Sarah R. Bloom Photography

It's all the little things

This is me, exhausted, after suffering through so many minor meltdowns I lost count.
Tears were shed. Curses were overflowing. Husbands were screamed at. One piece of glass was broken (that was an accident). Heads were hit into walls (on purpose).

This was before I went to pick up Christy and take her to IKEA for her frames. Then we came back here and she started framing some of her work at 9:30pm as I sat down to install the hardware bits and had another meltdown and cursing fest when I realized that I did, in fact, need to remove the backing on each piece in order to do so. And beat myself up for not checking that first.

I console myself by knowing that Christy (and perhaps you!) can learn from my mistakes. ;-)

Woke up at 7am today (this is my photo of the day for yesterday). Christy will finish framing and I will help if she wants/needs it while also finalizing our labels for printing and price list for photocopying. I go borrow my mom's station wagon later and we bring all our work down to the space to hang it at 2pm. I think my photo for today will be there. :-)

It is amazing how many things there are to do that you never think about! The framing is the big nightmare, then there is the artist's statement, the pricing and the price list, the labels, do you sign or not sign, number or not number, title, etc! And every time you think you are done, there is something else still to do. Advertising and promoting the show, reception wine and cheese, what to wear! LOL.

But guess what?

My photos look absolutely and totally amazing. I'm pretty excited.

Framing

So. The prints are ordered and should arrive by Thursday.

I ordered 29 prints.

I have to write an artist statement that doesn't make me want to puke. Someone want to help me with that?

I have to put all the prints in these frames, which means cleaning the glass, installing the hardware, and holy shit it is going to take forever.

I have to finalize how these will be priced, then make the title/price list that will be out at the show...oh wait, the final list has to wait until we hang and know how they will be numbered.

The show is being hung this weekend, Saturday or Sunday.

Poor Christy has to come up here Friday night with her prints so I can take her to Ikea and get all her frames, then come back to my house so she can put them together.

I cannot believe how stressful this is...having nightmares about it for the past four nights and I'm smoking cigarettes in my dreams like crazy (it's been 9 months since I quit, by the way)!

Something has to sell at this show. Has to. Did I mention the super blow-out sale I'm having? I'm practically giving it away!!

My resume is totally ready, though, so I got that going for me. :-)

For Sale!

I just want to clarify that the Chanel coat does not really have that much sentimental value. My grandmother didn't strut around in it and the only way she must have ended up with it was by some sort of accident, because there is NO WAY she would spend serious money on something like that. She was a very thrifty woman who only spent money on her family and loved ones. Someone who didn't know what it was worth must have given it to her (and she got it late in life).

I am doing more research on it and will hold off selling it until economic times are back on the upswing for the country, however. I've got two people interested in the ice hockey equipment so I'm hoping that gets sold this week. No bites on the leather jacket yet, but that's okay.

In the meantime, I pared down my photos on my ImageKind site since they are not selling, and am making sure to bump myself back down to a free account (I have to put in a special request, apparently). I have marked down my prices as well in the hopes of getting some prints to sell!

I would much rather people buy prints so they actually get something than donate money to my sorry ass! So please, check it out...I think this is a nice selection and they would make great Valentine's gifts for your loved ones who love art. You can also make greeting cards with any of my images for an even cheaper option!

I'm begging here, folks. If you can afford it (and of course I understand most of us can't), will you buy something? If you get frames on your own from Ikea, the print is very affordable, really.

Cha-Ching

I hate having to stress about money. I'd say I hate money, but I really would love to have some more of it. I'd really love to not have to freak out the last week of every. damn. month. worrying if we will get paid in time for the mortgage to get paid; for groceries and gas to be purchased.

I know I have to make some changes. I also know that I chose to be at home due to a job that was killing me in every way, and that my husband and I choose to try and make working from home actually work. The problem is, we clearly aren't very good at it. We both have lots of ideas, sure, but not much follow-through.

I woke up this morning in a panic. I had nightmares about the show coming up because I'm stressing over my final images and getting them printed and framed in time. I have to order prints today or tomorrow and then, when drinking my coffee and realizing we were almost out and couldn't go grocery shopping yet, that meant I couldn't order prints yet either. I freaked. I whined online, of course. And people helped...emails, sympathy, and in two cases, some actual money donations (which WILL be passed on in karmic retribution when I am more stable)! I was humbled by that.

I'm always doing some juggling. But we have to take the dogs to a vet (we are taking them to the Pennsylvania SPCA which costs half of what the local vet would cost), I have to take the kid to a specialist, I have to order my prints and we have to, you know...eat! I am lucky in that my parents are not only around and incredibly supportive and loving, but also willing and able to help financially. I'm so tired of needing that, though.

This is no great fix, but we have had some things piling up that I wanted to list for sale on Craig's List (if you are not American and don't have this, then I'm ever so sorry, because it is awesome), so today I finally photographed everything and put up listings. It can only help. My daughter's ice hockey gear, which hasn't been used in 3 years, and a gorgeous soft leather motorcycle jacket an ex bought me who rode. I haven't worn it since he dumped me almost 6 years ago.

This photo is a closeup of the button on a vintage Chanel Boutique houndstooth coat that was my grandmother's. I have not listed it yet as I'm not sure what to sell it for...I feel awful selling it because it was hers, but it doesn't really fit me right (the sleeves are too short).  When I tried to find some info online, I was blown away at seeing Chanel jackets and suits going for thousands of dollars! Is that possible?? They were used, too! And this has the original buttons and is in perfect condition. Anyone with insight, do tell...I am clueless when it comes to fashion and even more clueless when it comes to designer labels and what they mean.

So it is time to get more serious about finding new clients for myself; to get creative in what I offer with photography. I know my friend John is rolling his eyes at me right now, as he's been yelling at me for months to do just that.

A single moment stretches before you...

Put one foot in front of the other and   b  r  e   a    t    h   e .

Just breathe.

Morning Feast

I babysit for an adorable sweet angel girl for the last year now, part time. She and her family live in the city of Philadelphia, in a three-story row house on a secondary street. Behind their house is a typically tiny yard (they are lucky and have grass instead of cement) with cement walls rising up just short of privacy on three sides. It is possible, therefore, to stand on a chair and see across the walls to everyone's backyards along their street and the street behind them. Standing on the ground allows one to see anyone else who may also be standing.

What I see every morning I am there is a festival of birds two courtyards over. The residents have put out several bird feeders. They also seem to be growing the sorts of plants and vines that birds love (whether that was intentional or not, I don't know). Each morning the birds are going crazy over there, fluttering around in great excitement and joy! It seems extra thrilling, somehow, to know that they are in the middle of an urban jungle; that at any moment a truck will rumble by and cause them to fly off in a spectacular frenzy.

I am not quite sure why I've never tried to capture them before now; though I do know that in the winter they are more kinetic and therefore more exciting (and last winter I was smoking still). I do know that I plan on bringing my zoom lens tomorrow.

I also know that sometimes just watching them is all I can do. Their sheer delight is contagious.

"I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear." ~MLK

Yes, I know MLK Day was yesterday, but today is the Inauguration of Barack Obama, the first black President of the United States.

I have allowed hate to rule me many times in my life. Today, after what was a very contentious election process during which my relationship with online friends in some cases was forever changed because of angry words, I want to embrace those words above.

I want for all of us to honor this moment no matter what we think of politics; of Barack Obama; of Democrats or Republicans; of liberals or conservatives; of anything in between. I want for us to honor this moment in history...a black man is being elected President. This is something I never thought I would see in my lifetime.

I want for those who choose not to celebrate it, to graciously allow those of us who want to shout from the rooftops to do so without shame.

I want for us to put down the burden of hate.

Have a wonderful day, no matter what you are doing. And remember those other great words... "If you don't have anything nice to say, then don't say anything at all." :D

Me? I'll be connected online as always. We have cnn.com streaming live via computer onto our big TV and I have my laptop in front of me. I'm an Internet addict, after all.

Challenges

I’ve taken on two new photographic challenges for 2009. I decided to go ahead and take a photo every day of something. It can be a self-portrait, but doesn’t have to be, and I’m finding myself preferring it not be. The challenge is not to just take a photo, but to take an artistic and interesting photo. Eighteen days into it and I’ve discovered that the storytelling became as big a part of it as the photo itself. I am now seeking images that come with a story because it makes it more interesting and will be more enjoyable to look back on when I’m done. As I’ve been so neglectful posting here, I will likely use my daily photo and story as a way of keeping in touch every day until I have something else to write about. Or maybe it will become a true daily photo blog after all. Clearly I need to let this be organic in its development (this space, I mean).

The second challenge was issued by my husband after I said I was considering starting “52 Weeks” (a self-portrait each week), but wanted to limit myself to a specific theme in some way. His challenge? COLOR. Not just color, but the finished photo should be an image that would not work if it weren’t for the color. The color should be the main point, essentially. The reason for the challenge is that if you look at my two straight years of daily self-portraits, there is not a lot of color. I seem to often go to the black and white or monochrome, or at the very least severely desaturated images. Pete loves color. A lot of people love color! When he first suggested it, I resisted. I rejected. I didn’t want to do it.

But then I realized that the whole point of a challenge is to do something difficult; something that will push me. I accepted for the sole reason that the very idea of it made me squirm uncomfortably. I’ve only done 2 weeks so far (decided to start with the first full week of 2009) and I’m not living up to my potential yet. I started with a warm-up, using really only one main color, just to give myself a chance to get used to the idea:

The second week I had a very clear idea of the grass hugging my body, and added the Clementines in for a nice color compliment, but it didn’t come out as good as I had envisioned. It definitely wouldn’t work in black and white (well, it wouldn’t be the same image), so I’m moving in the right direction:

I’m stressing out about ideas now, as I think I need to get more creative. I want the images to have more of a storytelling aspect, too, because I’d like my work to go more in that direction. I’m glad for the challenge even if it makes me crazy each week. ☺

Self-Indulgent Crap [sic]

This is the postcard we designed as promotion for the show in February!! Save the date if you're anywhere near enough to attend! The mailer one will have the detail info on the back...this is the 'web' version with all info on the one image.

Self-Indulgent Crap [sic]: A Two Woman Show featuring self portraits by Christy Marie and Sarah R. Bloom

February 1 - February 28, 2009
Opening with the Artists Friday, February 6, 2009 from 5pm to 9pm

Made By Hand Gallery
112 South Street
Philadelphia, PA 19147

The title of our show, by the way, is obviously tongue planted firmly in cheek. A long while back, in the Female Self-Portrait Artist Support Group, we ladies had a discussion about how self-portrait artists (and particularly women SP artists) are viewed as being narcissistic and self-indulgent.

So when coming up with our show title we just couldn't think of a better one for an all self-portrait exhibition. ;-)

Join the Facebook Event page we set up if you are interested! Spread the word! Post it on your own profile!