More from Ludden House, Co. Limerick, Ireland. The last image is of Sarah and Orla, distant cousins of mine.

Images from Ludden House in Co. Limerick, Ireland. This is the farm where my grandmother grew up. My great aunt Maureen (in red sweater) still lives there and we had the opportunity to visit her in December when in Ireland. I then got to meet her granddaughter Orla who you see in the top 2 photos.

Last day at the Daniel Cooney emerging photographers auction. Also Flak Photo featured my image from the auction today. I look at Flak Photo every day so to see my image there is quite exciting.

Some new kitchen photos.

It's FIFA this week in Montreal (Festival international du film sur l'art). So last night I went to see Colville (2008, directed by Andreas Schultz) a film about one of my all time favourite painters, Alex Colville. I've been enamoured by his work ever since I was a teen. Then I happened to go to Mount Allison University where he had been a student and a prof. This exposed me to more of his original paintings and deepened my love of his work. I've never seen him talk or seen a documentary about him so this was quite a moving experience. Then there is the fact that he often made nudes of his wife, who has been important to his work throughout his long career, one of which I used as inspiration for a Model Husband image.

I love, love, love seeing documentaries on artists that inspire me. You can't always see artists talk live and so this medium is a good substitute. Another artist that has inspired me for fifteen plus years is Sam Abell. His was the first photo book I ever bought, and was in fact the first thing that I ever ordered on-line. And so when I came across a little VHS documentary on him (Sam Abell, Sight and Insight: Photographer Sam Abell's Art of Simplicity) in the Dawson library I couldn't help but check it out. Now I show this film in many of my classes and have seen it at least 8 times. And yet I love it every time. His use of such simple tools and the incredible results, are always inspiring. And then of course he seems to have such a soothing voice and demeanour.

I realize that I haven't told you about a show that I am part of. Click on image for larger version but here are the basic details:

Concordia MFA show
at Art Mur (5826 St Hubert, Montreal)
Vernissage Saturday March 21st from 1 to 5pm
Show runs from March 21st to April 4th

I will be showing 3 Model Husband images (2 of which you have not seen here)

It's this awesome guy's birthday today! So happy birthday Chris and thanks for everything.

From a lunch I had at diner in the Laurentians (an hour or so North of Montreal)

I'm going to give the Model Husband a rest for now. You'll be able to see more from the series when I update/redo my website in the coming months.

Inspired by Paul Strand, part of the Model Husband series

First off I would like to thank Joerg for featuring my Dali image on his blog Conscientious yesterday. Secondly some of you may have seen the above image on James Danziger's blog for his Callahan competition. The image was always meant as a Strand homage and I inadvertently entered the competition when showing James some of the Model Husband series. But as I am a big fan of James' blog I didn't mind in the least!

Last night I saw an artist talk by Bettina Hoffmann. I enjoy her photo montages, especially "Affaires Infinies" and "La Soiree" but it is her hypnotizing videos that really draw me in. Take a look at an exerpt here. Bettina's videos most often feature still groups of people, in mid interaction, with the camera weaving in and out of the scene. She decribes the videos as a way of adding space, time and motion to a photograph. I first saw her work at the MAC's (Musee D'Art Contemporain de Montreal's) Triennale this past fall. Her work is meant to be seen projected large on a wall in a dark viewing room and in this setting you are really overwhelmed by the size and stillness of the subjects, as well as the soothing and trance-like sound track.

Inspired by Salvador Dali, part of the Model Husband series

There is a lot of great work out there right now dealing with the medium and process of photography, but the one that really grabs me every time I see it is Self Portrait with Rifle by classmate Michael Love. Click here to see the set up and then click on the image to see the results. Enjoy!

Inspired by Edward Weston 2, part of the Model Husband series

I went to the CCA (Canadian Centre for Architecture) on Friday and really loved the Actions: What You Can Do With the City exhibit. It is an uplifting look at what artists, architects, gardeners, and other activists are doing around the world to improve their cities. Really worth a visit.

Hello all. Well I hope that I have not shocked you with this nude of Chris, I know some people are sensitive about these things. This is part of a recent series I did called Model Husband, and this image is specifically called Inspired by Edward Weston 1. I am showing it to you now because I have been lucky enough to be included in Daniel Cooney Fine Art's auction of emerging photographers. The auction started today and ends in 20 days. To view the auction and even place a bid go here. Tell your friends. Beautiful prints for sale! And if you want to know more about this new series of mine here's a little blurb on it:

This series explores the nude in the context of the spousal relationship, drawing inspiration from poses used by a previous generation of men photographing and painting their wives. As in the Why am I marrying him? series I am once again photographing my husband, but this time pushing the boundaries of our collaboration. Looking at the intimacy and trust that must exist between two people in order for one to photograph the other throughout their relationship, I take as models these men who used their wives as subjects. I examine their methods and approach through mimicry. How did these artists balance the need to create with the need to preserve something so dear? The relationship between artist and muse is at stake but so is that between husband and wife. How did they, and how do I, resign the two? Futhermore looking at a potential shift in gender roles over the past century I also wonder: are we telling the same story now but in reverse?

Winter Activities.

From the country in the fall. I can't wait till the snow is gone and it looks like this again.