"Last published on Sep 23, 2009"

Cobwebs are in every corner of this blog. Time to dust things off and get back up and running.

"Last published on Sep 23, 2009." Thanks for the reminder Blogger. That was nearly seven months ago, at the start of ArtPrize 2009. Now that event is history, the phenomenal winning entry on display at the Grand Rapids Art Museum, and I'm contemplating my entry for ArtPrize 2010.

I don't like new year's resolutions. They always seem made to be broken. But something about the end of the holidays and beginning of a new year inspires reflection. So as 2010 began I made goals instead of resolutions:

• Learn more about photography and continue to grow my business.
  
• Meet more people and expand my circle of friends.
• Get more involved in my city.

Of course accomplishing goals requires you to determine how to tackle each one. For me, that meant creating what has turned out to be a massive and incredibly fun to do list.

To Do:

1. Attend more events in my city, camera in hand - even if that means going alone.
   
2. Start using social media as a way to connect with new people, not just those I already know.
3. Keep the Pine Photography Facebook page up to date with weekly posts - which means taking photos worth posting at least once a week.
4. Maintain the full time day job in order to continue paying the mortgage.
   

And so began a whirlwind winter that has now turned into spring. I've become addicted to Twitter, met many wonderful photographers via GRFlickr photo walks, added dozens of events to my calendar and learned just how much I really love living in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

The unintentional consequence of all this? The complete abandonment of this blog. So now I'm adding a fifth item to the above "to do" list: Updating my blog on (at least) a weekly basis. Maybe no one is reading this but me, but that doesn't mean I should give the cobwebs a place to hide.

Happy ArtPrize Day!

ArtPrize begins today and I am so excited! My ArtPrize work, "Selective Focus," is currently on display at Schuler Books & Music Downtown (40 Fountain St. SW). Be sure to check it out!

My voting code: 32081 >>Voting Information

>>Complete Pine Photography ArtPrize information

Lots of great events celebrating ArtPrize art going on tonight and throughout the next couple of weeks. >>ArtPrize Events Calendar

17 Days and Counting...

I entered ArtPrize with one goal in mind - to connect with other artists and meet some fantastic people - which I assumed would happened during ArtPrize competition dates and related events.

This weekend, I'm in Iosco county for a combination of family time and photo time. Mom and I made our annual trip to the Harrisville Arts & Crafts fair yesterday where, while wandering the booths, I came upon an ArtPrize badge. Not one to pass up a chance to talk about ArtPrize, I asked the couple running the booth what their venue was. What followed was a fascinating and fun conversation with Colleen and Michael Glenn Monroe. Nice people and wonderful artists, they produce beautiful children's books. Their ArtPrize entry is a fantastic concept I can't wait to see in a few short weeks.

There are so many inventive, inspired and creative ArtPrize entries. It's exciting to be in the same event with 1,261 other artists. I'm mostly looking forward to photographing in GR during ArtPrize. I have a feeling I'll be spending a lot of time downtown.

Voting News from the ArtPrize people:
This information arrived in my inbox this week. If you want to vote in ArtPrize, you must register in person. Then you can vote via the Internet or text message.

"During ArtPrize, there will be two ways attendees can vote for you: Online or by text message.To vote online, an attendee can search your name or the name of your work and vote right on your profile. To vote by text message (sent to 878787), each artist will have a 5 digit code that attendees can type into the body of a text message to either vote up or vote down your work (Voting up and down explained). "

My five digit text voting code is: vote32081. (The word "vote" must be in front of the numbers.)

Q&A

Last week ArtPrize sent an email to all artists asking the following questions:

1. Did your parents encourage you to become an artist?


2. When did you start working in the way/medium/series you're working in now?


3. How did you decide to select the specific work you did for ArtPrize?


4. What is the greatest pleasure of being an artist? (What is your personal driving force?)

I have no idea the intent behind these questions (looking for good marketing matierals perhaps?), but find it interesting that of all the questions they could have sent, these were the four they chose.

It's Official

I'm thrilled to announce that my work will be shown at Schuler Books & Music downtown for ArtPrize. (If you want to follow me on the ArtPrize journey, become a fan of Pine Photography on Facebook.)

ArtPrize

It's the final week for artists to secure venues for ArtPrize. I'm so excited to have three hosting offers and am hoping to have an agreement signed by the end of the day Monday. Honestly, a couple of weeks ago I was getting worried that I wouldn't find a venue, so three offers is amazing!

It's fantastic that the management companies of several large developments are offering up tons of space so that as many registered artists as possible will be able to participate. After all, isn't that what ArtPrize is supposed to be all about?

I'll announce my venue as soon as it's official. If you want to follow me on the ArtPrize journey, become a fan of Pine Photography on Facebook.

Here's a sneak peak at the pair of photos I'll be exhibiting: