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Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds (Abattoir Blues Tour):

Taken from shows shot in London in 2004, this live recording offers up many of the double album's greatest songs as well as favorites from thoughout his career- "Red Right Hand" for example. I haven't watched the dvd yet but I would recommend this as well as the God is in the House dvd.

The Czars: Goodbye

I love The Czars even though they have a slight country tone to them, they really speak to some sort of inner sense of me and I find myself drawn to their dark dreamy melodies. I've only seen them once in March of 2006 but here's what I wrote about them after their show: "The Czars are what I like to listen to when it’s raining inside me if that makes any sense. At times reminding me of Red House Painters and at other times just a tiny bit of perhaps Devotchka, The Czars are really truly one of my favorite bands. John Grant’s vocals often give the songs a moody and reflective quality that makes them not only memorable but truly haunting." I don't know if I see very much DeVotchKa in them anymore right now or atleast not so much in Goodbye except it just feels cinematic and beautiful and lush and all of those things. I love everything I've ever found to buy of theirs. For this album, my *definite* favorite songs are "Paint the Moon" and "Little Pink Houses" Flawless, both of these two.

Lali Puna: I Thought I Was Over That:

Lali Puna are this supermelodic electronic band that probably aren't going to change the world anytime soon but it's good chill out music and very relaxing to me. Never seen them live but I wonder what it would be like...

Dutronc: 33 Ans de Travail vol. 2

Oh Dutronc...you are wonderful and created such great songs early on in your career. You share the same birthday as me and I even named my camera after you but alas, I fear Volume 1 would have been a much much better selection instead. Later songs are unfortunately not for me.

Elvis Perkins: Ash Wednesday

This is a very insightful album and one that isn't necessarily catchy but still works and makes you crave it. I haven't been able to see Elvis Perkins live but I hope to in the future. I really connect to some of these songs and the album as a whole and feel like Elvis must be a very genuine human being.

Bill Callahan: Woke on a Whaleheart

On my first job interview in this city, I was taken around various cubicles and spaces in a high rise downtown and hanging from one of the small walls was a tacked up article about Smog. "Do you know Smog?" I was asked. I didn't but at the time Bill Callahan was leading the group throughout the Chicago underground and I figured I'd better look into it as soon as possible. That said, this album isn't really a huge departure from Smog's albums and is worthwhile all the way through. I was unhappy to hear Smog broke up after I had finally gotten into them and gone to see them a couple of years back at The Empty Bottle esp. after really falling in love with their last release: A River AIn't too Much to Love. I'm glad Bill Callahan is still making music, however and these songs feel incredibly familiar to me already, as if I've been listening for a few years.

Friends: Fragile

I'm not sure how well known this album is outside of America but I really just came upon it on random chance awhile back in the psychedelic section at Reckless and it has so many great sugary pop songs that seem to be very much a perfect product of its time (released in 1972 out of Hastings, East Sussex.) It reminds me of a more folky Free Design record.

dvds:

When it's hot out and I can't bear it, I end up watching movies.

Mystery Train is one a friend lent me and I enjoyed it thoroughly. It's a Jim Jarmusch film and so there's alot of subtlety and things unsaid. It takes place in Memphis and involves Japanese and and an Italian tourist (the former on an adventure, the latter killing time after a layover or plane accident involving a death-details aren't totally clear) When you think of Graceland, you tend to think of lights and glitz and Las Vegas-esque glamor...or atleast I always pictured it this way. Jarmusch shows us a pretty desolate small town ill equipped to handle hte excitement of tourists. The whole town is, in face, falling apart amidst the chipping paint of Elvis' songs. It's a must see if you like Jarmusch or Evis or are just obsessed with the American South. It's also recommended if you like The Clash as you get to see Joe Strummer in the third vignette. He isn't the best actor in the film but considering the songs he created, I think I can forgive him.

The Royal Tenenbaums

This is perhaps one of my favorite films of all time. Wes Anderson painstakingly creates something that redeems the human race with this one. This is how we feel and are. I watched this today for about the tenth time thinking how each bit of dialogue and song was chosen perfectly from Nico's "The

Natick Artists’ Open Studio 2007 participants group show at The Center for the Arts in Natick (TCAN) Natick, MA. On display now through October 27, 2007 ~ Reception October 11, 2007 6:00-8:00pm

Gliclee print on Epson Velvet 100% cotton rag Fine Art Paper ~ image size 9 ?” x 19”
Brainbridge Alpharag 100% cotton rag 2” boarder museum-quality mat .
Neilson Radius black metal frame with UV-non-glare acrylic for 98% protection from Ultra Violet light.

Total framed image size: 22 1/2” x 13 1/2”

Artist Statement for “Dreamland”

Babson Farm Quarry at Halibut Point State Park in Rockport, MA is one of my favorite places to visit and photograph. I love the texture of the rock walls and the ability to see the Atlantic Ocean just beyond while walking along the south and east paths that wind their way around the quarry. There is a path up a hill to the north with a wonderful view of the ocean and if you walk down towards rocky shore, there are tidal pools filled with life. In June the pink beach roses bloom; simply gorgeous offset by the deep, blue water in the quarry. It can also be a great place to watch the sun set if “Mother Nature” provides just the right clouds to produce a variety of bright colors. I love colors and light, especially in the early morning or late afternoon when the color of the light is warmer and the long, soft shadows bring out texture and shapes. This is a wonderful place to wander around or wait for the light to illuminate in just the right place.

The challenge of photography is neither film nor digital cameras can capture as wide a range of tones and colors that the eye can see. When photographing a sunrise or sunset over water, I use a special filter because the sky is much brighter than the water. I want to allow more light to expose the water and less light for the sky, creating more range of detail in the image.

When I took this image last year, I really loved the gentle curve of the quarry wall that gets much smaller to the right of the image giving it a sense of depth. I also loved the reflection of the sunlight on the water, but the colors in the sky were just not as vibrant as I had remembered them. I had been reading about new software technology called HDRI or High Dynamic Range Imaging. It is a software technique in which the photographer overlays multiple images taken at different exposures to capture detail that is impossible to achieve in one image, bringing out the colors and detail the way I remember them.

I also started experimenting with the Orton Technique recently. This is an effect that I really love! The process is a photographic technique created by Michael Orton back in the 1950’s. This was originally done as a slide montage, by taking one photo in sharp focus and one that is blurred and then mounting the 2 slides together. This creates a very soft, dreamy quality and has become quite popular again recently.

I decided to use both processes on this image. I feel it gives it a wonderful, soft, dreamy, quality with rich, vibrant colors the way I remember them. The colors evoke the excitement I experience watching a wonderful sunset and the softness adds the feeling of tranquility of being in such a beautiful place. To me, this is Dreamland.