Pictage Ask & Learn

I'm really excited (and a bit nervous!) to be asked to do Pictage's "Ask and Learn" event tonight from 6 -8 PM CST. For those not familiar, this is simply an activity on the Pictage forums where photographers from all over the world will have a chance to pick my brain a bit. (Hopefully there is something worth picking!) We'll be talking mostly about a presentation I made last fall in Los Angeles entitled, "Inspire Yourself, Inspire Your Clients -leveraging personal projects to enhance your brand".

The main goal for this presentation was to encourage photographers to reach outside the comfort level of portrait and weddings, and do some personal work just for the sake of doing it. In the process, they'll hopefully become better photographers, find a unique voice, and do some good things for others along the way.

So if you're a Pictage member, I'd love to visit with you tonight. If you're not, well, you can certainly email me if you'd like and I'll help any way I can.

You can find more information from my presentation by clicking the link below, or by copying and pasting it into your browser's address field.

http://www.wiljax.com/partnercon08

And finally, here's a quick little video intro I did while out in LA, and below that is about a half hour podcast where we discuss a little more about this topic.




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my wife, her wonderful talent and spirit -- and Love Letters

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I am so incredibly proud and amazed by my wife.

I don't think it's a huge leap to see that I get to spend most of my days being creative. I am quite lucky to have that opportunity. I consider myself an artist -- or at least someone who strives to be. And I believe -- as strongly as I believe anything -- that we are all artists. I think creativity is something we all have. That we all have a story worth telling. That there is something happening in everyone of our lives that the rest of the world can understand. 

The problem is, we often get caught up in the daily grind of things that we forget to create. To explore. To share. Or we don't think we have enough talent. Or that anyone cares to hear what we have to say. Or we figure we're just not "real" artists. And we "leave that stuff" to the folks that seem to live right on the edges of our societies. The ones we consider to be "real" artists.

But the truth is, we all kinda live on the edges. And we're all trying to fit in. Even the ones that don't try to fit in. They're just fitting in to a group of non-fitter-inner's.

So anyway. My wife. I'm so proud of her. I'm proud because she found a way to express herself. She found a way to practice her art. And, man, she was really good.

Most folks don't know that Jamie attended Ole Miss on a theater scholarship. Acting has always been her love, but unfortunately it's not always the easiest artform to practice. Or make a living at. So she also studied journalism in college -- to give her something practical -- and eventually went to law school. So her art has kind of gotten lost in the shuffle.

I was excited for her when she told me that she and our friend David Dallas would be doing a two person show. David is the executive director of the Bologna Performing Arts Center at Delta State. He spent several years as a working actor in Philadelphia and New York before returning home. So I figured the show would be good. But I had no idea how good.

Last week David and Jamie performed Love Letters at the Warehouse here in Cleveland. The plan was to provide our community with a chance to enjoy a really moving and incredibly written performance in a cozy and intimate atmosphere. And they did such a great job. Yes, I am biased. I recognize and readily admit that. But I was truly moved by their performance.

So I am proud of the talent of my wife. But I am more proud that she found a way to let the artist inside her out for a bit. I think we all need to do that a little more often.

~wj

A Dinner Form Girl ::: snippets

My mom writes a weekly column for several papers here in the "Mississippi" South. I've share a few in the past. And I keep intending to share more. She just emailed me the one that is running soon. I thought this might be as good a time as any to share it!

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“Hey, baby, you want fine cooking?

Cause you know what? I got a Swanson’s

dinner in the freezer with your name on it!”

~ J. Fallon

My pitiful cooking reputation didn’t come easy. Over the years, I’ve carefully nurtured the notion that I don’t know a turnip from a toothpick, which eliminates a host of kitchen duties from my daily life. My sister Kathy reminded me last weekend that my own beloved father made this statement, seriously, on more than one occasion: “Don’t let Beth bring the potato salad. She’ll buy it at the grocery store.”

Well, yeah . . . and why not? That’s darn good potato salad at the grocery store. But you think I was offended by that comment and the thousands of others that have been made about my cooking? Uh huh . . . I’ll leave the fools sweating over a hot stove, tuck a book under my arm, and sob all the way to my recliner. Ha ha.

Folks can tease me; I don’t care because I laugh at myself. I’m like Phyliss Diller. She once quipped that her cooking was so bad her “kids thought Thanksgiving was to commemorate Pearl Harbor.”

So it was with great surprise that I opened a birthday envelope from son Will and daughter-in-law Jamie to find a gift certificate for a cooking demo at the Viking headquarters in Greenwood. Momentarily I was speechless. Umm, was there a mistake? I don’t WANT to learn how to cook. I’ve got hubby G-Man, plus family and friends, perfectly trained to put food on my table. Good food. Not just attractive and nutritious, but really, really tasty.

Jamie quickly sensed my distress as I stared at the writing on the card. “Bebe,” she said, patting me gently on the arm, “you won’t have to cook, I promise. You just watch, and then you get to eat.”

Now, there’s a plan, thought I. Sit me down with a white linen napkin in my lap, promise me divine edibles, and I will be patient as the visiting chef struts his stuff.

I figured I’d be way out of my league, and I almost was. As the chef gave his entertaining demonstration, I actually caught a word or two I could define.

Like confit. This was a wild game cooking class, and the instructor, Chef John Currence of City Grocery in Oxford, prepared duck and rabbit and venison. I heard him say “confit” at one point – I think it was while he was messing with the duck leg – and I knew that word because I guessed it correctly in a Trivial Pursuit game with girlfriends the week before (only by process of elimination).

Then there were other catchy “chef words and phrases,” names for stuff like foie gras and herb/zucchini galette, Worcestershire béarnaise, bourbon cream – not exactly staples on the Jacks table, although I’m guessing they’d probably go just fine with greens and cornbread.

And there were additional directions and statements I understood as the chef chopped and mixed and slathered, only a few, but that didn’t matter. The dishes he put before us were spectacular, and I waddled out of there like a stuffed goose. The chef was happy and I was happier – which is precisely why some of us should be chefs and some of us should be eaters.

As Peg Bracken, author of the “I Hate To Cook Cookbook,” says, “you don’t get over hating to cook any more than you get over having big feet.” If the good Lord had meant for me to be a decent cook he’d have done something different with my genes – like given me an affinity for stirring sauces or speaking French or any number of other chef-like attributes. I know my limitations. Honestly, as the bumper sticker says, “You’re in trouble if you’ve got to depend on a smoke alarm as a timer.”

Yes, there are those who are made for the paring knife and others of us whose hands fit better around the handle of a dinner fork. I am – unashamedly, my friends – a most appreciative and enthusiastic dinner fork girl.

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Thanks for sharing Mom.  I love it !

~wj

icon ::: and a trip to NOLA

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i·con (kn) noun
1. also i·kon (kn)
a. An image; a representation.
b. A representation or picture of a sacred or sanctified Christian personage, traditionally used and venerated in the Eastern Church.
2. An important and enduring symbol
3. One who is the object of great attention and devotion; an idol: "He is ... a pop icon designed and manufactured for the video generation" Harry F. Waters.
4. Computer Science A picture on a screen that represents a specific file, directory, window, option, or program.

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I was recently invited to participate in the Attic Gallery's annual theme show. I'm inspired every time I walk into Lesley Silver's space. This is not your typical gallery. The vision I think most of us have when thinking of a gallery -- uniform presentation, pieces lined up perfectly on the wall, wide open rooms with modern-style sofas in the middle -- is so far from what this gallery is. To me, the Attic Gallery is exactly what art should be.

The work is everywhere. On walls. On the floor. In drawers. Hanging from the ceiling. Up the stairwell. In the windows. Around the corner. Inside. Outside. Everywhere. It's almost as if you are invited to touch the work. To sort through it. Interact with it. Find the one painting or photograph or sculpture or woodwork or pottery or jewelry -- or whatever! -- that is just right for you. I get lost for hours when I go there. I always find a new artist to admire. And I'm always energized and inspired.

So when Lesley invited me to take part in the upcoming show (the opening will be Friday, February 2) I was excited to get started on whatever theme she presented. I find I work so much better when given a starting point -- and a deadline! And this show certainly does that for me. The theme for this year's show, as I'm sure you can tell by the heading, is "icons".

I've got lots of older images from years ago of musicians. Most are blues musicians, but not all. It occurred to me that I could use those. But that would mean I didn't come up with anything new. Didn't explore and push myself. So I decided to create a new series of images just for this show.

I didn't want to explore the term icon in the sense of fame. So musicians didn't work there anyway. I thought about religion. But I did a lot of that in my New Orleans project, and even when I don't intend to do it, it seems like there is always some type of religious undertone in my work anyway. So I decided my attempt at visually defining "icon" would be through things we see everyday, that in some way symbolize a life -- an America, a world -- that seems to be slipping away. And I don't intend that to be stated in a bad way. I think change is often good rather than bad. It is certainly inevitable. But it is what it is. And I hope when others see these images, they see part of what I saw and felt, but also have space to insert their own thoughts and passions.

I was in New Orleans for a few days last week, and managed to find some free time Friday to wander around a bit and see what was there. These are a few of the images I created. Some will make it in the final collection. Some might not. And I'll do some exploring up here in the Delta as well in a few days. I'll be sure to post some of those images when I do.

I'd love to hear your thoughts. Not just on the images, but on whatever "icon" means to you -- or any other thoughts you might have and would like to share.

Take care.


~wj

laura beth :::welcome !

I would like to officially welcome Laura beth to wiljax photographic Design. It's been about five years since I had any full time help, and I'm really excited to have Laura Beth on board. She has been helping out part time for a few months, but officially began her role as the gallery manager and person-in-charge-of-keeping-me-organized this past Monday. What she has already done in just three days is amazing. I'm really looking forward to having her become more involved with all of you in the coming months.

You'll probably be hearing her voice if you call now. And if you stop by, she'll be here. The gallery is officially open now with regular hours -- Monday through Friday from 10-2 and 3-6. So come on in, take a look around, and say hello to Laura Beth.


~wj

brittany and darryl ::: esession

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I met Brittany and Darryl Friday afternoon for their engagement session. They'll be marrying in April in Pope, Mississippi. Everyone not from the Mississippi Delta who knows where Pope is raise your hands!

We headed a few miles outside of Cleveland to Dockery Plantation for a couple of hours. I love the feel of the old farm headquarters there. And the structures provide just enough openings for gorgeous light to filter through.

Brittany and Darryl, I'm really looking forward to seeing you guys again in April. Here's a few of the images. Hope y'all like them!

I'd love to hear what everyone thinks, so feel free to leave a comment if you want.

Take care.

~wj