Filed under: mentions by ramune

Angela Kleis wrote an article on instant film and interviewed a few photographers who use the medium, including me. You can read the article on the Smithsonian Arts Blog.

Filed under: doodle, postcards by ramune

Plaid – Sam Lac Run

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

The postcards were on a bit of an hiatus, but they are back and we’ll see if they manage to stick around. Here are some faces . . . what are they so happy/sad about?

Every week I draw a postcard and mail it to someone. If you would like to be that someone, email me here with your mailing address. I will only use your address once to mail the postcard and then I will delete it from memory. Please also let me know if you receive a postcard from me. I know one has already been lost in the mail so I want to make sure everyone who has asked for a postcard has received one. Thanks!

Filed under: experimental, film, polaroid by ramune

Beach Fossils – Youth

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Here are two more photos from my experiments with the Fade to Black film from The Impossible Project. Unlike the last two Fade to Black polaroids I posted, I stopped the development on these two photos of peonies around 3-5 minutes after I shot them (a week apart). The first photo was shot inside and the second was shot outside. After I finish this set of Fade to Black film, I am going to see if there is anything I can do about the rollers that are leaving the stripes across the photos.

Filed under: experimental, film, photography, polaroid by ramune

Broken Bells – Mongrel Heart

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

A few weeks back my sister brought down her (beautifully designed) Polaroid SX-70 camera for us to play with. She bought it at a thrift store for $5 years ago and now if you try to find one on ebay it will cost over $100 (and over $300 new). I imagine this is partly due to The Impossible Project, an interesting group that saved the last Polaroid production plant (in the Netherlands) and has been recreating Polaroid film from scratch. Some of their first batches are a bit quirky but they seem to be refining their process.

When my sister first brought the camera down, we tried out their PX 100 Silver Shade film. I haven’t scanned those photos yet, but they were a mixed bunch. Since we had one of the first batches of this film, the backing was a bit leaky. Supposedly they have figured that out and are fixing it for the next batch.

This last time she came down, we played with the Fade to Black film, which I was really excited experiment with. So far I have only taken a few photos with it, but the basic idea is that the film turns completely black within 24 hours after you take the photo, unless you remove the backing and stop the process. I imagined it would be a gradual process, however after taking these two photos, we noticed the film went almost black within an hour or so. Both of these photos of the polaroids were taken around 5-10 minutes into the development. Supposedly if you let them go completely black and then leave them in a sunny place for a few weeks, part of the image will come back. Depending on how they tun out, I might post those results.

P.S. Please excuse (what we think are) the roller marks on the photos. They seem to show up more in some photos and less in others. Maybe that’s why the camera only cost $5.

Filed under: animation, favorites, music, painting, process, time lapse by ramune

Octave Violin from Ramune on Vimeo.

I was recently asked to paint a violin for the Fairfax Symphony Orchestra‘s silent auction, which followed a performance featuring cellist, Julie Albers. They asked a number of local women artists and I was more than happy to take a lonely violin and make a project out of it. When I arrived at their offices to pick up my violin, I had a choice between one without strings and a crack in it and one that was in decent shape and had two strings. I chose the latter, although looking back on it I probably could have made good use of that crack.

The first thing I thought before I had the violin in my hands was that I would strip it, stain it (either green or red) and then paint something in black acrylic. I am definitely much more comfortable using a pen than I am using paints (I love the control and clean lines when I draw with a pen), but I was looking forward to the challenge and the chance to bring out my paints again. I don’t know where they came from, but I think my acrylics multiplied since the last time I opened that bag (there are at least four large tubes of white paint in there).

Initially when I was thinking about designs, I imagined something using my bubbley tentacles, and then since octopi have been on my mind lately it seemed to be the natural progression. The title “octave” came after I was done painting and needed something more than just “Untitled”. I thought of naming it the obvious “octopus” or “octopod” and then “octave” hit me like some cheesy pun and I had to do it.

Below are more photos from the process I went through to paint the violin. It definitely took longer than I thought since there was so much waiting time between stripping, drying, sanding, conditioning, staining, painting and then varnishing. Along with the photos of the process I also set up my camera and created a time lapse video of me painting the octopus on the violin. You can even follow the link to the vimeo page and watch it in HD (larger than life for your massive screen). Enjoy!

Whether or not these violins are meant to be played, I am not sure, but I went ahead and bought new violin strings so that it can be played . . . although I will mention that the sound post popped out of the violin when I was sanding it. I haven’t played violin since I was a wee one, but I imagine that is somewhat important.

Side Note: Unfortunately I am out of town this weekend, so I wasn’t able to make it to the performance and auction last night, but I am looking forward to seeing photos from the event and all the other violins.

Oops, no photos from the staining phase . . .