still homeless...for now

Hey everyone:

I hope everyone enjoyed their holiday. Not too long until the next one...so remember that during your daily grind!

Blogging music is a random play list today - but the Sex Pistols just came on. I guess that one is pretty self explanatory.

So, now that the website has been updated to contain 2 portfolios of separate but related work, I definitely feel like I have a little more latitude - but not a ton. These two bodies of work still need to relate to each other, and to my own personal style that I've taken years to develop (no pun intended). I've shuffled the image order on the second portfolio (the non-painterly work) several times already, and even added an image today from 2010 that fits pretty well now. It's the image of the factory I posted way back then - maybe some of you die-hard fans remember, but if not - don't fret...just go to the site and look at it!

I have another image I did a while ago that I still like - but it doesn't fit into either group. You can't force a square peg into a round hole I guess. I think I posted this to the blog soon after I shot it as well - but here it is again:

What's so odd about it is that it contains many of the elements of my other work. It's kinda painterly in its look - similar to that group of work. And, it feels a little bit haunting to me - like much of the work included in the other portfolio. But, somehow, the way those elements are put together in this one has left it homeless. Do you guys agree? Let me know what you think - I suppose I could be swayed, but...

Otherwise, I've been exploring a bunch of exhibition opportunities - group shows mostly - but am still looking for a home for my work. An agent would be nice right about now...

Take care everyone!

-Marc

Just for Fun

Hi all:

Just wanted to post this one for fun. Passed by this thing a bunch of times and finally decided to take a shot of it. Reception to it so far has been luke warm - but I like it...

Enjoy your evening everyone!

-Marc

Changes Afoot

Hi everyone:

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I felt like taking a break from the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade to give everyone a little blog update. There's only so much high school marching bands and Broadway lip-syncing I can take.

Lots of news everyone - the first being that I've done a bit of an overhaul of my website. Some of you may have noticed that you can now link directly to the blog from the site. This is something I've been meaning to do for a while. Just one click now in the upper right on "blog" - no having to remember and type in a separate URL. You're welcome everybody - just lookin' out for ya!

Secondly, I felt the time was right to separate my work out into two separate, but related portfolios. Though all of my work has a unified feel (so I've been told), there are clearly two independent bodies of work happening simultaneously: the more painterly looking work (now labeled as "images 1,") and my other work ("images 2.") They definitely belong on the site together, but I finally feel comfortable enough with the quality and quantity of each group to separate them out a little. This has always been the plan - but it took several years for both bodies of work to be ready for this transition.

And last, but not least - I've put a new piece up in the "images 2" portfolio. I've attached it below. Every time I look at it, I think about sitting out on the lawn, watching those sun-kissed days go by. Kind of a mix of nostalgia and warmth - with just a hint of Sirinsky oddball-ness:

I've got a couple more images in the pipeline too - so more to come soon. In the meantime, go stuff yourselves with all that is bad for you and enjoy some much needed rest (and football!)

-Marc

Worth The Wait?

Hi everyone:

I guess it's been a busy summer, since I just realized my last blog entry was back in July! But, just because I took some time off from blogging doesn't mean I haven't been busy with "art stuff." I come to you today with the soundtrack of a very random Ipod playlist...very random.

So, the first piece of news is something many of you know already. I'm in a show in Miami - which actually opens tonight. Why am I not there? Because a: it's only one piece and b: it's expensive. You get to the point in your career where you simply can't go to every show you're in. My rule of thumb is if it's a solo or featured artist gig, I do everything I can to make it. Otherwise, unless I can drive there, I generally can't justify the time and expense.

Anyway, the show tonight is at a space called The Lunchbox Gallery. Here's the info:

The Lunchbox Gallery

310 NW 24th Street

Miami, FL

Opening reception: Tonight (9/10) from 5-11 pm.

Show runs until 10/4/2011

Gallery hours: M-Sat: 11am-5pm

So, those of you in the Miami area, get your butts over there and let me know how it is!

I've got some other stuff in the works as well - some publishing opportunities and perhaps another show or two before spring-time. I'll keep y'all posted!

This is all stemming from the fact that I now have what I feel is a pretty cohesive body of work.

Obviously, I'll be continuing in this style and thematic ballpark for quite a while - but things are now at a point where I can begin truly shopping around. I also took a look at my exhibition history recently and realized that I'm a little low on juried shows in recent years. Part of that is my feeling that I've reached the point where I no longer need to pay to be shown as an artist. I always rationalized that as something people do when they're first starting out - to get exposure, experience, etc. But, in thinking about it, most juried shows involve a fee - so I decided to suspend my beliefs when something comes up that I feel particularly good about This Miami show is one example. They only took 12 artists nationally from an open call, which is good for the old ego, and I'll get to test out the Miami art market. Overall, not a bad deal I suppose.

I hope everyone is well and came through the hurricanes and earthquake ok. I'll keep everyone posted!

-Marc

How It All Starts

Hey everyone:

Since my skin started to sizzle after being outside today, I thought a blogging session in some nice, comfy air conditioning was in order. Blogging tunes today come courtesy of R.E.M. Been listening to some of their older stuff of late - we're getting reacquainted, and it feels like I never left! Even my kids were rockin' out to Reckoning in my car the other day.

Anyway, I thought for today's blogging session I'd show everyone where one of my plastic camera images typically starts:

Overall, this wasn't the lab's best scanning effort. But, to be fair, a couple of the images were kinda iffy anyway, so I can't blame them completely. I see the one above potentially being the case of a "happy accident" where this might actually work to my advantage. It actually came out a little creepier than I expected, and y'all know that I'm a big fan of the creepy. In fact, a lot of my work has this nostalgic feeling, with an unsettling undertone - so this one could fit in nicely.

As you can see, the original image is very flat looking, with these big blobs on the left and right side of the frame. Those white spots are two circles inside the camera touching the film. This camera was originally meant for a different kind of film (one that isn't made anymore), and I've rigged it to take 35 mm, which means light leaks and crazy things happen. Until I figure out a way to work around this issue, I've been retouching those areas, or cropping them out if the composition doesn't suffer.

Working on this image will take some time, and then from there, I'll probably put it through my printing process. I have some interesting ideas on how to work with this one, so I'll be sure to post the finished product when I'm done.

Stay cool out there everyone...break open a fire hydrant or something (not that I'm officially condoning that type of behavior)...

-Marc

News, Changes and Discoveries

Hi everyone:

After a very long wait, I'm coming to you from my new office/studio. It's about 90% complete, which is enough for me to be able to work, blog, and find other ways to cause trouble. Over the last couple of hours, while doing some work, I got a healthy dose of vitamin D from the natural light in my window and a smile crossed my face as the birds chirped their approval of my latest itunes selection and blogging music for the day - U2...in an effort to get pumped for the concert in July. Crappy i-phone picture below to give you hint of what I'm alluding to:

Where's all the equipment you ask? Well, my supplies consist of the following:

-A 1920's bakelite camera

-Papers and boards

-Cutting implements and surfaces

-Super-secret chemistry

-Computer

-External drive

-Printer

Everything but the computer equipment resides in a closet located in the studio - so everything is within easy reach, but the space remains uncluttered. This helps greatly in hatching evil schemes.

So, you're probably wondering if I've actually done anything in this new space. Glad you asked - indeed I have. If you take a look at the website (www.sirinsky.com), you'll notice some changes...some subtle, some a little more obvious. A new image is up, some older images are gone, the order has been shuffled around a little bit, and there have even been some minor design changes to the site itself. So after you're done here, go there and explore!

I've also come to some realizations about what direction(s) I want my work to take. Lately, I've had this yearning to get back to the basics. Camera-film-image; but still using my antique camera and adding my own special flavor.

My painterly series has consumed me for a few years now - which has been both a blessing and a curse. On the one hand, it has helped me to really delve into a style in a way I haven't in the past. And, I'm by no means done - there's much more to do and I look forward to seeing where it goes. But, on the flip-side, there have been times where it felt like fitting a square peg into a round hole. If I have a shot I really love, that still says "Marc Sirinsky's work," but it doesn't work with the "process" for whatever reason, do I ignore it? Do I save it for some other time? Can someone really devote themselves to multiple bodies of work at once or does it simply show immaturity as an artist?

The most recent shot I posted to the site (which many of you have seen on the blog) showed me that if it's done right, you can develop multiple bodies of work at once. The key is to not spread yourself too thin, and make sure that all the work you're creating is truly yours. Being all over the place is not good for one's development, but allowing your own personal style, subject matter and perspective to translate across more than one body of work is completely achievable, and can actually keep all of your work fresh.

All artists have pieces they've created that have signified a key moment in their career - a discovery or turning point that informs their work in some way going forward. I personally have several - some of which are on the site and some aren't. I haven't had one in a while - but I think this one is a game-changer. How much of one and in what way has yet to be seen.

I've got a bunch more images waiting in the wings, and now that the studio is ready, I can work on those in the next week or two.

I'll leave you with some recent publishing news. An image of mine has been published on the Tumblr site for a contemporary photography blog entitled Slightly Lucid. This is a great blog - with a well-edited group of images, and their Tumblr site is also very well done. Check it out:

http://tumblr.slightlylucid.com/

Stay tuned for more!

-Marc

Mission Accomplished

Hi everyone:

Happy spring! Sorry it's been a while - I haven't been myself lately and have had some trouble making time for art-related activities. Hopefully I'm back on the horse for good now. Blogging tunes today are a bit of a mish-mosh: a new playlist with some White Lies, some very old New Order, a little Social Distortion...a nice mix to keep the blood moving.

So, in my last post, I showed y'all this new image I had, and complained that the retouching on it was going to be a complete pain in the ass. Well, I finally got around to working on this image again, and I'm pretty please with the results. Below is a before, and an after:

Before:

After:

When attacking this little project, I kept trying to convince myself that simply cropping out that baby swing was fine. Well, it wasn't. The image just wasn't as strong - all of the other elements were exactly where I wanted them - which makes sense, since I do most of my composing "in camera," rather than in post. So, bottom line: a baby out there is gonna be missing his swing.

So, what was involved here? Well, I first attacked the ropes that the swing was hanging from. I knew those would be the easiest - the sky and trees were an irregular pattern with textures and tones that would be relatively easy to clone and blend. It took a little while, but that particular piece was relatively painless. Then came the tough part - the swing itself. I not only needed to get rid of the swing, but also had to build out what was behind it - part of the house, roof and chimney. I hit the chimney first - and even added a little sun glare to give it some depth and not make it look like one continuous blob. The house was a little tricky - getting the lines and the tones to match up properly took a little time, but all in all, it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. This was a good exercise for me - it had been a while since I'd taken on such a major retouching project, and it's nice to know that I haven't completely lost my touch.

The next trick will be to see if I keep the image "as is," or run it through my printing process. I'll probably run it through the process first - just to see what the colors do when they hit the paper. I hope to get to that this week, so I'll let everyone know the results!

Also, that roll of film should finally be processed by now (lab was running behind), so hopefully I'll have a lot more news soon. So, stay tuned - and be well!

-Marc

New Images, New Supplies, New Discoveries...

Good morning loyal blog readers:

Now that I've finished my chai and am a little more caffeinated, I can talk to y'all with some level of coherence. Blogging music today is The Cranberries. I'm not a huge fan of their dreamy stuff, but they can really rock when they want to. One of my favorite concert memories is seeing them in a tiny club in Chicago with my sister-in-law - that version of Salvation was worth the trip all by itself!

On the art front - I have a new roll of film currently being processed. It's b/w, so it may take a little while - this shop hand processes b/w film still (I know - crazy, right?), so the guy waits until he has a sizeable pile of film from other retro folks like me so he can do them all at once. Could be a week or more - we'll see.

I haven't gotten back to the image I posted last week - not a large enough chunk of time to finish it off. I also just bought a new printer...which is replacing the old one I used for part of the printing process. This new printer is awesome (wireless, which is helpful), but I'm not sure how the inks will behave - so there may be some trial and error before I can really dig in again. We'll see...but I plan to get on it this week if possible.

In other news, I recently made my first trip to the Phillips Collection in DC. For a museum of it's size, it is easily the best permanent collection I've ever seen. Several major stars of art history are there: "Luncheon of the Boating Party" by Renoir, "The Uprising" by Daumier and "The Road Menders" by Van Gogh - among many others. However, my favorite was a landscape by Courbet called "The Mediterranean." I'm not typically a huge Courbet fan - he falls into the same category for me as Manet. I appreciated what they did for the history of art, but I don't typically enjoy looking at them (with the exception of their works on paper.) But, this one just blew me away. I must have come back to it 3 or 4 times during my trip to the museum - it's just a masterpiece...simple as that. I'd post a version here - but you really need to see it in person to appreciate it (particularly in terms of the colors). Google it if you want to get a sense...

Anyway, that's all for now. More to come soon - hopefully the next entry will include a newly finished piece!

-Marc

New and a Little Different

Hello Blog Fans:

Well, it took me a few weeks, but here comes the first entry of the year from your's truly. I've been a bit under the weather the past several weeks - but am feeling better now and am ready to jump into the new year with a new image and some good work ahead.

Blogging music today - Face to Face (Live). One of my favorite live bands of all time - they recently got back together, are touring again and have a new album coming out at some point soon. Just the right mix of grit and melody...

Ok, back to business now. So, I recently shot an entire roll of film on one subject. Now, this is a rarity for me - I tend to shoot conservatively (contrary to what every photo teacher I've ever had has instructed me to do). I guess it's the photo editor in me. Well, in this case, I thought the scene warranted more attention for 2 reasons. Firstly, it was very cool...I'd had my eye on it for a while and didn't know if I could do it justice, but I wanted several attempts at it...since the camera I use can be kinda finicky. Secondly, the scene itself and the lighting involved was a bit complicated. Lots of highlights and shadow - small details, etc...things that are not always conducive to my style and printing process. Well, the film is back, scanned and I've got the beginnings of a cool image here. Oh, and it's color!

Keep in mind that this is pretty raw - only minor adjustments were made thus far. One thing I did do was build the rope holding the tire - the lighting faded it into the background too much, so I had to recreate some of it...but no biggie. I have some decisions to make on this one: do I keep it color or change to b/w? Do I keep it as a straight image or run it through the printing process? And, the other thing I'm not sure about - that damn baby swing. Removing it is really complicated due to the what's behind it, so my choices really are to leave it or crop it out. Problem is, I really like the house to the right, so cropping out that swing would make for a pretty unbalanced image...and not in a good way based on my first impression. Decisions decisions, but I think this one could be a winner when I'm done with it. I'll post the final image when complete so everyone can see how it evolved.

Other than that - I discovered that the camera I've been shooting with for almost 10 years is made from bakelite, not plastic. This material is the predecessor to modern plastic...and people made everything out of it...jewelry, radios, accessories...and yes...cameras. Kinda cool that the piece even has more history than I initially thought.

I plan to do some more shooting the next couple of weeks, so hopefully more images soon! In the meantime, stay warm!

-Marc