Friday, July 28, 2017

WONDERLAND: PHOTOGRAPHS BY KIRSTY MITCHELL AT THE PAINE CENTER

BEAUTY, FANTASY, TRIBUTE
I doubt I would ever have heard of the Paine Art Center and Gardens if it hadn't been for our fortuity in meeting out furniture manufacturer, Terry Sweeney.
Terry's shop is located in Omro, a hop, skip and a jump away from Oshkosh and the Paine Center.
Every time I'm needed to drive up to Omro to look at a new piece of furniture I try to stop at the Paine as well. It's a small museum bequeathed to the Oshkosh community by the Paine's, a family combining the fortunes of the Paine lumber conglomerate with the paper milling family of Kimberly-Clark fame. Nathan and Jessie began building this Tudor Revival country estate in 1927 but the onset of the Depression halted all construction by 1932.
It wasn't until 1946 that the Paine's were able to finalize legal plans to grant the estate to the city as a museum and cultural center. The Paine's, who never spent one day as residents of the estate,  but are now its most famous residents in spirit at least.
On Saturday my sister and I did the drive up to Omro to look at some new pieces of furniture at Terry's Black Wolf Design studio and then it was off to the Paine to see Kirsty Mitchell's photo exhibit, Wonderland.
This is Kirsty Mitchell's first American side exhibition of her work. Kristy is a British photographer who began her career as a fashion designer.  This combination of the camera and fashion produced a fairyland of creativity.
The Wonderland project began as a tribute to her mother, a way of grieving and sanctifying the remembrance of her mother who died way too early from a brain tumor. Her mother had been a schoolteacher and it was those memories of being read to snuggled up in front a fire that inspired the extraordinary characters and imagined forests that inhabit Wonderland. You can feel the immense emotions at play in this photo essay that skips from grief to exuberance.
The scale of the work on exhibit is so large you get the sensation that you could literally walk right into the photo and experience the feel of the shade of the tree canopies and the smell of the floral bouquets.
The costuming and propping in each photo is so filled with imagery and detail that nothing is left behind without having been thoroughly attended to right down to the character's eyelashes.
It's no wonder that several of the photos consumed almost six months of preparation prior to being shot.
If you find yourself anywhere near Oshkosh between now and October fifteenth when the exhibit closes take the time to walk through Wonderland and if you happen to have a spare $7000 please pick up one of the large-scale prints for me. My shipping address will be provided upon request














THE GALLERY
The Cottingley Fairies, 1917
Elsie Wright and Frances Griffith, photographers
Under the copyright of the Science & Society Picture Library, England

Friday, July 21, 2017

FOOD GLORIOUS FOOD

A PHOTO HISTORY OF OUR ENCOUNTERS WITH FOOD
I've been bad...very bad. Last weekend, a weekend that I've now stretched all the way to the following Thursday, has been a very decadent trip through street fairs, cafes, roadside diners with carhop service and glorious mouth smacking restaurants. I've been on a food binge and I've got the new one size up pants to prove it. So in honor of my new pants and the lethargy that gluttony can produce I'm dedicating this post to a retrospective of some of the food I've been able to photograph before my fork was allowed to destroy the many magnificent tableaux of delectable deliciousness.
Here goes:
MARKETS
Purple peppers
Heirloom carrots
Square watermelon
Roman fish market























PREPPING THE MEAL
Artichokes
Shrimp
Banana pudding
Brussel sprouts

















BREAKFAST
Donuts and chocolate dip
Cinnamon rolls
Pancakes
Soaked French toast
Poached egg on a bed of mushrooms and frisee























APPETIZERS
Crabcakes
Watermelon basket with feta, red onion and black pepper
Prociutto and melon
Fried calamari
Avocado tostada
7724Miso soup























SALAD
Strawberry and spinach salad
Tuna and poached egg salad
Bib lettuce with flowers
Prague salad























PASTA
Penne and pesto
Rigatoni























LUNCH
Lobster roll and fries
Avocado toast and sweet potato fries
Pilora's mac and cheese























STREET FOOD
Spicy fried avocado
Grilled cheese waffle with fried chicken and maple dipping sauce
Everything fried
Tangerine ice























EVENTS
Thanksgiving buffet
Graduation grilled cheese
Store open house
Christmas cookies
Easter eggs
Emmy's annual birthday cake
















SNACKS
Brussel sprouts, crushed almonds, olives, parmesan cheese
Ice cream filled tangerines
Belgian fries























DRINKS
Apperatifs
Melon margarita
Fred and Ginger yogurt
Portugal's best Cappuccino























ENTREES
Savory bread pudding
Mac and cheese
Turkey with figs
Fish with dill and lemon
Pizza with arugula, onion and sausage
Pork tenderloin
Steak with black pepper sauce

















DESSERTS
CocaCola cake
Mile-high lemon merengue pie
Cobbler with cinnamon basil ice cream
Mama Deb's red velvet cake
Chocolate mountain cake with maraschino cherries
Marshmallow and cherries























THE GALLERY
Bijou au Bar de la Lune, Montmartre, 1932
Brassai, photographer
Represented by Edwynn Houk Gallery