New projects and upcoming exhibitions.

My reception went wonderfully (photos to come once I obtain a CD of images from a friend who photographed the event) and I’ve successfully passed my oral defense. All that’s left are some finishing touches on my thesis and I’m golden. I’m relieved, and very excited about pursuing new work, more job applications, and submitting work to competitions. I’ve been putting all on semi-hold while undergoing the last three weeks.

I’m sleeping (and dreaming) again (dreams are where a large amount of my work gets “worked out”)… and all in all… I’m in a good place.

I’ve begun three new projects: the first is a continued exploration into pinhole photographs which reference postmortem photos (of birds specifically). The second is a series of black and white photos documenting the animals killed along my road. And the third is an elaboration on the “Eulogy Series,” in which I pair dead birds with ornamentation and patterning. I’ll hopefully begin a fourth project soon – a collaboration with a graduate photography student.

I have several local exhibition opportunities to work towards, including a show in the Blue Plum Festival for which the theme is serendipitously “birds.” Additionally, I will be showing work in Mountain Visions 2011 exhibition, and following my MFA exhibition, my work will be on view in the Biology department at East Tennessee State University.

Here are a couple of new works:

And, a very happy birthday to Kathleen Grover – avid supporter of the arts and animals and a dear, dear, friend.