Tacoma Has a New Muse and Winterfest

Along the ever growing and always changing street we call 6th Ave, there is a new Café. The Muse Café opened in October serving up food, coffee and good music. They host an open mic Tuesdays and Thursdays and have live music Fridays and Saturdays. Through the month of December they will also be hosting an
exhibition of Sarah McTernen photography. Thirteen photographic art pieces hang on their walls for your viewing and purchasing pleasure.
So if you’re in the neighborhood or can be, please stop by, have a cup of coffee and a sandwich or a piece of cake, enjoy some music and take in the scenery.
The Muse Café is open from 10am to 10pm Monday thru Wednesday and until midnight Thursday through Friday.

Tacoma Winterfest 2008
The Foss Waterway Seaport is putting on a holiday festival this year. Winterfest will feature food, 70 vendors including me, Captain Claus, a beer den and more.. Admission is $5 per person and children under 12 are free. This event is indoors. So come on down to 705 Dock Street and experience the holiday spirit.
Please check out their website for more information.

Project Photography Explained
I love taking the almost mundane objects in life and showing their spectacular side. One of the first pictures I took that showcases this idea is The Violin. It is not the most beautiful violin. It is not old or filled with character, but it was mine, and at the time of this picture, I had been playing it for seven years. It was meaningful to me, and in turn has become an important picture to other people.
Project Photography is taking the things in your life that you love, and through my eye and camera, turning them into photographic art for you. It is your chance to make the art on your walls personal and full of meaning.
Project photography blends the idea of art and portraiture, moving beyond just human subjects.
Check out the Project Photography page for more.

Just in Time for Christmas

As the gift giving season approaches, please consider turning to unique and creative sights such as http://www.etsy.com/ or http://www.cafepress.com/ to buy your loved ones interesting items that cannot be found at your local chain store.

If you are looking for art, consider www.cafepress.com/ardentphoto

or

New Work

Here is a sampling to wet your appitite. Please check out the website for more.

Creative Criticism

Now I must say that depending on who is giving the criticism, I may or may not listen to what someone has to say, but unless I value someones opinion deeply, I am not going to be offended by it. I joined a new art site recently that is a large photo contest and every member votes on the photographs. I manage to ruffle a few feathers because I didn't give people a high enough ranking. One of them even said that I offended him. I didn't mean to I just thought the photograph could have been better.

The question comes into play, when do you just sit back and let the world be happy with mediocrity. That seems to be what it wants. Something that is good enough. The fellow in question said he was offended and countered with the fact that the quite a few of the prints of that photograph had been sold. The problem is, it was a photograph of an interesting phenomenon so people will by a so-so print of some cool geological thing just because of the interesting geological thing not because it is a great photograph.

I have a critical eye, whether it is my own work or someone else's, and for the most part I welcome criticism of my work if it is in an effort to elevate the level of my work (that is not saying that digital is crap because its digital). I will never understand people who are so vain...maybe I am just rambling.

Summer Festivals

I was hoping to get Ardent to a few of the festivals this summer, but it looks as though I came to the party a little late. Most of the applications for this summer were due by the middle of March. I am still hoping to be part of the Urban Arts Festival and the Proctor Arts Festival both in Tacoma as well as a few Thursdays at the Tacoma Farmer's Market on Broadway. If nothing else works out, Ardent Photography will be displayed at Border's Books and Music the whole month of August.