Bill Cunningham: Veteran 'Street Photog'

Last night, watching TVO, I was entranced by this wonderful Richard Press documentary about the indomitable Bill Cunningham, the 'fashion' photographer for the New York Times. The film successfully captures Mr. Cunningham's affable charm, gentle grace, professionalism and irrepressible impish-ness. It also does a marvelous job of sharing the streets of New York City.

Now well into his 80's, Mr.Cunningham continues to provide a seasoned perspective about the fluctuations of fashion of New York, and beyond. With a delicate balance of candid reflection, he 'snaps' and curates the nuances of the state of ourselves. He clearly has 'serious fun', an attitude that many 'junior photographers' could do well to emulate.

A veteran cultural anthropologist (long before the term was ever invented),  his visual observations of all things 'fashion' both beguile and inform. His near-intuitive fusion of past and present trends has humbled many 'wannabe' fashionistas. While he remains ever-modest and self-effacing, his 'roving eye' is impeccably sharp.

That we should all do so well, and be so happy, in our 80's ...
'Bill Cunningham New York' is a wonderful tribute to an inspired - and inspiring - 'reporter'.
See it.

Note: A re-run of this enchanting film runs on TVO on Monday, May 27th at 12am, midnight. If you can't watch it at that time, FOR SURE, copy/rent or buy it. There are gold nuggets of wisdom and wit throughout. And, for what it's worth, Roger Ebert gave it one of his rare scores of 4 stars, or 100%.

Here are some additional notable links of several New York Times slide-show videos that Bill recently 'curated':   Adieu Anna,   Stormville  ,  Florescent , Sketching in Pastels. 

All above photos by Bill Cunniingham - attributed to the New York Times - his employer.
The header shot has been taken from the available downloads supplied by the filmmakers.  

Lush Lilacs - Spring, 2013

At the farm, awoke to the smell of lilacs ... 

their intoxicating smell permeated the entire house ... 

  ...  lush and wet with dew, I TRIED with camera to 'get it' ...

 when I wasn't just gob-smacked by the floral abundance ...

 Lilacs are in full bloom all over the property.

Magical and magnificent.

To INHALE is simply - BLISS.

SPRING 2013 NEWSLETTER: From the Studio of MLH

Just putting the finishing touches now to my spring newsletter for 2013. 

It's always a bit of a daunting task to get it 'picture' and 'tone' perfect.

This year will be my largest mailing ever. 

Not quite 5000, but very close.

I hope you all will enjoy my latest work. 

Happy Spring.

  

Click on - SPRING 2013 NEWSLETTER 

UPDATE: Always interesting to discover that other artists are exploring similar concepts and techniques ... Huffington Post recently did a profile of French artist, Thomas Lamadieu's  'sky art'.  Hard to know who got there first, him or me, but either way, we're both at it.  Notch one up to 'serendipity'... 

 ===

2013 Spring Publication:   

WHITE OUT: Photo Erasures

by Margaret Lindsay Holton 

Published by Acorn Press Canada.

Order YOUR copy today from
The Collector's First Edition
via my secure merchant account

on PAYPAL :

 HERE 

Found 'Lost' Art: Photo Transfers

I thought I'd lost these during last year's move. Turns out I'd carefully packed them away in a box that has been in art storage for awhile now. Phew. The process? Scans of living autumn leaves were transferred onto hand-made paper sheets (made over a period of three months.) A time-consuming & fun 'project'. Phew.

Step 1. Scan  fragile autumn leaves to make photo transfer images

Step 2. Photo transfer onto hand-made paper sheets

Tried more conventional photo imagery too (see above), then framed all in between acrylic sheeting. They look great.

Image on lower left shows sample of leaves artfully piled up before they were scanned to create a 'flat image' to transfer onto the paper sheets ... Lotsa serious fun!  All hand-made sheets are signed & dated, 2009. All leaves were collected at various locations around Burlington, Ontario, Canada.

Stephanie Vegh: Beating a Dead Horse? Or, Emerging from an Academic Chrysalis?

'Scratchings: Talon, Sting and Claw’     
Now showing at the Nathaniel Hughson Gallery.

Stephanie Vegh, the artist, was born in Hamilton, studied Art and Comparative Literature at McMaster University before leaving for the Glasgow School of Art to complete a Master in Fine Art.

This background is essential to understanding the ink drawings, watercolour sketches, cut outs and literary tidbits that she inserts into arcane 'history' and 'science' books. As she writes, "My labour-intensive articulation of diminutive subjects at an excessive scale in relation to their illustrated environments subverts the logic of these books, forcing a fusion between their history and my own."

Still with me? Take a breath, it's not as tough as it sounds. Meaning: she looks and reads, she thinks about what she's looking at and reading, and she integrates that studying into her evolving persona. All quite normal self-development when you strip away the sophistry.

As for contemporary relevancy, as a country gal born and bred, I couldn't help but think that, cumulatively, these works were 'much ado about nothing'.  Rather then stating the obvious, like the now well-documented global collapse of bees or the on-going eruption of mutating amphibians, we are teased into believing Vegh's quixotic renderings of the historically side-swiped minutiae of Nature is a  'NEW DISCOVERY' of some kind. - Well, it isn't.  

Note: All children, all over the globe, still marvel at the intricate antenna twitching of ants and the buzzing of bees. Bugs, at eye level, remain fascinating.

Perhaps Ms. Vegh's point is that all that child-like awe and wonder is lost as the head, through excessive years of myopically confined book learning, hardens the ever-curious heart. This is commonly known as the ‘ivory tower’ syndrome.

As a visual 'critique' of how, we, as a species, relate to the rest of the species of the world, Vegh seems, to me, to overstate the obvious. Drawing on once revered academic tomes dating from the 1700’s to 1850’s, Vegh has, somewhat mockingly, illuminated their deficiencies. Ok, we get it, those tomes are old hat.  

But one still wonders. Why would anyone study book works that are clearly not relevant today, except, perhaps, as a prologue to understand where we are now? In that regard, Vegh's meanderings in these dusty illustrated tomes appear as 'superior' musings on the atrophied thoughts and illustrations of dead people.   

To give them some credit, if these authors and accomplished artists were alive today they could well be at the forefront of their respective disciplines.  Imagine, for example, Charlotte Bronte writing as a contemporary of Margaret Atwood, or Carl Linneaus  working on The Genome Project ...  

It is very easy to be critical of the dead.

Aside from the overwrought obscure intent of this exhibition, the execution of Vegh's drawings and the pairing of words do have some resonance.  Thoughts ricochet and muddy emotions swirl into the murky eddies of Time Past. Individually, we journey inward - and backward - to cultural backwaters that are now very far removed from the opened floodgates of the internet. 

We all KNOW these dusty tomes are ancient and anachronistic. We can SEE Vegh's tender (not abusive) engagement with them. And, consequently, we can't help but come away wondering if, perhaps, Vegh's miffed chastisement of their inherent failings today doesn't better reflect her greater disgruntlement of her own years of isolated and isolating 'higher learning'.

An essay she wrote seems to give credence to this observation: 'Dwelling in the Windowpane: The Futural Transition of the University'   (PDF link) Therein, metaphorically speaking, she's banging on the doors, flinging open those windows and overall reasonably attempting to up-end the logic of traditional 'reasoned' learning.  

In that sense, these re-fashioned book works, on exhibit at the Nathaniel Hughson Gallery, could be construed as a rebellious 'breakthrough' for Vegh. Yes, she has now graduated into Life. She is, after all, the Executive Director of the Hamilton Arts Council and a member of Hamilton's Supercrawl Curatorial Committee.  

Hopefully, she will soon give herself lasting permission to ‘put away the books’.  

It would be grand, for example, if she funneled her talents into the little appreciation earth-rooted physicality of the web. Andrew Blum's excellent and enlightening book, 'TUBES: A Journey to the Centre of the Internet'  might be a good place to start. She would have to be quick and precise though. His practical ‘field’ research and pertinent cross-fertilized understanding of 'the way things are' will be just as obsolete as our pioneering forefathers insight, knowledge and know-how - given another year or two. 

'Scratchings: Talon, Sting and Claw’ at the Nathaniel Hughson Gallery closes April 6th, 2013.    
Hours & Directions to Gallery: here. 

(Photos of Ms. Vegh's imagery were shot by MLH during the opening on Thursday March 14th. )

 

Rhythm & Colour @ Hamilton Conservatory for the Arts

 

'Spring Creek' (2012) - oil on board  by m.l.holton

'Every day we are surrounded and influenced by Rhythm & Colour. Both are created by design - either by Man or Nature - making one no less important than the other. Be it repetitive in Nature such as the perfectly shaped petals of a dahlia or the precisely placed telephone poles along the road; each ultimately represents a visual rhythm. As for colour, nothing in this world is free from its influence. It can either be lacking or totally engulfing by a myriad of awe inspiring hues. This beauty that we are fortunate enough to experience is the inspiration for this exhibition, showcasing the elements of Rhythm and Colour'

Please join the Women's Art Association of Hamilton 

for the Opening of  Rhythm & Colour 

Sunday, March 24, 2013 at 4:30 PM.

The show runs from March 24 to April 27, 2013 at the Hamilton Conservatory for the Arts.  Directions/Map: HERE.

... well attended Opening ...

Recent Acrylic Paintings ...

First off, I must make clear that 'acrylics' are not really my thing, but current circumstances have necessitated that I use them if I want to continue painting in the short term. Oils will always remain my preferred medium, but until I can get back to them the way I want, I'll just have to mess with acrylics. Consider the images that follow as explorations of an assortment of 'ideas', some borrowed, but most my own. I WILL warm to the medium, but right now, it's a bit of a 'love-hate' - 'push / pull' relationship ...

'Cedar Hedge Passageway' - acrylic on primed board

'Back fields'- acrylic on stretched canvas

'To the beach ...' acrylic on primed mdf

'Flock of Seagulls' - acrylic on mdf

For more information (size, price), please contact the artist.

32nd Royal Botanical Gardens' Orchid Show & Sale - Wow!

There is something irrefutably splendid about orchids. Certainly the turn-out over the weekend to the 32nd Royal Botanical Gardens' Annual Orchid Show & Sale attests to our on-going fascination with these exotic long-blooming plants.  I was personally gob-smacked by the variety, and quickly realized I knew NOTHING about them. So, rather then get bogged down in the technical names 'on route', I shot what appealed to me -  ( did a not-so-good  5 minute slideshow of those images ) - and did some background reading on the plants when I got home.

 

For die-hard enthusiasts, join the Royal Botantical Gardens Orchid Society - lots of care-taking tips, and you can learn much more about native Canadian orchids.

A few composite shots follow: orchids truly are a visual (and fragrant) delight ... 

I found the following orchids on the way 'out' via the gift shop. 

At first I was 100% fooled by their beauty .... but wait ...

They are fake. 
But there is no question that the artistry involved in their creation is splendid too.

Here's the slideshow I did: and, in truth, it's not so splendid ... sigh

Something is wrong with the text slides  - and the sound. (Turn DOWN your volume!)

Still, if interested in orchids, you'll love it ...  :) 

A few back-country shots ...

 

In answer to a few queries, I shot all three images FROM MY CAR while going up Centre Road to Carlisle. No 'photoshop' on 2nd image, that's just a good crop. (I don't use Photoshop.)

Harold Sikkema: Trickster? or Master-in-the-Making?

Recent photo digital works, in a collection entitled ‘Landscrapes’, by Harold Sikkema, are showing at the YouMeGallery in Hamilton until March 3^rd. A friend and I went last week to consider this work and talk to the artist. 

'Oxbow' from 'Landscrapes Exhibit' by Harold Sikkema

There is no question that these photo-manipulated works resonant on many levels. They beckon the viewer to ‘get close & personal’ enticing with a multitude of teasing visual ephemera that is both known and unknown. We see things we know, things we think we know, and things that we don’t have a clue what they are … Yes, the images engage and beckon. 

That said, some are definitely more successful then others. I attribute this mostly to the clarity of the initial photography taken from the natural world, like this enjoyable one, Communio, available in a multitude of sizes:  

Cumulatively, these carousels of cacophonic imagery are ‘ordered’ through a carefully constructed imaginative maze that, if nothing else, make perfect sense to Harold Sikkema. Viewers will have to work a bit harder to ‘get it’ ... And therein lies some of the problem with Harold’s work.  

 

There is no question that these recent photographs invite emotional and intellectual meditation, BUT at a certain point I wondered when he would ‘let go’ of ‘us’.  Each image is accompanied by an obscure title and accompanying poem that demand ‘attention’. It’s as though Sikkema INSISTS that we consider the title and poem BEFORE the visual – when, in fact, the visual ALWAYS dominates and clearly predates both the title and the poem. This insistence is counter-intuitive and creates a completely unnecessary ‘tension’. Truth be told, the tension is more aggravating then compelling. Rather then ‘allow’ a ‘flow’ between the subject and object, (ie. the viewer and the work), Sikkema has established deliberate ‘intellectual obstacles’ that viewers must battle through, before they can just ‘look’. This is further evident in the meticulous lists of objects and locations adjacent to each photo montage. You simply cannot LOOK without Sikkema ‘getting in the way’ … Consider this promo VIDEO. 

It seems the artist doesn’t want us to merely LIKE each individual photo montage on its own merit, on our own terms. Instead, he works very hard at convincing us that his works are complex mini-universes that catalogue a ‘human-versus-nature’ continuum.  Likewise, at times, his language, when describing the computer-generated photo-montages, is vintage ‘artspeak’. He effusively defines - and defends - his photographs as ‘sculptural-like photo-tapestries’ …. ummm. ok. 

Hey man, I’m still going to LIKE these photo-montages anyway.

When I inquired about his technique, Sikkema was forthcoming. He layers photo images using inversion & photo filters. Micro and macro images are superimposed one on top of the other that intriguingly (and convincingly) add depth and resonance. A close-up of faded driftwood lingers over a miniature savannah of meandering wildlife of - buffalo (?); a plastic (- broken?) baby doll is nestled in a indigo coloured - eggshell (-?) within the twirling helix of a shredded (-fluorescent?) tire; deer (-?) antlers shoot off a simulated globe, miniscule inverted farm fences linger like lingerie  – o’my : yes, these juxtapositions are beguiling. 

Collectively, it certainly is an imaginative romp. 

Still. I couldn’t help but feel – and think – that, aside from a lot of evident time and effort, there was a LOT of gimmickry involved in the composing and the making of these digital images. Harold was proud to point out the gigabit capacity of his computer and his multiple hard drives.   

It sort of begged the question: what came first, the computer or the ‘vision’? In other words, could this 'vision' hatch - without the computer?

All told, Sikkema is using photo-computer technology to ‘tell his story’, and, mostly, he does a very good job of it. For now, we’ll overlook his inclination to be a bit heavy-handed with the 'public’.

We LIKE your work Harold. Seriously. You don’t need to justify - or amplify - your SELF in the accompanying minutiae. It detracts and, too often, obfuscates. 

Even so, I do foresee that Sikkema will do very well with this small body of work, short and long term. What remains, of course, for all of us, is The Future … 

How his images are built, sort of: 

1. - Photos of Harold - by mlh

 2. - Tinkered photos of Harold - by mlh

 3. - Final Photo montage of Harold - by mlh 

Et voila.

He does a much better job of it.

( ... He’s clearly got a bigger & better computer … )

Go see the exhibit.

p.s. Harold just provided this 'alternate' promo VIDEO 

It IS much better then the first ...

Hamilton Beach - Winter (Acrylic)

 Went for a walk along the beach strip with a friend. 

It was friggin' FREEZING ... 

 

Even behind the dunes, on the boardwalk, the wind was howling. 

Still, great to be 'out there', soaking it up. 

Unusual for me, these were done in acrylic, not oil. 

Tried to make the best of what I had 'on hand', colour-wise  ...

If interested in more info, (size/price), 

please contact the artist. 

Local artist, Steve Pilcher, in line to win an Academy Award with Pixar & Disney team of fellow artists & animators

Animated Feature in line to win an Academy Award (aka an Oscar).

At 57, Steve Pilcher, a former MM Robinson High School grad from Burlington, now lives in San Francisco with his wife, Donna, and their 10 year old twins, a boy and a girl.  He works as a Production Designer for famed Pixar Animation Studios.  BRAVE, a co-production between Pixar & Disney, just won a Golden Globe for 'Best Animated Feature ' and is now in the running for an  Academy Award for 'Best Animated Feature Film'.  Pilcher personally won an 'Annie Award'  on this production for 'Outstanding Achievement in Production Design for an Animated Feature Film',  and, with three of his colleagues, won the 'Visual Effects Society' award for 'Outstanding Created Environment in an Animated Feature Motion Picture'. 

 Taking aim with their best shot, Pixar & Disney's fiery red-headed 

 creation, Merida, could win an Academy Award.

BRAVE, the coming-of-age story of a head-strong Scottish Highland teen-princess, Merida of Clan Dunbroch, became an instant hit when released in the summer of 2012. As of early January of this year, this 93 minute animated movie, created with a budget of $185 million, has grossed over $520 million worldwide.

The animated characters are voiced-over by such film and television luminaries as Emma Thompson, (Queen Elinor), Billy Connolly, (King Fergus), Craig Ferguson (Lord MacIntosh) and Kelly Macdonald (Merida).  

When discussing the development of BRAVE during an interview last June with the Burlington Post, Pilcher makes clear that what the audience sees on the screen is the mere "tip of the iceberg." Many many hours go into pre-production, in this case, seven years. As an example, artists have to create numerous paintings to show the Lighting Department how to light each shot.

Illuminated animated head shots. Lighting matters.

For more on the intricacies of developing an animated feature film, consider this article about the ‘production pipeline’.

Coming back to MM Robinson, it was evident to the entire school, even way back then, that Steve had extraordinary artistic talent. A quiet and rather unassuming teen, his tender brilliance revealed itself in his consistently confident sketches of the natural world fused with his sensitive and poignant portrait caricatures. To this day, he confirms that his greatest inspiration comes from his love of nature fused with his love of fantasy. 

Steve Pilcher, in his 20's. © Napoleon Publishing

While at M.M.Robinson in the mid 1970’s, he developed under two teachers, Jim Boyle and Paul Hryskiw, who helped guide his maturing talent. Pilcher has, in turn, inspired other aspiring artists.

Soon after high school graduation, Steve began a career in design and illustration. One of his earliest efforts was Elfabit, (Hayes Publishing, 1982) an inventive and well-loved illustrated children’s book that again fused Steve’s two passions, nature and fantasy.

A slew of illustrations for children’s books followed. He was the winner of a silver award in 1991 for his work on Norbert Nipkin and the Magic Riddle Stone (Napoleon Publishing, (1990), re-issued by Dundurn Press, and now available via Amazon.ca. )  

 

His other children’s books, now out-of-print, include Toni and the Dandelions (Grassroots Publishing, 1994), Norbert Nipkin (Napoleon Publishing, 1989), and The Bus Ride (Gage Publishing, 1986). 

In the late 1990’s he went to work for Warner Bros in Los Angeles as a visual stylist on ‘Quest for Camelot’. He eventually went on to become the Art Director for Dreamworks’ box-office smash, Shrek 2, (2004). He later worked on Shrek 3, before he moved to San Francisco to work on BRAVE, an animated feature for Pixar.

Shrek 2, Pilcher’s handiwork is evident throughout 

Seven years later, he and his team of artists & animators stand to win the film industry’s standard for excellence in one’s craft, an Academy Award (also known as an Oscar).

For animation enthusiasts, a book, The Art of BRAVE, documents the detailed animation process for this long film production. Many of Steve’s wonderful ‘behind-the-scenes’ illustrations are included. 

Clan Dunbroch family portrait, conceived by Steve Pilcher.

My questions & his answers follow: 

1. Nature and fantasy are two of your passions. When growing up as a teen in Burlington, were there any ‘local’  natural locations that inspired you? Anywhere special?

Yes, there was a field and a patch of forest behind my home in Burlington near Upper Middle Road, it was the source of many drawings, paintings and story ideas. I also used to drive 2 hours or more north of Burlington, to even more remote forest areas.

2. When at MM Robinson, your artistic talent was guided by Jim Boyle and Paul Hryskiw. How did they respectively shape your IDEAS about art & illustration? 

Jim Boyle wasn't that artistic, but very pragmatic, which I really liked, he was the main teacher I had. Paul was definitely more introspective and artistic. I wouldn't say they really shaped my ideas, truth be told, I was a very determined, self reliant and somewhat introverted young person.

3. You and Robert Bateman became friends. What was the BEST advice he ever gave you?

‘Stay open-minded.’  He was and is very much an objective, self-aware intelligent thinker. I really enjoyed our time together discussing art and methods.  I was in my early 20's then.

4.. After graduating from MM Robinson, did you have any further academic art training?

I went to Sheridan College for a couple weeks to try out animation, but left when I figured that I didn't want to animate. I was more interested in art direction, painting and illustration, it felt too specific for what I wanted to express.

5. Elfabit, your first book, is a wonderful fusion of nature and fantasy. Did anywhere in Burlington act as the basis for those illustrations?

Actually my first illustrated book, was a book called "Norbert Nipkin". "Elfabit" was mostly an imaginative book inspired by fantasy and nature. There was one image I painted down by a creek. That's the brownies-floating-on-acorns image. I wasn't in the best of financial circumstances at the time, and as a result the work in that book wasn't my best.

6. You (and crew) travelled to Scotland to scout locations for BRAVE. Did any one location or aspect impress you?  

All of Scotland did, the Isle of Skye, The Dark Mile, the Callanish Stones on the Isle of Lewis, Glen Affric, the two castles we visited, Eilean Donan and Dunnottar. The power of nature out there was awesome.

7. Define Scotland in one word.  -  Mythic.

8. You are a deft hand at caricature. How did you learn this skill? What most influenced this development in you as a youngster – t.v., or comics or ___ ?

I don't think I'm that great at caricature. I love to create my own characters though, comics and great art always influenced, and more importantly, inspired me.

9. Do you produce other art outside of work? If so, what is your focus ?  

Yes, all the time. It's my personal work in the form of paintings, drawings and some sculpture, usually taking form as a book.  I'm trying to finish one this year, my publisher has been patiently waiting for. Working on these animated features take up a lot of one's time. 

10. MM Robinson is having a 50 year Anniversary Gala Celebration Weekend in May. Will you and your spouse be there ?    ( More info here: http://mmr.hdsb.ca/Reunion/)

 It would be fun to go, but work and time restraints may make it very difficult for me to get there, as I live in California, so, I don't know yet.

11. Any parting word you’d like to send to your admirers and fans in Burlington, Ontario, Canada?

If I do indeed have any fans or admirers, I would like to say thanks for thinking kindly of me, I will always use my skills to hopefully inspire and touch whoever you may be. I  love and cherish my memories of living in Burlington, especially those late teen years in Moss Glen Court with my Mom, Dad, brother Chris, my sister Kathy and our little dog named "Mighty". I will always have a part of Burlington with me because that is also where I met my wife Donna.

Kudos to Steve Pilcher - Brockville born, Hamilton and Burlington bred.

Proof positive of that old adage: ‘Where there is a will, there is a way … ‘

UPDATE, February 25th, YES!! - BRAVE wins Best Animated Feature at 85th Academy Awards!

The Burlington Public Library has 10 copies of BRAVE, but you’ll have to wait to see it. As of last Friday, there were 273 ‘holds’ on those DVDs. Tangentially, a gaming app, Temple Run:BRAVE, is free to download. There’s also a dedicated Facebook page for die-hard BRAVE fans. And, you never know, Steve may just turn up in Burlington in May … 

Pure fantasy, Angus, the horse, and Merida, the red-headed princess, naturally done ... 

Update: Yup, he came!  Great to see and chat. What a guy! 

 Steve Pilcher - 2013

For more local artist news/books, link HERE

Hamilton Beach Walkabout ...

In contrast to the escarpment, the lake offers something completely different.
Played hookey for a few hours and put together this 4 minute vid. Enjoy.



(If the VIMEO video frame isn't appearing, blame Google, owners of Blogger and YouTube.
They don't own VIMEO ... ) Try this link instead ... https://vimeo.com/59609524