Tag Archives: chris dahlquist artwork

What’s in a name?

April 11, 2012 by Chris | 0 Comments

Mile Marker XXX

There are as many stories as there are Mile Markers.

Titles are meant to act as a nudge, a hint, the first line of a story. Especially titles that seemingly are about a distinct place. They hint at specificity, maybe calling to mind an exact location, or perhaps simply triggering the memory of counting the miles on the long family vacations.  The significance of the name isn’t found in the numbers.  Your stories are the Mile Markers – they are not duplicated but they are everywhere.

 

Mile Marker 268, 16x22

 

This powerful story is from fellow artist, Sharon Spillar after reading the post “Booth Lessons”:

“So mile marker 268. This can only be Kansas. I know that place. Checking with my Mom to double check the mile marker number. With my husband I still am inconclusive. I traveled that road many, many times. Many people travel it and make complaints. I find that I am at home. I find peace. I find day dreams that I have missed. I grew up in Kansas and I truly cannot find any complaints.

What mile marker 268 for me is about the time I regain my peace. My Dad was an oil man and worked that part of Kansas. He was killed in a traffic accident at mile marker 263.5 ( I thought ) or 262.5 ( Verne thinks) but what ever it is. I know the spot because of the positioning of the bridge. But what I can say is that by this mile marker I have recollected myself, I have been brought back together by that vast depth of space, and I am home again.

Chris we have only met once but I am telling you this. You captured that area.

Thank you, Sharon Spillar”

 

What is your story?

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Pick of the week, April 9

April 9, 2012 by Chris | 0 Comments

“In the spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt.” ― Margaret Atwood

 

MIle Marker 265, 11" x 14"

 

To add this or another piece to your collection please contact me.

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Changing Hats

April 4, 2012 by Chris | 0 Comments

Being an artist requires a lot of hats and sometimes I have a hard time changing them quickly.

My creative process is less like a light switch and more like a fire that takes some time to get stoked. So a week like this is glorious – not a single meeting and big chunks of uninterrupted studio time. As last week was given over to writing, proposals, and taxes, this week is all about creating! I already have some exciting new pieces to show for it and the week isn’t even over yet.

 

progression of sizes

 

35x51

 

Now the waiting begins!

The largest pieces take 6 – 8 weeks to dry making these pieces ready to frame in mid-May. So if your name is on a sticky note on the bottom of my computer thank you for your patience. And, if you would like your name added to the list of people waiting for just the right large piece for them, please let me know.

 

Waiting for a piece? - I see your name everyday!

 

Don, I think this one might be the one for you!

 

Don’t want to wait?

Have an aversion to sticky notes? I have four great large pieces that are ready to go to their forever homes. You can see the pieces that are framed and ready for delivery here.

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Pick of the week, April 2

April 2, 2012 by Chris | 0 Comments

My images are metaphors for the “in-between” places in our lives. The ones where we must be mindful to appreciate the subtle beauty and richness that quietly resides there.

 

Mile Marker 276, 16x22

 

This piece is currently available. If you would like to add this or another to your collection please contact me.

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A week of blah, blah, blah

March 28, 2012 by Chris | 2 Comments

I have been writing a lot this week.

Since I wrote to you last week about the lessons learned in my booth, I have written a proposal for a public art project, a response to my nomination to be included in the Kansas City Collection, re-worked a presentation about my work and given it, and written a new artist statement. So right now there is a paint brush in the other room that desperately needs my attention, and I really need to go make stuff! (besides I think I have run out of words, ie. visual artist!)  So here’s some of what I wrote:

Presentation slide of Edward Curtis orotones

New Artist Statement!

I approach 21st century photography with the sensibility and aesthetic of a 19th century photographer. By employing the best characteristics of both eras, I create anachronistic images of “in-between” spaces. Just as the earliest photographers, the practitioners of daguerreotype and tintype, I treat metal plates by hand, preparing each to receive its own unique photograph. I capitalize on the smooth surface of steel, a finely textured under painting, and the translucent qualities of digital pigments to create each luminous piece. My images are metaphors for the “in-between” places in our lives. The ones where we must be mindful to appreciate the subtle beauty and richness that quietly resides there.


Presentation slide of image transformation

From a Proposal:

…My photographs stand in sharp opposition to the relentless inundation of visual imagery in our daily life, which is used in the service of delivering a sales message, an advertisement, a call for consumption, and consequently a call for speed and action. I use the same delivery method, photography, but to counteract and convey the opposite message: slow down, enjoy the subtle beauty that is lost by traveling too fast. Notice and consider where you are and the impact of your actions…

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Booth Lessons

March 21, 2012 by Chris | 12 Comments

This weekend had its challenges: a 5:00 a.m. set-up following the hour lost to “springing-forward” plus another hour lost due to travel eastward, location challenges including a restaurant encroaching into our space, and temperatures and humidity that seriously challenged the wardrobe in the luggage I packed almost a month prior. Combine these temporal challenges with some unwittingly insulting comments, and sometimes I question why I have chosen to share my artwork in this way. Easily forgotten are the importance of accessibility and the democratization that the art fairs provide, the richness of watching people interact with my work, and all the lessons I can learn when I am paying attention.

 

Mile Marker 268, 16×22

 

Then with one brief encounter I remembered without a shadow of a doubt why I was standing in the street, tired and sweaty, allowing any passerby to interact and experience my artwork. It made up for each frown that exited my booth, the Wizard of Oz jokes that are endured, each “these are just photographs” that is heard. As I stood in the back corner of my booth trying to escape the blazing hot sun a elderly woman and her daughter stopped in front of my booth. I couldn’t hear all of the words said when the mother placed her chin close to the daughters shoulder to speak very low, with an ease between them that made it clear that this exchange had been happening in just this way for a long time. But I did hear her tell her daughter that my images felt like summertime, it was warm outside and probably the end of the day, that she thought maybe you could walk forever without encountering anyone or getting where you were going. And as the sweat rolled down my back and she described my artwork to her blind daughter, I knew why I was there.

 

Pick of the week, March 19

March 19, 2012 by Chris | 1 Comment

Mile Marker 262, 35" x 51"

 

If you are interested in adding this or another piece to your collection please contact me.

Kinda like summer camp

March 14, 2012 by Chris | 3 Comments

Winter Park Sidewalk Art Festival

Lynn and John's back yard!

 

Kyle and I have arrived a few days early for this year’s Winter Park Sidewalk Art Festival. We are looking forward to the show this weekend, with great hospitality, beautiful weather and the wonderful Park Avenue. But what always makes this trip special is that in addition to visiting with lovely patrons old and new, our days here with our friends feel a lot like summer camp (albeit with more margaritas); there is art, music and lake time, nap time, an off site bowling activity planned, and much, much laughter. As I sit on Lynn and John Whipple’s back porch and watch a boat pass on the lake I just can’t believe how lucky we are.

 

It also makes me realize that with the upcoming work ahead for the show this weekend, I better take advantage of this beautiful day and the fact that it is margarita time! I wish you could be here!

Here is our friend Lynn Whipple with a wish for you!

 

What are you doing to make today spectacular?!?

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Piece of the week, March 12

March 12, 2012 by Chris | 1 Comment

It is a beautiful spring day here in Kansas City. I hope you are enjoying one too!

 

Mile Marker 261, 16x22

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This piece is currently available. If you are interested in it or another please contact me.

Annie Griffiths

March 7, 2012 by Chris | 5 Comments

First artist statement - written in phonetic Texan

When I grow up!

As a 7 year old drawling Texan (who was learning phonetically) I knew I was going to be a photographer when I grew up.  In fact, I was going to go on “fantasstick trips so I could tack pitchers of fames tings”. And to an animal loving second grader that laid on the rec room floor looking at the exotic pictures in the famously yellow magazine, I knew this could mean only one thing – I would be Jane Goodall with a camera. I would work for National Geographic!

And despite my path changing a bit over the last thirty years (although surprising little for someone that couldn’t even write in cursive yet!), I had the incredible experience of hearing an amazing woman that my seven year-old self thought that I was going to become.


 

 

Annie Griffiths Belt

Annie Griffiths

Annie (sure, first names, why not?) was one of the first female photographers to work for National Geographic, and Griffiths has photographed in more than a hundred countries during her illustrious career. She has worked on dozens of magazine and book projects for the National Geographic Society, including stories on Lawrence of Arabia, Baja California, Galilee, Petra, Sydney, New Zealand, and Jerusalem. Her photographs are gorgeous, she is warm and dynamic, she is humble, she is a mother that has managed to balance a family and a wonderful career. She is even close friends with one of my favorite authors – Barbara Kingsolver.

And — She spoke to a SOLD OUT crowd at KC’s new Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts!!!!

I have been to see a lot of photographers speak, the Nelson-Atkins Museum hosts many, and I have been to many more at galleries, and have given a few presentations myself. I even sat for an hour trying desperately to understand three photographers as they talked about pinhole photographs – in Spanish. But this one was different!

I don’t think I can actually express what this meant to me. The little girl in me that grew up without knowing a single example of a woman photographer was awe struck to have this woman behind the lens celebrated in this grand hall. The adult in me got teary when a girl of about ten climbed across our legs to make her way to the microphone in the aisle to ask the first question of the Q&A.

She is truly an inspiration!

Be sure to check out her amazing images and her books!

And on behalf of the little girl that dreamed of being a phtographer – thank you Annie! Thank you Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts! Thank you National Geographic!

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