The Artful Photography of Janet Slater

Capturing the ordinary and making it extraordinary.

This in a nutshell is what best describes the photography of Janet Slater. You can see for yourself in the splattering of her work shown here on this site.

I had the pleasure of meeting Janet this past summer in Sechelt on the Sunshine Coast of British Columbia. We had dinner at a mutual friend’s house. I was amazed at her creativity, imagination and ability to capture small details. It’s the small details that an experienced photographer uses to capture emotion and turns it into an art form. And so, it’s not just another sunset, another beach shot…you get the picture (pun intended).

Janet shows a lot of diversity on her web page so I had to pick and choose which ones to showcase here. That alone was a challenge. Her interest runs the gamut of architecture, nature, ballet, bridges and barns…and more.

Did you know that it wasn’t until the 1940’s that photography was accepted as an art form?

Alfred Stieglitz ( American photographer, Author; The Photographer’s Eye, Art Dealer 1864-1946) is credited with getting photography accepted as an art form.

Obviously a different effort put forward than painting or sculpting, although the capture is what defines the art.

It’s the peaceful moments in a noisy world. The element of surprise and the unexpected. It’s the calm before the storm, the water droplets, the perfect and imperfect smiles and a sparkle in the eyes; these are some of the short-lasting emotional moments that makes every photographer’s dream shot.

Janet was awarded the FCAPA (Fellowship in the Canadian Association for Photographic Art). A high honour in recognition of her high standard of photographic achievement. More on the link below.

You can browse more of her work and also make a purchase at:

https://janetslaterphotography.smugmug.com/browse

FCAPA Award at:

https://capacanada.ca/janet-slater-awarded-fcapa/

Fine Art Portraits: Fluffy Furballs

These remarkable photographs were taken by Stacy Jacob – of Jacob Fine Art Portraits, Palm Desert, Ca. I wanted to share them with you. Our canine and feline friends never looked so fine.

I met Stacy at Yappy Hour – a monthly fundraiser for Animal Samaritans in Palm Springs which takes place at the Riviera Hotel. She was supporting “Paws for a Cause” 2020 with a booth there and invited us to her studio for a sitting.

I was thrilled to see that the portrait she took of Jia Jia really captured his spirit. It means more to me now than ever. I have lots of photos as you well know, however this one that Stacy took is very special.

Capturing personality, expressions and relationships is my goal for your session. Bringing joy, surprise, even some “happy” tears to so many people is something I feel lucky to get to do. I get to be part of creating a memory for someone that they’ll enjoy for years to come and share with countless others. How cool is that!? – Stacy Jacob

Studio: 41945 Boardwalk suite d, Palm Desert, CA 92211, United States

Phone: +1 760-678-5859

THINKAboutit

Feel-good Friday: on the wagon

This is how we roll

My senior is almost 18 years old. Since he now walks like a turtle I found the perfect solution for taking him from A to B without much effort on my part and no effort on his. Baby strollers didn’t hold him properly and the pet wagons were too small. So I went to the sporting goods section of Walmart and found a wagon designed to take blankets and beer to the beach. Outfitted with comfort it works like a charm. Also can be pulled either way, has a handle for extension to arms length, a flap for carrying stuff and folds for easy storage. Yay!

When we arrive at our destination I take him out and he walks until he’s too tired at which point he goes back in the wagon. Layla walks alongside for exercise but she enjoys hitching a ride from time to time.

This is a faster, more convenient way to take him along the River Walk. Photo: d. king

*Okay Layla; don’t get too comfortable*. Photo: d. king

Hope you enjoy your weekend.

FYI: I’ve been giving Jia Jia a product called Rejeneril (a patented and clinically-proven longevity product for pets) every day for 8 years now. I believe it helps his immune system among other benefits.

The link is below if you want to check it out:

Rejeneril®

inspiration

May Days

The Prelude to warmer days, wiser ways and bits of craze.

Photos of Cherry Blossoms in the Spring (Vancouver) – Lisa King

“Character is the willingness to accept responsibility for one’s own life and the source from which self-respect springs.” – Joan Didion

inspiration

Feel-good Friday: Spaces & Places

Here in Palm Springs

There’s no lack of decadent little hidden gems that I’ve encountered tucked behind the hedges of unassuming boutique hotels, alleyways and restaurants. I’ve discovered so many attractive spots since the last time I was here. These photos were taken from a narrow corridor at the”La Plaza” shopping centre which used to house workers and now instead, a handful of quaint little shops.

I’ve discovered some secret bars inside of a few restaurants that I’ve been to and didn’t know about until someone in the know showed me….very inconspicuous. One is hidden behind a phone booth (really!) and the other behind an ordinary curtain. I love that!

I’m spending time scouting cool locations for my Destinations page. And let me tell you what a pleasure it is to do so. It’s a pleasure! I’ll share them with you soon.

Getting back to Film Fest: Since my last post I’ve viewed two foreign films. “Everybody Knows” (Todos los Saben) shot in Spain with Penelope Cruz and her sexy real life husband Javier Bardem centering around a kidnapping at a family wedding and Israeli film “Working Woman” about a married woman with children who takes a job selling high end real estate, only to encounter a “me too” experience when her boss tries to sexually abuse her in the workplace. Both films were extremely well done.

After my hike tomorrow I’m looking forward to an independent film which centers around gambling, two documentaries from Mr. Rogers to Aretha Franklin on Saturday – (could they be more opposite?) and a Hollywood ending on Sunday. I’ll be reviewing these throughout the week.

Have a Happy Weekend

Girl Who Would be King

Monday Mood: Running Wild

Wild Wild Horses

These ethereal images of horses running amok are from an annual wild horse event in Duelmen, Germany.

In this May 26, 2018 photo, young men separate the young stallions from one of **Europe’s last herds of wild horses.** About 400 native breed horses are left to find food and shelter and must cope with illness and death. Only once a year they have direct contact with humans when the young stallions are caught from the flock, that was first mentioned in chronicles 700 years ago. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

Isn’t it a sight?

I herd about this beautiful show and found it hauntingly intriguing. It would make a gorgeous painting.

FUN, Girl Who Would be King

Tacoachella

For the love of tacos, margaritas, friendship, parties with people you’ve never met and photography. Not really in that order. Before leaving Palm Springs my friend Tammy invited me to talented photographer Gary Dorothy’s amazing garden + outdoor space to celebrate the sweet 16 year anniversary of his gorgeous gallery Imageville. I admired a piece she and her husband David have of his in their home. It’s obvious that Gary also has a good eye for party detail. Complete with tended Margarita bar and a help yourself to tacos smorgasbord. And any Mexican-theme party would be totally incomplete without Bichon Frise piñatas right? Exactly. Simply divine!

This from California’s Prestige Magazine Palm Springs Life:

You think you’ve seen our mountains, palm trees, architecture, and iconic places. Then you see Gary Dorothy’s photographs and realize you haven’t really seen them after all. The owner of Imageville — his gallery in downtown Palm Springs (La Plaza) has a curious eye that sees the desert from a different perspective.

Gary Dorothy Photography

I also wanted to include the Palm Springs Modern-style

home to convey what we who live here see in most neighborhoods, period pieces that reflect a simpler time long past but somehow preserved here in this unusual desert town. – Gary Dorothy

Check out the Website: http://www.imageville.us/

Art + Culture, Girl Who Would be King

Georgia O’Keeffe: Living Modern

Speaking of Inspiring Women…

O’Keeffe in a 1929 gelatin silver print by her husband. Credit ALFRED STIEGLITZ; National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., Alfred Stieglitz Collection

You’ve got to admire how O’Keeffe was the master of her own public persona at a time when there was no social media. She told photographers how to “shoot her”, not the other way around.

A refreshing new exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum (on until July 23, 2017) for the first time combines O’Keeffe’s art and her wardrobe with photographic portraits. “Georgia O’Keeffe: Living Modern”

The painter of simplified images of enlarged flowers, Lake George tree trunks and New Mexico’s terra-cotta hills applied her meticulous sense of austerity and detail to every garment she owned. Some she designed and sewed herself, others she had custom made, and still others she bought off the rack or in antique shops (Japanese kimonos, for example).

O’Keeffe’s self-created image shaped her work’s accessibility, while at the same time shielding her privacy. This unity is revealed in the links drawn among some 50 works of art and 50 garments or ensembles, accessories included, and nearly 100 photographs of the artist taken by 23 photographers, from Ansel Adams and Cecil Beaton to Andy Warhol and Bruce Weber.

The greatest number of these images were taken by O’Keeffe’s husband, the eminent photographer and gallerist Alfred Stieglitz, often considered her domineering mentor, whom she met in 1916, began living with in 1918 and married in 1924.

For years, O’Keeffe limited her wardrobe to mainly black and/or white, until the Southwest loosened her color sense a bit and also introduced her to denim and jeans. She favored an androgynous look, frequenting the same New York men’s tailor — Knize — (as did Marlene Dietrich), liked Ferragamo flats and wore little jewelry. A rare favorite, visible in many photographs, was a brass brooch made for her by Alexander Calder. It represents her initials, OK, with ancient rock-painting complexity, and she wore it vertically to make it more abstract. In later years, she had it copied in silver, because she thought brass didn’t look good with her white hair.

Source: NY Times

https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/

Girl Who Would be King

Feel-good Friday: SPRING has SPRUNG

Oh, Spring! I want to go out and feel you and get inspiration. My old things seem dead. I want fresh contacts, more vital searching. – Emily Carr

“The sun just touched the morning;
The morning, happy thing,
Supposed that he had come to dwell,
And life would be all spring.” – Emily Dickinson

The spring wakes us, nurtures us and revitalizes us. How often does your spring come? If you are a prisoner of the calendar, it comes once a year. If you are creating authentic power, it comes frequently, or very frequently. Gary Zukav (best selling author, “Seat of the Soul”).

I had always planned to make a large painting of the early spring, when the first leaves are at the bottom of the trees, and they seem to float in space in a wonderful way. But the arrival of spring can’t be done in one picture. David Hockney

“When spring came, even the false spring, there were no problems except where to be happiest. The only thing that could spoil a day was people and if you could keep from making engagements, each day had no limits. People were always the limiters of happiness except for the very few that were as good as spring itself.” – Ernest Hemingway, A Moveable Feast

Spring in the Desert brings more Spring in his Step

Sundog Jack – “the grass is always greener in Spring”

Fresh Photos: d. king

Art + Culture, Girl Who Would be King

Art/Nature: DesertX

Well the thing is, art can be found everywhere, even in the desert. And it makes perfect sense; beauty with beauty. whitewater3

whitewater1

I realized that while taking a nature walk with the dogs right after a picnic. The location being Whitewater Preserve about 20 minutes northwest of Palm Springs. An absolutely stunning setting of over 2,000 acres of pristine desert with hiking trails and wildlife. From a distance I came across what looked like a birding roost, and on closer inspection found out it was made from sand bags. It’s actually an art piece. built to replicate how pigeons in Israel are put to roost. But it’s hard to keep up with everything that’s going on around town especially now, so I had to find out *more.
whitewater5 whitewater6

*From Feb. 25 through April 30, 2017, the Coachella Valley and its desert landscape will become the canvas for a curated exhibition of site-specific work by established and emerging artists, whose projects will amplify and articulate global and local issues that may range from climate change to starry skies, from tribal culture and immigration to tourism, gaming, and golf. The artworks, in various indoor and outdoor locations will be available for free and will offer visitors a way to see the valley and reflect on serious and playful issues through the lens of the participating artists’ creativity and work.

You never know what you will encounter while out on a simple walk

CHECK out this short VIDEO:

https://www.desertx.org/about-us/

You never know what you will encounter while out on a simple drive

On the drive to the nature preserve you will come across hundreds on windmills 20170224_140637 The windmills are there for power generation with renewable energy. However I hate them for the fact that the valley is infamous for the number of birds that are killed because of them.

Photos: d. king