A photographic honor

The time of peonies 62357This weekend has been Spring Break for the many photo clubs of the Minneapolis, Saint Paul, Twin Cities area.  That means workshops and seminars, and a celebration of all things related to photography.  Part of that is an InterClub competition amongst the Twin Cities photographers.  Submissions are made in the categories of photographic prints or digital images.  As a member of the Minneapolis Photographic Society I chose to submit monochrome and color prints.  The competition is inspiring, creative, and impressive with its variety and themes and the amazing images that are submitted.  I was honored to have my print “The time of peonies” selected as the first place color print of the year.  I love this image for its “painterly” feel, its classic look, and the subject matter of peonies, which are dear to my heart.  I was inspired years ago by another photographer from the Tacoma area, Freda Horn, who brought her painting background to her floral photographs; her images became much more than a flower photograph.  That was my intent with this photo and print, and I’d like to think that I made Freda proud.

Exhibits, awards and publications

This past Friday night was the opening reception for the 4th annual Horizontal Grandeur fine art exhibition at the Stevens County Historical Museum in Morris, Minnesota.  The exhibit brought together artists from across the country, all living in states with prairies.  Inspired by Bill Holm’s essay, “Horizontal Grandeur,” there were inspiring and wonderful interpretations of  the prairie theme.  I was honored to have two of my photographs juried into this show.  This image, “Dawn’s first light on the prairie” was photographed while I was an artist-in-residence at  the Herbert Hoover National Historic Site in West Branch, Iowa.  My second photograph in the exhibit is the image from my April 11, 2010 blog entry “Pasque flower welcome to spring.”  For a complete viewing of the pieces in the exhibit, please visit the website for the Stevens County Historical Museum at www.stevenshistorymuseum.com.

Here in the Twin Cities I’m a member of the Minneapolis Photographic Society — a group of wonderfully talented photographers with diverse interests.  Each year there is one image that is selected as Color Print of the Year and one that is selected as Monochrome Print of the Year.  This year I was awarded the Color Print of the Year for my image “Through the red barn window.”    To see more of the award-winning images from the group, please visit the website:  http://www.mplsphoto.com/mps/site/a28yearend.php

And lastly, I am excited to have a photograph published in the July/August issue of  “The Iowan Magazine.”  This image “Swept into the center” is the opening spread of the portfolio section titled “red.white.blue.”

It’s been a busy and exciting few months, and I feel honored with these exhibits, awards, and publications.