Meeting Minutes: Women in Focus, June 10, 2009

Taken By: Valerie Gruner

Meeting presided over by our President, Gittel Price

Members and Guests Present: Toni James, Gittel Price, Valerie Gruner, Hazel Berger, Jennie Helderman, Joanne Green, Lorikay Stone, Jan Kapoor, Dawn Widjaja, Myrtie Cope, Shiela Robinette, Cindy Sheffield Michaels, Linda Rathke, Chris Mitts, Alicia K. Gelfond-Holtz, Debra Booth, Phyllis Waugh, Gail Des Jardin, Sheri Garza-Pope, Denice Lee, Ruth Gogel.

Guest:

Dawn Widjaja, a friend of Val’s, is into abstract photography and mixed media pieces that either begin as or employ photography. She lives in the area of the Atlanta Girl’s School, and was interested to drop in on us.

Members in Shows:

Chris Mitts has work in the Oconee County Federation of Artists show on 2nd St. in Watkinsville through the month of June.

Jan Kapoor, Shiela Robinette, Anne Berry, and Valerie Gruner will be in the Atlanta Photography Group’s In Your Dreams show, opening July 17, running until August 28.

Ruth Gogel has two pieces at the Trek Show at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Atlanta. Valerie Gruner has one piece also in the show.

Myrtie Cope and Ledra Davis will have a show at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Atlanta beginning June 18, through August 9.

Cindy Sheffield Michaels has a show with a friend at Mocha Match in Decatur extended through June.

Lorikay Stone has four pieces in Kettle Bell at Conditions Gym.

Valerie Gruner has a piece in the June show at the Atlanta Artists Center.

Website:

Ladies, so that we may keep track of the timing of portfolio page postings, please let Gittel know (via e-mail) when you send Jon, our webmaster, your disk. We would like to see that he manages postings within two weeks of the submissions. Also, when compiling your information for Jon, adhere to the guidelines specified in the downloadable instructions. Proper sizing of your photographs will enable Jon to work more speedily, as he should not have to re-size your photographs.

Sporadic problems with Jon, most often slowness in postings, have been encountered by some ladies. Before any action is taken to possibly amend our arrangement with Jon or seek another webmaster, Gittel will have a conversation with Jon to clarify our expectations.

Look at the website. Use the website. Report any problems with the website so that they may be addressed.

October WIF Shows:

Julien Cox, curator of photography at the High Museum, has agreed to be our Juror for our juried show! This is quite a coup. Submissions will be due at the August meeting. Each lady may submit up to six photographs, printed on no larger than letter size paper, put into a 9 x 11 envelope. At the August meeting, each person will be assigned a letter of the alphabet, and your prints will bear only this letter and a number (1-6). A master list of who was assigned which letter will be made, so that after the judging, prints and artist may be matched. Julien will be choosing the image(s) for the postcard. Submission fee will be $20.

We are still looking for a venue for our juried show, but we are hoping for Fernbank. Possible titles, NOT a theme, to appeal to Fernbank are Science of Light, Forces of Nature, Light and Lens, Images of Life (Light), Science of Seeing, Vision and Light, Images and Visions of Light, and Light Unlimited.

Our Photographer’s Choice show will again be at Digital Arts Studio. In the past, and we expect this year as well, photographs were to be framed no larger than 16x20, black frame and white mat, or museum wrapped canvas. Depending on how many ladies sign up, each photographer will be able to have one or two pieces in this show.

Sign up for the Digital Arts show will be at the July meeting. We voted to list names of our members in the Atlanta Celebrates Photography Program Book who wished to pay to be listed. Bring $10 for your name to be listed. Debra Booth has volunteered to be our liaison with ACP and will handle all of their required tedious paperwork. Many thanks, Debra. You do not have to be listed in the book to be in the show. Our Treasurer, Joanne Green, will not be able to attend the July meeting, but Valerie Gruner will collect the money to be turned over to Joanne.

Lorikay will be talking to a gallery owner near where she lives about the possibility of our having a show there in or around October. The two-story gallery is owned by painter Stuart McClean and is on Samson. It is likely that this show would be juried by Mr. McClean, but details will be announced as they become firmed up.

Another show that is possible for in or around October is being looked into through Barbara Davis, at the, wait for it, Focus on Women Gallery. Details are sketchy at this time.

Four shows are a lot, but great for WIF during ACP time. Some guidelines were set at this evenings meeting about what may be in these shows. In choice shows, ladies should not choose pieces that have been in any WIF juried shows. It is assumed that this would also be the case if the McClean Gallery show comes off and is also juried.

Field Trips:

Lorikay suggested Paradise Arabian (Horse) Ranch. The owners and the horses love visitors. It’s near Dawsonville, about an 1.5 hour drive, and will be planned for the fall.

Old Car City is located off the Cartersville exit on 75. Old cars, vintage hood ornaments, lots of cool stuff can be shot here. We would need to go on a Saturday, and it will be scheduled toward the end of summer, when it’s still green outside.

Girls, Inc. is in Marietta, and we’d like to do simply one day of fun shooting on the Square with the girls. It would have to be on a week day this summer, and Gittel will send out an email after she’s been in contact with Girls, Inc.

Atlanta Girls School Art Studio:

At the school which is our meeting site, they have an art studio. The school would love for any of our members to work or demonstrate, or whatever you can think of, for two hours during school time, for the girls to observe. Give it some thought, ladies, so that we may give back to our gracious hosts. Pinney Allen is who you should contact about doing a “program.”

WIF Business Cards:

Lorikay and Cindy have been working on ideas for a WIF business card, so that Our members can have a handy card to give to ladies interested in our group. Lorikay showed us some examples from which to choose a design. We voted for one photo on the front, in half tone black and white, along with our information. The back would be text only, with more information and a space in which a member can write her name. If you wish to submit a photo for consideration for use on the front of the card, email no more than three to Lorikay, Lorikay@lorikayphotography.com. She will compile the strongest ones for us to vote on for the front of the card.

Peer Critique:

Kudos, brava, and many thanks to Lorikay, who masterfully used her laptop to project photographs from disks and flash drives. It was a lovely way to see people’s work.

Your secretary did not take copious notes, but suffice it to say, we are a talented and diverse group. I believe ladies got valuable advice and well-deserved praise. Comments were useful and on point. A frequent suggestion was to crop a photo into a square, a magic square. It was a fun time, seeing each other’s work, making a delightful program of ourselves and our own creativity.

July Meeting:

Guest critique moderator Kathryn Kolb! Same procedure as this month: up to five images on a disk or flash drive, no bigger than 1200 pixels on the longest side, or up to five prints. There were no technical glitches this month, but just in case, bring back up prints.