Zymo 127 pinhole camera and photos from the Zymoglyphic Museum

©2011 Zymo 127 pinhole camera. Altoids tin, brass, found spring, wooden dowel, brass nuts, fabricated. 127 film format. This camera was built to take photos in the Zymoglyphic Museum. Light levels are low in the museum, I wanted to use Tri-X, which only comes in 120 and 35mm format. So I cut down Tri-X 120 to 127 format and usually get 19 shots on a roll.


Photo of the diorama, "Getting On." I took 19 rolls of film. There was one magical roll of film that had around 10 shots that I really liked. That's a very high proportion for me. Of course there were other rolls that were complete duds, or only had one or two images I liked. Most of the photos I like best were taken with a "I wonder what will happen" attitude. I try to put my eye where the pinhole will be and guess at what will appear on the film. But it's very hit or miss. My flickr page has more photos taken with the camera, and photos of the camera in progress.

Open Studios Surprise

One of our guests this past weekend was René Roberts, seen above, wearing Now she is the moon.  René is a fellow artist and collector. She has two of my brooches, from a one person show I did at Art and Soul Gallery, in Mill Valley, in 1995. I was delighted to see her, and to see "my" brooch. We met during the opening of California Metals North, where we both had work. I don't know if this is still the case, but in the 90's it was unusual for jewelry galleries to tell you the name of collectors, so work often disappeared when it was sold. In theory the gallery could contact the collector later, to borrow work back for a show or photos. But some didn't seem to keep much paperwork, and of course galleries close over time, some much quicker than others. I don't know if any of this has changed, but it's wonderful to see a favorite piece, one that I thought I would never see again.


This incredible object is René's "Warming Trends" from the Metal Works North show. It is electroformed, a technique I admire, think of as mysterious, and know very little about. But searching on the web for René I found several discussion groups where she was mentioned as a master.


Another favorite image from this past weekend.  So many people like trying on the spectacles, I'm going to make a flickr gallery when I have time to go through all the photos.

Tyranno photo ventris takes photos on WPPD 2011

Tyrannosaurus photo ventris is working on a new series of photos taken in the late Cretaceous. This one was snapped on Sunday, April 24, Worldwide Pinhole Photography Day and is the official entry on the WPPD website.


Another view of the late Cretaceous. This is the first shot ever of Imperialsaurus. There are also pinhole photos from WPPD on flickr's photo pool Worldwide Pinhole Day: smooshing the space-time continuum. More of Tyranno's photos can be seen here.

Worldwide Pinhole Photography Day and Project Oyamel Fir

Above: my entry in the Me, Monarch/Oyamel Fir Project in honor of Worldwide Pinhole Photography Day, 2011.

Today is Worldwide Pinhole Photography Day. Because it is also Easter, photos taken between April 23 and May 1 will be accepted. You can upload photos to the WPPD site, or on flickr to the Worldwide Pinhole Day group. It's nice to be on the big pinhole day website, so many people all over the world participate. There are also galleries from years past. But it's a huge number of images, and they are hard to scan because there are no thumbnails. Edit: my mistake, there are thumbnails - click on "gallery" from the main page, then "exhibition April 24, 2011" then on the small "exhibition on the upper left. You see a page of thumbnails, clicking the back and forward arrows takes you to more thumbnails. It's great!


Above: photo by Arturas Meskauskas. View the invitation larger here.

In honor of WPPD the Goa Center for Alternative Photography invites you to Me, Monarch (Project Oyamel Fir)
98 artists, 24 countries
Exhibition of Self portraits taken through a Pinhole camera
Worldwide pinhole Photography Day
24th April 2011, 6.30PM
At Goa Center for Alternative Photography (Goa-CAP),
C/o Prashant Falari, House No. E2 / 268, Dongorpur (Royal Village),
Near St. Alex Church, Calangute, Goa, India,

The exhibit is also at
Ravi Photo Gallery
6-3-902/7/1/C, Dream Gate, Second Floor, Somajiguda
Hyderabad, India
April 24 to May 4, 2011. Hours: Mon - Fri 10:30 to 9:00pm
Sat and Sun 10:30 to 10:00pm

On the UNITED NATIONS INTERNATIONAL YEAR OF FOREST 2011, Project Oyamel fir is dedicated to Oyamel Fir trees which are the winter shelter for several hundred million Monarch Butterflies migrating from north and south. Relentless logging has compromised the forest canopy that once protected monarchs. A growing human population around these butterfly havens and increased demand for wood gravely threaten the survival of the over-wintering butterflies, as well as the forest environment in general.

Project Oyamel Fir is not a contest; it is an experimental initiative where pinhole Photographers, enthusiasts from all over the world are invited to send one self-portrait taken with a pinhole camera to create a large dreamy, and beautiful body of work to be exhibited as **Me, Monarch**

Open Studio Saturday and Sunday May 7 & 8, 14 & 15

I hear the voice of my mom in my head, saying "It's time to clean up your mess, young lady." There is a big event coming! On Saturday and Sunday, May 7 & 8 and 14 & 15, Studio 19 (myself and the Zymoglyphic Museum) will be participating in Silicon Valley Open Studios. We will be open from 11 to 5. At 1pm each day I will demo "Primitive Wire Edge Binding." A large selection of my artist's books, pinhole cameras and pinhole photos will be on display.

For more information click here.



You can also check out an assortment of my vintage snapshot film cameras, mostly inexpensive cameras from the 30's, 40's and 50's. Behind the beautiful Sabre 620 above is a Traveler 120 and an Ansco Shur Shot.

We Travel in Boats to Denver

I just mailed my book, In my Dreams We travel in Boats to Abecedarian Gallery for the Artist's Book Cornucopia II show.



Alicia Bailey, book artist and owner of Abecedarian, says "Juried this year by Brea Black, Special Collections Librarian at the Topeka & Shawnee County Public Library in Topeka, Kansas, Artists Book Cornucopia II includes work that is traditional, non-traditional, unusual, familiar, dynamic, and challenging, representing the diversity in the field of book arts in 2011."

In her juror’s statement Ms. Black states

"Each (selected) work represents a unique vision and provides a unique experience. The interaction between the book, the artist, and the viewer is what makes these pieces so special. Some of these bookworks address nature, the environment, body image, personal identity, family dynamics, and even one’s place in the wider world. Other works invite us to explore myth, math, and science, using unexpected materials and structures to engage us.
In viewing these bookworks together as an exhibition, I hope the gallery patron will react much as I did. I was inspired by the creativity, originality, and diversity of these 47 pieces. From what I have seen here, the future of the book arts is extremely bright."

The show will be up April 15 to June 4. There will be an opening reception on Friday, April 15th. Check the gallery website for more information. There is also an exhibition blog.

Click these links to see large views of the front and back of the postcard.

Tyrannosaurus cuts cookies

I found this cookie cutter in the back of a drawer - my Dad made it many years ago. I remember him sitting at the table with pliers working on them - there is a unicorn too. It's made from the top of a large tin can. The bends are definitely hand made - not at all parallel. I did use them some, back when I made cookies with little kids. Mostly they are just too precious to part with. You can imagine what my closets looks like.

I am always interested to see how much my parents and my childhood influence me even now. It's not so much the Tyrannosaurus, they are universal. It's more that the act of making solid objects that exist in the world is so satisfying. Collage, painting and drawing all have some pull for me - they are satisfying ways to explore image possibilities. Photography is a more recent interest - especially pinhole photos. But actually making a 3-d object like tools, books or cameras is the best.