blogbloghttp://www.joshwmartin.com/blog/2013-05-06T11:30:16ZSquarespaceGraveyards abound in the UKhttp://www.joshwmartin.com/blog/2013/5/6/graveyards-abound-in-the-uk.htmljosh2013-05-06T11:25:30Z2013-05-06T11:25:30Z...And that's great for me!

I find it really difficult to make my kind of pieces using photographs of stone as a starting point. There are a few exceptions, one of them being the back sides of tombstones in old graveyards. There's a certain way that the backs of the markers weather that makes me think of the spirit leaving the grave. So here is perhaps the first in a series of Spirits Leaving. Enjoy!

]]>First collaborative piece?http://www.joshwmartin.com/blog/2013/4/17/first-collaborative-piece.htmljosh2013-04-17T10:29:22Z2013-04-17T10:29:22ZHere's a fun one!

Here in Scotland, I've made friends with a lovely artist in her 80's named Liz MacCarthy. She's a great painter and a gorgeous soul, and the other day, she and I went to a wee little town on the east coast called Pittenweem to see a gallery show and to walk around the town a bit.

Well, the show was great, and so was the little town - very picturesque. While we were walking up & down the quaint, twisted streest & walkways, I saw a great surface on the side of an old planter that I knew would make a cool photograph, so I enlisted Liz to hold a few trailing bits of ivy out of the way while I got the shot I wanted. Does that count as an artistic collaboration?

Regardless, the resulting image is pretty, and now I have a piece that encapsulates that fun little trip nicely.

Thanks, Liz!

]]>First viable new piece with the new camera - yay!http://www.joshwmartin.com/blog/2013/3/10/first-viable-new-piece-with-the-new-camera-yay.htmljosh2013-03-10T19:33:21Z2013-03-10T19:33:21Z

New camera or no, discovering "my" kind of subject matter here in Scotland has proven challenging. But the other day I was walking past this Royal Mail post box, and I knew that there was a photo in there somewhere. Hooray for serendipitous art acquisition! Did I spell all that correctly?

]]>Good News!http://www.joshwmartin.com/blog/2013/2/26/good-news.htmljosh2013-02-26T13:01:09Z2013-02-26T13:01:09ZSo it's true, I lost my old camera to Loch Ness. Sadness! And then in more sadness, the one I got to replace it was not at all what I thought it would be and proved to be ineffective at taking the photographs that I wanted to make. Caveat emptor, you know?

In any case, after waffling for a very long time, I finally purchased a new camera that appears to be just the thing I needed - hooray! I'm still figuring out how to use it (which is a strange feeling, since my other camera was like an extension of my hand), so no brilliant new work has emerged from it yet, but it will come!

In other news, four pieces sold this month! What a wonderful feeling! Thanks to all you supporters of the arts out there!

 

]]>And then the Loch Ness Monster ate my camera.http://www.joshwmartin.com/blog/2013/1/8/and-then-the-loch-ness-monster-ate-my-camera.htmljosh2013-01-08T12:56:17Z2013-01-08T12:56:17ZI haven't had much to post about lately, so I haven't posted. Makes sense. I've mostly just been trying to turn off my mind about taking pictures so I stop pressuring myself, but it's really hard to do. I feel like I'm supposed to be creating new work constantly, and since I'm not doing it nearly as much as I used to, it's like I'm letting my artistic side down. But that's just the way it works, so I'm dealing with it.

 

In other news, my camera really did get eaten by Nessie. I was on a boat in the middle of Loch Ness this weekend, and it fell out of my jacket pocket, bounced off the deck, and plopped straight down into the water. The end. So sad! But what could I do at that point but laugh? And how many people can say that they lost their cameras to the depths of Loch Ness? Well, I can!

Cheers, and happy 2013 :)

]]>Art In The Wild!http://www.joshwmartin.com/blog/2012/11/24/art-in-the-wild.htmljosh2012-11-24T10:48:44Z2012-11-24T10:48:44ZA friend of mine back home just posted this pic on Facebook - he was at a salon in Seattle and noticed that the art in the reception area looked strangely familiar...

 

Yay! It's fun to know that even though I'm halfway around the world, there are still visible footprints of mine back home :)

]]>I took another photograph!http://www.joshwmartin.com/blog/2012/11/14/i-took-another-photograph.htmljosh2012-11-14T23:05:58Z2012-11-14T23:05:58ZI wasn't kidding when I posted last time about having a hard time getting my artistic eye to come online here in Scotland. It's been really tough, but I finally made some more progress when I came across a really fantastically weathered garbage skip behind the M&S on the east side of town.

It's tough to get the scope and depth of this particular image from this wee jpeg, but trust me when I say that when this one's printed out, it's gonna be epic!

coastal - 2012

]]>I took a photograph!http://www.joshwmartin.com/blog/2012/9/20/i-took-a-photograph.htmljosh2012-09-20T08:29:56Z2012-09-20T08:29:56ZMy creative mind is apparently taking a little while to reset itself and acclimate to its new environment here in Scotland. I've begun shooting a couple tentative photos, but it seriously feels like learning to walk again.

Yesterday I took a walk to the grocery store, camera in hand, and took pictures along the way. As is customary, the raw photo that I had the least hope for turned out to be the most interesting to me once I got home and started processing.

And here it is:

I'm calling it "Renewal." Fitting, I think. And much more bright and colorful than I had expected my first work from Scotland to be. Is there a nod to tartan in there? Why, I do believe there is!

]]>Finally In Lovely Dundee!http://www.joshwmartin.com/blog/2012/9/12/finally-in-lovely-dundee.htmljosh2012-09-12T09:41:48Z2012-09-12T09:41:48ZSo we made it to Scotland, after all. And believe me, it's been a ride. But we're here, and it's gorgeous, and it looks as though we might score a really lovely flat this afternoon, so keep your fingers crossed.

I've yet to take any photographs, but there's quite a remarkable amount of potential here in Dundee, and once we get a bit more settled, I'll have gazillions of new images coming along. Gazillions, I say!

Cheers!

]]>Okay, for real, this time!http://www.joshwmartin.com/blog/2012/9/1/okay-for-real-this-time.htmljosh2012-09-01T16:37:22Z2012-09-01T16:37:22ZWell, I'm happy to report that after several weeks of delays and rescheduled flights, our visas and passports were finally located, approved (for two years, even!), and returned to us - whoo hoo! So if the world doesn't end between now and thursday, we will be on a plane heading for Scotland as of 4:30pm on the 6th.

Here's me right after tackling the UPS guy to get our package:

 

Tired - check! No makeup - check! More relieved than I can remember being in years - CHECK!

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