I finally decided

Ok, so I start this blog and then I draw a complete blank. What should I write about? Who really cares what I think? Or the daily happenings in my life? Well, may be no one, maybe everyone, who knows, but... I have finally come to the conclusion that the entire world can join me in the ups and downs of being a gallery owner, photographer, and paper artist.

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that when I moved to the coast of Maine 2 years ago, it was to... you guessed it... chase a dream. My partner & I left our careers, our friends, and some of our family members behind to move to Maine and become "ahhtists", that's artists to all you folks from outside the state of Maine. My partner is a potter. She has been throwing clay and making functional pottery since the age of 14. Oh life got in the way there for a while, but about 10 years ago she became more focused on her pottery and really started thinking about doing it full time.

I, on the other hand, got my first 35mm SLR camera for my 16th birthday. It was a Mamiya NS 1000. Now those of you who know cameras, are probably saying Mamiya doesn't make 35mm cameras and you would be partially correct. They did for a little while way back in the late 70's. By the early 80's they were getting out of the 35mm business and returned their focused to the wide format cameras they are known for. But my first real camera was a Mamiya. I loved that camera! Good feel, took great photographs, and allowed me to learn the art of photography. Unfortunately, I could not get lenses for it.

Eventually, I moved to a Minolta, and then to digital. My first digital was a FUJI. Good camera, nice lens that had the capability of shooting superMacro images and had a 6x optical zoom and then an additional digital zoom that would take you to 10x. Very nice, but I had issues with the color corrections I had to do later on the computer. Finally, I have settled on the Nikon D70 digital SLR. GREAT CAMERA and GREAT LENSES!

So, you are asking where does the paper thingy fit in & what is a paper artist anyway! Well, some where in my childhood, a very near & dear friend of my family showed me a magical thing. She took a square piece of paper and turned it into a cup. No glue. No scissors. Just a few simple folds and there, before my eyes, was a paper cup! And, yes, it really held water and you could drink out of it! Amazing! With that introduction to origami, I fell in love with paper and creating things from it. I do not profess to be a master folder, but it was a start. Over the years I have learned how to make many origami items. Peace cranes, boxes, birds, flowers, animals, and boats. I am fascinated by what you can do with a square piece of paper. I have also learned how to make my own paper, greeting cards, and books! I even make jewelry from paper, too!

So there is the short version of what we do in our gallery.
C-Ya!