Flying Over Foggy Chicago
Battle Creek Watershed Photo Contest
Shine On Benevolent Sun – Kalamazoo River, Michigan
Shared first place in the Battle Creek watershed conservation photo contest with this photo of the Kalamazoo River in Albion, Michigan.
Thanks to the City of Battle Creek for the honor!
Artists In Jackson: Kaiti McDonough
“It’s always related to nature, and silhouettes. I’ve had a love for silhouettes for years now. So when I realized when I put these two things together—bodies, hands, leaves—I was forcing myself to think outside the box. I wanted something that made you look closer.”
When Kaiti McDonough thinks of her photography, or life, or the artistic community in Jackson, she thinks in layers.
She started with art early, as a kid, crafting things with her mother’s materials. That, combined with her father’s love and appreciation of nature, makes her photography rich with depth and overlays.
Together with artists in The Singularity, Kaiti thinks of artists in many layers, too: experience level, professional or hobbyist, optimist or pessimist.
Even her career has taken on layers, from teaching to art curation to event planning.
Kaiti sees her main artistic outlet as photography. That started with a point and shoot camera in high school, posing friends in nature and getting lost on adventures. That all changed when she met Doug Jones. Could she do some live art photos for an upcoming show?
A digital single lens reflex (DSLR – the fancy ones with interchangeable lenses) later, and she was off making art.
Her style comes from, you guessed it, layers: double exposures, overlays, textures, blending one image into another. The idea came after she saw artists working on body paintings – making one idea on top of another. The photos do more than document a scene or a moment. They pull you in and make you think.
“It’s always related to nature and silhouettes,” Kaiti says. “I’ve had a love for silhouettes for years now. So I realized when I put two things together – bodies, hands, leaves – I was forcing myself to think outside the box. I wanted something that made you look closer.”
To achieve her style, Kaiti blends images mostly in camera, with a bit of Photoshop work.
“As soon as I discovered my camera had this option, I went to town,” she says. “This was it.”
Kaiti explores her creativity in other ways, too, like sewing and working with resin on wooden boards to frame her work.
Another form of artistic expression: working with other artists in Jackson and The Singularity to highlight the local creative community. Kaiti was one of the co-founders of The Singularity and has found her calling in organizing and marketing events. The idea of getting artists together and putting on a show – a hang-out session with meaning – was immediately appealing to her.
“I loved the feeling of bringing everyone together and doing something for an evening with all your friends,” Kaiti says. “Four and a half years later, I know what I want to go to college for. I want to know more about event planning and marketing while still working on freelance photography.”
As a fine art photographer, Kaiti recommends getting into local shows as they start, while they’re small and affordable. And to be consistent at getting your work out there.
“If you have a good product, and you can make a lot of it, get into small and big art shows – you have to keep pushing at it.”
She’s also optimistic about Jackson’s home-grown art market. With groups like The Singularity, the How Bazaar show downtown, and the growing collaboration between artists – as well as her own work to get more art in front of viewers – Kaiti sees it as a growth opportunity.
“Just seeing everything grow, artists being taken seriously, there’s a market for art,” she says. “There’s potential everywhere, in our artists and our city. Jackson’s so little, it’s growing right before our very eyes.”
Buy the Artists In Jackson book | Kaiti McDonough Photography
All You Need Is 1
You don’t need a certain number of followers, a “passive income,” a “monetization strategy” or “1000 true fans” to justify sharing your work.
All you need is 1.
1 person liked my writing enough to hire me at my current company (that’s 15 years of salary and benefits so far).
1 person liked my dating profile (which is most definitely a writing and photography project) enough to eventually marry me and start a family.
1 person read my most recent book more than a year ago and decided to publish it to their customer list of 100,000+ people.
1 fan could be your next business partnership, employer or spouse.
1 fan justifies your next book, blog and podcast.
1 fan can give your work all the meaning it ever needs.
So right.
1 fan justifies your next book, blog and podcast.
Having dinner to talk about art with one person. Urbexing with one (or two) photographers. Talking about my big project with one important person in the community.
Person by person. Project by project. Photo by photo.
Artists In Jackson: Cassandra Spicer
“I realized very quickly that being a studio art major would be a lot of fun for the artistic side of me, but I still had practical parts of me that needed to know things about business and finance.”
Cassandra Spicer made art her business. And business? It’s pretty good.
Cassandra owns and operates Beads to Live By on West Michigan Ave. after moving from downtown Jackson. There, she sells beads, materials, and jewelry-making kits, and holds classes to teach others how to make jewelry.
Along the way, she’s found success in embracing the practical side of her artistic talents, from taking advice from local business owners and from years of building a knowledge base in her particular art.
The art part wasn’t always so clear for Cassandra. In college, at Spring Arbor University, she pivoted from a fine arts major to taking classes in business and marketing.
“I realized very quickly that being a studio art major would be a lot of fun for the artistic side of me,” she says. “But I still had practical parts of me that needed to know things about business and finance.”
Cassandra also found that she was too much of a social butterfly to sit in a studio alone, working on art.
That, combined with years of working at Bead Culture in downtown Jackson, helped prepare her to be the artistic entrepreneur she is. Now she sells beading supplies and teaches classes to enthusiasts, and that tickles the social part of her artistic nature. Running a business is a bit of an art, too, because there are always new people to reach and convert to the beading hobby.
It wasn’t a sure thing in the beginning, but Cassandra thinks running Beads To Live By (with her husband Chris) is what she was meant to do.
“I always felt led – there was a directional pull to open this business,” she says. “And every turn we took, a door opened.”
Cassandra doesn’t just do beads and jewelry. She keeps the creative part of her brain busy with artistic projects. She finds inspiration in the works of others, trending fashions, and even Moroccan influences.
“Seeing a pattern, or texture, or something in nature – it’s one of the ways I come up with a design,” Cassandra says.
And no matter how much she tried to get away — at one time, she was an admission counselor for Career Quest — she always came back to beads.
“It’s a gravitational pull,” she says. “Some kind of need. Everyone has that in life, whether it’s artistic or not, to leave their mark on the world. This is my way.”
Buy the Artists In Jackson book | BeadstoLiveBy.com
Artists In Jackson: Andy McCrory
“I’m making Jackson better, one tattoo at a time.”
It’s just that simple for Andy McCrory, owner and tattoo artist at Ye Old Skull Tattoo in downtown Jackson.
For one, he sees himself as a classical tattoo artist, preferring traditional American motifs and style. And second, Andy feels like tattoo repair work could keep in business in perpetuity.
“I see so many tattoos in need of rescue,” he says.
It was his first tattoo, at age 14, that got Andy started down this path. He remembers getting a small cross by a questionable character in a trailer, using a contraption that was the scariest thing he ever saw.
“I got in trouble for that when I got home,” Andy says.
That night, a teenage Andy went home and figured there’s got to be a better way. He built a tattoo machine there on the spot.
From there, he worked at Underground Ink in Michigan Center for a few years and opened up his own shop on the corner of Morrell St. and Brown St. soon afterward. Then he found the downtown location, on Mechanic St., and has run Ye Old Skull Tattoo there ever since.
No bones about it: When done right, Andy sees tattoos as an art form.
“My customers are allowing me to put my art on them,” Andy says. “That’s flattering. It’s like putting my name on their arm.”
His style comes from a background in graphic arts and screen printing, combined with comic books, horror movies, and dark art.
“If I got to do what I want to do, it’d be skulls and crossbones for everybody,” Andy says.
If you want an opinion about tattoos and come-lately tattoo artists, Andy will readily volunteer a few. He calls tribal tattoos a “waste of black ink and real estate.” He doesn’t cater to trends, like dolphins and (lately) watercolors. And he doesn’t think just anybody with a few art skills should be doing tattoos.
“You can draw anything on paper, but skin is not paper,” Andy says. “Everyone thinks they can do it with a machine from the pawn shop. It’s a slap in the face of us guys who have been doing it forever.”
Andy doesn’t just do tattoos. He’s what you call a creative busybody. Like when he took up painting, just to try it. Or when he sings in a band. Or tackles rebuilding his ’51 DeSoto Spartan Coupe and ’94 Harley-Davidson FXR.
“I don’t sleep much. I need a lot of hobbies,” he says. “I have excessive creative energy.”
Jackson is a good town for all that artistry, Andy says. There is plenty of opportunity, and it’s easy for someone to find their niche.
“Say what you will about this town – I’ve made a pretty good living,” he says. “Not many artists really make money on art. No one buys it until they’re dead. Tattoos aren’t like that.”
Buy the Artists In Jackson book | Ye Old Skull Tattoo
Artists In Jackson: Jason Felde
“It feels good to have my stuff out there, and get the reaction. And even the not-okay reactions feel good.”
Jason Felde owes a big “thanks” to his wife, Stephenie.
So does the art community in Jackson. If it wasn’t for her, we may have never discovered Jason’s creative work.
The story goes that Jason never publicly displayed his work outside of small shows or at school. Then Stephenie stumbled on Jason’s portfolio, hidden away in a closet, and did what any good, enterprising wife would do: she started showing the portfolio around.
“It was one of those things where I had the support of my family, but no one took that extra step of pushing me farther,” Jason says. “I don’t think anyone wanted to kick me in the butt a little bit harder. So that’s where she came into play. And it’s been a snowball effect from there.”
The work garnered a positive response, and things started to happen for him. A show here, a call from Doug Jones there, and before he knew it — and after some more prodding — Jason was a public artist.
Jason’s artistic side was there from the beginning, he said, from scribbling in notebooks on road trips to art classes in high school. Now, his work draws on many styles and techniques, including painting (acrylics and watercolors), inking, and sculpting.
Since Stephenie “discovered” him, he’s attended eight to ten shows, and he’s often approached for more.
“It feels good to have my stuff out there and get the reaction,” Jason says. “And even the not-okay reactions feel good.”
Jason also works on commission pieces. One of his first was a pencil sketch of a friend’s grandfather. After seeing the piece, his friend’s mom sent him a thank you note.
“It was really cool to know that my work can touch people in that way,” he says.
Jason’s work touches people in need, too, like the cancer fundraising organization Twist Out Cancer. The organization pairs artists with cancer patients to create art based on their stories, with all proceeds going to cancer research.
Closer to home, Jason says Jackson’s creative community is very supportive of its home-grown artists.
“I have yet to come across an artist in Jackson that isn’t willing to promote you,” he says. “Or they’ll buy a piece.”
Visually, Jackson offers a lot of inspiration with its varied landscapes, quiet spots at the parks, and history. As an artist, there are lots of ways to draw inspiration.
“To be able to go somewhere like that to relax and create is amazing. I think Jackson is visually stunning,” Jason says.
Jason is working to get more of his work out in the world. He’s participating in more shows, trying different techniques, and exploring other artistic subjects.
Right behind him, Jason’s wife Stephenie is working, too.
“She has no problem volunteering me for art shows and projects,” Jason says.
“I’m just excited that he actually wants to show his work,” Stephenie says.
Buy the Artists In Jackson book | Jason Felde on Instagram
Dear Canon: Please Give Us a Digital Canonet QL-17
Dear Canon: Please Give Us a Digital Canonet QL-17
I say we have it in the Canon EOS M + 22mm EF-M combination. Portable, small, light, and great optics.
An eyepiece would be nice. That screen can get awfully cumbersome sometimes. But I own both, and I think the M is nearly in the Canonet-quality realm.
Artists In Jackson: Colleen Peterson
“They said, ‘You do have a style. You’re messy!’ My acrylics are really wet and all over the place, and I’m always covered in paint.”
Art, like life, can get messy.
That’s precisely what painter and mixed media artist Colleen Peterson loves about it. Besides being a creative outlet, getting creative is great stress relief.
“It doesn’t matter what I make, as long as I get my hands dirty,” she says.
It often starts with a blank canvas, which – for Colleen – is a scary place to start. Random bits of inspiration help her to get started: feelings, requests from customers, random items she finds.
Like the time she got creative with her boyfriend’s homemade beer bottle labels. Or the time she took a broken coffee pot and turned it into a piece.
“I didn’t realize I had a style until someone told me,” Colleen says. “They said, ‘You do have a style. You’re messy!’ My acrylics are really wet and all over the place, and I’m always covered in paint.”
Colleen dabbled with art in high school and liked it. She made comics, and even thought about fashion design and interior design as outlets. It was The Singularity that put her paintings in her first show.
“All I had was random stuff I made,” Colleen says. “I enjoyed it, so I just did it.”
Some of the emotions behind her pieces are messy, too, like the first time she ever sold one of her works. It was heartbreak that helped her make it.
And heartbreak that came after she sold it.
“I didn’t want to sell it,” she says. “I cried.”
Now, Colleen works mainly with custom pieces and requests, like the wedding centerpiece she worked on while we talked. Often, all she needs is a bit of direction to un-blank that canvas.
“One person I just had, she really likes peacock feathers, and she wanted purples,” she says. “So I made her something really cool that’s probably one of my favorites I’ve made in a while. And she was really stoked. It felt good.”
Colleen is big on customers being able to afford her art. She wants more people to come to Jackson art shows, too, and to help spread awareness about the arts community in town.
“There’s always people saying ‘There’s nothing to do,’ but all these other people are working really hard to put on a show,” she says. “It’s one of the most frustrating things to me. Support your community!”
She loves seeing the art community come together and seeing her fellow artists develop their talent.
“There’s a lot of people that complain about our town, and then there are people making it beautiful.”
Buy the Artists In Jackson book