Catching Up
Since the lockdown in early March, things have certainly changed. You’d think that one would have lots of time to write journal posts for their neglected photography website. But everything was thrown into such a tailspin that sitting down to write just didn’t feel right. Everyone was just trying to get by. And with my wife busier than ever with her work, I pretty much became the stay-at-home Middle School principal, gym teacher, and cafeteria cook through the end of the school year.
By early March, the commercial photography world had pretty much shut down. And while I’ve bid a few projects since then, nothing has actually happened, aside from one quick editorial shoot for Forbes. Everything seems last minute and no one is very sure of their decisions. As I write this, I’m up for a possible shoot in San Francisco that would mean I need to load up gear and be on a plane in about 5 hours, so that I can be there for the tech scout tomorrow morning — but they haven’t awarded the job yet. I have also bid a few other ad projects since March, and it was shocking to see how much cost running a Covid-safe set adds to the bottom line for a shoot. More people, more masks, lots of hand washing breaks, more space, etc, making things even tougher in a time of tighter budgets.
Fortunately, my art business has really taken off since March. Apparently epidemic lockdowns are good for the online furniture and art biz — people are making their homes nicer, since they aren’t traveling much, and many anticipate being on lockdown again. People that have asked about art pieces in the past, as well as new clients that I haven’t met before are coming out of the woodwork and purchasing enough pieces to keep me going.
Thanks to insanely low interest rates, I was barely able to refinance the Pinehouse, and take out some cash to get my new garage-studio fixed up. I had initially hired a general contractor to do the project, but when the economy shut down, and I no longer had any assignment work, I decided to GC the project myself. I have spent most of my days since March learning how to make a building. Which means being a rookie all over again and making lots of mistakes. So far, the mistakes have been mostly just time consuming — not expensive, thanks to my friend David, who has been working with me. But I’m really loving being a beginner, and learning lots of new skills. Not to mention, seeing a building coming together in real time is super rewarding.
In July, we (pretty easily) rented our house to a family that was looking to get out of NYC for the month, and we headed up to our place in Snowmass after a little detour through my old hometown of Ketchum. As always, it was amazing up there, and we immersed ourselves in biking, hiking, swimming, cooking, and did an incredible 4 day / 3 night backpacking trip that was the highlight of the summer. The only real downside of summer was that Anderson Ranch, where I regularly attend lectures and get creatively fueled up for the year ahead, was closed down. I did attend an online lecture with Mark Grotjahn (CU Alum!) but it just wasn’t the same as sitting in the meeting hall in person. Zoom fatigue. So that was my one lecture for the summer.
I had also planned to attend a two week Japanese woodblock printing workshop at Anderson Ranch in September. Which was meant to become a Fall show. But that event was killed too. So my next show will have to wait. Once my new studio is done, I’m going to teach myself woodblock printing (using leftover wood from the studio build) and work toward a show, which will happen when things open back up. Currently, I’m exploring themes having to do with the Kamikaze. It’s a dark subject, but so is our current social and political world.
Strangely, I have found myself watching Premier League soccer instead of movies. I have yet to pick a team, and while Liverpool is always fun to watch, it’s hard not to root for Chelsea, since they have Christian Pulisic — one of the best American players in PL history. I have also dialed back on the podcasts. The format has shed its underground coolness and now the ads are creeping in, making the medium feel more like TV, which I’ve never really liked. I’m not really into streaming shows either — it just feels like I’m being fed digital crack snacks by an algorithm. But I have been reading a wide ranging selection of great books (paper only!) covering topics such as Agnes Martin, racial justice, John Cage + mushrooms, minimalism, Malcolm X, Peregrine Falcons, and Japanese aesthetics.
I’m still getting out on the bike, but not as much as I have in the past. The focus lately has been much more on quality than quantity. But my bike, as always, continues to be the source of my sanity. The two-wheeled highlight of the summer was definitely riding from Aspen to Crested Butte via Star Pass on my 49th birthday with a few friends, then spending a few more days riding all the best trails in CB.
It’s funny. As I write and reread this, I’m realizing that the last 6 months has pushed me in a more analog direction: printing + hanging artwork, building a studio, camping, woodblock printing, paper books, and the ever-present bikes.
Oh, and speaking of analog, I’m also starting a clock company with a few friends that is going to be pretty cool, since it literally uses every single skill I have picked up in 25+ years of working in the visual arts. But more on that later.
