This & That in 2016

Tweet

 Hello. My name is Natasha and I produce a lot of nattie concepts.  I make photographs, create lumen prints and write songs and blogs about the State of My World.  I meant to do this in 2015 and that in 2014 but now its 2016 & I realize  I didn’t do any of it.  January begins my Nattie Concepts Recovery 12 Month Program.   Haha. (but true..) 

Over the past decade or so, I’ve created several one woman shows and photographic series, some I’ve cataloged, some I haven’t, so I thought 2015 would be a good time to do work on the ones I haven’t yet archived into perpetuity.   Since I didn’t get around to it then in 2015,  I think now in 2016 is even better.  (works for me) I’ve spent these first few days of 2016 cleaning  shoppe making way for new works of whatever and wherever my  world takes me.  (I feel Moscow _TN is in my future)

The World Tour songbook is in the works (7 whole songs!)  and I’m nearly finished creating the narrative that goes with “fLight”, my lumen print feather series.  There is another series/performance piece that bears some cataloging – Nattie and the Class of 2019 -   inspired by my time as a substitute teacher in the Spring of 2007 (high school) and 2008 (1^st grade).

Tic Tac NO

Revisiting the original tiny 3 ½ x 5 silver gelatin prints, I re-discovered the photos of drawings the first graders had made for me.  They were just returning to the city after Katrina and had never been in school before. But amidst the stories of the experiences & hardships they faced,  were their drawings, pictures that reflected the world around them as they saw it - pictures of flowers and butterflies and love.  It wasnt until revisiting this series that I realized these drawings weren't much different than my own lumen prints, both artworks reflecting the world as is. I began lumen printing not long after this assignment ended, and though I didn't make the connection at the time,  I'm happy to count a bunch of 6 year oids among my most inspired teachers & influences. 

Flower (handtint)

Azalea & Raindrops     Lumen Print

Butterfly (handtint)

Butterfly Ginger          Lumen Print

Oftentimes, it appears my work is varied - Lumen Prints! World Tours! Music! Betty the Bullhorn!  But in reality, the medium may change, but the expression is all the same. Sometimes it just takes me 8 or 9 years to figure it out...

I feel like there are more blogs with epiphanies in my future. (Funny that I started writing this on Jan 6th)  Of course then that probably means I won't get this cataloged until 2019, but that would probably work better anyway. haha. There will definitely be more lumen prints, more songs and world tours.  So stay tuned!

Til next time.. 

(c) Natasha Sanchez

www.nattie-concepts.com

For more on Nattie & the Class of 2019 visit:

http://www.fstopmagazine.com/pastissues/41/featured-Sanchez.html 

Lumen Print Workshop March 21st in Covington

Tweet

On Saturday, March 21^st, in conjunction with STAA's Antiquarian exhibit celebrating 19^th photography, I’ll be conducting a Lumen Print workshop at the St. Tammany Art Association in Covington. 

Lumen Printing is one of the earliest photographic processes. Using only sunlight to imprint an image on to paper, it goes through one chemical bath to reduce light sensitivity. 

Clover, Stem & Stars
(c) N. Sanchez

There are many reasons why I love the lumen print process – the uniqueness and surprise of the final print, the colors, the nostalgic and sometimes dreamy look, the process of monitoring the sunlight itself.  Yet what I love MOST about lumen prints is – the authenticity.  It is simply an imprint of What Is. It is a record of our world.

Elephant Ear
(c) N. Sanchez

But just like in “camera photography”, where our perspectives can shape our world-view, the same holds true for lumen printing.  Creating with shapes and objects to tell a story or create a feel makes the prints become more personal.  It is both a record of the world – as is – and an expression of how we choose to see the world. 

Like with Termites.  

Tiny Termite.
(c) N. Sanchez

Or maybe it's just a purty picture on the wall.  

Camellia
(c) N. Sanchez

Either way,  Lumen Printing a fun creative process with limitless possibilities. 

Starry Butterfly
(c) N. Sanchez

Join me on March 21st from 11-3pm  to explore those possibilities and welcome in the Spring - a great season for lumen printing! (We'll also discuss the effect of the seasons on lumen printing, among other things like paper types, emulsions, sunny days, cloudy days, and more..)  This workshop is open to the public. All materials will be provided,  though participants are encouraged to bring personal items of their own if they wish.  

To register, click the link below to download the registration form:

http://www.sttammanyartassociation.org/education-adult.html

Lumen Print Workshop

Instructor: Natasha Sanchez

March 21st, 2015

11-3pm

St. Tammany Art Association

320 N. Columbia

Covington, LA

For more of my lumen prints, including fLight -my latest series of feathers, 

visit my online galleries:

www.nattie-concepts.com/portfolio_-_lumens

Happy Almost Spring!

all content (c) Natasha Sanchez

www.nattie-concepts.com

Facebook Twitter  

Illuminating my World in New Orleans' Garden District

Tweet

The World Tour posts segues into a bit of shameless self-promotion for my new self-published catalog of lumen prints, Crescent City Illumenations.  

Preview/Purchase HERE

For this project, I didn't travel miles to see a new world, I simply gathered flowers and leaves from sidewalks in the Garden District and looked at my surroundings in a new light.  That's what a "lumen" print is. Essentially, a it is a solar photogram.  An object placed on light sensitive paper and then exposed in the sun.   In essence, it can be used as a paper negative to create a positive print, in black and white.  However, I like to keep them as they are, using the colors of the emulsions in the paper to further illuminate the subjects.  This series was done on a now defunct Agfa paper.  That paper can be used years after its expiration gives one of the biggest rewards of lumen printing - recycling.

Cat's Claw    2010

I began working with this process in late 2008.  Crescent City Illumenations was created in 2010.  Three years later, I still walk through the Garden District, picking up leaves and flowers, though I've also added feathers into my luminous reportoire, and I've gotten slightly more adventurous with bug wings.

I created this catalog simply to share "my world", the world I choose to see.  In that respect, this blog entry is no different than my posts on travels to China, Delhi, or Poland.  Hope you enjoy!  I'll be in Quebec soon, I hope.

Feel free to browse thru the book. If you'd like to purchase,  I thank you very much for supporting me, the World Tour, and all my 'nattie concepts'.

Crescent City Illumenations by Natasha Sanchez | Make Your Own Book

Gettin' my Inner Brit on - in Welsh & Roanoke, Louisiana

Tweet

Welsh Corp Limit

 I am deviating a bit from my theme of visiting Small Towns with International Names in order visit a Small Town with the Name of a Language.  I guess I feel the need to Channel my Inner Brit from time to time. In addition to my Spanish Canary Islander heritage,  my ancestry also spans the British Isles on both sides of the family.  So I'm throwing in Roanoke, which, okay, is neither an International Town nor a Language (well, if you are reading this outside of the United States it is an International Town..).  The Lost Colony of Roanoke was an English Settlement settled and abandoned in the late 16th century.  So,  it's English.  I think that counts.

But first - Welsh, Louisiana.  

Welsh Flag

I literally just passed through Welsh, and Roanoke, in Southwestern Louisiana, after my first trip to China.   I couldn't resist the pseudo-international feel, plus I wanted to check out the towns.  Another theme that has remained a constant throughout the tour, is that I  love small town photography.  And Welsh did not disappoint.

Welsh Lodge

There was some consistency to my photographs - they all seemed to include a triangle of some sort.  

Welsh Auto Body

Welsh Clinic

Much of my English, Scottish, & Welsh ancestry comes from my maternal side.   

And my Grandma liked flowers.  So, natch, I thought of her when I saw this:

Grandma's Garden

Forget the big chain stores - "Thrifty Way Pharmacy" and  "Market Basket"  is what shopping is all about.  

 It's like they just want you to smile.  

Thrifty Way - with purty flowers!

Market Basket

I even found the Green Gables. Not Anne, just a saloon.  And a triangle. 

Green Gables Saloon

From Welsh, I traveled to the not-so-lost-colony/town of Roanoke, Louisiana.  

Welsh Exit

Roanoke brought me back to my typical Small Town Sightings.  

The Post Office.

Roanoke Post Office

The church.

Roanoke Baptist Mission

The Store.

Roanoke Full Stop

The Machinery.

Roanoke Machine Shop

And an old train depot... at least it looked like one.  

By the Tracks

It's been over a month since I visited Welsh & Roanoke, Louisiana.  It's just taken a while to write about it and post the pictures.  In that time, the Sheriff of All Small Towns, Andy Griffith,  has since passed away.  I find it fitting to mention him here as he is buried on Roanoke Island in North Carolina, - the present day site of the Lost Colony of Roanoke.  

My Grandma always loved a good Matlock.  

Rest In Peace, Andy Taylor.  

  all content (c) Natasha Sanchez 2012

www.nattie-concepts.com

The World Tour  

  www.nattieconcepts.blogspot.com