9 May 2010 by pat.

My image of the golden pear will be appearing in an iPad app in the near future. I’ve sold its non-exclusive use to Grocio.com.I should take advantage of the crummy weather today and update my website.

Posted in Photography - Art, Photography sales and marketing, Photography | 2 Comments »

25 October 2009 by pat.

One of my photos. Available for sale at FinerWorks

Posted in Photography - Art, Photography, Food | 1 Comment »

14 June 2009 by pat.

Ranjit does beautiful things with a scanner and fresh farmers’ market produce.Some of my favorites: eggs and radishes, greens and onions , tomato, mushrooms & greens, alliums. And he photographs, too: Death Valley

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10 May 2009 by pat.

More work than I expected!

Each skin for a different player/phone has a different template. Each template has a space for the skin and for the desktop artwork, and so requires placing and scaling of two images. And then each template must be uploaded separately!

I have done 16 skins (for iPod touches and iPhones: 4 different variations):

• Blue Lagoon, Iceland: show what a worldly traveller you are
• Stoney Creek Vineyard: for the oenophile in you
• Golden Pear: one of my first still lifes
• Venetian Still Life #2: Masks, music, romance.More to come!

Posted in Photography - Art, Photography sales and marketing, Photography | 4 Comments »

21 February 2009 by pat.

I sold a print of Golden Pear shortly before Christmas; I’ve been asked if some of my images can be considered for use in a calendar. If one (or more) is chosen, I’ll let you know about the calendar and where it is available for sale (I’d get a photo credit, no money).

Posted in Urban nature, Photography - documentary, Photography - Art, Photography sales and marketing, Photography | 2 Comments »

9 October 2007 by pat.

Since 2004 I’ve been getting my images printed at Finer Works in the USA.They now have a program that enables me to sell images through their site — so click on over to Finer Works to get one of my prints. I’m offering a selection of 13 — and I’ll be adding to the collection over time. Currently for sale are a number of still lifes, seascapes, and one photograph of shutters I took in Provence two years ago.

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10 December 2006 by pat.

I chose a yet-different image (I had moved the chequerboard mask) and masked out the background on this to darken it slightly and to bring out the green values in it.You can compare it to the image that’s below it to see the editorial changes.

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24 November 2006 by pat.

A variation on a theme.This weekend I want to find a globe on a stand in one of the antique/junk/collectibles shops in my neighbourhood. To take still-life pictures, you’ve gotta have props (some might call it junque, but beauty is in the eye of the photographer )I need to do some serious editing on this: the more I look at it, the more I realize that the gold on the mask and the mottled green of the background fabric are too similar with the lighting in this image. So I want to mask out all the objects, and darken the fabric.I can do that: I’ve done more intricate masking jobs for competitions over on Worth1000. It will just take a little time, that’s all. Time, and some good jazz music, and a glass of pinot grigio from the Venezia region, just to put me in the mood….pat.

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21 November 2006 by pat.

Here’s one.I borrowed a couple of violins from co-workers, and pulled together some still life images using them, some masks I got in Venice, some sheet music I printed off the web, and other bits and pieces of things I’ve got around home.I still need to finish going through my Peggy’s Cove pictures and choosing the best of those, and making a CD for retailers, but sometimes you’ve just gotta take pictures…

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2 November 2006 by pat.

So first, let’s look at the original photograph of the David Austin “Abraham Darby” rose:

As you can see, the open blossom is quite pinkish, and the two closed blossoms are yellower: more of a peach colour.

Black’s Photography offers the ability to upload a picture to their website (.jpg and maybe some other formats: it barfed on .tiff, which is my favorite format, due to being lossless). They offer a number of ways to use the picture: as a photo, on a mug, or a mouse pad, or a tee-shirt… or woven on a Jacquard loom. That sounded interesting to me, and I also like the idea that computer punch cards were based on the punch cards used by jacquard looms, and now the jacquard looms are creating digital images… round and round we go…

So I copied the picture up. And checked it out on the blanket/tapestry, and thought it looked pretty good! 3 weeks until delivery. I kept my fingers crossed, hoping it would arrive before the technical update session, when I was talking about digital photography for gardeners.

Alas, no such luck. The tech. update happened on Saturday; I got a call on Tuesday or Wednesday (I forget which: it was the last week of a software update), and wasn’t able to pick it up until Friday.

I think it turned out quite well, although the open rose isn’t quite as pink, and the buds aren’t quite as peachy. The color range is limited, after all: these are woven yarns.

It looks better from afar than from 12″ away: gets almost a high-pass-filter kind of look when examined up close.

I think the next time I do this (and I most likely will) I’ll choose something with more flowers, in bright contrasting colors, and smaller. A rose is truly overwhelming when it’s about 36 inches across. It would be better to reproduce an image at close to a 1:1 scale, instead of doing a huge macro like this.

I also positioned the large rose really close to the top edge of the blanket: it would be a good idea to leave some background to frame the image, I’d say about a 6″ margin all the way around.

Live and learn!

Posted in Home gardens, Gardening, Photography - Art, Photography sales and marketing, Photography | 2 Comments »

22 October 2006 by pat.

Yesterday I delivered an hour-long lecture on digital photography for gardeners to the Master Gardeners in Ontario’s zone 6. I’m glad to have it over, as I put quite a bit of pressure on myself to deliver a lot of information in a short time in an interesting manner (I had 70 powerpoint slides; 40 of them were images illustrating points).

It was well received, and I’ve been asked to create a follow-on presentation for our local Master Gardeners group that deals exclusively with the post-production process (after you press the button and take the picture).

One side-effect of the seminar for the Technical Update session is that I’ve added a PDF to my website, which is a free download: a composition guide and checklist for garden photography.

To use the composition guide, print the page (landscape mode) onto a transparency. Some modern cameras provide this grid through the viewfinder, or on the LCD display screen.

Look through the grid at your composition: try to position straight lines at or near one of the lines on the guide. Or, if you’ve got specific points of interest, try to position them at the circles where the lines intersect. Make sure you check out both landscape and portrait orientations of the grid. Once you’ve got a composition that you’re happy with, notice where the edges are, and use your camera to capture the composition.

I brought some of my canvases to the seminar, and showed them at a table (had a folder with proofs of the whole set of still life images, with finished canvas size and price marked on each, and postcards with my email address and website).

I was hoping to show a jacquard-weave tapestry blanket of three David Austin roses, but it wasn’t ready on time (it will be ready on Monday: figures, eh?).

At the seminar I met a designer who may contact me to display some canvasses at a charity design house she’s working on: this could be an opportunity to show some images in the sort of setting they’d be used in. We’ll see what happens.

That was a busy day: I need to take a few days off, because I’ve been working 60-hour weeks at work, plus pulling together the seminar.

I’ve got a week of vacation coming the first week of December. If not before then, I’ll use some of that time to convert one of my spare bedrooms into a photo studio, so I don’t have to cart everything down from the third floor to the dining table when I want to do a photo shoot.

Posted in Master Gardener in training, Photography - Art, Photography sales and marketing, Photography | 3 Comments »

27 September 2006 by pat.

Between Sunday and today, I

• revised my price list, created a PDF of it, and linked it on my web page
• created new gallery stickers for my canvases that will be showing at The Commissary
• created a hanging diagram to show how the images should be hung
• also ordered a sample of 10 mini-business-cards with photos on (thanks, Sandy!)

Now I’ve got to

• create and print stickers to go on the backs of my postcards to get some eyeballs looking at the canvases
• order more ink and a roll of canvas from Epson
• get that darned CD for retailers finished
• get some more publicity - try to get something in the cabbagetown-area weekly newspaper

and

• finish writing and illustrating the seminar I will be giving to the Toronto Master Gardeners on Oct. 21st
• print some of my floral images on canvas to take to TBG that day (I’ve got a table at which to sell my wares).

I’ve got under a month to do all the above.Oh — and write a cheque to the insurance company, now that they’ve dinged me an additional $345.60 for running a small business at home so they would give me exhibit insurance. I wish they’d get with the modern age and let me pay either directly from my bank account or via credit card.

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26 August 2006 by pat.

I’ve made my first sale.Three Amigos, for $300.

Thank you, Lori!Now I need to start keeping track of money –not just all the receipts of money I’ve spent, but money I’ve got coming in.I’m going to retain electronic copies of receipts, so I’ll know who I sold to, when, and for what price.It’s good to track customers — if at all possible, I’ll make sure I’ve got an email account for them, so I can send out advertisements of future shows or groupings of images.

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28 July 2006 by pat.

A bit slow on the recount, here. Had to wait until I had permissions to republish.

If you want to get publicity, start sending out information about 6 months before you want to get something published. I sent out a flurry of press releases at the end of January/early February, and I’ve had an article (with a headshot) published now.

Warning: expect that what you say may be translated into something different in print.

What is the interest of the newspaper, magazine, or medium that you are trying to get published in? It’s important to figure that out. For this article, I knew that their primary interest is in people and events happening in east-end Toronto. So I filled out the information I gave them with other information about what my interests are in the community, and volunteer work that I do in my neck of the woods.

So here it is, reproduced verbatum, with permission of ETC… News:

East Toronto Artists

Beauty in the Gallery and in the Garden

by Linda Ward-Barnes

Pat Anderson, born in Halifax and raised in Montreal, moved to Toronto in 1987 after her graduation from Waterloo University. She and her husband moved to the Leslieville neighbourhood in 1997. It was a time when real estate prices were still in the affordable range. Pat and her husband appreciate the creativity and variety of small businesses in the area.

Researching the history of their home uncovered the fact that it was built on land that was part of George Leslie and Sons Nursery, the largest garden nursery in the British Empire (according to George she states). Given that information it is not surprising to know that gardening holds a special place in her life. As a Master Gardener (http://www.torontomastergardeners.ca) she has completed her apprenticeships and courses and hopes to do more public speaking to local groups. In the past she has presented to the Maple Cottage garden Club. The topic at that time was planting native species for winter interest. (largely attracting birds). Pat is preparing to make another trip to the archives to complete a chart she is preparing about the Leslieville area. (http://www3.sympatico.ca/patash/leslieville.html)

Pat’s artistic interests focus mainly photographs and prints on canvas, which she gallery mounts onto artist’s stretchers and varnishes. Many of her compositions are based on items she owns. Pat also enjoys garden and flower photography. She often takes pictures at the Rosetta McCain gardens and the Scarboro Guild, as well as parks and ravines. A trip to Provence and Italy last spring resulted in the production of some window and door images.

Pat’s primary career is managing software documentation projects and documenting 3D design software.

Pat shoots her photos with a digital single lens reflex (SLR) camera and uses Photoshop to correct or modify the photos later. Pat enjoys still life images. Some of her work was exhibited at Barrio (Queen St. eatery) in February. Most of those photos were food items, which she says is part of her kitchen and dining room’s decorative artwork. To see some of her work you can check out http://www.patanderson.net. Pat is currently working on a series known conceptually as “living room and library pictures” photographing items such as sheet music, instruments, books, globe etc.

Pat and her husband have restored the gardens both at the back and in the front of their home. From bricks and asphalt to a sanctuary with flowing water and native berry species (elderberry, Saskatoon berry). Having recently purchased a book that documents the catalogue of the Toronto Nursery during the 1820s she is figuring out what wonderful early Victorian plants she can add to her garden. According to Pat, there were 70 different types of apple trees available back then, probably 10 times what is available now. Pat’s wonderful contribution to both the garden and the gallery certainly makes her an artist.

Posted in Photography - Art, Photography sales and marketing, Photography | 2 Comments »

19 June 2006 by pat.

I was off in Santa Rosa, California this week for a leadership course. While I was away, my photography business continued to percolate! My husband was home, so when a phone call came in to display some of my photos in the Leslieville Cheese & Fine Foods shop that was opening on Saturday, he got right on it, and picked out seven pictures for the place.

I went in on Saturday and put up stickers with identifying info, email addy, and price. We’ll see what comes of it.And on Sunday, ETC (East Toronto Community) News was delivered to my door, with a full-page article and headshot about yours truly and her artwork (and gardening, and dayjob).So, sometimes it takes a while for things to happen. All of this got set in motion in February, when I was showing my pictures at Barrio. That’s where Lori saw them, and that’s when I initially contacted ETC news.Summary? Work six months in advance!Cheers!

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