February 2010
Vision , Imagination and Flight
Our February exhibit displays the extraordinary photography of Jim Chamberlain, and the richly expressive fiber illustrations of Stephanie Nead. Jim’s new photographic collection takes advantage of new perspectives and photo-illustration techniques to allow the viewer to experience the familiar beauty of our region with fresh eyes. Stephanie’s original fiber pieces reflect a unique vision of the physical, emotional and energetic textures of the natural world and internal experience.
Jim Chamberlain Grizzly Cloud Flight
Jim Chamberlain
Jim Chamberlain built his first darkroom over 40 years ago simply for the fun of developing film. Using a variety of film formats and exploring the zone system kept the experience challenging. The early concepts of pre-visualization and manual processing controls have carried through to today's digital manipulation techniques. The digital darkroom is now available to expand the possibilities of the final print to new levels.
The other childhood passion was building electronic projects, leading Jim to a career in electronics that was kicked off in 1970 as a member of a small research team at Xerox that created the first laser printer. It was there that he had the opportunity to work with JohnWarnock (who went on to start Adobe) and Bob Metcalf (that co-invented the Ethernet). Jim later developed an electro-optical device that enabled a conventional photographic enlarger to have a computer-controlled modulated light source. He sold that design to Beseler, a major darkroom equipment manufacturer.
Artistic influences came from visits to many museums and galleries here and abroad. Jim collected original prints by photographers such as Ansel Adams, Yosef Karsh, Eugene Smith, Jerry Ulesman and many others, which gave a better appreciation of the "fine print". “This collection takes advantage of new perspectives and photo-illustration techniques to allow the viewer to experience the familiar beauty of our region with fresh eyes. The centerpiece photo-illustration, "Dreams of Flight II," builds on the viewpoint from an early morning balloon ride 2000 ft above Montague, California. At that moment, the balloons were behind me, but I was able to capture the color on the distant hills in a multiple exposure panorama from the stationary floating platform. I used this image to re-create the experience of being surrounded by colorful balloons thanks to many years of immersion in the ballooning community and Photoshop. A few surprises were added to reinforce the feeling of the magical experience. The other images including Grizzly Peak are meant to extend that theme in a familiar, yet different viewpoint. Hope you enjoy the collection.”
Stephanie Nead Canyon
Stephanie Nead
Though not aware of it until adulthood, Stephanie Nead was born into a long lineage of highly creative women in music and the arts.
A pianist and vocalist as a child and young adult, she began producing original fiber art in 1990. Felled by serious illness, Stephanie turned to childhood hand-work skills for distraction and creative expression. Taking a quilting class from a college friend, she quickly moved into fiber art for its broader, more original design expression. In love with the kinesthetic and visual texture of fiber, Stephanie’s pieces reflect a unique vision of the physical, emotional and energetic textures of the natural world and internal experience. She is also nourished by her connection to a distinctively American and woman-centered tradition of expressing imagination, vision, experience, and emotion through the medium fiber.
“My work perpetually explores the relationship between nature, soul and humanity, and how the threads of this dynamic relationship impact emotion, personal awareness, and experience of beauty, with its nourishment of soul.”
“My inspiration comes from many sources: dreams or edge-of-sleep images, emotional or bodily experience that longs for expression, nature captured through a photographic lens. All speak to me of that communion which is the essence of Being and the nourishment of soul.”