Running behind on blogging as usual! “Bellisima,” Italian for “very beautiful,” is an online show that closes June 28. It’s hosted by KBM Art Gallery, Riverside, CA. You can view it here.

I have two works in the exhibit. This is the fourth show for both Peach Champagne II and Âme du Bayou. Many thanks to the KBM Art Gallery jurors for including my work.

Indiana University at Kokomo is currently hosting “Ethereal” in their brick and mortar gallery. Their call for art described the theme as a quality that possesses almost perfect or extremely delicate features that pertain to a spiritual realm rather than of this earth.

That resonated. Much of my photography feels spiritual to me. However, IU also requires that works submitted be completed in the past two years, so that narrowed down the possibilities.

I am not often an early morning photographer, but in December of 2023, I visited Allen Acres Bed & Breakfast in Vernon Parish, a place I go with some regularity. It is a naturalist and photographer’s dream. My host and friend, retired botanist Dr. Charles Allen, got interested in moths and insects awhile back and has installed some 14-16 white sheets around his property (I’m not sure cf the count right now) with mercury vapor lamps to attract bugs. The usual routine at Allen Acres is to get up early, as in 5:00-ish and make the rounds, photographing, identifying and counting critters.

On that particular morning, day was dawning as we got to a sheet installed on the edge of his neighbor’s field. While Charles looked at bugs, I was drawn to the mist, delicate light and intense colors of the field awakening. First Light is the result and I am grateful for the IU Kokomo jurors for inviting it to it’s first show. The show ends June 27. First Light will soon be on its way home.