Folks, I apologize for the shorter blog posts as of late. I know its not as interesting these days as a reader. I can tell, viewership is way down and there not near the traffic as there once was.
That’s ok though, these blogs are primarily diaries for me, and since I moved my shop items MOSTLY to Etsy there’s less traffic coming through anyway.
BUT if you are here, and reading, I have some news!
I am 100% pysched for this drop and I really REALLY hope it sells through. As much for the Park as for me. It could end up being a sizable donation to the Park and that’s important to me. If you’ve been reading for a while you’ll know how badly I want to pay forward to kindness, support and generosity shown to me and mine over the past few years.
This is the opportunity.
I also applied for my ArtsNL grant today. I’m not confident. It’s pretty much the same application I made in the summer, I am hopeful that having the residency and subsequent shows under my belt that I will at least have a better chance than I did prior.
Keep your fingers crossed for me….
A couple of photos for you all from the files that I played with today…
God I cannot WAIT to explore more…. what a place…. what a dream….
I was going to head to the sea arch at Little Catalina, but the trail, the last time I was there, was a wee bit wet and since we just had a hurricane I figured it would be best to switch to another venue.
The beautiful thing about doing this project is that all these locations are within one hour of home.
That’s a big deal for us right now. Since Dee had her seizure, as I spoke of before in these pages, she can’t drive and I don’t want to be too far away, so this is perfect.
I went to the Bonavista region, visited Spillars Cove and the Cape….
The Spillars Cove photo is one that will be going into the NFT collection when it drops on Oct 29, 2021
In addition to this photo I have decided to include on of my favorite Tickle Cove photos into the collection as well….
In addition today I worked a little on a roadmap, I am hoping to share that in this space this week, as well as on twitter.
I am very excited about this project, visiting these places and capturing unique takes on them, sharing them with the world, bring attention to this region and what it has to offer is rewarding on many levels.
Oh, the collection page will likely be up on OpenSea over the next day or so as well. The roadmap will lay out when pre-orders are being accepted on these photos.
Exciting times folks… talking and sharing with a ton of talented photographers from around the world. I am SOOOOOOOO out of my league with many of these folks, but am learning so much.
I am going to shoot, edit and present a body of work based on the geological, historical and cultural sites of the recently created but very ancient Discovery Geo Park.
This body of work will be called Discovering Discovery.
It will HOPEFULLY result in a show, a series of prints available to sell and a major 25-30 image NFT collection.
I am VERY excited to get started on this, and happy to have a project, close to home, that I can work on while Dee waits out her license suspension due to her seizure.
What will the work look like?
Well, I’m hoping to use the photos I posted last night as a baseline from which to grow. The intent is that each of these works have a unifying style and treatment.
Here is one of those photos from last night, don’t want to bore you with posting all of them again lol..
I’ve offered these 3 photos up on my OpenSea page as precursor NFT’s as well if anyone is interested.
I made a promise to myself to blog every single day.
As you may have noticed, I have a few things going on lol… yesterday was a bad one, today is a good one. BUT blogging helps, it helped yesterday, it’ll help tomorrow…
So, to celebrate my 100 I took a day off from pushing myself. I think I did one wee NFT post this morning, but that’s it. No pushing calendars, cards, prints, canvases and/or NFT’s
Today was about the work…. about the art…. and working on making it ALL work a lot better.
If I expect success on the NFT market, and if I expect to raise an eyebrow or two with my work, I need to push it.
I need to do what I always strive to do, take the everyday and make it extraordinary…
Here’s a couple of frequently photographed landmarks done, well, differently….
I hope this is what separates me from the pack and elevates my art…
I struggle mightily with my mental health. I feel like a spectator in my own life sometimes. Kind of like a character behind my eyes, influenced by the action but powerless to stop it.
It not constant, its not even frequent these days..
But when the swings hit, the hit hard.
So, tonight, for no big reason, I am in a horrible and hopeless mood. I feel on the edge of panic and I am restless in my own skin.
My car has an issue, that’s the only trigger I can think of today. I’m not going to be driving it for a while, but frankly, that’s no big deal, we have another car here and Dee can’t drive it so we really only need one car. The lose of the car, and even the associated cost of fixing it shouldn’t have me this full of anxiety.
I didn’t feel this when the cat died..
I didn’t feel this when Dee had her seizure…
But tonight I do…
Look, there’s a lot going on to be sure. School is open again, I’m going to be driving Damian in in the mornings, then Dee to work, have to pick Dee for lunch, Damian will take the bus home, but I then need to pick Dee up at the end of the shift. Between all that I need to try and do housework, cook, get groceries etc. etc. I am the only driver, and there’s a lot that needs to be doing.
All while I am trying very very hard to build a name in photography and make a living doing it.
I’ve been sheltered a little, I have EI and while I have reported earning when I have them, it was a safety net for me and the family, but that runs out the end of September and then that’s it, pull the rip cord, the only thing I have then is the photography and the money I make from that.
I said in a previous post that I may have to return to work in a retail position of something, but that’s a whole other nightmare of trying to coordinate shifts and transportation.
I am under IMMENSE pressure, from me of course, to make this work… IMMENSE pressure.
Photography is something I am good at, and getting better. I am making money, but not enough. NFT’s could be the answer, but they might not. You need to be established, and build relationships and log the time, lots and lots of time building your brand, you have to grind at it to make it something folks want to be a part of. When folk are purchasing NFT’s they are buying YOU, they are buying the impression you give them.
AND the work needs to be exceptional, different and flawless…
I’m just shaking with apprehension about the coming months…. I am optimistic that it will not only be fine, but be exceptional…
But I am also full of doubt and fear that it won’t work at all…
Its like I’ve said so many times in the past. I don’t want to be rich, I just don’t want to worry, or to be afraid, anymore…
Here’s a collage I produced earlier today from some wave work I did this past winter. It’s representative of my moods right now to be sure…
Thanks guys for all the support.
And special thanks to all the folks who purchased from my printshop these last few days, its been exceptional and I am very appreciative of your patronage.
Spent the afternoon in Tickle Cove and managed to shoot one of those rare photos that I loved as soon as I opened it. That’s rarely happens, but in this case, it did.
Its minimal, it’s simple… it tells a story of mystery, of what lays beneath.
The editing has something else that I am very much enjoying lately as well, the blue hue. I am really grooving on these cool landscape shots. It’s funny, my exterior shoots are really going to the blue end of the spectrum, the interior stuff is trending to the warm.
I sense a series coming here…
In other news…
I have minted one of my most popular photos…. Under the Stars is now on Foundation, its also my FIRST minting on Foundation….
I’m optimistic that the folks collecting NFT’s find it as appealing as everyone who wanted to own a print of it last year!
I am also adding this shot to my print shop…
I did have this offered as an NFT as well but I put a time limit on it, didn’t sell digitally, lets try it in print. The print shop has been doing VERY well recently, thanks so much for all who have purchased!
Thats all for this evening.
Oh, tomorrow I am updating my CV here on the site as well in advance of my ArtsNL grant application.
Never thought I would be able to keep doing it. Sometimes I don’t know why I do it, why it’s so important. It helps me, it helps me work through some things, sometimes they are art things, something they are life things…
I’m going to keep it going, I am hoping to hit 365 days in a row… just to prove I can do it….
I was on CBC radio this morning, Weekend Arts Magazine. I missed it of course but most reports are that it was a good interview. No podcast of anything yet, once its up, IF its up I’ll share it to my media page.
I like having these interviews, it seems to me that it shows that my work is of a quality high enough, or interesting enough, that folks want to talk about it. That’s good, that’s in the right direction.
Hopefully they work to get more folks interested in what I am doing. I know it worked to get another local artist interested in the NFT market. That wicked good news, its rewarding to know that what I am doing might inspire someone to give it a try.
Speaking of NFT’s, I wish I could figure out a way to get more traffic to see mine.
I am doing this experimental NFT where I made one available for the weekend only, shared it a bunch of times on Twitter, got decent feedback on that platform itself but it didn’t translate into a sale, of even much traffic to the NFT itself.
Just two views, despite seeing seen HUNDREDS of times on Twitter.
If anyone reading this is in the Photo NFT market of have had success with selling their work, I would love to hear any advice you might have on promotion of the work, getting in front of eye-balls!
That’s it for tonight folks, thanks for keeping tuning in, I appreciate you all!
Old Bones Photo 