The Artist's Eyes by Jenn Lee

I know you are probably be wondering why I would be writing about MY number one fan, but to be honest, I am HIS number one fan as well! John Adkins is not only my biggest fan, but an artist himself through his photography.

John Adkins started his interested in photography at a very young age. He had the support of two loving parents, one being an artist herself. John’s mother instilled in him a passion for art in everything around him as well as taught others in her art classes how to bring out their artistic passions. John’s father also helped him get started in photography. He had traveled all around the world during his time in the military and civilian jobs after. Wherever he went, he made sure to take photos to bring home and share with his family.

When he got his own first camera he took pictures of everything his viewfinder came across. Of course back in the film day, this became quite costly for a nine year old little fella he-he.  In college he really got to put his interest into it though. Taking classes in photography, learning how to develop his own film and having a vast selection of eager and willing models allowed him his first real experience with portrait photography.

Over the years he continued to shoot everything from friends, events and places for fun, but it would be his first digital camera that would unlock the serious artist within. This was when he became familiar with one of his all time favorite knowledge bases….David Hobby, The Strobist. Long story short, this man started John on an ever continuing quest for….the perfect light. Among the list of his most inspirational photographers, I know Joe McNally, Gregory Heisler, Platon, Dan Winters and Annie Leibovitz are JUST a few! With a list like this, it’s no surprise his work has done nothing but grow and become more stunning over the years!

When we first met, I was an artist of canvas and clay, along with other artistic mediums, but the camera was just a tool for capturing and saving memories. While getting to know each other, I watched him take many photos of nature, people, places and things and became inspired to learn all that he could teach me about the art of photography. His passion became my inspiration…. instilling in me another artistic outlet to create beautiful works of art through the camera’s lens…through the artist’s eyes.

In closing, even though I like to say he is my number one fan, in all honesty, I am his number one fan! Thank you for sharing your artistic passion with me John!

This post is a little off the beaten track from my usual posts, but a topic I think is blog worthy. The topic is about overcoming obstacles and keeping momentum even when you are faced with challenges that try to stop you in your tracks.

You always hear someone you know or even yourself say, “This year has been the worst!” or “Could this year be any worse?” Doesn’t it seem like a constant recording that is replayed every year by someone or everyone? Well 2011 has been my personal year of challenges. I’ve spent the whole year dealing with health issues (don’t worry, I’m not going to draw this out into a personal pity party) that have left me in a wheelchair…hopefully temporarily!

My challenges have affected my ability to work with my sculpting or paint at my easel. At first it left me depressed, frustrated and feeling like every ounce of creativity was being drained out of my soul. But you know what? I found an alternative way to challenge my creativity. I’m not giving up on my sculpting, nor my painting, but finding other creative outlets that still challenge me and allow me to still use my creative/artistic energies until I can get back to the others.

The most difficult thing to do for anyone is to find a way to get around our personal challenges. Whether you have a full-time creative job, a part-time creative job or only a few hours a week to designate to your creative side…overcoming challenges of time constraints, family life, personal battles or whatever may be your obstacles can and must be met. As a whole, we find happiness in our lives by doing what we love, our passions, our interests, our outlets.

So I end this short blog post with a challenge for you readers….try and find some time to do something creative. Don’t let the challenges in your life get in your way. Regardless of your artistic or creative outlet, find ways to overcome whatever obstacles or challenges meet you…it’s a creative challenge in itself, but a challenge worth doing….in this artist’s eyes.

Ballerina’s have been dancing across our history since the fifteenth century.  Ballet originated in France and was brought into English in the seventeenth century, but it originally traces back even further to Latin ballare, meaning “to dance”.

The ballerina has transformed as well over the years. Originating as an entertainer, dancing for weddings and special events to metamorphosing into the “pointe work” focal it became in the nineteenth century and still today. Pointe work is the dance technique using the infamous ballet boxed toe shoe that you see in ballet.

The ballerina is an icon in her passion for dance, fierce emotion, strength and undying spirit, unbreakable will and determination and unstoppable, ongoing obsession to gain perfection. The ballerina stands with her head held high with perfect posture, seeming to float across the dance floor with arms and legs moving with the grace of a butterfly. Every movement or motion in perfect synchronization with the music, twirling and jumping with strength hidden behind the graceful choreography of arms and legs in even the slightest of movements. The ballerina is an artist of dance…in this artist’s eyes.

Everything the ballerina stands for and puts into action inspires me, so I decided to create a sculpture in dedication to the art…and the artist.

Our children grow up so fast, but never so fast as the infant stages. I have been reminded of this recently as I have been watching my first Grandchild go from newborn to 4 and a half months old. How quickly they go from sleeping all the time, to interactive and on the move. In a blink they are a year old, then two years old, then off to school and finally adulthood!

Remembering the cute little expressions or funny little habits or ways they acted becomes a blur as time goes by. This made me think, “I would love to capture and freeze in time, a moment in my child/grandchild’s life.” With that in mind, I have painted portraits and taken a million photos but never sculpted a 3 dimensional keepsake.

This inspired me greatly so…I did a search on the internet one day and found this cute little baby portrait as inspiration. It made me think of my children because every one of my children loved playing peek a boo with blankets. This first test sculpture turned out exactly how I envisioned it so I plan on creating sculptures of all my own children soon. You can view the pictures of my first test keepsake sculpture below. Please let me know what you think! Sculpting our children into adulthood is an art of it’s own…in this artist’s eyes.

I have a long distance friend, Mike, that is a passionate photographer of  Ornithology. Living in Florida, he has an endless supply of various birds to photograph. I love to tease him about his ease of finding subjects ready to pose for him, by calling him the modern day Dr. Doolittle.

Every time I get a free moment, I love looking at all the photos he shares via his flickr account. I have been following his work for sometime now, since he found an interest in my photo gallery on flickr over a year ago. If you love animals or more specifically birds of any kind, take a free moment and visit his photo gallery. I promise you won’t be disappointed! In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if you linger for longer than a few moments!

Recently I decided it was time to take his beautiful captures and use them for inspiration in my sculpting. How excited I was to try and bring to life in 3 dimension, one of his fantastic portraits. I will also admit, it was quite challenging to decide which of so many photos…to dedicate my time to!

In the end I chose one of his many Snowy Egret captures to use as my inspiration, every feather was created individually for maximum detail.…below you can view the sculpture. Mike’s photography collection is art in itself as well as worthy of inspiration…in this artist’s eyes.

Base stand is 6.5″x9.5″ diameter, Sculpture stands 7″ in height, Polymer clay sculpture, Blue Stained Glass water, copper reeds, acrylic paints