Come out this weekend!

I will have work in the W7 Collective sale this weekend. It will be the first opportunity to see/buy my new photo block collection.

I am very excited about these pieces. I took the photos within about the last year, and I had processed some of them, but having this show to prepare for led to me finishing out the set.

The photos are mounted on high quality plywood board prepped for hanging. They have a beautiful surface achieved by a hand-brushed varnish that gives the photography a layer of surface protection and ultra-violet protection. I will definitely be taking photos of them at the sale, because I didn't have time to before I dropped them off. I will have both photos and pastel paintings at W7. Come out to St. Paul this Thursday, Friday, or Saturday - details below!

New Presentation Method

I have now claimed another area of our house for studio space. This new setup shares our extra bedroom along with the excercise stuff.


I got a lovely vintage laminate table that is the perfect size to hold some supplies and some pieces to work on. (That's my drop-cloth underneath.) I've been working on a new photo product, and testing out methods and surfaces. I do believe I've found the one I like, and I plan to debut it in December (details in an upcoming post).

...testing in progress...


The end product will be ready to hang. I love the way this display method is clean and modern! Let me know what you think.

Awesome wedding video

Check out this awesome "cinema-style flip book" of a wedding shoot by Aves Photographic Design from Fort Worth, Texas. It is too cute... especially when the weimaraner joins them!

Click here

Treasury

I just got a treasury spot on Etsy. Click here to get a closer view at any of these beautiful photographs.

Time flys by

Well, once again it's been a while since I've posted. I spent some time working with my husband and my friend, updating the webpage for our photography business, Thole Imagery. Its all together now, and we have a studio to shoot in, which is great! We are located in south Minneapolis, so it is convenient for most people in the Twin Cities metro area. We are also offering several new services this year, such as the old-fashioned hand colored look. Look for this service available for your own photos in the Thole Imagery Etsy shop next week!I also offer my digital portrait paintings through Thole Imagery as well- if you don't have a good picture to work from, come have a portrait session first!

I'm starting to add more things to my sarahthole.etsy.com shop also... I finally added the layered drawings that I blogged about here months ago! It's about time! I have tons more art ready to be listed. I have a ton of little abstract pieces I was hoping to frame first, but I might have to work on getting images of lots of them this weekend.

How I suffer for my art...

I am adding new work to TholeImagery.etsy.com. We went up north the other weekend. Whenever we are up there, I like to take pictures of all the small elements of nature. The fall colors were so gorgeous, but unfortunately the weather didn't cooperate, so we weren't able to go out as much as we would have liked. Saturday, we were able to take a long hike through Chippewa National Forest, which was fantastic. Sunday, however, I woke up to find a deer tick feasting on my belly. I didn't appreciate that very much. I've been to the doctor about it once already, because the bite site had a small ring, and irritation. They said it is unlikely I contracted lymes disease, because I found the tick within 24 hours, but they wouldn't be able to tell yet, so I should just wait and see if I develop more symptoms. Well, I hope you all like the photos I got, to make it all worth it ;)

Also, I've been spending some time online, beefing up my Photoshop skills. What I've really learned this week, is how to utilize adjustment layers and layer masks. These help me do the things I've already been doing, but in a way that is easier to affect just a portion of the image as well as remaining adjustable and reversable at any time. I've been having fun playing with them. Here are a few of the images. If you are interested in seeing more, or purchasing any, just visit TholeImagery.etsy.com.

Photography

We went up to a friends cabin in June, and I got a lot of great photographs. I have several listed now at TholeImagery.etsy.com. I did a lot of work in black and white - I love how it simplifies the image into an instantly classic look. Most of the photographs I took fell into two categories. The first was small plants. I took lots of images of wildflowers and ferns.








I also spent a long time, almost hypnotized by the variances in the surface of the water on the lake. I have many abstract reflection shots, as well as a series of shots of the water that I have digitally altered. I am still increasing the inventory in this shop, but if you haven't checked it out before, you should: TholeImagery.Etsy.com. (This Etsy shop is an extension of our Minneapolis portrait and event photography business, which you can find more information about at http://www.tholeimagery.com/.)

My Inaugural Post

I feel pressure to get this blog off on the right foot with my first post. However, I think it is better to get it done with and move on, so here is a little about me and my business venture so far:

I am an artist. I went to college for art, graduated 3 years ago, and I am just now attempting to take that passion and those skills and work them into something I can support myself by.

As a selling venue, I am starting off using Etsy.com. I started with one shop, nikashadesigns.etsy.com. I started listing some of my artwork there in March, but I felt it restricted me from listing other things I make that don't go along with the fine art as well, so I have taken a big jump now, and split my shop into three! I now also have sarahthole.etsy.com for my general fine art and custom portrait options, as well as tholeimagery.etsy.com - a shared shop with my husband and a friend which holds our fine art photography. The three of us already operate a photography company under the name of Thole Imagery here in Minneapolis, so it made sense to make a group shop on Etsy as an extension of the business we already have.

There, now I can go on posting in the moment without the "first post" pressure :)