Hello from Lake Tahoe...

Greetings from the cross-country ski trails of Lake Tahoe, where I am thoroughly enjoying all the snow!

I’ve been feeling a little out of sorts lately and I can’t put my finger on why exactly. My guess is that it's a combination of a few things: I haven’t been sleeping well (kitty antics at 5am don’t help), my commitments to some volunteer positions I have are stressful lately, I haven’t been eating very well, nor have I been getting any exercise to speak of unless it's walking through an airport.

January came and went and we’re already halfway through February (?!) and I’m feeling the inevitable sense of “Holy cow, my June exhibition is going to be here before I know it and I’ve got an insane amount of work to do for that.” I love my life, but lately I’ve been edgy and the classic Retter "short fuse" is rearing its ugly head. We're mellow until all of a sudden we're not.

It couldn't be more perfect timing that I am cross-country skiing in Tahoe for a week. John tries to meet up with a friend of his every couple of years to go downhill skiing and this time I was able to tag along, going off on my own while the guys go zooming down the mountain. Tahoe feels like a winter wonderland dream come true and, best of all, it’s getting me outdoors in fresh air moving my body around for hours at a time. More photos to come.

Now to figure out how to keep up some version of this at home without feeling like like I’m “exercising.”
*sigh*

Life Lately: January

I took apart my desk calendar and hung the pages on my wall because 1. They were too pretty to just have them doled out one month at a time, and 2. I’m realizing that I need to see every month at once sometimes. There’s a lot coming up this year & it’s kind of exciting! By the time December rolls around I wonder what these pages will have filled up with.

So far I have loved January! Starting out the year by hanging up a huge exhibit was a great kick-off! It was a surprisingly satisfying thing to see my photographs out in the world again. I even sold a piece from the show already! The buyer and I chatted over the phone— I can’t wait to meet her when I take the show down in April and give her the photograph in person.

Then there were the snowstorms! It finally feels like winter, ahhh. I was even able to go cross-country skiing, which felt like such a treat.

It got pretty cold too… here is Sherman looking out the window at 7 super-puffed-up robins who were perched in the courtyard trees.

Miss Hazel. I love her so much! She is growing but still has that “little kitten” meow which I hope never goes away.

She is giving Sherman a run for his money (and I think Sherm is happy to finally have a friend he can have some fun with).

John came home with these beautiful flowers! I cut them short and put them into the one ceramics project of mine that was a success. I love the turquoise/purple combo.

In the studio… I’ve started working on finishing my Tiny Poems book. Yesterday I spent a couple hours sorting through sample packs of Japanese papers to see what I might use for printing. In the process, I was hit with an idea for another little project… sometimes the perfect paper leads you straight to the project it’s perfect for :-)

Also art-related: I’m excited to be working out the details of new collaborative projects with the Ohio State School for the Blind and also with Project Jericho in Springfield.

So yes! A lovely January. How is your 2019 so far?

My Exhibit at the Meadowlark

It’s up! My exhibit at the Meadowlark Restaurant in Dayton runs from now through March. It was my original intention to just display my Velvet Winter series, but with all the wall space at the Meadowlark I was able to add a sampling of The Blue Hour and Enchanted Kingdom as well. It feels SO good to have photographs up on walls again! I’ve been working on the Flying Adventures book project for such a long time that my other work has taken a back seat, and this show couldn’t be a more perfect way to get that part of my photography life up and running again.

I started by unearthing all the prints I had, signing and labeling them.

Miss Hazel was, of course, helpful in every way possible: “No prints under here!” she says.

I cleaned 42 pieces of glass…

… and did my best to frame prints without the inevitable stray hair of kitten fur finding its way in.

“Ooooh I think I see one right here!” Miss Hazel says.

This was the first time I made wall labels and proper signs for a show. I thought that since each photograph had the same info (size, price, edition number, etc.) that I could just lump all of that together on the larger project statement sign, but I realized each photograph deserves its own. Besides, if someone’s interested in it, why should they have to track down the sign in the foyer?

Each wall at the Meadowlark is unique. Two are brick but the rest are painted bold colors. I wasn’t sure if I’d like how the photographs looked on bright walls, but I love how the images pop!

The foyer is home to two of my favorite images from the series, “Silver Forest” and the title piece, “Velvet Winter.” On busy nights when there’s a wait for a table, hopefully people will enjoy the snowy view.

To view images from all three series click the links below:
Velvet Winter . Enchanted Kingdom . The Blue Hour

To inquire about purchasing photographs or scheduling an exhibit, please email me directly at
studio@claudiaretter.com

Thank you to Wiley and Lisa for the opportunity, and to John for all your help.
xxoo!