in this issue Daguerreotype Photos BOOK REVIEW-ART AND FEAR Adobe Photoshop and Painter Cheryl Anne Day Global Art Gallery-Helyn Davenport Mario Pischedda Lucio Valerio Pini Ciro Antinozzi Judy Mandolf & Shirley Cross

Pixiport and PBI Team

Daguerreotype Photos

New portal in "The Quill In Focus" is Daguerreotype Vintage and Modern Photography Gallery with Charlie Schreiner. Charlie Schreiner received a Master of Fine Arts Degree from the Rhode Island School of Design. He is a freelance industrial designer and lives and works along the shores of Lake Michigan.

Photography has always been an important tool in his business and he also uses photography as an expressive medium. The daguerreotype is his passion and his daguerreotypes have been exhibited at the George Eastman House in Rochester, NY; Ohio State University; Tri-Cities Museum in Grand Haven, MI; New England School of Photography in Boston; Oakland Museum in California; the North Light Gallery, AZ U.; A Photographers Place, NYC; The Atlanta History Center; The Henry Ford Museum; and the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City; Center for Photographic Art, Carmel, CA. ...

My interest in daguerreotypes came from collecting vintage images and the periodic wistful thought of making them. I had collected copies of the old journals and several reprints of books on the subject and on paper, at least, understood how it was done. Uncertainties abounded, such as where to find plumbago or whether or not to mess with cyanide of potassium and a long list of others. In time I heard about and then spent time with a person who made daguerreotypes and since have been making them for over ten years.

The initial hurdles in the daguerreotype are technical. The chemicals are corrosive, toxic, and lethal. The necessary containers and techniques for handling the chemicals must be made and established and be fail safe. Plates must be procured--find polished copper and have it plated with pure silver. Once these pieces are in place the hard part starts--making an image. I have likened the process to making bread. It is simple: mix water, flour, salt, yeast and then bake in the oven. But what if you didn't know how much of each or how hot the oven should be? So it is with the daguerreotype--it all has to be discovered.

Since I am a product designer, many of my images are object oriented, recorded or catalogued in a sense like a museum might do before putting the thing into storage. Today's common item becomes the next century's strange curiosity and on one level I am playing a game with whoever might look at these 150 years from now. But also, the daguerreotype records an object with the most extreme detail and a marvelous transformation on the surface of the plate takes place that makes the object look "more real" than the object itself. Holographic is a common description and the detail seen in glass or chrome or surface imperfections pop out and float above the surface quite unlike the same image on a paper print. Plus, color--you will see a lot of it in daguerreotypes--some controlled, some of it unpredictable, and some real color.

Find out more....

	BOOK REVIEW-ART AND FEAR
The Voice Behind The Lens Michael Dubiner If you intend to read this book in order to learn how or where to sell your photographs-don't bother. There are a pile of books that attempt those tasks. This book is about the creation of art and the fears that most of us have about that process. The authors explore the making of art, why art often does not get made and the difficulties experienced by people who used to make art and stopped. The writers, David Bayles and Ted Orland are teachers and working artists. Their comments are not confined to photography. They resinate through the entire spectrum of artistic and creative endeavors. Almost everything they say applies to all of the arts, and most artists as well. The authors have come up with a slim but worthwhile book of engaging and sometimes controversial concepts. For example, their views on the long term benefits of talent differ radically from the time worn concept of the magically gifted artist and give hope to those of us who sometimes feel talent-less. The writers state; "...talent is rarely distinguishable, over the long run, from perseverance and lots of hard work". Their notion is that art is made by ordinary people, working hard and focusing their endeavors on things they care about. ART AND FEAR discusses the difference between making and viewing art and the interaction between the creator and the observer. The authors speculate on what the artist and the former artist have in common, and what separates them. The authors opine on many of the issues that artists throughout history have faced since artmaking began. The style of writing is almost in outline form. The authors use a word or phrase that highlight a concept, discuss it and move on to the next one. Most importantly, as the title implies, the authors identify, demystify and explore many of the fears that artists experience. They help artists understand that many of these fears are universal. This simple discovery alone is reassuring. . Stuck in a rut? The authors believe that; "Artists get better by sharpening their skills or by acquiring new ones, they get better by learning to work, and by learning from their work." The authors are firm believers that the one's work is the artist's primary teacher. They espouse that one's art is made the best it can be by doing it, learning from one's mistakes and then making more art with the knowledge that has been gained. A combination of quantity and thoughtfulness is often what counts. However, being prolific is not a virtue in and of itself. The authors contend that the more proliferate the artist, the more that can be learned from the work and the better one's work will become. Simply put, when we work and critically review the results, we learn from our mistakes and successes. That, in large part, is how we improve our work. Read on... »

	Adobe Photoshop and Painter
Make a conté drawing from a photograph - with Carol Tipping You can make a very effective piece of artwork from a photograph quite easily - by Cloning the photo in Painter Classic/ Painter 6/Painter7. Using a Photoshop filter over the result allows you to apply Blending Modes for even more artistic effects. Open a photograph in Painter. You will see that it is very large on the screen. Go to Window Zoom to fit. Zoom out again until the image is small enough to fit two such images on the screen comfortably. To give yourself space for working make sure to close the palettes that you do not need. (You can re-open them later by going to Window...Show palettes.) You will only use the Tools, Brushes and Controls brush. . Read On........... »

	Cheryl Anne Day
Cheryl Anne Day joins Pixiport's greeting card galleries. Beautiful inspirational photos with verses. Cheryl's love for photography started a long time ago, but she never really thought she would indulge in it, after the passion could no longer be contained, she started in investigate, and here is her journey. Cheryl attended photo classes at Saint Petersburg Jr. College in 1993 under the instruction of Miss Terry Rogal. After a long battle with severe health problems she realized that she would no longer be able to work as a postal carrier. It was then that she realized that her strongest love outside of working at the postal service was photography. In 1998 she went back to school. This time she attended PTEC for Commercial Photography under the instruction of Mr. Terry Allison. The rest is history, her works have been published in newspapers, postal communicators, promotion work of models, album covers and now she makes all occasion cards. She represented the entire Pinellas County Area at the Florida State Florida County Exhibit Showcase in 1996. Then on her spare time, was asked to help create Your Best Shot Photography Group. In 1999 Cheryl started working towards her a digital masters degree as well as her photographic masters degree through the Professional Photographers Association.She has many honor prints, and 3 loan prints with the PPA. She earned her Photographic Craftsman Award from PPA in 2001. She has also earned her Florida Degree of Excellence in 2002. She is a member of FPP, SEPPA and PPA & Robert Faber's Photo Work Shop In 1999 Cheryl was named Photographer of the Year by the Tampa Area Professional Photographers Association. In 2001 & 2002 Cheryl was named Digital Artist of the Year by the Florida Professional Photographers Association. Visit Gallery.... »

	Global Art Gallery-Helyn Davenport
Instead of usual BIO-info fragments that often read like an old resume pages, I decided to write a few words about my encounter, which today I consider a firendship, with Helyn. We met some years ago on the world wide web and since then a day does not pass without a brief message from her - ' I need this and that ' which usually means a graphic or a bit of HTML. Such request usually ends with a smiley :) as if she wanted me to know she is not demanding, just quietly and politely asking. Knowing the sound of her voice, I suspect she is not able to be quiet. The words come out like a stucatto of a rapid firing machine gun and that is exactly how she works. Furiously, with a total dedication, and with a lot of heart. Helyn built one of the greatest photography portals and it is shocking her server is not bursting in its seams. The site is for all interested in photography, with presentation of a many artist worldwide. If she likes someone's work, the door to her 'pixiport' is open wide. Add an interactive board, a web design studio we run together, an array of photo experiments of her own, active pursuit of her art, for which purpose these pages are presented here, a 'live' exhibt now and then, a large dog, a flood of messages going in and out, a newsletter, interviews, and you have a recipe for, under normal cicumstances, a disaster. But Helyn handles everything in a spectacular fashion. Quick maneuvers and sound decisions by this little lady benefit everyone who appreciates the art of photography. I often try to pull her of the path and torment her, just because I can, but she just giggles and keeps on steady. Helyn's art: be it a standard or a digital camera, a digital image software or her darkroom, the results are equally unique, fascinating and her own. Not bound by her experience or knowledge, she captures her subjects as if they were butterflies - not disecting, not analyzing, but capturing the flight and the beauty. George Bradford Director of Global Art Gallery- Hellford.com A selection Of Works By Helyn Davenport... »

	Mario Pischedda
Featured photographer Mario Pischedda and his Sub Minimal Art. Visit Gallery... »

	Lucio Valerio Pini
I look not for the new, but for what's at least different, uncommon, surprising, fun, magic, absurd. I don't care for reality, I don't care for the certainty of what's in front of my lens, I care for the creativity, the fantasy, the invention, that can gush from a cultured thought. Between the certain and the uncertain there's a possible space, for example in dreams and in fables.. Visit Gallery... »

	Ciro Antinozzi
Ciro was born in Salerno, Italy in 1953, received a degree in Geology and has been a professional photographer since 1984. His office and studio are in Salerno, where he specializes in photographing people, still lifes, and unique photos of fruits and vegetables. visit Gallery... »

	Judy Mandolf & Shirley Cross
JUDY MANDOLF has exhibited her handpainted black and white photographs throughout the US and Europe for over a decade. Since shifting her focus to computer- generated imagery in 1996 she has garnered three "Best of Show" awards at the Fallbrook Art and Cultural competition and the Del Mar Exposition, as well as a first place in Computer Edge magazine's art competition. Her images have their genesis in her original photographs which are scanned into her computer, collaged, "painted" and otherwise manipulated by various software programs. They are then printed on textured paper with archival inks and sometimes further enhanced by applying various paints and pencils to the surface. "I had images floating in my mind for years that I was unable to reproduce photographically" she said. "I am so fascinated by the absolute freedom afforded by the digital medium to create my mindscapes." Shirley Cross was born and raised in Oregon. She is a "young" grandmother who loves her family. Her great passion is photography. She was always artistic: drawing and painting from an early age,trying to get 'art' photos with her brownie camera. She became serious about photography around 1984. Shirley graduated from New York Institute of Photography in November 1991. Her photographs have been published in several magazines and calenders, and have won awards both nationally and internationally. Beginning in 1988 and each year thereafter,her photos have been included in THE BEST OF PHOTOGRAPHY ANNUAL, which is published by PHOTOGRAPHERS FORUM magazine. For the last three years she has had photos accepted for the Austrian Super Circuit,the largest photo salon in the world. In 1999 she received medals both in Austria and South Africa. Fantasy and futuristic,spacey things fascinate her. At the same time she is an incurable romantic who loves flowers and the wild natural settings. Her latest thrill is using the computer to bring her imagination to life. Shirley enjoys creating art that is pleasurable and uplifting and sometimes amusing. f Featured Photographers.... »

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