Washington Holgaroid Series - Image Number Thirteen

Somewhere on the highway, could actually be Idaho...
Image by Tiffany Teske

She's Like a Rainbow - Nimbin Australia

I am involved with a book project with Female Photographers of Etsy (fPOE). We are in the process of voting on the cover image for our book "She's Like a Rainbow". I submitted this Polaroid Transfer of a woman at the MardiGrass Festival in Nimbin Australia.
Image by Tiffany Teske

Kelowna Holgaroid Series - Number Three

Double exposure of my three year old with her Kitty Holga in a park in Kelowna.
Image by Tiffany Teske

Kelowna Holgaroid Series - Number Two

I love this image of my daughter and I, looking into the fish eye lens of my Holga...
Image by Tiffany Teske

Filament Magazine

I received my contributor copies of the second issue of Filament Magazine, well, quite awhile ago, but I have not had a chance to post about. In fact, I see from their website that the third issue is now out. Filament is a unique magazine, based in the UK, which is dedicated to satisfying females by providing them with images of beautiful men. These images are meant to entice the "female gaze". It is a wonderful concept and I think this magazine fills a real need in the overwhelming number of magazines on the market. I love their tag line, "The Thinking Woman's Crumpet". As they say:

Filament does
~ intelligent and interesting articles
~ images of men made for the female gaze
~ high-quality writing and design

Filament doesn't do
~ fashion and cosmetics
~ diets
~ celebrity gossip

I love that the cover says "Contains explicit and wholesome content. Please do not buy if offended by either."

Check it out. They have subscriptions...


My Polaroid transfer "Together We Are Both Alone" was used at full page size to illustrate an article on low sex drive. It looks amazing at that size. I am excited to be working with this new magazine and I hope to have more of my images appear in it in the future...

Canmore Christmas Artisans’ Market 2009 at Canmore Collegiate High School

Holiday Star by Tiffany Teske

I am excited to be selling my photography and art at the Canmore Christmas Artisans Market this year. It is a wonderful way to do all of your Christmas shopping while supporting the handmade movement while not even leaving the Bow Valley!! I heard there are over 75 vendors this year... I will have items from $1 to $100, ranging from matted photographs and Polaroid transfers to magnets, pendants, pins, single and card sets, and postcards. There is something for everyone. Plus, if you come by my booth I will let you hold my little cherub baby :) Come and have some fun and read on for more details...

From the Canmore Events Calendar...
Canmore Christmas Artisans’ Market 2009
Saturday November 21 and Sunday November 22, 2009
10am to 4pm
"Treat yourself to something wonderful, or finish your Christmas shopping in a single day. Join over 60 artisans and artists from the Bow Valley and surrounding areas, as they present their beautiful, handmade creations. This year, the 14th annual Canmore Christmas Artisans’ Market will feature luscious art for the home, personal treats, and traditional crafts. We’ll have blown glass, turned wood and metal work. There will be a wide selection of pottery, jewellery and paintings. Indulge in chocolates, home made treats and luscious bath and body products. Snuggle up with cozy hats, slippers, gorgeous clothing, teddy bears and the cutest stuff for baby. From $5 to $1000, there’s something for everyone. Admission is $2, in support of the Canmore Preschool. Kids free. A light lunch is also available, featuring specialties from a number of local restaurants, along with hot drinks and the always popular bakesale table. We're at Canmore Collegiate High School, 1800 8th Ave."

As Promised, The Final DIY Polaroid Framing Project

Phew, after all the fun of Polaroid Week, all the blog posting, and the opening of my current solo exhibit, I needed to take a break. But, I promised one more Polaroid framing craft. Here it is... a couple of days late...


My neighbor recently opened a hair salon and she needed art. She came over one night to flip through my MANY Polaroid transfers and made a pile of the ones she liked. We started talking about how she wanted to display them... matted? Framed? Something creative? She remembered she had an old multi pane window she had brought home from the family farm. I own a mat cutter, I custom cut all of my mats, and I have PLENTY of scrap mat. I aim to use recycled items in my work so I was excited to create a unique photo gallery out of scrap mat and an old window. I love working on new projects and am confident enough to jump in with both feet even when I am not sure what to do. It all worked out this time and what I learned I will now pass along to you...


How-to Turn an Old Window Frame into a Polaroid Transfer Photo Gallery

What you will need:
- Polaroid transfers or Polaroids or whatever photos you want to use
- Archival mat board
- An old window frame
- UV resistant spray
- Newspaper
- Boot/Shoe tray (optional)
- Photo mounting tape or corners for affixing the images to the mat or you can use low tack masking tape if you don't care about it being archival. You will also need masking tape for taping the mats into the frames.
- Old wallpaper
- Spray glue (I use 3M Super 77 Multipurpose Spray Adhesive)
- Two screw eyes
- Wood glue
- Picture framing wire

1. Select your images. Lay them out on the boot/shoe tray on newspaper and spray them with UV Resistant spray (I use Kryon Gloss) according to the instructions on the can.


2. Clean your window frame to the extent you would like to. We liked that our frame was rustic and worn so aside from a quick wash we used it as is. In the end even the old paint splotches on some of the panes of glass enhanced the over all look of things.

3. Cut the outside of your mats to fit in the window panes and cut the mat window to the correct dimensions for the transfer. I would love to give an online tutorial on mat cutting but since it completely depends on what type of mat cutter you own, I can't. Cut your mat according to how you mat cutter works or Google "How to Cut a Window Mat" and you will find some information on how to do it simply with an Exacto knife and ruler. I use archival mats as other types will eventually ruin your images, since the acid will eat away the parts it touches, sometimes within mere months.


4. Using photo tape, or corners, or masking tape, tape your images onto your mat. (I used masking tape, which is not archival, because my friend may remove the images at some point. She didn't want me to use a permanent method to affix them but wanted to make sure they would stay put in the frame. Sometimes photo tape loses its grip and images can shift out of the photo corners...)



5. Fit your mats into the panes so they rest flat against the glass. Using masking tape, tape the mat into the frame. It is ok for the masking tape to be on the mat, even though it is not archival. Continue taping row by row, checking the front from time to time to see how things look.






6. I like to give the back of the frame a nice finish by covering it with old wallpaper I buy it at the thrift store. It is another way to reduce, reuse, and recycle. I used spray glue to attach it to the back of the frame (and I always try to spray this glue outside). This stuff is STICKY so if you don't have someone to help you you can put clothespins on the bottom edge of your wallpaper, hold the top edge with one hand and hold the spray can in other.



7. In order to hang your frame, measure out and mark where you want the screw eyes to be inserted. For added strength, I like to put wood glue on the threaded ends of the screw eyes before screwing them in. You do not need to drill holes first, just take the pointed end of the screw eye and start screwing it in. If your wood is very hard you can tap on the head of the screw eye with a hammer to get it set into the wood before turning.


8. Measure out your picture framing wire, leaving enough extra so that you can wrap the ends around the wire, after passing it through the screw eye head. For added strength, you can thread the wire through the screw eye head twice, by looping the end back through after the initial pass. Wrap the loose ends back on each other.




Et voila! You are now ready to hang your photo gallery on the wall. Whoot whoot!


Done and hanging on the B-Towne Salon wall. Thanks to Brooke for the chance to display my work in a new way.

All Over The Map - Solo Exhibition at the Banff Public Library

Wow! The month of October was spent getting ready for my show. And the past week has been spent shooting and posting for Polaroid week. And my in laws were here, and now my dad is here. Add play dates and preschool, crafting with friends, hunting treasures, baking and cooking, etc etc etc, man oh man I am tired.

Tomorrow night, Saturday, November 7th, I am having an opening for my latest show at the Banff Public Library from 7-9 PM. If you are local, please come! I am thrilled to have already sold two pieces in the show. And friend and writer Michelle Macullo wrote an awesome article about the show in this week's Rocky Mountain Outlook. She writes about all of the art shows for the library. It was so fun to chat with her and then to see what she would write. She is so sweet, I can't believe she said I give people the same feeling hot chocolate does! Below you will find the article and my artist statement for the show.


Image by Craig Douce of the Rocky Mountain Outlook

Artist all over the map with new exhibition
Published: November 04, 2009 10:00 PM
Updated: November 04, 2009 11:05 PM

MICHELLE MACULLO, BANFF

There’s something remarkable about Banff photographer Tiffany Teske.

Within minutes of sitting down with her, she puts you at ease. She’s that friend who loves you unconditionally, flaws and all – the kind of person who makes you feel the way hot chocolate does.

And while her Twitter page claims she’s “trying to get a handle on all the projects running around in her head,” it’s clear she’s got a gift for getting things done. With more than one blog, various projects on the go and two young daughters, she still manages to pursue her love of photography.

During the month of November, Teske presents All Over the Map – a solo exhibition of previously displayed and new photo-based works at the Banff Library Public Art Gallery. An opening reception with the artist and family in attendance takes place at the library, Saturday (Nov. 7) from 7-9 p.m.

Whether Polaroid transfers, collages or photos embellished with hand-sewn details, the end result is curiously pleasing, inspiring and peaceful. Noteworthy pieces include Wedding Cake from Kiki’s Wedding Series (Polaroid emulsion lift), Tremendous Journey from the Series Wanderlust (mixed media collage on a recycled album jacket) and Amazing Grace (Polaroid Transfer).

Since becoming a mother, Teske’s managed to weave visual arts into her regular routine. With 22 group shows and three solo efforts, there’s little doubt she’s adjusted. While the amount of time she spends on her craft has changed, her love of art hasn’t.

“I have no illusion that I’ve got it all together,” she laughs. “I’m not happy if I’m not creating. I have to feed the need to be creative. So even though I’m not getting into the studio as much as I’d like, I cook more and I bake more.”

And while she’s good at many things, she has no interest in being the best.

“It’s hard to be a perfectionist in art because you stand in your own way,” Teske says.

The transition from straight photography to mixed media has been a natural progression for Teske. Her inspiration is found in family, spirit, recycled objects and creative genius – something old, something new, something borrowed and hand-made glue.

All pieces in the show are for sale either framed or unframed. For additional details, or to contact the artist directly, please e-mail tiffany@oldesage.com.

All Over the Map runs until Nov. 30 at the Banff Public Library Art Gallery.


Metamorphosis
Mixed Media Collage
By Tiffany Teske
SOLD

All Over the Map ~ Mixed Media Works by Tiffany Teske

I have to admit that this exhibition has turned out differently than I originally planned. It makes total sense, in fact, it is truly perfect. Not the work perhaps, but the way it all came together. It is a bit like the way my husband and I travel. We have a map, we have a guidebook, but in the end we hop on some mode of transport and just let the experience take over and dictate where we will go. In the end, we have the most amazing adventures because we are open to not only all good experiences, but also to the occasional mishaps and misadventures. The ups come with some downs and in the end it is absolutely sublime. Like life. Like making art while at the same time mothering my two children.

Maybe someday I will present the body of work I had originally intended to create, a cohesive group of art like I was trained to create while in University. The kind of work I used to be able to create, before I became a mother. However, I am a much different person now and since I just keep changing, as does my life, whatever I plan to make in the future can not be what I had envisioned in would have been in the past. So, I am realising as I write this that what I have created in this retrospective body of work, that is sprinkled with some new pieces, is exactly what I meant to create. All Over the Map is real, it is true, it is me, and how I am creating art right now.

I used to be really good at my life. I looked as if I had it “all together” and truthfully I did. I could juggle dozens of balls in the air without dropping one. I could work on several projects at once and finish what I started in good time. I was not ruthlessly structured, I had a map and would use it, but I would also meander in appropriate ways. I had 24 hours 7 days a week to be me; a wife, a daughter, a friend, an artist, an activist, a traveler, an adventurer. Now, I am also a mother.

Lately, I have taken to calling myself the Artist Currently and Forever Known as Mama. I had no idea what I was in for. I thought for some reason babies would just be extra balls to juggle in the beautiful circus of my life. But, I am pleased to say, that in fact, they are the main attractions upon which my spotlight is permanently fixed. Their beauty transfixes me in a way that I can scarcely take my eyes off of them in order to catch the balls that now fall from time to time, some occasionally rolling away. Now, instead of seamless working on several things at once, I can barely start what I finish artistically because I am too busy relearning the wonder of being a child. It is sublime in a way that I could not have imagined. Yet, I must admit that there is a darker side, that my muse does become cranky, frustrated, and sometimes down right angry when I don’t create but she is appeased by snippets of time that I can spin into art; the art that you see here. In the three and a half years I have been a mother, I have been able to create and to participate in 22 group and three solo shows. All while watching my children grow and while joining them in play. All by learning that perfection is not my goal. I freed myself by truly not caring if others think I have it all together. I can honestly and happily say I don’t. All Over the Map is showcases my current adventure. Thanks for coming along.

Last Image for Polaroid Week

My Father's Footprints
Image by Tiffany Teske

I am going to keep this post simple. It has been a tiring week, and I have the opening for my solo show at the Banff Public Library tomorrow. I did promise a second DIY framing craft for today but it will have to wait until Sunday...

My father is visiting. We are very close and we all look forward to having dad here. This morning when he went out for a walk I made this image of his footprints along with tire tracks in the freshly fallen snow. Something about the fact that his footprints are going away from me make me emotional.

Polaroid Week Day Four - More Fun with SX-70

Looking Ahead
Image by Tiffany Teske

More contributions to Polaroid Week on Flickr. More fun with expired film. I did check and no, the Sears Special One Step Land Camera does not have a tripod mount...


Global Girl
Image by Tiffany Teske

Polaroid Week - Day Three's Image PLUS a DIY Polaroid Framing Craft

Here is my third contribution to Polaroid Week. I decided yesterday that I wanted to photograph my little gem of a camera which is impossible without a mirror. So, I got out my vintage French Ivory hand held looking glass today and started experimenting. For anyone who has never tried to hold a Polaroid camera with one hand and take a picture, they may not understand why I feel triumphant about this blurry pic. Polaroid cameras as like clunky tanks, and they really need two hands. But, I like this a lot. And I dig the camera. It has the most amazing Polaroid sound. So loud. Not what we are used to with digital. Of all my Polaroid cameras this one is the loudest. On another note, I love that this image is capturing the moment right before the camera spit out the film.


Ok, I promised two DIY projects for framing your Polaroids this week. The first one will probably appeal best to Polaroid enthusiasts who like and own the little black packs that the film comes in. Back when Polaroid made film, they allowed people to mail these back so they could recycle them. I never did this and I now have over 200 of them for 669 film, and just a few of the square type 80 I am using here. I am happy to be able to reuse these as frames. I framed this image that I made especially for my friend, Kim. I made it this spring, when I passed the Mayberry store in Grindrod, British Columbia. It is a double exposure of the store and another store, covered in hubcaps, next door. Kim's last name is Mayberry. Since it was recently her birthday it was time to frame this image up and give it to her.

How to Frame Your Polaroid Image Using a Polaroid Film Pack
By Tiffany Teske


What You Will Need:
~ Empty Polaroid Film Pack
~ Polaroid
~ Picture Hanging Wire


This is the back of a Polaroid 669 pack.


Hold your film pack so the window is facing down. With your left hand, squeeze in the sides of the pack that have the window, and with your right hand remove the backside of the pack (I am right handed). Lift one side off first, then it will come apart easily. This is difficult to describe but easy to feel once you are doing it. It is not fragile so even if it feels like you might break it, you won't.


Now you will have three pieces.


Flip over the piece in the middle in the photo above (the solid piece). Lay your Polaroid on it. You can secure the image with photo tape on the back but it is not necessary.


Take the piece with the window and set it on top.


Put the third piece back on the pack in a reverse of how you took it off, one side then the other. Make sure it clicks together.


Take a length of picture wire that is appropriate for the frame size. Knot both ends. Pull up one of the tabs on the back side of the pack. Slide the knot in. Let the tab fall back into place and the knot will be secure. Do the same on the other side.


Ta-da!


You can put a business card in the back of the pack just secure it with some double sided tape.


I wrote a message on the frame with a silver paint pen. I packaged Kim's gift with recycled tissue paper, a take home food container, and recycle ribbon. Easy peasy and she was pleased as punch!

Polaroid Week - Day Two

Polaroid Week, or I should call it Fall Polaroid Week, since we already had one in May, kicked off yesterday. Yes, it is technically called 'Roid Week but the picture that brings to my mind isn't pretty... I look forward to trying new things during Polaroid Week and this time around I got out a Sears Special One Step Land Camera with it's retro rainbow striped goodness. This camera came out about 1977, for $39.95. I bought it at a thrift store in 2009 for $10. Not sure if it worked, but Oh Baby, it does. It takes SX-70 film, and I just happened to have 4 packs that expired late last year. Whoopie! Now if only I could do the impossible and photograph the lovely little camera with itself... oh wait, I just got am idea for tomorrow's photo...


Today I made some natural light photos of my youngest daughter on my bed beneath a series of Polaroids (on the wall) of her older sister kissing and hugging my belly when I was pregnant with her. This camera used a strip of flashbulbs for illumination (wow, how many of those are in landfills now?) so I am forced to use natural light. These exposures were long, and I didn't even check for a tripod mount. I like how the camera shake and colors of the SX-70 film makes this look like an impressionist painting...

Polaroid Images by Tiffany Teske

For 10 ideas in how to display Polaroids see this previous post...

It's That Time of Year Again... Polaroid Week!!

My first image for Polaroid week. I took this of my 3 1/2 year old daughter, with the pumpkin my grandparents used to let me use when I was a kid. I love its retro goodness, made even better by Polaroid.


Believe it or not, my 3 1/2 year old daughter took this of me. I guess the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

I will be posting at least one image a day until Friday. Tuesday and Thursday's posts will include links to simple display ideas I have written about previously, and Wednesday and Friday's posts will include DIY framing ideas you can make. For more info on caring and displaying your Polaroids read this earlier post.

Polaroid Week Starts Tomorrow...

...check back here to see my images. You can participate by posting your own here: http://www.flickr.com/groups/polaroidweek2009/

Kelowna Holgaroid Series - Number One

Dragon
Image by Tiffany Teske