New Studio!

Hey guys! Man, it’s been a crazy summer, and I am finally able to sit down and write a new post on my personal blog. As you may know, I spent the summer rephotographing Route 66, for my thesis project entitled Mother Road Revisited (if you haven’t gotten to look at the website, check it out). Anyway, in other news, I bought a 6 x 9 letterpress, more on that in my next post. But, a few weeks before I left for my adventure down Route 66, we moved into our new studios in downtown Tulsa. I took some photos before my semester critiques (which is when my studio is it’s cleanest.) So I thought I’d post them:

This is shot from where I placed my desk. My studio is the only one with a brick wall like this. Our building is a refurbished building that is required to have some of the original structure in it. Thus, this brick wall, but I love it. I also have North facing windows, so I have beautiful light at all times, except at night, obviously.

This is shot from where the couch is, all of the studios have these great sinks, I can actually do some version of a darkroom with this sink. I have been working with gum bichromate a lot lately, which is a water based process, so the sink is perfect for it. You can see at the end of the room, on the wall the beginnings of my ‘Alter Ego’ project, those two images star two of my favorite models, Kyle Blair and Sean Terska.

I started messing with the idea of screenprinting illustrations over my photography, so I came up with this collaboration with Jeremiah Christie, from Hovertank Diaries and John Spriggs, from Jeb Kennedy. Jeremiah wrote stories about each photo, while John did illustrations about the stories. The stories are printed on a Japanese paper behind the photo, while the illustration is screen printed on top of the photo. I then waxed the photos, so they became more translucent. They don’t photograph all that well, you can kind of see the words behind the photo on the bottle image in the top right. But I would like to back light them at some point.

You can see here the gum bichromates I’ve been doing. Some of them are actual prints from the darkroom, while others are scanned prints and then digitally printed on Japanese paper…mostly just messing around with my options right now.

This is the wall that is mostly about my Route 66 project. These maps show the route I would took in June from Chicago to LA, with the cities circled that I have postcards for along the way.

Anyway, there’s the studio, and a look into what I have been working on in the last year. Hopefully it will all look a little more complete come April.

Talk to you soon,
Natalie

Read Full Post »

Frogman’s Printmaking Conference Week 1

So, four days after I finished Route 66 I hopped on the road for Vermillion, SD for Frogman’s printmaking conference. The conference consists of about 150 printmakers, ranging from undergrad students to well versed professionals. Each class is taught by someone in a specific field of printmaking. I am taking a class in digital printmaking. My class is taught by Lanore Thomas (from Satan’s Camero) and Jason Ruhl (from Scavengers). Their work is a great marriage of digital and traditional printmaking. I have a learned a lot from them.

The other grad students that go to University of Tulsa are taking a class in 3-D Relief Printing and performance art. Their class is taught by a guy named Dennis McNett (from WolfBat Studios). His work is mostly relief prints, and revolves around specific animals that have different meanings to him. The class built their own animal masks out of cardboard and masking tape, which were then covered with relief prints from the class (which were mostly woodcuts). The creature they built in the end, was then filled with fireworks, and lit on fire at a cook-out we had tonight. These are the photos of the demise of said structure.

If you want to see more photos, please go to my flickr. (such as the making of of the creature and/or masks)

If you haven’t checked out the videos we shot while out on the route, check them out here.

Cheers,

Natalie

Read Full Post »

Days are Long; Years are Short

Goodness. I have been meaning to update for weeks. So, this update will be a bulk of the things I have be up to over the last few months, and a preview of what I’m doing in the future weeks. First of all, I am traveling to Palm Springs, CA for a photo conference this Sunday. This will be the third time I have attended, and I am pumped. Second, I have been traveling all over the midwest in the last few weeks. I was in Dallas shooting pictures of Jesse:

Under a Bridge

Dallas Skyline

Upside Down

Jesse’s a fun model, and I enjoy shooting with him, especially in Deep Ellum. I have also been working with gum bi-chromate, and that’s been quite the adventure. Here are a few successes and…and a few failures. but I’m learning. That’s for sure.

This will be a full color when I have it all figured out.

I'm making this into an etch when it's finished

Kurt in the Vegas Boneyard

If you want to see other photos of Kurt and Rosey at the Boneyard, check ’em out here

Tyson and the TV's

I think the last two have some paper issues, but I’m working them out, for sure. And finally! Last week my dad and I traveled up to Louisville, KY to pick up a ’64 Shasta. It isn’t perfect, but it’s slowly working in that direction. It was an adventure that lasted 3 days and 36 hours of driving. Dad and I had a great time, but it was quite the tiring trip. Anyway, here’s a photo of the Shasta:

'64 Shasta

Phew. Anyway, that’s what I’ve been up to. I’m sure I’ll post another entry when I get back from Palm Springs, but until then, thanks for reading!

-Nattles

P.S. If you’re interested in following the progress of the “MotherRoad: Revisited” Project, check out the facebook page, website, and twitter!

Read Full Post »

Neon Sign Boneyard Engagement Shoot: Kurt + Rosey

Well, I have had a crazy few weeks. 6 cities in 4 weeks, 2 engagement shoots 1 wedding shoot and a holiday, what was suppose to be a break was exhausting. I did take a few days off to sleep, but anyway, I took Kurt and Rosey’s engagement photos in a place called the “neon boneyard” in Las Vegas, NV. We only had an hour, and the management was serious about that hour. I did a walk thru that lasted about 5 minutes, and then we were off. It felt a bit like a race in the moment, which stressed me out intially. But I am really happy with what we got out of the shoot and I had a great time doing it.

Anyway, here it is:

As always, there are more photos to be seen on my flickr site. I had a blast with these guys at the boneyard, hope you guys enjoyed seeing them

-nattles

Read Full Post »

Screen Printed Book: Completed

So over the last few months I have been designing an accordion fold book to be screen printed for, oddly enough, screen printing class. The book has images in it that I scavenged from my grandmothers photo album of her father on a buffalo ranch in South Dakota in the early 1900’s. The writing that accompanies the imagery is her handwriting retelling the stories of why these photos are so important to her. By the end of the 2012 spring semester I should have an interactive piece to accompany this piece. But that’s a whole different story.

Anyway, if you want to see the making of, go here

So after….

20oz of glue
51 ft of chip board
612 ft of paper
140oz of ink

Here is the final piece.

There are also some detail shots here

Anyway, as always. thanks for reading! When I get back from my trip I’ll have some photos from a boneyard of sorts…more info to follow…

-nattles

Read Full Post »

Awesome Nameplate

So, last weekend, I went to Springfield, MO to attend an antique show my friend Scott and Gail put together. (Check it out here )

Anyway, I ran into a fellow there that sold letterpress letters, and i got this idea to buy the letters to make a name plate for my desk that i eventually have when i teach somewhere, some day. (for now…i’ll just put it in my studio…) but anyway, I thought it’d be a nice thing to have, because I am a printmaker/designer/photographer, and it’s letter press letters…how perfect is it really?

Anyway, here’s how it turned out:

putting together the sign

putting together the sign

putting together the sign

the finished piece

Anyway, there you have it. If you want one of your own name plates made out of letterpress letters let me know, and i’ll see if we can make it happen.

-nattles

Read Full Post »

NYC and Beyond

Well, for those of you that don’t know, I helped lead a trip to NYC this last “weekend.” I say “weekend” because we were there from Wednesday to Sunday. I and twelve undergrad students went to New York City to visit design firms, and museums. It was a great trip, and an incredible learning experience. Having an undergrad degree in graphic design and photography it was really cool to see big design firms, and famous designers at work in their offices in NYC. Here are a few photos from our excursion:

First we went to see some designers at Method Inc, they did such things as redesigned the interface for TED and the interface for all kinds of devices for March Madness. They showed us around their offices, and convinced us to play this dice game that was apparently an office tradition…but i think they were just trying to take our dollar bills 😉

Name plate inside of method offices

Method Inc, Offices

Dice game that Method taught us how to play

The next day we went to see Mirko, who is a designer famous for firing clients. He sat with us at his desk and showed us his sketch books. Mirko talked us through his process from brainstorming ideas to finished product. It was a great experience and very encouraging for me and the rest of the students. Mirko designed the opening graphics for You’ve Got Mail, and has worked on logos for all kinds of different companies.

Mirko talking with us about why we are designers

Mirko showing us files that he has been working on recently

MIrkos blocks for what he tells clients on a regular basis

Mirko and Milton Glaser have studios in the same building, so after meeting Mirko, we walked down two flights of stairs to meet Milton Glaser. Glaser was open to answering any of our questions and showed us what he was currently working on, it was an incredible experience to chat with Milton Glaser. Also, Glaser is known for designing the I(heart)NYC logo, and the Bob Dylan Poster with the crazy hair.

Milton Glaser answering our questions

Glaser showing us his most recent work

The next day we visited a design firm in Brooklyn called “Huge.” They showed us around their space and were very helpful in answering questions about how to put together a portfolio for a studio like theirs. They mostly do interactive design and website design, the interactivity for IKEA and Adult Swim…

Huge front desk

Showing us around the office

their war room

After Huge, we went to a design firm in Little Italy called “R/GA” they have been responsible for special effects for movies such as Alien and ET, but more recently they worked on the ad campagin for Nike + We got to talk with the art director in charge of the Nike account and ask him all kinds of questions about his job. It was really interesting to get to pick the brain of a company in charge of such big accounts.

Outside of R/GA main office

Showing us around R/GA

They label their conference rooms with pantone colors. Design nerdz, right? 😉

This is how they show off their awards, if you look closely you can find 3 Oscars

Anyway, that was the trip. It was an incredible experience and I really enjoyed being part of the leadership team for it. I wish we had had a bit more time, we made it to a few museums and even the Brooklyn Flea Market! but, anyway, I’ll leave you with these few random photos I took in NYC.

Beauitful reflection right?

We walked passed a dog park in Central Park

This man was riding around telling everyone "Peace" We saw him twice.

This is about half the group that went with us. Good group right?

Anyway thanks for reading!

-nattles

Read Full Post »

School Starts

Well, it’s been a crazy summer, and when summer started, I made a list of things I wanted to accomplish over the summer, so I thought I’d update you on what it is that I _actually_ accomplished.

Reel Big Fish & Streelight Manifesto in Dallas

I told you guys I would be going to this concert. and it was incredible. If you ever get a chance to see either Streetlight Manifesto or Reel Big Fish in concert. You should definitely do it!

Hung out with my friends in Dallas (this is jesse)

While in Dallas for the show, I got to see some friends from high school, and I can never pass up an opportunity to take pictures of them (usually). Anyway, this is Jesse. and…he’s pretty cool, as you can see.

Did a Crazy photo shoot in a garage (thanks Tyson)

From a blog post a few months ago, some of you may remember this TV photo shoot. Tyson (my model for the shoot) did a music video with all of these TVs in the Spring, and I wanted to jump on that wagon and see what a photo shoot looked like. Thanks again Tyson for helping me set up and take down the whole thing, and being my model. It’s always a pleasure. If you want to see the other photos from the shoot check it out here

Work on a collab show with Joel Armstrong

An artist friend of mine, Joel Armstrong, is working on (and currently advertising for) a wire show about garage sales. He asked me to document garage sales via photography. So, I spent a lot of the summer going to garage sales with Joel, and shooting random items. It was a lot of fun. If you’re interested in the show, check it out here!

Work on more Collab with Joel Armstrong

Originally, Joel has asked me to photograph all the items he was drawing in wire. This was my first concept shot of what that might look like. In the end, he decided to go a different route due to a list of reasons, but I learned a lot figuring out this shoot, and the editing style.

Bought a Motorcycle!

I bought a motorcycle! My dad, uncle and I drove around the black hills in South Dakota on our motorcycles. I shot this the night before Dad came up and picked me up to trailer to South Dakota. It was a lot of fun. Learned a lot. Saw some giant heads on a mountain. The photo below is one of the places at the end of Spearfish Canyon on the West side of South Dakota. It is very much the middle of nowhere, but there were surprisingly a lot of people in this restaurant. Want to see more pictures from that trip? Check them out here!

Drove said motorcycle around South Dakota with family

 

Shot a Stair Trail!

I was able to shoot my first successful Star trail in South Dakota, right outside of Deadwood. Thanks to my dad for being patient with me while I set everything up.

Picked fresh fruit from an orchard with college friends (and children)

After South Dakota I hopped a plane to Washington. 10 Boarding passes later, I ended up in Spokane Washington with some very dear friends from college. We ended up picking berries and eating lunch at a fruit farm. The photo above on the right is the box of cherries we picked, and Jess’s son, Oliver in a cherry tree.

More Washington College Buddies hang out time

This is Shane and his son Benjamin sitting on the porch on a beautiful Washington afternoon. good times, good friends. beautiful weather.

Jess, Shane, Oliver and Benjamin in Washington

Zak Bek and Eli

These are the two families I went to visit in Washington. It had been too long, and I am so glad I was able to finally make it up there to see these guys.

Went to Portland!

After an epic journey to find a rental car that would let me drive one way from Spokane to Portland, I drove to meet my mom in Portland, OR. It’s a beautiful city, you should go sometime.

Drove Through the Redwood Forest!

A few days after Portland, my mom and I drove through the Redwood forest, and hung out in the area for a couple days. I tried to shoot as much as I could through these days, and if you want to see more of those photos check them out here!

Hung out in San Fran

After the Redwoods, obviously comes San Francisco. Peir 39 is where the seals hang out, so mom and I decided to stop by and see what was happening.

Shot Headshots for my friend that is going to grad school for acting (in London)

After I got back from that excursion, it was time to take my car down to Texas to get some work done on it. I rode a train to my home town, and met up with my dear friend Micah. He and I have been friends a very long time. Micah made it into grad school in Essex, England (which is very close to London). But because he is an actor, he needs an updated headshot every year. So, before he took off for across the pond, I did a handful of shots for him and designed a few things for his website. Check it out, he’s a pretty incredible fellow.

Had a Birthday! My Parents are the best.

 

So, last week, my second year of grad school started, every school year I have the joy of my birthday landing on the day of school starting, or very nearly on the day of school starting. But, my parents are the best, and even though they couldn’t make it up to Tulsa for my birthday, they did send incredible, beautiful gifts. Thanks again mom and dad.

 

Anyway, school is underway and I have some crazy cool things up my sleeve (or so I think). But if you’re in the Tulsa area, in a few weeks is the opening for Joels show (keep your eyes out for a blog about the photos I took for Joels show) and in about a month is the Indie Art Festival where a handful of art friends and I are going to be selling all kinds of incredible things that you can buy! Stop by if you get a chance.

Thanks for reading, see you soon!

Natalie

Read Full Post »

Erueka, CA – VW Van Sighting

Going on 2 weeks out on the West Coast, and as we drove down to the redwoods, I ran into this white VW Van.

VW Van 2

The trip is going well, and I am really looking forward to being home, but San Francisco is really great, got to go to the art musuem today and see the “Stein Collection” which included some very interesting Picasso’s and Matisse’s.

-nattles

Read Full Post »

Portland and Beyond

I’ve been out of town for a about a week, and am now driving from Portland to San Francisco via the Red Woods. But, as some of you know, I am working on a VW Van series, luckily, yesterday I got a bit lost and had to turn around. While turning around, I stumbled upon this beautiful VW.

Tan VW between Porland and Medford, OR

Detail Shot

Anyway, more photos when I get back. Enjoy.
-nattles

Read Full Post »