you take your time. I’ve been studying so much about what our future in design is and what we can do in steps – what can I do in steps. Where must I take that first step to do something on my own to show that I don’t only have a brain to think about these things, I have the physical ability to complete the task as well.
Then it hit me. Build a table. My friend Brant, my wife, and I love the concept of communal dining and have talked about it often. A proper table was yet to exist. If I was willing to de-nail, cut, fit, and attach all those boards to a garage wall, then surely I have the patience to step it up a little further and build a table – and depending on supplies, benches to boot. It will be rustic and classic, weather ready, and able to travel. Character: pre-installed! This will be a fantastic project: not your ordinary DIY, but building for a purpose and a use. And meanwhile, I’ll document the hell out of it!
Back at the beginning of May, I finally started something that I had been meaning to do for years: refinish my deck. Last night, thanks to the help of a few good friends, Scott and Brant, I was able to get about 95% of it completed. A small amount of railing and refinish a step and she’s good to go! Check out the progress photos!
I forgot to mention this in Becky & Charlie’s wedding post from a few weeks ago. I was just looking at a few files from my phone and came across this. That Superman Pinata has traveled quite a distance on several hoods now. As each family member gets married, he gets strapped on for the ride. Just a quick silly little video, but enjoy:
keep reading, there's more »
I was up too late last night and my eyes started to get bleary as I worked. 
“I should go to bed, there’s no reason for me to be awake.”
As I lay there just about to doze, the storm kicked up again. I normally love the sound of thunderstorms as I sleep and this time it was no different. My wife sleeps next to me and breathes heavy as she normally does, oblivious to the storm. The dog, in normal thunderstorm fashion, awakes from his slumber and slides under the bed for his sanctuary from the storm.
That first crack of thunder woke me back up; I was excited for one of the first storms of Spring. Flashes of lightening kept showing me things on my walls and casting shadows across the room. Unfortunately, I was now wide awake. I thought about getting up and finishing what I was working on but decided to just enjoy the sounds from outside. The winter months had loosened the downspout outside my window and had created a rhythmic sound as the rain falling on the roof reached it’s entry. Thunderstorms are great.
Earlier that day I had been downtown. An earlier storm was passing through at that point as well, though it lacked the punch of tonight’s thunder and lightening. It was a quiet day, not many people were out. We have reached …
keep reading, there's more »
I find myself in a café downtown Holland (MI) on a Wednesday afternoon, sitting at a window seat watching the world go by while enjoying a cappuccino and a bagel. I’m not at work and I’m waiting for a photo assignment to start at 6 pm. It’s an absolutely beautiful day out; the sun is shining and it’s about 55° and people are everywhere – I came out to the coast early to get this year’s first glimpse of the big lake and to take in all that is beautiful. There have been very few jacket sightings and I’ve even seen t-shirts and shorts. I’m looking forward to the changing season.
So as of last week I find myself unemployed, well, at least no longer employed with the bank I was with. The writing was on the wall with that job; I was searching for something else and only showing up to get my job done and to go home. This is unfair to the company and unfair to myself. Neither one of us was helping each, only hurting. It was obvious that I was not supposed to be a banker and that role was something that was clearly not a right fit. I was brought into that position based on my personality and my ability to make clients feel comfortable; I was not brought in because of my excellent operational skills for behind the scenes paperwork – which is all I did for the nine months I was in that role. I was a papers pusher. I was told we would be a great team and compliment each other very well. With my personality, “you’ll pick up the operations end no problem and you’ll go far”
That didn’t happen…
keep reading, there's more »
Well, it looks like I fell off my pact to add to this regularly. I’ve been doing some updating and back-end changes and what not so the posting has not been very good. Sorry about that.
I wanted to give an update on something real quick that I’ve been working on; a pottery room, well, a modified laundry room.
Much of the the latter half of my teens was spent on a potters wheel. When I was around 17 I got one of my own so I didn’t need to be at the school all the time. I originally went to college for ceramics (lasted about 90 days before I switched to photography) but life happened. Somewhere along the lines I acquired a kiln as well but it needs repair to be functional.
For years I’ve been talking about getting back into it and for years I’ve done nothing. Last winter I attended a few pottery shows for the first time in about 10 years and boy did it leave me thirsty. Over the summer I pulled all my gear out long term storage (parent’s place) and brought my wheel, large kiln, a table, and all the tools and stuck them in a corner of my garage. I consider this adventure to be a cold weather deal.
Well, over the last few nights I’ve been rearranging the washer and dryer, moving a clothes rod and a few shelving units, and discovered I have plenty of room for everything (minus the kiln for the time being – I’ve had friends offer me use of their kiln until further notice). Tonight, I dragged everything out of the garage (sans kiln) and brought it to it’s new home. That was about 10 pm and …
keep reading, there's more »
So much has been going through my head as of late.
This last month has re-sparked so many dreams interrupted. I’m not sure if they are were awakened, as that would imply they are not a dream but reality. So, then maybe that’s it. They are re-sparked realities, not dreams. I will not just sit and watch them go by but I will act on them, be proactive, not reactive.
To start, I have once again began to search for an old …
keep reading, there's more »
Wow, just went 9 months without adding to this blog. That’s a good start eh? I wonder why I haven’t gotten any traffic. We’ll see how that goes going forward.
It’s been an interesting 2010 so far. –
I had a major move up in my day job so that’s made life much easier. I now have all my Saturday’s free and out-the-door by 5 pm usually. I can handle that.
-I upgraded from the Canon 20D to the Canon 7D and it has been a godsend so far.
-I pulled all my pottery equipment out of storage and have it in the garage (baby steps)
-I’ve been all over this state shooting randomness in the woods and watching my wife compete in triathlons.
-I’ll be photographing a military wedding in Boston in 2 weeks.
-I’m prepping to show one piece in ArtPrize 2010 which starts at the end of September.
There’s more, but I don’t want to bore you. I really should spend more time here. I have a lot on my mind all the time, I just need to get it out. And be brave enough to let the world know they can read it.
I’ll be back before another 9 months, I promise. I need to be, I need a new outlet.
keep reading, there's more »
Sometimes I get on Flickr and study other people’s work for hours – looking for inspiration and technique. A lot of the time it’s just snooping though. But man some of the work out there is incredible, but most importantly there is so much of it. How do people stand out? It sems like every corner of the world has it’s own group of people that are kicking ass and creating the most amazing and beautiful work – and these are just the photographers using Flickr? I know many that do NOT use it!
Currently, I do use it. I almost need it – it keeps me active and constantly trying to come up with new material. My wife has been incredibly supportive – and photogenic. She is very willing to try new styles and looks with me; I think we do a pretty good job with the room and lighting that we have available to us. On Saturday night we had a session of some amazing black and white lingerie portraits. They were sexy as hell and a lot of fun to create, the end result created many photos which I had to sensor! By sensor I mean I did not make them public for all of Flickr to see, only certain people. After all, she’s not just a model, she’s my wife and our families follow my work. This can be frustrating and encouraging at the same time. It’s nice to have the family support but at the same time if I want to experiment with something a little racy I cannot get feedback from the world, but a small section.
Moving on, I posted a handfull yesterday, public and private. And exactly what I suspected would happen has…
keep reading, there's more »
So I’ve decided to start a blog. I’m going to constantly go to and fro adding pure randomness – the only connecting theme amongst all of the posts will be that of creativity and thoughts – and from time to time, anger and annoyance.
I’m going to attempt to post session photos here as well – and make the ones that need to be, password protected.
I think I may have several categories, one of them is going to be tied to my feelings on Italy, starting with my journal entries from that 2 week trip. If that segment is successful I may just turn that into its own blog.
It will be a while before I go public with the blog in an effort to get this blog in working order to my standards.
keep reading, there's more »
Pypeline.