Iterations

When I was a kid, my mom used to say that if the house ever caught fire, the one thing she would grab before anything else was the box of family photos that she kept in her closet, which I’m sure was common for many of us before analog became digital. For my mom, those photos were the things — the objects —that she held most dear, more than jewelry or money or a favorite piece of clothing. They anchored her to specific memories and feelings and because of that were more or less irreplaceable. Objects have meaning and more importantly value, and to what degree we value the objects in our lives is different for all of us.

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CONNECT

You can find Jon on Instagram @jonwilkening or on his website at jonwilkening.com

If you have questions, feedback on the show, or an idea for something you’d like us to talk about, I’d love to hear from you. Email me at [email protected] or connect with me on Instagram @jefferysaddoris.

Music in this episode: Take Me Higher (Jahzzar) / CC BY-SA 4.0

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*Disclosure: Books and products marked with an asterisk are linked to an affiliate program. I am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for me to earn advertising fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

At the end of May, I decided to take a break from social media so I could focus on making without the constant background noise that seemed to be sucking the life out the urge to create anything. It was a self-imposed blackout that I hoped would allow at least some of the creative light back in. Inspired by a recent documentary, I decided to work on a series of 12 paintings simultaneously rather than a single piece, and within a couple weeks I had completed twelve new pieces of work. Seeing them spread out on the bench was like fuel to keep going, so I set a fairly ambitious goal: to create 53 new paintings — including the first twelve — by my 53rd birthday on July 21st. Well, my birthday was yesterday and at about 4 o’clock, I put the final brushstrokes of black edging on the last piece, which was actually piece number 54. A week or so ago, when I still wasn’t quite sure I’d make the goal, I sat down with Jon to talk about the project.

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CONNECT

You can find Jon on Instagram @jonwilkening or on his website at jonwilkening.com

If you have an interesting story to share, I’d love to hear from you. Email me at [email protected] or connect with me on Instagram @jefferysaddoris.

Music in this episode: Take Me Higher (Jahzzar) / CC BY-SA 4.0

WANT TO SUPPORT THE WORK I’M DOING?

Subscribe & Review: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Stitcher | Overcast | Google Podcasts

Tell Your Friends & Share Episodes Online: You can even share a favorite show clip using the terrific Recast feature. I’ve made a video showing you how: Create Custom Audiograms with Recast by Simplecast – YouTube

Donate: Check out my Patreon account

Use my Amazon Affiliate Links: Occasionally, I’ll include links to things that I either own and use myself (mostly books) or think might be helpful/useful/inspiring to you. I will never simply spam product lists (such as “what’s in my bag?”). If I’m including an affiliate link, it’s for something I actually believe in.

*Disclosure: Books and products marked with an asterisk are linked to an affiliate program. I am a participant in the Amazon Se

There’s something about wet plate photography that I can’t get out of my head. Maybe it’s the process, maybe it’s the unpredictable nature of it—Sally Mann calls it “the angel of uncertainty.” Or maybe it’s the permanence of the objects themselves. When you look at an image by Matthew Brady or Timothy O’Sullivan, for a moment you’re no longer part of the present. And I would argue that that sense of timelessness is one of the reasons a handful of modern photographers still choose to embrace the 170-year-old process.

In 2018 there was a Sally Mann show at the National Gallery called A Thousand Crossings. It is by far my favorite show I’ve ever seen since I've been in DC and, in fact, I went back to see it about a half-dozen times. While I love her entire body of work, it was the wet plate work—both plates and prints—that I found myself gravitating to the most. Far from the pristine edge-to-edge sharpness of modern photos, they exude life, inexorably binding them to the maker.
A couple weeks ago, I got an email form Shane Balkowitsch, a wet plate photographer from Bismarck, North Dakota who began shooting wet plate after seeing a plate of a motorcycle. Something about it refused to let go and he reached out to the photographer to ask about the image and the process behind it. 45 days later, he made his first wet plate—an image of his brother. That was 2012. Today, more than 3500 plates later, Shane’s work is in collections including the State Historical Society of North Dakota and the National Portrait Gallery. His ongoing project photographing Native Americans and helping to preserve their culture has earned him the name “Shadow Catcher.”

LINKS
Northern Plains Native Americans: A Modern Wet Plate Perspective: https://amzn.to/31SEIvU
Balkowitsch (Documentary): https://amzn.to/3gBAOvx
State Historical Society of North Dakota: https://www.history.nd.gov/archives/manuscripts/inventory/2014-P-025.html
Sally Mann: A Thousand Crossings: https://www.nga.gov/exhibitions/2018/sally-mann-a-thousand-crossings.html
 

CONNECT WITH SHANE
Website: http://sharoncol.balkowitsch.com/wetplate.htm
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/balkowitsch
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/balkowitsch

MUSIC
Please Listen Carefully
(Jahzzar) / CC BY-SA 4.0

Last week, I decided to take a much needed break from social media. There’s just too much going on in the world that pulls my focus away from the areas of my life that really warrant - and frankly need - that focus - specifically my family and my art. In my final Instagram post before the break, I wrote that I wasn’t who I wanted to be lately followed by a list of distractions that to a lesser or greater extent contribute to it. After seeing the post, Jon reached out and asked if I’d like to talk about it.

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SHOW NOTES

David Goggins - https://davidgoggins.com/
Elizabeth Gilbert's TED Talk - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86x-u-tz0MA
Jocko Willink - https://jockopodcast.com/
Cal Newport - Deep Work*

CONNECT

You can find Jon on Instagram @jonwilkening or on his website at jonwilkening.com

If you have an interesting story to share, I’d love to hear from you. Email me at [email protected] or connect with me on Instagram @jefferysaddoris.

Music in this episode: Take Me Higher (Jahzzar) / CC BY-SA 4.0

WANT TO SUPPORT THE WORK I'M DOING?

Subscribe & Review: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Stitcher | Overcast | Google Podcasts

Tell Your Friends & Share Episodes Online: You can even share a favorite show clip using the terrific Recast feature. I’ve made a video showing you how: Create Custom Audiograms with Recast by Simplecast - YouTube

Donate: Check out my Patreon account

Use my Amazon Affiliate Links: Occasionally, I’ll include links to things that I either own and use myself (mostly books) or think might be helpful/useful/inspiring to you. I will never simply spam product lists (such as “what’s in my bag?”). If I’m including an affiliate link, it’s for something I actually believe in.

*Disclosure: Books and products marked with an asterisk are linked to an affiliate program. I am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for me to earn advertising fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

What happens next? That’s the question isn’t it? It’s something I get asked a lot, especially lately, both from friends and from strangers. I wish I had an answer but honestly I’m still spending a fair bit of time struggling to answer “what now?” I’m sure most of you are thinking about it too and maybe you even have an answer. Eventually, we’ll all have to think about it. What happens when we can go outside — without a mask — to grab dinner with family and friends, go to the movies, see a baseball game and just get back to something resembling normal? But, what does normal even look like in the wake of this?

LINKS

If you’re a gamer—and even if you’re not—the tech demo for Unreal Engine 5 running on the PS5 is pretty damn impressive. The level of detail that’s possible is just incredible and in many ways it’s a quantum leap over the already impressive Unreal Engine 4, which in addition to being used to power AAA games was also used to create the virtual environments on Disney’s The Mandelorian.

PS5 Unreal Engine 5 Tech Demo - YouTube

CNN posted a terrific piece highlighting a site called Trailblazers of Light, which celebrates women in photojournalism. More than 500 photojournalists are featured on the site, from Frances Benjamin Johnston who began working as a freelance photographer in the 1890s to Linsey Addario, a Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist whose work has been featured in The New York Times, National Geographic, TIME magazine. It’s a fascinating resource.

Home - Trailblazers of Light

And finally, I don’t know a lot about musicology or music theory, but I know enough to be able to recognize what a musical monster Jacob Collier is. His latest video All I Need is an homage to 70s Stevie Wonder funktastic goodness. The melodies that he comes up with continuously amaze me. If you want more after watching the video for All I Need, check out the Tiny Desk Concert from last year.

Jacob Collier: All I Need (with Mahalia & Ty Dolla $ign) - YouTube

Jacob Collier: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert - YouTube

Music in this episode: The Wrong Way (Jahzzar) / CC BY-SA 4.0

As much as I love working with acrylics in my paintings, because many of them are literally dozens of layers of pigment, collage, found objects, and thick layers of acrylic medium, it can take weeks to finish a single piece just waiting for layers to dry. A few years ago, I began looking into using encaustic, which offers the ability to create work with a similar aesthetic to my acrylic work in a fraction of the time. In doing the research, I came across the work of Lisa Pressman. Lisa is a fabulous artist from New Jersey who works in both encaustic and oils and has been exhibiting her work for nearly four decades. In addition to making her own work, she inspires others to start their own artistic journey through her workshops and one on one mentoring. Lisa and I have spoken a few times and I’m so grateful that we were finally able to hit the record button.

LINKS
https://elizabethmurrayart.org
https://rbleckner.com/
http://www.gregoryamenoff.com
https://www.terrywinters.org
https://www.wikiart.org/en/philip-guston
https://www.wikiart.org/en/joan-mitchell
http://www.bettycuninghamgallery.com/artists/estate-of-jake-berthot-1939-2014
https://www.moca.org/exhibition/kerry-james-marshall-mastry
https://www.hanshofmann.org
http://www.aliceneel.com/

CONNECT WITH LISA
Website: http://www.lisapressman.net
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lisapressmanart/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/LPressman
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LisaPressmanWorkshopsAndClasses/

MUSIC
Please Listen Carefully
 (Jahzzar) / CC BY-SA 4.0

Back in January, I came across a terrific piece of writing by author Paul Jarvis. One part of it in particular really spoke to some of the things I’ve wrestled with over the years — loving what you do, following your passion, and the costly obsession that often goes along with each of those things. I ended up subscribing to Paul’s newsletter and regardless of whether you’re a full-time creative, an enthusiastic amateur or someone in the middle just trying to live a more creative or interesting life, there are so many valuable insights and observations that it’s quickly become one of my favorite weekly reads. I shared the piece with Jon and while he wasn’t familiar with it, he had actually spoken to Paul before. Since Jon is just as big a fan of rabbit holes as I am, I thought it might be fun to unpack it a little.

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LINKS

Paul Jarvis - https://pjrvs.com

CONNECT

You can find Jon on Instagram @jonwilkening or on his website at jonwilkening.com

If you have an interesting story to share, I’d love to hear from you. Email me at [email protected] or connect with me on Instagram @jefferysaddoris.

Do you know the Serenity prayer? Even if you don’t know it by name, you’ve likely heard it. It goes:

“God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, Courage to change the things I can, And wisdom to know the difference.”

Originally written as part of a sermon in the 1930s by theologian Reinhold Niebuhr, the Serenity prayer has been adopted by a number of twelve-step programs, most notably Alcoholics Anonymous.

Regardless of whether or not you are religious or part of a twelve-step program, the core of the Serenity prayer - change and acceptance - are ideas that virtually everyone struggles with at one point or another. I know I do.

If you enjoy listening to Iterations, please consider leaving a review or a rating on iTunes to help others discover the show.

Regina Gimenez

The Price of Everything

Under the (Ray) Gun: Chris Ashworth

Music in this episode: The Wrong Way (Jahzzar) / CC BY-SA 4.0

Several years ago when I wasn’t really sure what direction my life was taking, one of the ideas I kept coming back to was getting a Volkswagen Westfalia van and just driving around the country, allowing the universe to put interesting people and experiences in my path rather than trying to follow a specific plan. I hadn’t started podcasting yet, nor had I picked up my paint brushes again, so the “what I would be doing to actually support myself” aspect of it was pretty nebulous. Still, I loved the idea and for years it was a running joke between my friend Jude and me. Whenever one of us was dealing with some sort of personal or existential challenge, the other would respond with “well, you could always get a Westfalia van and just drive around.”

For Dutch photographer Maarten Rots and his wife Anne, the dream of van life has become a reality. For 6 to 8 months a year, they trade their home in the Netherlands for a Ford Transit camper van and travel throughout Europe, often without a fixed destination. For Maarten, this way of traveling almost by instinct has proven to be the catalyst for some of his most compelling work both as an itinerant solo artist and as a collaborator with other artists he meets along the way.

While I know the reality of it is not always as romantic as the way we see it from a distance, I can’t say I’m not just a little envious. In this conversation, I caught up with Maarten in Portugal where he was preparing a pop-up exhibit of his work, appropriately titled In Transit, at a local gallery.

If you enjoy listening to In Between, please consider leaving a review or rating wherever you listen or sharing it on social media.

CONNECT

You can find Maarten on Instagram @maartenrots, or on his website at https://maartenrots.nl. Also, be sure to check out his magazine March & Rock.

If you have an interesting story to share, I’d love to hear from you. Email me at [email protected] or connect with me on Instagram @jefferysaddoris.

Music in this episode: Take Me Higher (Jahzzar) / CC BY-SA 4.0

This might be one of the most process driven episodes of 
Process Driven
 yet. I’ve known Karl Taylor for more than a decade. I was introduced to his work by my friend Patrick in the form of a DVD of Karl‘s 
Photography Master Class
. What struck me straight away was Karl‘s enthusiasm for photography – that and his encyclopedic knowledge of the medium. 12 years after its initial release, Karl has created a brand new remastered version of his original introduction to photography built on a decade of learning and refining what was already an incredible understanding of both the art and science of photography. In this conversation we talk about some of the things he’s learned over the past 10 years, including a deep-dive into the biology of how we see and process images.

CONNECT WITH KARL
Website: https://karltaylor.com
Platform: https://karltayloreducation.com
Instagram: https://instagram.com/karltaylorphotography

MUSIC
Please Listen Carefully
 (Jahzzar) / CC BY-SA 4.0