Etsy

Good news!  Now that I am all settled into my new place, my Etsy store is back up and running with some new listings for the holidays.

http://snowswept.etsy.com

New Apartment

On November 1st I moved into a new apartment.  I'm on the fourth floor; I have a view of the Boston skyline, and architectural details from the 20's.  I'm happy there.  Here's a little vignette from the new place.

Lemons, November 2012

Lost River Cave

Kentucky, August 2012

Art on the Roof

On September 27th was the event Art on the Roof held at MassChallenge in Boston.  I had work on display alongside 7 other artists.  The event was fun: food, drinks, mingling, and art.  I met the fellows artists, indulged in two glasses of Coke and admired the view.

View from the 14th floor.

I'm generally out of my element when it comes to the actual event part of being an artist.  I'm not terribly good at small talk (or looking inviting), being interviewed, talking in front of large groups of people, or being in front of the camera.  All of those things happened, but I think I held my own.  I spent a lot of time talking to Catharyn Tivy and Clare Asch, both of them artists participating in the event as well.  They are both very talented, and I recommend checking out their work.

Panorama of the event (click to enlarge).

At around 8:30 we were all exhausted and packed up our work.  I went home and treated myself to some late night oatmeal. Overall, a success.

AIB Centennial Celebration

My alma mater, the Art Institute of Boston, is celebrating its centennial this year.  I was invited by Glovebox to participate in the Art Institute of Boston's centennial celebration. A group of AIB alumni each submitted a piece of art using white gloves. Our pieces will be on display in the front window of 1815 Massachusetts Avenue in Porter Square.

There will be a walk about happening from 4-5pm and then an opening ceremony/reception from 5-7pm in the lower level of University Hall located at 1815 Massachusetts Ave in Cambridge.

There is more information about the celebration and other participating artists on the Lesley website.

The Massachusetts Avenue Storefront Art Project will be on display beginning September 16 and will remain until October 13.

If you would like to attend, please check out more details and directions on the Facebook event page!

Today!

I am having an opening reception today at the VCAC Gallery for my project, War of the Worlds.  If you are in the Connecticut area, I would love to see you!

Here is the Facebook event page: War of the Worlds [solo exhibition]

Address:

Vernon Community Arts Center

709 Hartford Turnpike

Vernon, Connecticut 06066

From 1 to 4pm

Day 1 - Atlantic City

Maggie and I hatted and ready to hit the road - photo courtesy of my mother.

On my way to pick up Maggie, my travel companion, a bird flew into the windshield of my car and presumably died in the street.  I fretted about bad omens and rallied for emotional support via Facebook.  7am is too early to think about dead animals.

Boston to Atlantic City is about a six hour drive.  The car was packed and we were on the road by 8:30am.  We stopped in Connecticut to pick up the rental car, some last minute provisions, eat biscuit breakfast sandwiches, and say goodbye to my mom.  Some tears may have been held back at the rental car headquarters, but we got our car and tried to shake it off.

Atlantic City was hot.  I found out that my lens had broken once I stepped out of the car, and I may have silently cried a little.  This was the only day that tears were shed (unless they happened in private).

Maggie and I on the beach.  I had high hopes for summer life in a floppy hat,
but the wind made it impossible.  I tried.

We walked the boardwalk and stopped into some schmaltzy stores to buy postcards.  I found myself inside a candy store where I found saltwater taffy for everyone I knew.  I left it all behind because I knew it would melt from spending two weeks in a hot car.  Egg nog taffy, cotton candy taffy, licorice taffy, lime taffy.

Did you know that cats live underneath the boardwalk?  I saw two of them during my stroll.  You aren't supposed to feed them, and they are taken care of by some sort of boardwalk association.  I can't imagine being a cat on the beach in the summer time. 

Soon, storm clouds started to roll in and it was time to drive a few more hours until we reached our hotel in Delaware.  We made pretty good progress for our first day on the road.

Road Trip

I've been quiet lately.  The time has finally come to embark on my two week road trip down south!  Maggie and I will be packing our bags tomorrow morning and hitting the road.  People keep asking me if I'm excited to leave, but the excitement has currently given way to my worrying and anxious side.  I'm sure once we get on the road I'll be excited again.

I hope to take a lot of pictures while I'm down there.  I've missed the golden summer light of the south.  I was too young to appreciate it while I lived there.

I've been busy stressing, preparing, and over-packing.  I went out last night and bought my very first beach towel that I can call my own.  It's bright coral and soft.  I bought a floppy hat and glued a ribbon on.  I tried to buy new sandals but failed.  I think I bought more groceries to take with me that I would normally buy for a two week period.  I have no idea what I'm doing.

Hope for two weeks of good weather for us!

bits & bobs

Bits and pieces of my apartment.  I don't think I will ever stop adding things.  On my nightstand, I have a bunch of fake peonies.  The real things bloom for such a short amount of time; what would the winter be without soft pink peonies to look at from bed?  The sun-catcher with my name on it, a gift from another Kelly that I lost to the west coast.  A palm-sized kitten medallion that was a birthday present from another friend several years ago.  Driftwood from Mexico and a few stones that have caught my eye that  I have collected over the years.

I went outside this afternoon and collected a handful of what I can only assume are weeds.  My desk needed a bit more wildlife to it.  My front yard is overgrown with bittersweet vines and the peonies are long gone.  I trimmed a bit of overgrowth that was expanding over the stone walkway to my front door.

This is my little work nook in my bedroom.  For the past year or so, I've done all my work from the couch.  I recently rearranged my furniture and moved my desk out from its dusty corner.  Hopefully I will one day replace the desk with a good solid wooden table.  I'm thinking good thoughts and hoping the hot weather goes away so the fan isn't needed.  It's been a warm summer up here so far.

Old

At least once a year all I want to sit down (or go out) and do is make photographs.  I look at old pictures, hoping that there will be some unexplored scrap that I could launch off of.  I feel out of scraps, you know?  A girl without scraps.

I took this picture in 2003.  An old boyfriend and I used to ride around in his car, hoping to end up someplace that we had never been.  We always ended up in the same spot, no matter what roads we took.  I came to realize that you can't get lost in the suburban streets that you grew up in.  But the picture reflects a different side of me that I think I repressed while I was in college.  

I very much became someone who likes to have a specific project they are shooting for; a goal, a theme.  And I've been doing that the past two years now.  But I've also been someone who very much gets caught up in their own head.  My most recent "work" has been literally all about the inside my head: breaking down, building up, being poked, prodded, diagnosed, medicated, followed-up on.  Waiting rooms.  Side effects.  Easy listening.  I'm feeling better and I'm tired of myself.  I'd like to take a drive and just shoot on instinct.

In 2003: it was almost summer, May.  School wasn't yet out for the year.  I was 17.  It seemed like I lived for those drives where I could be the passenger and look at things.  I'm going on a road trip this summer and I can't wait to loosen up.  Sorry for all of the stuffy posts abut exhibitions and whatnot.  I think somewhere along the line I also misplaced my ability to say anything interesting.

Birthday

Cherry popsicle filled with frozen yogurt.

It was my birthday on Thursday; I turned 26.  I kept it pretty quiet this year.  Maybe I'm growing up, but I just didn't want a big fuss or to bother planning a party that would inevitably leave me stressed out and lying face down in my bed afterward.  I indulged in an "it's my birthday, and I'll eat whatever I want" fest.  11am brought a mini-ice cream sandwich.  1pm: a taco salad.  2pm: cherry popsicle.  3:30pm: coworkers through me a birthday cookie party wherein I ate a black and white cookie and an iced oatmeal raisin.  I was taken out for birthday barbeque at Sweet Cheeks BBQ in Boston.  Let's just say I made sweet sweet love to a buttermilk biscuit and shoved other Southern delicacies in my mouth.  I plan to do serious damage (to my figure) during my Southern road trip in August.  Later that evening, I was treated to a red velvet cake.  I woke up the next morning with a food hangover.  Thank you for a wonderful birthday.

Fourth of July

I headed down to Connecticut to visit with Kelly, a good friend that I've known since we were teenagers. We caught up and ate a lot of barbecue foods on her back deck.  It was good to get away from Massachusetts for a while, even if I didn't go very far.  I'm so happy that she was able to fly from Washington state and I got a chance to see her before she went back.  Every time I see her, we just fall into each other's lives like we see each other ever day.  There are some things that I miss about being young and relatively free from any pressing responsibilities.  Hopefully I can work up the gumption to take a long flight out to visit.

Since I had her at my disposal, I figured I would take advantage of that and photograph her.  Kelly was always a subject for me in my first few years of college, so it was fun to get her in front of the camera again.  A lot has changed in eight (!) years.

Kate, Russell House Tavern

Had a busyish weekend.  Went out for pizza and shopping at Target on Friday night, went to a Fiona Apple concert for free on Saturday night thanks to a friend, and then went out for a delicious brunch at Russell House Tavern in Harvard Square.  I got a wonderful bacon, egg, and cheese on a (soft and perfectly buttery) croissant.  Kate got Nutella-stuffed french toast.  Also delicious.  Brunch is my favorite meal but I hardly ever partake.  It was a nice treat.

After we finished, I took out my camera and decided to photograph Kate.  I really do have such beautiful friends and I never take advantage of it.  It has been a really long time since I've gone out and photographed people.  I'm a little rusty.  Ever since junior year in college, I've shied away from portraits.  That year and my seminar project took a lot out of me.  So, here's Kate.

I have also set up a Facebook page for my photography on a whim.  Check it out and "like" my page.  I'd be much obliged!

inspiration

I was asked by Glovebox to write about what inspires me.  I don't think a lo about this, so it was interesting for me to sit down and put into words.  When I shoot, I'm mostly just walking around and looking at things.  I will know immediately when I see something that I want to make a photograph of it.  Summer is the season of walking around.

Inspiration Post at Glovebox

belated good news

Extremely belated good news.  On June 9th, 2012 the Vernon Community Arts Center had the opening reception and awards ceremony for the First Annual Juried Exhibition now that the building is complete.  There were 71 artists featured out of 200+ applicants and I was one of the lucky 71 to be picked for participation.  I ate a tiny red velvet cupcake... and also won first place!  I was completely shocked.  I was swarmed by people taking my picture and congratulating me.  I soon became very overwhelmed, but was really honored to be chosen.

I'd share some photographs of the event, but they are really unflattering.  I really need to stick to being behind the camera.

Tiny photo of me and a tiny cupcake.

Ian Fitzgerald - 2012 Keene Art Walk

As promised, here are two photos from the 2012 Keene Art Walk featuring Ian Fitzgerald and his box of goodies.  I'm always impressed with Ian's composure during his non-traditional shows; this one in particular seemed like it would be very trying as a musician.  His set was completely unplugged due to lack of electricity and it's hard to tell in the second picture, but he was surrounded by screaming/running children, and waves of delicious smelling burger smoke from Local.  As always, it was an impressive show and I recommend going to see him if you have the chance.

In fact, Ian is playing tonight at Lily Pad's in Peacedale, Rhode Island if you're in the area.  Show starts at 7pm!

rain

2012 - Arlington, MA.

Another stretch of cold, rainy days.  Luckily, the weather abated slightly for my trip up to Keene, NH for the 2012 Keene Art Walk.  If you didn't get a chance to make it, my photographs are still on display in the front window of Monadnock Imaging on Main Street.  In addition to artists' work lining the shop windows, there were also several musicians playing in different locations on the street.  I caught most of Ian Fitzgerald's two sets, and I recommend that you purchase an album or check him out during one of his upcoming shows.  Despite being rather overcast, I took some photos of him playing (images forthcoming) since it was perfect portrait light.  All-in-all, a good day capped off with a plate of pancakes.

VCAC Exhibition

Wild Desert - Boston, MA.

A community arts center has opened up in my home town (an area previously lacking in any sort of arts involvement), and held a call for entries for a juried exhibition that would kick off their grand opening.  One of the jurors was Patricia Hickson - the contemporary art curator for the Wadsworth Atheneum - which was very exciting.  One of my photographs was selected for inclusion in their gallery and there will be a reception held this coming Saturday.  If you are in the area, please come by and see the show!

Vernon Community Arts Center
Grand Opening Arts Reception
Saturday, June 9th from 5 to 8pm
709 Hartford Turnpike
Vernon, CT 06066

Keene Art Walk 2012

I will have my photographs on display in a storefront window on Main Street in Keene, NH alongside several talented artists.  In addition to visual artists, there will be many talented musicians playing acoustic sets.  If you are in the area, please come by and say hello!  It starts at 5pm. Click here for more information.

red velvet crinkle cookies

I tried a new recipe a few weeks ago and made red velvet crinkle cookies for a friend's birthday.  I took the extras to a friend's apartment for ladies night, and they were a huge hit.

I have listed them in my etsy shop.  Take a look!

Global Yodel

I have a photograph and interview up on Global Yodel alongside many talented photographers from around the world.  Please check out their website.

root beer float

Sometimes I need a little pick-me-up at work to get me through the day.  This root beer float did the trick.

went for a stroll

The Diner - Arlington, MA

I live in a pretty quiet neighborhood.  Not quite suburban and not urban.  We have a stretch of "downtown" with restaurants, shops, and a theatre.  I can walk to the library, the post office, and my favorite Chinese food restaurant.  I spend a good portion of my time just strolling around the town, looking at things.

wet day

Not a rainy day today, but wet and grey.

Fraction Magazine

I have one photograph in the fourth anniversary issue of Fraction Magazine (Issue 38).  I am joined by many other talented photographers, so please check it out.

My first save the date card.  I think that means that I'm an adult now.

Both Sides of the Lens: Self Portraiture

I have two photographs in the show Both Sides of the Lens: Self Portraiture up at the Kiernan Gallery in Arlington, VA.  They show is up from April 10th to May 6th, 2012.  Please go check it out and support a gallery run by one of my former classmates at AIB, Kat Kiernan.  You can view the images in the exhibition as well as purchase the exhibition catalogue here.

A Decline, 2007

morning from the bed

Stay tuned for regular photo updates.

instagram

I'm pretty new to the Instagram trend.  I've been admiring the yellow-tinted square pictures for quite a while, but I wasn't able to try it out until it came to the Android market.  I resisted for a long time, thinking it kind of gimmicky, but I finally succumbed since it matches my aesthetic almost perfectly.  I never want to be one of those people who completely forgoes using their actual camera and just takes cell phone pictures, but it is rather nice to always have a camera with me to catch the tiny moments, diary style.

My instagram name is kelly_burgess, feel free to follow.

meet my plants

A philodendron cutting in water and baby broccoli seedlings.

I'm not exactly known for my green thumb.  If anything, up until recently, I was known for killing anything that may at one point have been alive.  I've gone through two tropical-type plants, three pots of ivy (and yes, I know that people pay good money to have others come and kill the ivy in their yards), and a variety of other attractive plants.  I don't know what I've done wrong.

The newest addition to the family: Minty, a tiny mint plant.

But all of a sudden, my apartment has become a happy little plant haven.  I've had Phil, my resident philodendron, for over three years.  His cuttings are happily growing in pots and glasses of water.  I got more adventurous this past month and started some plants from seeds.  I had no idea what to expect, and didn't really follow any directions.  So far... baby broccoli plants!  I'm a mom!

St. Patrick's Day

I celebrated St. Patrick's day last week by bringing in cake truffles to work.  At some point, I had purchased shamrock sprinkles on a whim and figured it was probably a wise idea to put them to use, as they can only be used once a year.  I went with cake truffles this time instead of cake pops, as I find putting them on the sticks and dipping the balls of cake in the melted chocolate (hoping that they don't fall in) to be rather tedious.  Placing them in tiny truffle papers makes them look a little classier, in my opinion.  Either way, they were a big hit at work.

I started out with a vanilla/white cake base and added some green food coloring to it for a little holiday surprise.  I mixed the cake with some leftover Funfetti frosting I had in the fridge (this accounts for the multicolored specks that you see in the picture above).  Once the cake balls were formed, I put them in the fridge for a little bit to harden up.  Afterwards, I dipped each ball into some melted white chocolate.  I accidentally thinned the chocolate too much, so the green cake was sort of visible through the candy coating.  Once coated, I sprinkled with green and set them aside to harden up.