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Greetings!
Big shout out of gratitude to all my collectors, fans and followers who made March and April so successful and brilliant for me and my art.
In March, judges at the fabulous La Quinta Arts Festival awarded me the First In Category (Photography) Award. It was an honor and a truly humbling experience especially so as the quality of artistic achievement in the Photography category was stellar.
The Bayou City Arts Festival two weekends later was wonderful on every level too. Because I'd received the Third Place Award (across all categories) in 2009 I was eligible for and received placement at the broad entrance of the show. This was great because collectors saw me entering and exiting the show. Sales were brisk and many new relationships started.
I just returned from The Cottonwood Arts Festival in Richardson, Texas, a long time favorite. Later today I set out for the first of three shows here in Southern California. Please check out my updated calendar. I'm so excited to have been invited (for the fifth consecutive year!) to the stratospherically wonderful Sausalito Arts Festival over the Labor Day weekend. Hope to see you at one or more of these exciting shows!
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New Orotone Series Artwork
Orotone #043001
 Orotone Image #0420001, 26 x 86 inches, original photography, ink jet on clear emulsion over gold metallic acrylic on canvas, varnished, wrapped. $2400.
The image is a composite of four high resolution photographs of a Texas Live Oak, stitched together. Because the resolution is so high the image can be printed huge up to 56 x 180 inches and maintain stunning detail!
Here's a close up detail to give you a better idea of the quality of this image.
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Detail Orotone Image #043001
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Mark Stephenson: Passion In His Photographs
by Sonya English
La Quinta Desert Sun, 3/10/2011
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Golden Oasis Image #8046 triptych, 42x84 inches. Original photogaphy, inkjet over gold metallic acrylic on canvas, varnished, wrapped.
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Photographer Mark Stephenson is the archetype of an artist: His studio sits on 6 acres of Sky Valley desert. He has a degree in poetry and uses for inspiration "the transcendental magic of being alive." He channels that passion for life into his artwork, performing all of the creative and technical processes involved. He even frames the finished art in floater frames that he makes. The materials and methods he uses produce an extremely durable image, he said. "Images will not fade or shift in color noticeable to the human eye for over 100 years under normal indoor lighting conditions," he wrote in an artist statement. When he sets out to create a photograph, Stephenson said he goes out into nature, mostly the desert southwest, opens his aperture and "just shoots." He doesn't try to conquer his surroundings, he said, but surrender to them. "It's a robust, with-every-speck-of-energy-in-my-being surrendering," Stephenson said. He plays with techniques to engage and surprise viewers, he said. He's grown accustomed to people touching the pieces in his "Weeds" collection - one of four he'll bring to the La Quinta Arts Festival -- to feel that it's not three-dimensional. He places large photographs of a tumbleweed onto a black background. The high contrast and fine detail creates the illusion that the object is floating. "This plays off the physiology of the way we respond to very high contrast and detail," Stephenson said. This is his seventh year at the La Quinta festival. He said most of the work he'll show is new. |
Best In Category Award
La Quinta Arts Festival, March 2011
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Mark's Booth at La Quinta 2011
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I was honored to receive the Best In Category (Photography) Award at the La Quinta Arts Festival in March. It was a humbling experience because the category was overflowing with exceptionally gifted and accomplished artists.
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Up coming Events!
- May 14 & 15, 2011 - Paseo Spring Fest, 208 East Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA.
- May 21 & 22, 2011 - Affaire in the Gardens Art Show,Beverly Hills, CA. Held Spring and Fall each year in the heart of Beverly Hills, this show is fun and high quality. Last year I was honored to receive The Most Appealing Display ribbon!
- May 28 & 29, 2011 - 34th Annual Art In The Park, Ojai, CA. I'm over the moon to be trying this one for the first time. I love Ojai!!
- June 24 - 26, 2011 - Des Moines Arts Festival. The Des Moines Arts Festival (DAF) is one of the nation's most respected arts events hosting 185 of the nation's top artists in a beautiful urban setting surrounded by the 4.4 acre John and Mary Pappajohn Sculpture Park.
- July 1, 2 & 3 - Chicago Botanic Garden Art Festival, Chicago, IL.
- July 15, 16 & 17 - Salem Art Fair Festival, Salem, OR.
- July 29, 30 & 31 - Bellevue Arts Museum artsfair, Bellevue, WA.
- August 5, 6 & 7 - Park City Kimball Arts Festival, Park City, UT. First time for me. Can't wait!
- August 27 & 28 - Port Clinton Arts Festival, Highland Park Chicago, IL. Amdur Production's flagship show. Consistently ranked among the top.
- September 3, 4 & 5 - Sausalito Art Festival, Sausalito, CA. 5th consecutive year I'll be participating. Such good fortune I'm pinching myself!!
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