"My first thought is always of light." Galen Rowell
Tomorrow, October 1, will be full of preparations for Northwest Iowa's Artisans Road Trip (ART) with the kick off opening for me and others beginning at 4 p.m. At A Piece Of Work, Inc. in downtown Spirit Lake, Iowa four artist will be participating in this three day event. They are Anita Plucker, watercolorist extrodinaire, Avis Davis, also an outstanding watercolorist, Mike Houge, gifted photographer and all around good egg, and myself, Daniel Ruf. Mike and I will be putting the finishing touches on our alcoves so that all is ready for opening night, which goes until 8 p.m. During the 4 hours A Piece Of Work, Inc. will be having a reception for Ms. Plucker in the special exhibition alcove with gallery talk to follow.
Thirty five artist in Northwest Iowa will be spending the three day event showing their wares and some will even be demonstrating their artistic skills in their workshops. Mediums include everything from pottery and sculpture to painting and photography and all points in between and it is a real opportunity for travelers to make the stops, indicated on a provided map (www.artisansroadtrip.com), visit with artisans and purchase outstanding local art of the area while enjoying the fall scenes on the way.
The hours on Saturday and Sunday will be 9am - 5pm which allows travelers ample time during the three day festival to be a part of the sights and sounds of our artistic area. In past years there have been visitors from as far away as Vermont to the east and California to the west, all taking part in the annual road show.
The above blog image was taken during my recent trip to Banning State Park and is NOT an HDR! It was captured with a Canon 50D, 17 - 40mm L lens with a Singh-Ray Vari-Neutral Density Filter attached. Some simple work in Adobe Elements 8 ( I hear Element 9 is out) and then some concentrated work in Nik Viveza 2. I'm headed back to Banning in two weeks or so with the hopes of catching the tail end of the color show and visiting Jay Cooke State Park during this tour.
Thanks for stopping by and if you're in the area join us for the road trip...otherwise don't you dare miss the opportunity to enjoy the fall color where you are!
