The Wet Plate Collodion Process

Holmes Stereoscope

This is a Holmes Stereoscope used for viewing images in 3D. Like a primitive Viewmaster.

Camera Obscura

Camera Obscura

A Camera Obscura. The image formed by the lens (B) and reflected by the mirror (M) on the ground glass (N) is traced. From A. Ganot, Traité élémentaire de physique (Paris: 1855)

Wollaston's Camera Lucida

Illustration from 1807

Large Portable Camera Obscura

This is a Large Portable Camera Obscura. (I would hate to have to haul that thing around!)
It's an etching from 1646 by Athanasius Kircher.

Camera Obscura Image

The first published illustration of a camera obscura observing a solar eclipse in January 1544. More camera obscura images to come!

Andrew Wyeth has died at the age of 91

I saw today where Andrew Wyeth died Thursday night in his sleep. He was 91. How sad.

I really enjoyed Wyeth's work. I think the general public found it very easy to relate to him and his work. It was very un-pretentious and humble. His scenes depicted a nostalgic view of simple rural/living. He was an amazingly versatile artist capable of working in many different mediums–one of which was tempera. Tempera is very challenging, but he makes it look like a breeze.

Wyeth is probably most famous for his work "Christina's World" depicting a melancholic handicapped girl crawling in a field. I had the privilege of seeing that work this past summer. It was amazing!

Click on the images for a high-res image of Christina's World.

Puddle of Pollock

So I bought some stuff off of Threadless last night. Threadless is a place for hip, fun hipster/emo shirts and such. They have some really funny like pun-oriented shirts. Breezing through I found a Pollock shirt. I liked it. But I couldn't ever pull off a style like that. There's also a parody of "The Scream" but instead it has this stinking emo kid screaming. I'm kind of tired of emo kids, and also The Scream parodies.

By the way they are having their annual Christmas sale. Shirts are $5, $10, and $15 dollars. If you use this promotional code you can get $3 off. It's: holiday08

Mississippi Arts Commission Grant

I recently found out that I got a grant from the Mississippi Arts Commission! I am so stoked. I can really use this money right now, especially with the economy being down in the dumps. Buying hundreds of dollars in art supplies to create art that may or may not sell is a risky endeavour. Don't worry MS taxpayers, your money will be well spent!

Any artists living in Mississippi should consider applying to the various grants offered through the state. Here is their site:
http://www.arts.state.ms.us/grants/for-individuals.php