The Ladies of Rubia Flower Market invade ISP! View all the images here.

View and purchase images here.

This week’s major commercial project took place at Rosebud Ranch in Brookston, IN. A naturally beautiful setting and friendly atmosphere sums up my shoot. Thanks to Art, Wendie, Tina, Sharon, Karla, Becky and Wylee (sp?) and all the riders, boarders and students for all the help.

On Monday April 20, 2010 Ivy Tech Community College dedicated “Hymn to Achievement” – a twenty four foot wide mural – to it’s art collection in Ivy Hall in Lafayette, IN.

Created by Aldo Giorgini nearly forty years ago, it’s quite interesting how relevant the subject matter is today, but also how well the piece holds up as art – managing to avoid a dated look. It’s no coincidence, as Aldo was well ahead of his time, being among the very first in the world to pioneer the use of computer programming to create artistic imagery. More on Aldo Giorgini can be found here.

Aldo’s son Mass Giorgini approached me several weeks ago to photograph the mural in order to create a reproduction of the piece for use during the unveiling event as well as posterity. Measuring seven feet tall by twenty four feet wide, the mural was photographed in it’s six individual wooden panels. Mass can be seen standing next to one of the mural sections here:

With assistance from my friend Kenny Redman, the six individual images were compiled into a single image using Photoshop CS3. The image was then inserted into layouts for a poster and a souvenir program (which was graciously financed by the Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City). The finished poster design measures 24×36 inches (click the image to view it in a larger format):

From the poster’s text:

“Commissioned to create a mural commemorating the visit of Astronaut Eugene Cernan, the last man to walk on the moon (Apollo 17), Giorgini’s charge was to capture in paint the wonder of everything that science and technology had allowed man to accomplish. However, Giorgini had also seen the awesome destructive power that had been a product of these same advances. As a child in Eritrea, he witnessed his hero, Italian fighter pilot ace Mario Visintini, set off on what was to be his final mission, a flight that ended tragically in a crash into Mount Nefasit. On his return to Italy, Giorgini witnessed the devastation of the war there: including the demolition of churches and museums by the bombing that followed the positions of the retreating Nazi army.

Even the initial impetus for the production of the mural – to honor the triumphs of the space program – was tinged by the tragic deaths of Cernan’s fellow astronauts in the Apollo 1 disaster. All of this likely contributed to the amalgam of images representing progress in biology, medicine, and engineering interposed with the mural’s references to mechanized warfare and nuclear weaponry – reminders that with knowledge and power comes great responsibility, lest any hymn to achievement serve simultaneously as a paean to our own annihilation. “

The unveiling was attended by many noted individuals, including Mayor of Lafayette Tony Roswarski, David Bathe, and Larry Livermore, founder of Lookout! Records, which under Livermore’s ownership released records by internationally known artists such as Green Day and Mass’ own band Squirtgun. A musical performance of “Pop Song” was scheduled in honor of the occasion featuring Kris Roe of The Ataris, Mass and Flav Giorgini, Pat McClimans, Dan Lumley, Phillip Hill, Heidi Faith and myself (in my tambourine debut!). Unfortunately I don’t have any iPhone video of the musical performance, but here’s Mr. Livermore unveiling the mural:

It has been an honor to have been part of this project, the Giorgini family continues to be a source of creativity, inspiration and compassion in our community.

You can read more about the event here.

Since moving into the studio last October, I’ve been doing my editing in a chair that looks cool, but has been slowly (actually, not so slowly) destroying my back. I finally got around to replacing it with something that still looks cool but will hopefully spare me a good deal of discomfort. The following is something I made simply because I am a big dork.

Join my Country and Western band as we perform live alongside our friends in Why I Like Robins and SmallTown Heroes at the Lafayette Brewing Company on Friday, March 5. Show starts at 9pm, $5.oo cover. Enjoy great live music and craft-brewed ales!

Ok, I know, I know, it’s getting a little obsessive at this point. BUT, I had to share this great video done by Chad Rainey, and I think this will be the final still Lafing post. Maybe. Time to move on?

Thanks to all who came and supported! Thanks again to Aaron and Jeri from Mineus Print, Bob Foresman from Velocity Sound Service (lights), DJ Mondo, Kate Sweeney and Danielle Avery (hair and makeup), Chris Johnson of People’s Brewing Company (barley pop), Paul Baldwin of the Black Sparrow (the weird punch) and Don and Mark from DT Kirby’s (delicious eats). The event was huge fun and we took in nearly $200 in donations for the American Cancer Society.

photo by Chris Voglund

The event was lots of fun, with music, refreshments and live models:

Johnny and the legendary “Lafayette Yette” shirt, the one that started it all!

Drew sports the original Mineus Print “Kids are Bored” shirt. The ones you can purchase from Mineus leave the phone number off so you can write in your own!

Jordan gives Sarah some help with modeling “Party Please?”!

Kaida sports the “Falcon” shirt!

Cait and “Courthouse Bomb”, one of my favorite shirts!

Lindsey and the brand new “Party City USA”. This one was in high demand, so get on over to Mineus Print and place an order!

Emily and ISPhotographic’s exclusive “Bear in Boots” by Mineus Print. Call or stop by ISPhotographic for yours!

This time it’s from my friend Tonya over at Circle City Planners! How the contest works is so fun! You need to write a 100-word story about why your pet is the cutest baby in the world. Submit your pictures and story to admin@circlecityplanners. The winner will receive $1,250 in services from Circle City Planners, as well as a one hour portrait session with myself. So get on it! Click here for more info or to contact Tonya with questions.