Insider's Look: Table for One—Steak Anybody?

Readers of my blog get the first look at my new home page photo every month. This photo is part of my Truths, Lies and Legends collection. I begin with a spectacular natural setting. Then, I interfere. I place something in the frame giving the impression that a person has been there recently. My interfering in this way transforms a photographic landscape into the set of an unfolding story. My intention is to involve the viewer as storyteller. To get ideas flowing, I offer a few storylines of my own.

My Story Offerings:
Upon reading of how the cow, Emily (the Vegetarian Activist), escaped from a slaughterhouse, Marissa set up a roadside display to make passersby think twice about steak for dinner.
Or…
A line of curious Angus proved their true nature to be carnivorous as they strained their necks through the fence to taste the raw meat.
Or…
After retirement, Bob developed an odd friendship with his neighbor’s cow Bessie.
Or…what are your story ideas?

Story Behind the Shot
The craziest thing happened while I was doing this shot. I live across from this farm where they raise both Angus cattle (beef) and dairy cows. At least 3 times a week I walk by both kinds of cows and have noticed that the dairy cows are always curious about people and the Angus flee as soon as you approach. Who says cows are dumb? Anyway, when I set up the table with the steak, the Angus cows overcame their fear. They formed a tentative line (that you see in the photo) and then slowly and carefully walked right up to the fence—with me standing right there—and tried to eat that steak!

Be the first to buy a Table for One print and get a 50% discount on the size of your choice.

Last Call for the Rodeo

Only 3 weekends left to see my True Cowgirls photos at Millbrook Vineyards and Jose Acosta’s saucy Caribbean-flavored paintings. The show ends Sunday, November 16. Personally, my favorite Millbrook wine is the chardonnay, though their pinot noir is pretty tasty, too. Which is your favorite?

Blog-o-Meter Reading October 27, 2008

Search results for Molly Ahearn:
• Google: #1
• Yahoo: #1
• MSN: #1

Google Page Rank for my site: 2 (out of 10)

Number of page views to this blog: 4007

Number of page views to my site: 3475

Number of email subscribers: 20

Animals Are Not What They Seem

Colossal. Bewitching. Stunningly beautiful. Disturbing. These are just a few words to begin to describe Walton Ford’s work. I went to high school with his wife and hadn’t seen her for 25 years when she surprised me at my first exhibit opening at the Starr Library in Rhinebeck. So, when he had an opening, she called to invite me. Where? The Brooklyn Museum of Art!!! The show was held before I’d started this blog. When he was the feature interview in the October issue of Art in America, it reminded me to share his work with you. His stuff is incredible and inspiring and thought-provoking.

Ford’s watercolors all feature a closeup view of one main animal in the foreground painted in a breathtaking realistic, almost Audobon style. Low on the canvas, he paints a horizon that identifies a place. The rest of the background is white which makes the animals leap off the surface. You could walk through a show of his work and just see that (almost), or you can take a closer look.

Ford is an intense man and the scenes reflect the deep thought he gives to his subjects. For example, he painted a gorilla holding Carl Akeley’s skull and titled it Sanctuary. Akeley was a taxidermist and one of the first to shoot gorillas for display in the Museum of Natural History. Later in his life, he became a gorilla advocate and frowned upon hunting them, even for study. When he died, he requested that his body be buried in the site where he’d spent so much time with the gorillas. Years later, fellow researchers came upon the site and discovered that Akeley’s bones had been exhumed. In his depiction, Ford shows a large silver-backed gorilla that Akeley had shot holding Akeley’s skull.

Nila is a 12 foot by 19 foot piece comprised of 22 panels (presumably because you can’t buy a single piece of canvas that size). A stunning study of an elephant surrounded by North American birds. I’ve forgotten the story behind it, but notice the pair making love on the end of the elephant’s penis.

My friend Paula, my sister Margaret, Ryley and I went to see the show together. I remember passing by one painting, Chingado (Spanish for fucked), where a bull is screwing a jaguar. It’s an up-close and personal view. No mistaking the action. I was afraid Ryley, then eight years old, would ask for explanation. He studied it, as he’d studied all the others, and moved on.

Walton Ford is represented by Paul Kasmin.

Thanks for Hopping By

What a weekend. Nadine and I had close to 100 people come through our studio. Many people were interested in the new work I had on display from Truths, Lies and Legends which was invaluable to me. I was nervous about the story component since it’s very untraditional, but people liked the idea a lot. One woman suggested I have a vote after collecting everyone’s stories to decide on the best one. “People love to vote,” she said. A writer told me she’d come up with some story ideas and send them along. Another woman brainstormed ideas with me over how to present the stories for the final show—hand write them? Display on computers? One woman told me that I’d inspired her to get back to photography herself. She bought a cowgirl print from me.

Thanks to everyone who stopped by. Your words of encouragement will keep me going. All the artists on the tour had a great experience, so look for it to become an annual tradition—sharing Fall color and art.

How to Post a Video on YouTube

1. Export to the QuickTime movie format using the default settings. If you know what you’re doing, you can set different preferences for audio output and video quality. (I used iMovie to create my video.)
2. Create an account at YouTube.
3. Verify your account after they send you an email.
4. Go to YouTube.com and in the upper righthand corner of the window, click on the Upload button.
5. Give your video a title and a bunch of key words that will help people find your video.
6. Click on the Browse button to locate your .mov file.
7. That’s it! Check back in a while to see it by going to My Videos under Account in the top right nav bar. I’d already gotten 5 views a few hours after posting!
8. YouTube will provide you code to embed the video as you see here.
9. Pass this link on to all your friends!

Ryley—The Next Coppola?

At long last, here is the directorial debut of Ryley Robinson. For the subject of his first film, he chose to document his mom taking her Fried Eggs photo (part of the Truths, Lies and Legends collection). At times serious journalist, at other times comedian, Ryley’s created a gem his children will treasure. My husband, the sound engineer, will no doubt cringe when he hears the audio. But, it would have been cheating to consult a professional.

How Did We Create the QuickTime Movie?
Our dear friends Stephen and Sandy gave us a video camera when Ryley was born. It films onto a tape, but has a cable that you can hook directly to the computer. On a Mac, when you plug up a video camera, iMovie automatically starts up. From there, you simply hit the import video button. iMovie is pretty easy to use. You kind of pick up and drop stuff into a timeline. You can split video into scenes and place transitions between them. The title slides are canned. I wish we could have custom made them, because the one thing we couldn’t include are the stories that actually accompany the Fried Eggs photo. The thing that gave us the most trouble was including the song. You’ve got to be sure to include an aiff file or an mp3 file that isn’t in your iTunes purchased library.

Please let me know if this doesn't play on your computer.

I’m going to figure out how to upload the movie onto YouTube for my next challenge…stay tuned.

Cyber Friend

My life has been so crazy recently, I haven't had time till now to share a wonderful experience I had over the summer. As most of you already know, I've dedicated 2008 to trying to figure out how the internet can help me as an artist. One of the first things I did was sign up on an artists' community site called artscuttlebutt which is sponsored by art calendar magazine. For several months, I actively participated by looking at other people's work, starting conversations, and I even organized a photography group. It was a great way to get this internet thing going.

Sometime in July I got a note from Donna Iona Drozda—a fellow artist on the butt—about one of my photographs. We got to talking and sharing work and really hit it off. I added a link to her blog on mine and vice versa. When I saw her profile, I realized she lives in Virginia Beach. As luck would have it, we were headed there on vacation. I suggested we meet up.

Donna greeted us with a warm hug at the front door of our hotel feeling like an old friend, not a new one. She took us to the Contemporary Art Center of Virginia where she is a teacher and active participant. What a great place. My first thought was, we've got to figure out how to follow their model. They have a first-class exhibit space, offer a broad range of classes for kids and adults, have a stage and theater, and own an original Gilhooley! The exhibit we saw—Transformed—featured contemporary artwork that pushes the limits of art. One installation was a grouping of toilet paper rolls that had intricate branch carvings cut out of them (all in one knife stroke!) and then placed to look as if they were growing out of the rolls. The piece was meant to be a commentary on the overuse of trees and paper.


Donna's own work is beautiful—like her spirit—and colorful. Inspired by things in every day life, she interprets them in ways that make you stop and think. Her work can be appreciated by the most ardent art fan as well as a two-year old in a stroller. This piece is called Morning Song. Notice the moons along the edge of the boat. Check out all of Donna's work on her web site, and stop by her blog to read more about what she does.

Slap Yourself in the Face and Go Shopping

As Cher said when she slapped Nicolas Cage in Moonstruck, “What’s the matter with you?” This financial crisis or Armageddon or whatever you want to call it, has everybody shaking like a bunch of scared mice. Like much of the country, I have little understanding of how this mess was made but I do have a solution for how to get out of it—GO SHOPPING! If people start spending again, jobs will be preserved, spending indicators will go up making everyone on Wall Street happy, PM’s and Presidents won’t come on TV looking ragged and weary every night, and life will return to normal.

So, grab that DSW coupon—those Boho boots look cool—or head over to Sears and treat yourself to that snow blower you should have bought years ago, or go to Staples and buy some office supplies. Help save the world economy, buy something, quick.

Comments I've received so far by email:

1. genius.

2. Nice sentiment. I would add that if you must go shopping, go shopping for
art. Who needs a snow blower when you can buy a great water color or
photograph by a local artist for half the price (and the artwork doesn't
have to be in the garage unused half the year.)

3. You sound like Georgie W!

4. Hi Molly, I was wondering...could you lend me the money for that snow blower I have
wanted for years? Hee hee

5. Be sure to buy it local!

6. hey where do i get that dsw coupon!!!!! horray for shoes

7. Just bought a new Delsey light weight carry on and am going to Tanger Mall tomorrow.

8. Great idea to get everyone to go shopping - but, what if you're one of those that are so hard hit that you can't go shopping just for the fun of it? In fact, I love Sears, but, I'm squeezing pennys to just buy snow tires for this Winter.. enough about me though... although Sears is one of the few big stores I do like to support, did you now that the sales tax we pay at big stores like Walmart, Home Depot and a few others, doesn't go back into the local economies like they promise? Nope, it goes back to the store, (like Walmart), (part of the big corporation tax breaks) - and they put that towards making more big Walmart stores, etc.... ( I heard this from a US, IRS/ financial analysist on VPR,) and I'm sure if we do some homework, we'll find it's true - one reason why Walmart is a muti-million dollar corporation. So, I propose that people shop not only at Sears and Staples, but, think about where they buy - and buy local, support small businesses instead - like that little office/stationary shop in the neighborhood, or family hardware, clothing shop, etc... and don't forget your artists! Instead of buying xmas cards from Walmart- buy them from artists, craftshops, galleries and art shows instead. Have a great week and happy art and photography to all!

9. is this said in jest? are you serious? part of the large-scale problem is that consumers purchased things they coudn't afford, namely mortgages. and there is blame to share all around. banks should have been far more diligent in examining loan applications. financial responsibility makes more sense right now.

Leaf Peeping and Art Studio Hopping

The Rhinebeck area has a reputation as being a haven for artists but has struggled with keeping an art presence in town. A bunch of us artists got together and are about to change that. October 18 and 19th we’ll open our studios and invite people to come meet us, learn what inspires us, and maybe buy something—ready or not, the holidays are coming! I'll have lots of proof prints and other treats for sale that people normally don't get a chance to see.

Start off the tour in downtown Rhinebeck, at Rhinebeck Savings Bank—our platinum sponsor—and see a show of prints of everyone’s work involved in the tour. Then, cross the street and see Nadine and I; walk in the Starr Place restaurant and go the second floor. We’ll give you a map of all the artists and help you plan your next stop. The artists involved include a huge variety of styles and media.

Barrett Art Center is hosting their annual paint-out in downtown Rhinebeck on Saturday, October 18th. Artists set up along the streets and paint. Later in the evening, Barrett auctions off the work of the day.

The leaves are turning brilliant colors here in the Hudson Valley. Art will be everywhere. Come join us! Saturday and Sunday October 18-19 from 11 to 5. Check our web site for details. Or, click on individual artist links below to get a sneak preview.

Molly Ahearn
William T. Ayton
Arlene Becker
David Borenstein
Richard Chianella
Doris Cultraro
Nayanrekha Das
Barry Entner
Kathleen Gavin
Dan Goldman
Mimi Graminski
Michael Gregorio
Betsy Jacaruso
Clive Jacobson
Joanne Klein
James Ransome
Nadine Robbins
Jeff Romano
Roni Schnadow
James L. Stevenson
Dean Vallas
Elizabeth Watt
Joel Weisbrod
Reese Williams

Polly Picked Molly!

How exciting. I’m one of Polly’s Picks in this month’s Hudson Valley magazine. Polly Sparling is Senior Editor and highlights what she thinks are the best events going on in the area with a special callout. I’ve followed many of her recommendations over the years and am very proud she felt my cowgirl show at Millbrook Vineyards worthy of her seal. (Plus, there’s an ad insert right at my page, so the magazine falls open to my photo!)