Los Angeles Center for Digital Art: Top 40 Winner

Above Photograph: “Threshold” by Daniel W. Coburn

My photograph entitled “Threshold” was chosen as winner in the Top 40 international juried competion at the Los Angeles Center for Digital Art. I am very excited to be part of this exhibition.

Los Angeles Center For Digital Art is dedicated to the propagation of all forms of digital art, supporting local, international, emerging and established artists. Los Angeles Center For Digital Art is located in the Gallery Row area of downtown Los Angeles, 107 West Fifth Street between Main and Spring.

Maps and Gallery Row information:

www.galleryrow.org
www.downtownartwalk.com

40 winners were selected from a pool of international applicants. The winning artworks will be shown in an international group exhibition at the Los Angeles Center for Digital Art gallery from April 10 – May 3, 2008.

Opening Reception: April 10, 2008 7-9pm
(in conjunction with Downtown Art Walk)

New Book Release: Between Earth and Sky

  

My new book entitled “Between Earth and Sky” is now available from DaWayCo Publishing.  The 52 page book contains 46 of my black-and-white landscape images as well as an introduction by Kansas writer, curator and advocate of the arts, Don Lambert.

Click here to read early praise for the book.

The suggested retail price is $14.00 and this latest publication will be available at regional outlets soon.  The book is currently available from this blog and my official website.  All books that ship in the first two weeks will be autographed.

Orders are being processed via Paypal where consumers can pay via credit card or e-check. 

Click here to purchase your copy

Your support is appreciated!

Quality Counts

Recent Insights

When I hang a framed print on a wall at a gallery it represents my reputation as an artist. Most times an art patron will never meet me in person, so the quality of my finished work must be top-notch. As artists, we are judged on many different criteria. Our work is expensive, so it’s message and character shouldn’t be compromised by poor condition.

For example, I work closely with a company in California that makes large-scale prints of my work. The last few orders that I have recieved have been inconsistent. These were subtle but unacceptable problems. A slight variation in quality can completely distort my intentions. I couldn’t proudly stand behind these prints, so they went back. I called the company and they reprinted the order free of charge. If they can’t get it right, I’ll be forced to move on. I think it’s okay to insist on quality, as long as you effectively communicate your need for perfection.

Quality Costs

My photographs are garaunteed so all processes and materials have to be archival quality. I work with a local frameshop and over the course of a year we’ve developed a standard. All of my pieces are presented uniformly. This standard has been developed around quality and also marketability. Through experience, I’ve learned what kinds of frames and presentation styles most people prefer. Archival materials are expensive and this drive for quality requires time and energy. All of these variables increase the price of my work and affect my bottom line.

I always have a show scheduled, so this means transporting the work from venue to venue. Everytime I move a show, something inevitably gets damaged. If a frame is significantly dented or scratched it is ruined. Yikes!

I thinks this is one of those things you learn as you go. I guess I’ve learned that quality costs $$$.

I believe through perseverance, a strong commitment to a quality artwork will pay off.

Chaos and the Creative Process

Above image: A corner of my studio after several hours spent making conceptual photographs.

Creativity Lull

So for the last few months I’ve been drifting aimlessly through the creative doldrums.  Much of my time and energy has been spent on the business end of photography and art.  I’ve been organizing shows, doing taxes, and preparing my latest book for production.  All of these things are necessary and crucial to my success.  All the while, they are draining and monotonous.

I’ve spent the last few weeks racking my brain.  What’s next? Am I on the right path? And if not, in which direction should I turn?  My goal has been to protect the integrity of my work while also striving to make it more marketable.  Needless to say i am exhausted.

It’s time for me to be creative again.  I don’t want to think about who is going to buy my work anymore.  I want to get back to the joy of making photographs.  If I am passionate about my work others will follow (or run quickly in the other direction.)  In either case, I will be garnering a reaction.  It’s time to remove myself from the middle of the road.

Spontaneous Inspiration

A couple of days ago I was stricken with an idea.  That idea led to a second, a third and a fourth_ all within the course of a few hours.  In my case, creativity comes at a moments notice and without warning.  I had spent days and weeks searching the corners of my mind for an interesting idea or concept.  And then all at once, I had several. Of course, by the time I am finished, I will have fallen in and out of love with all of them many times over.

Chaos and Compulsion

I immediately began to shoot a new series of photographs.  When I begin to create something new everything else fades into the background.  My latest piece becomes my latest obsession. Before I know it my studio is completely trashed, I haven’t payed the bills, and my loved ones are wondering if I will ever resurface.  This is the way art gets made at my house.

My new series is based around my passion for preserving nature and the environment.  My goal is to create images that are aesthetically simple, but have the capacity to induce a powerful emotional reaction.  That’s all I can say for now, but it has involved many trips to the grocery store.

If you have stories or ideas about how to get creatively inspired, please share them in the comments section.

Field Trip to Picher

 

All photographs by Daniel W. Coburn 

I recently made a trip to Picher Oklahoma with fellow artist Louis Copt.  We volunteered for a field trip which took us on an adventure with about 50 high school students from Lincoln Prep Academy and Shawnee Mission East in Kansas City.  Louis and I were to serve as mentors to these young artists_ scary, I know.

Picher Oklahoma is an old mining town in the extreme northeast portion of the state.  The excavations in this town provided lead to make ammunition during World War II and Korea. Mining ceased about 50 years ago and the town began to sink as the underground shafts have filled with water.  It’s no longer safe to live in Picher on many different levels, so the federal government is buying land from residents and business owners.  Officials say the entire place will be leveled in 3 years_ The town will literally disappear. 

The land and townspeople have been abused by the mining companies.  The city is rundown, and surrounded by enormous manmade mountains. These chat piles are mine tailings_ waste by-product from the mining process.  The land is heavily littered and polluted. The students were there as observers.  Their main goal was to document the town, it’s residents, and the evolving landscape.  We offered our advice, and most of the students were excited to hear what we had to say :c) 

The students will exhibit their work from this trip at Leopold Gallery in May.  It was a horrible day for photography.  Lighting was bad due to a completely flat, overcast sky.  So, I decided to concentrate on color and I walked away with some decent photos.

Comments and Critiques are welcome! Tell me what you think in the comments section.

Recent Works by Daniel Coburn and Louis Copt @ Pachamamas

 

RECENT WORKS BY DANIEL W. COBURN AND LOUIS COPT

The show will open on Tuesday, March 11th with a public reception for the

artists between 6 and 9pm.

Pachamamas 

800 New Hampshire

Lawrence, KS 66044

Daniel W. Coburn and Louis Copt will showcase recent works in an upcoming show at Pachamamas in Lawrence, Kansas.  Both artists have garnered regional and national acclaim for their works documenting the Kansas landscape.

Louis Copt will release his new 12-minute art/documentary film entitled “The Prairie on Fire.” The short film depicts the cycle of the renewing fires through imagery and music.  Copt spent over two years capturing scenes of the Flint Hills in various seasons with the emphasis on the annual spring burn-off.  Nationally-known musician Kelley Hunt was tapped to provide the interesting and provocative music for Copt’s film.  The film is available on DVD for $9.95  A new series of prairie fire and barn paintings will also be on display.

Coburn’s photographs have garnered national and international recognition, appearing in prestigious exhibitions across the United States.  In 2007, he was a recipient of the Artist-In-Residence award at Rocky Mountain National Park.  In 2008, he served as president of the Lawrence Photo Alliance, an organization dedicated to the proliferation of photography and photographic artists in the Midwest.  Coburn is a recipient of the 2008 Kansas Mid-Career Artist Fellowship presented in part by the Kansas Arts Commission and the National Endowment for the Arts.  His photography appears regularly in regional and national publications and his images have been featured in Camera Arts Magazine.

Kansas Backroads: Images of Rural America – Photographs by Daniel W. Coburn and Roger Spohn

Above - Top: Winter Wheat by Daniel W. Coburn – Bottom: Sunflower Field, Sunset Osage Co. KS by Roger Spohn

I have several photographs in an exhibit at the Lawrence Public Library gallery. This is a two-person show and I’m sharing the space with Roger Spohn. Roger is a fantastic photographer who documents the landscape in color and black and white in the tradition of artists like Ansel Adams. Please make sure you join us for snacks and refreshments at our opening reception which takes place on the day of the Lawrence Gallery Walk.

Kansas Backroads: Images of Rural America
Photographs by Daniel Coburn and Roger Spohn

Lawrence Public Library
707 Vermont St
Lawrence, KS 66044
March 1 – April 30

Opening Reception for the Artists/Gallery Walk:
April 25 – 5-7pm