Photography: Fragmented Reflections

This is the second image in a series that I began in September of 2009. The initial image of the series was a self portrait that I posted on The Art Chute back in September of 2009. You can find that image here. You'll can also find the original test image for this series on The Art Chute as well.

The series is titled "Fragmented Reflections" and each photograph is meant to relay things about the subject in an unusual and interesting way. I also give participants some input on some aspects of the photograph, though the primary concept is my own. When the series is complete the related images will be exhibited life size, side by side. The tests I've done to that effect are pretty impressive and I'm looking forward to seeing them all up in a good gallery.

I'd like for the series to progress a little quicker, but being in puritanical and mostly utilitarian Southern New England, I don't have lot's of people lining up to pose nude. Such is life in the second dark ages!

Thanks for checking it out.

Painting: Hei Tiki Complete

Anyone who follows this blog will remember previous entries regarding the preliminary work regarding this painting. Most of my abstract work tends to be the product of hundreds of little exploratory drawings and work ups. The Hei Tiki took about two hundred or so. Some of which I posted in previous entries related to this painting. If you would like to read those earlier entries, click on the links below:

Maori Hei Tiki Post No. 1

Maori Hei Tiki Post No. 2

My official entry for the Hei Tiki from my online sales page:

This is an abstract I created of the Hei Tiki of the Maori of New Zealand (Aotearoa).

From Wikipedia: "One theory of the origin of the hei-tiki suggests a connection with Tiki, the first man in Māori legend. According to Horatio Gordon Robley, there are two main ideas behind the symbolism of hei-tiki: they are either memorials to ancestors, or represent the goddess of childbirth, Hineteiwaiwa. The rationale behind the first idea is that they were often buried when their kaitiaki (guardian) died and would be later retrieved and placed somewhere special to be brought out in times of tangihanga (mourning and associated activities)."

It is mixed media on canvas and consists of acrylic paint, gold leaf paint, silver leaf paint, graphite and ink. It was created by using multiple layers of all the materials and both opaque and gouache layers of the acrylics. The painting is off to its home in Auckland, New Zealand, where it belongs. I created it as a gift to honor my many friends there. Kia ora! -Henry

In summation: I'm very pleased with it and I'm about to begin another version of the Hei Tiki in the next few weeks. With that painting, I plan to post the actual painting process.

If you are interested in seeing a larger version of Henry Krauzyk's Maori Hei Tiki painting online, or you'd like to purchase a print, please visit the online gallery by clicking here!

Mixed Media: Voices (1995)

Not many people have seen this piece of work. It's not because I'm embarrassed of it and hide it. It's just that it has only been exhibited in two shows and it's not the kind of work you hang in a casually decorated home like mine. It's never been on any of my websites or any of the art sites I exhibit my work on because until very recently, I lacked the proper photography gear to photograph it successfully. You see, the damn thing reflects light and glares like a somovabitch! Finally, though, I was able to get a decent shot.

If I had to guess its original title, I think it was "Influence". Though I can't be sure, and I'm just too lazy to go through old zip disks (remember those?) to find out. For the sake of argument, the piece is about influence and I tend to be pretty practical in naming my work.

It is constructed out of wood planks, tin cans, staples, cardboard, paper, screws, nail, cloth, string, animal sinew, wire, plastic and paint. It's a very heavy piece and is 24" high x 24" wide x 2.5" inches deep.

This piece came about from some conversations I had with a friend. During those conversations my friend disclosed some unpleasant memories regarding abuse she experienced when she was growing up. Thinking a little too much about things as I am want to do, I couldn't help feeling melancholy about infants and children and how they come into the world so open, dependent and helpless and many just never get a chance at normalcy at the least, and others are just subject to unthinkable horrors at the worse. So I started sketching the ideas for this piece. Unfortunately, (for me, you will feel indifferent) this work was about a lot of compromise because I couldn't create it exactly as I wanted. Some of the items I required for the concept just were not available or they were uneconomical. Though, that is something I can tackle in the future at my own fortune and whim. The original concepts for this piece would translate into several others. If you know someone or some organization with a few thousand dollars burning a hole in their pocket give me a ring. I pay commission!

In the execution of the piece I also decided to stear clear of my friend's personal details and instead make the piece and message general and universal so perhaps more people would understand it.

As I mentioned earlier, the work has only been exhibited twice. On one of those occasions the director of the show told me it was the only piece that he felt captured the spirit of the exhibit's theme. That was hefty praise for me and very satisfying. When I display my paintings and non-photographic work publicly, I like to hang back anonymously and listen to what people have to say about it. Art is subjective and it is always interesting to hear what people like and don't like about my work. Believe it or not it's actually cool to hear someone INTELLIGENTLY describe what they don't like about your work (thanks RISD). It gives you a unique perspective on you and your work. It can also be funny when you get the occasional buffoon that tries to impress their friends with inaccurate artsy shitspeak.

Regarding this piece in particular, there are also a lot of stupid fucking people out there who unthinkingly instantly react to the iconography and they never get past their ignorant revulsion to see what's going on here. So, when looking at this work, feel free to dislike it, but please don't be fucking stupid.

I think I'll write that on the gallery card next time I exhibit this. I think I'll also find out what it is called.

Writing: The Gun

(Author's note: So, every once in awhile bits and pieces of this story kind of come popping into my mind. So, I started writing them down. Then in my head it plays like a movie so I started selecting actors for the parts. I like Alan Cumming as Palmer Gray)

It lay in the the drawer. The light reflecting off it in long, soft and satiny highlights that appeared to draw it into existence from the darkness of its surroundings. Its tobacco-colored wooden grip glowed warmly in contrast to the steely, blue-blackness of its metal parts.

The strange thing about a found gun, the weird, most-often-overlooked thing, is its intoxicating invitation to be held. That's why so many accidents happen. So many tragedies. So much pain, loss and sorrow. Because a found gun begs to be picked up, pleads to be held and marveled at, to be fidgeted with. Against all danger, in spite of all their good judgement, many otherwise clear thinking people whom have no business picking up a gun, succumb.

Palmer lifted the pistol.

A room over, in her brightly lit kitchen, Chloe quietly prepared tea for her accidental guest. She hummed quietly while she arranged the cups and saucers on the tray. She added a small bowl of sugar and a tiny pitcher of cream. She rearranged things slightly, to perfection, her perfection. "Yes, there it is" she whispered to herself.

Outside she smiled lightly, inside however her heart smiled broadly, her eyes betrayed that. She looked out her window into the black, rainy night. She watched the lights of a car making its way up the street play against her water streaked window. The rivulets of water playing a soft jazz over the reality outside. Chloe liked such things.

She turned to her tea pot marking its progress and then busied herself tidying things while she waited for the water to come to a boil. While Chloe was happy for her company, she still preferred to avoid the uncomfortable pauses that light conversation could bring.

Palmer marveled at the pistol's weight and heft. He hadn't expected it to be so heavy and so cool to the touch. He noted the weird comfort of the grip, how the checkered surface bit a little into his hand. He looked down at this machine of destruction in his hand. It seemed a natural extension of his own body. He raised it at arm's length and the sights fell quickly and naturally into his view, that made Palmer uncomfortable yet did little to abate his fascination.

He studied the pistol closely, noting the small levers and buttons. He studied the small scratches in its finish, its grooves, notches, knurls and the little white dots on the sites. All the while images of every movie, book and television show involving gun play whispered in his mind. Westerns, spy dramas and movies involving organized crime. His eyes ran all over the gun. He noticed the silver trigger and strangely, he even lifted the pistol to his nose and smelled it. There were hints of things he was familiar with like oil and things he was not familiar with like tetrazine.

He was lost in the gun, blindly fascinated.

In the blurry darkness of the room he picked out a photograph on the wall and raised it. He lined up and then focused the gun's sights on it. It seemed to come with ease. His target cleared in his vision. Then the voice in his head whispered something, Palmer felt his brow tighten, his eyes squint in anger. Only half-thinking, he felt himself tightening on the trigger which slowly drew the hammer back...

"It's an automatic." Chloe whispered, her voice shattered him from his bewitched state.

Palmer's head snapped to the right to see her silhouette in the doorway holding the tea service.

"It's an American Colt .45." she added, slowly walking into the dark room until the table lamp dimly lit her. She placed the tray down.

"Oh, ah, sorry, is it?" Palmer heard himself blurt out as he clumsily placed the gun back in the drawer. His movements made him seem a long, skinny balloon deflating ever-so-quickly, a dynamic deconstruct, a weird ballet of retreating anger, resolute propriety and abject guilt at having been caught snooping, or worse.

"It's okay Mr. Gray, I've unloaded it."

"Yes, well, there it is." Palmer said looking into the drawer, his eyes uneasily lingering on it a little too long.

His bewilderment subsiding, a series of questions began flooding in... (copyright ©Henry Krauzyk 2009)

Design: Recreating the KBHR neon sign from Northern Exposure

I've always been a fan of the 1990's television series "Northern Exposure." In case you are wondering why, allow me to explain: It is the best television show that was ever created.

Okay, now that raw logic is out of the way, I'd also like to explain that I started designing t-shirts based on the show for my own use. Then realizing other people may like them as well, I started selling them online. Apparently, a good number of intelligent people out there feel the same way I do about Northern Exposure, because my shirts are worn by people all over the world. More a testament to the program than my designs, but still - confirmation nonetheless.

One of the aspects that I enjoyed about Northern Exposure was the local radio station called "K-BEAR" (call letters KBHR). It hosted a show called "Chris in the Morning" in which the DJ, Chris Stevens would play great music interspersed with poetry, philosophical meanderings and deep perspectives. Something I have regrettably NEVER heard on a real radio station. More reason to feel truly alone in the universe I guess.

KBHR is big with Northern Exposure people and I have already created one INTERNATIONALLY POPULAR, INFLUENTIAL and copied (you f@ckers!) design. With this original design, I opted to go low-tech and low design. Something that would have actually been created by the small-town fictional radio station for its fans. See below:


Lately, I have been in a Northern Exposure - KBHR kind of mood so I decided yesterday to create a new design for a variety of clothing and other products. One of the things I always liked about KBHR on TV was the late night scenes with the actors illuminated by the neon KBHR sign. So, I wanted a design like that. First I needed to find some resource info, and to the web I went. Luckily, other hugely intelligent people feel similarly about Northern Exposure and KBHR so I was able to find some decent source images from: KBHR Cicely Alaska: Philosophy, Art & Literature. See below:


That in hand, last night I began to recreate the original sign in PhotoShop:

I used the "warp function" to create a scaled and linear version of the sign from the source images so that I could path them to create some high resolution outlines. Once I had the outlines I was able to use color fills and the outer and inner glow functions to create the look of a neon sign. To unify the image as a shirt design, I added the fictional town's name in blue and bordered the whole thing with a red neon frame. A few more details that mimic an actual neon sign and then I fixed the colors and sharpness so they'd translate well to printing on fabric, ceramics, plastics and a variety of other mediums (If you want the step by steps, just write me and I'll give a descriptive outline of the process and steps).

That done I had my new design and it'll be up and available for sale on hundreds of products from Aboriginalz a day or so after this posting, and the Northern Exposure fandom will have one more design to revel in:

I also write a blog loosely based on the KBHR programming model. If you're interested you can find it here.

Photography: Christmas Set-up and Shoot

This year I wanted to offer prospective portraiture clients a different angle on traditional children's Christmas portraits. So instead of the static poses in front of some hokey Christmas backdrop or the involuntary-looking child on some Santa's lap, I wanted to create a seasonally-specific immersive environment that the kids would have fun in. Because happy and focused kids make for superior photos. That got the gears in my mind spinning.

The answer came at a large discount store chain where I saw over-sized Christmas ornaments on sale for a few dollars each. I grabbed a number of those and then went to a local craft shop to buy some Christmas ribbon that would suit them. That done I suspended them from the ceiling at a variety of complimentary heights (lay-person-speak for "artfully"). The heights would allow for two kinds of shooting. One style with the children just beneath the hanging ornaments, the second set of photographs with the children elevated so that they are amongst the ornaments.

I used three lights for the shoot, one 7' x 4' strobe soft box to 10 o'clock camera right, another 7' x 4' strobe soft box to 2 o'clock camera left (camera being at 12 o'clock). The third light was a snooted strobe used as a hair and detail light that was set up 35° over and behind the subjects at 7 o'clock camera right (subject being the center of the clock). The background was a mottled gray muslin back drop. I also set up large black fabric flags to absorb and limit reflections from the ornaments and other places.

Then, I just let the kids go and create the shots I needed. Camera-wise, I kept the aperture wide and the shutter speed up so I could move around with the camera to get the desired angles I needed to get good shots. I was very happy with many of the photographs.

Processing was straightforward with minimal Lightroom or PhotoShop manipulation (blemish and dust removal). I was also happy with the as-shot color and white balance so post-process was really limited to cropping.

I offered this kind of shoot for $99 for a one hour session and an 8" x 10" included.

Above: The first shooting perspective put the children just below the ornaments for one type of photograph.


Above: The second shooting perspective placed the children amongst the ornaments for the second type of photograph that this set up allows.

If you live along the South Coast of Massachusetts and are looking for a creative studio, please consider Taylor Photographic Studios of Fall River, Massachusetts.

Visit my art photography website for a variety of fine art photography prints including large Nantucket and Azores galleries.

Photography: New Photography Blog and New Online Store!

I recently began a new photography blog related to my fine art photography website. Each entry offers some background and insight into each photograph from my various series and galleries. I'll also be using it to debut new art photography work. I hope you check it out and enjoy it.

I've also added an online photography print store to the Henry Krauzyk - Photography website. I'm adding new prints to it daily and it already contains a great deal of my most popular photographic work. Photographs from my Coastal New England Series - Nantucket and the Sao Miguel Azores Series are selling well there. If you're looking for some new art, or know someone who might be interested please send them my way!

Earlier this month I launched Taylor Photographic Studios, a portrait, family and commercial photography studio serving the Greater Fall River, Massachsuetts/South Coast region. I'll be posting some of my work from Taylor Photographic Studios here on Art Chute and some of my other creative blogs. If you're looking for high-quality and creative photographs of yourself, family or products, check us out.

As always, "Behind the Glass" my online photoblog is still a clearing house for some of my best work. The portfolio area is a great way to see a good selection of my work as a whole. From there you can click on individual photographs to enlarge them.

In the mean time I'll be cross linking a lot of work to the online sales outlets and adding Facebook and Twitter links for anyone that is interested in following my work on those services. Just look for the little icons and click on them to friend or fan me/us!

Finally, I'd like to thank you for your support, ideas and encouragement over the last year or so. It's good to know that people appreciate and believe in what I am doing.

Happy Holidays! - Henry Krauzyk