Thursday, November 11, 2010

Art, Angels, Elvis and BBQ!

 
Mid October found me in Louisville Kentucky driving with fellow photographer Marie Cobb to Jonesboro Arkansas to visit our friend Kim Vickrey.  I have never driven so many miles with the landscape changing so very little. Miles and miles of cotton fields and other agriculture, deciduous forests and of course a few kudzu covered wonderlands. 
We wanted to time our visit to coincide with Kim's art opening of images from the trip to Spain that we all had shared last Spring.  Kim outdid her self with a beautiful show, many images printed on metallic papers, topped off by a book that she had designed featuring the images, all printed on a gorgeous metallic pearl paper.  Yummy.  Art openings are fun. Wandering among the art on the wall, glass of wine in hand... wait, back up.  One thing we discovered on this, my first visit to the south, was that we were in a dry county.  Punch anyone? It was such a dry county that we had to have our punch and snacks out in the lobby.  We got along just fine, getting our buzzz from the images instead while recalling our time in Spain through Kim's images and marveling at what she had done with them.

 
 The following days were filled with a trip to Graceland in Memphis Tennessee (not really an Elvis fan shh! but I felt I just HAD to see it) besides, Kim had promised that trip about 7 years ago when we had first met at a workshop in Arizona. It really wasn't as over the top and tacky as I had envisioned.  I wonder why I thought it would be.  Perhaps all those velvet Elvis paintings I had seen at garage sales through the years.  And no, not a single velvet painting on the premises.  But there sure were some neat cars.    Our visit to Graceland was followed by dinner at a great BBQ place in downtown Memphis.  Bliss!  Then towards the weekend,  Kim stuffed her Expedtion to the roof with all kinds of  props, bought a Fog Machine and gathered some models for some fun at a couple of beautiful  nearby properties with very generous hosts.

 
It is amazing what a fog machine can do to the light conditions during a colorful sunset. The models wait for some direction from off to the right while I, seeing the light just right and knowing the fog would soon disappear, I just couldn't let it slip by.  Always chasing the light. 

2 comments:

Kim Vickrey said...

this is the first time i read this mary. so touching. and i want to do it again. i miss you guys dearly.

Kim Vickrey said...

i just read this mary. such a sweet post. i would do it again in a heartbeat. i was so touched that you and marie would come all this way. i miss you guys dearly.