A Brief History of John Baldessari

my eyes are not shut

my eyes are not shut by Sandra Louise Dyas | Make Your Own Book

Katy, Queen of Her Garden, Iowa City, Iowa 2011

LENSCRATCH is Aline Smithson's photography blog. Talented and well-known photographer Aline is also a blogger who helps to promote other photographers' work. She has regular calls (free) for photographs which she posts online. Today - January 1st, 2012 - is a new exhibition called YOUR FAVORITE PHOTOGRAPH OF 2011.

The work is really exceptional. There are 5 individual parts - you can reach each part by going to the end of the blog and pressing "Older Posts". My fave photo is of my friend Katy Hoffer. I took it early this fall in Katy's garden. This photograph is part of my Lost in the Midwest series. The photo is in Aline's 3rd part of 5 parts.

The Lost Nation Photographs - The Motley Cow, Iowa City, Iowa

My black and white gelatin silver photos are UP. The space they are living in is at the Motley Cow - a fine dining experience in Iowa City. This body of work dates from the early 1990s to 2005. All photographs are hand-printed in my darkroom on fiber paper and are archivally matted --- and are for sale. Please contact me for more information.

sandy@sandydyas.com -- www.sandydyas.com

Jeffrey Foucault - Musician Extraordinaire

Friday night we went to CSPS in Cedar Rapids (in the Czech village) to hear Jeffrey Foucault perform. He sounded so good - way beyond words. And second set his good friend Dave Moore sat in and played his harmonica and accordion. The whole experience of listening to them collaborate and make music was wonderful. In addition, CSPS is brand new. Following the flooding in 2008, CSPS was down but not anymore! It is back and in the finest condition. They now have a small bar with tasty deliciousness....beer and wine. Nice brews to compliment the fine evening you will have.

I have some tiny pics to add from the actual performance - and I made some videos too. But what I have ready to go is one of the images from the NEXT day. On Saturday Jeffrey and I spent a few hours doing a photo shoot. Yes, it was COLD outside. We did some in my make-shift studio and some out at Dave and Lysa Moore's cool cabin on the river. All good. Here is one I especially like from inside my house.

Kelly Pardekooper - YONDER - Easy Ed's Review

My friend Ed Maxin (Easy Ed) writes a blog - on No Depression's site. He posted this review today - November 28, 2011. Gotta read it! Kelly Pardekooper -my good friend and musician, former Iowa Citian and now living in LA has a new record out called YONDER. My friend Gene Flores did the cover art - and boy it is beautiful!!! I just got the new record --- and know I will love it --- gotta pop it in the cd player for the car ride back and forth to Mount Vernon --- teaching photography this month. Keep making music Kelly! Sorry to have missed your show at the Englert this last holiday week. Just too much on my plate...being it was Thanksgiving... I was with my family on the farm in Jackson County.

Hanno Hardt, Professor, Photographer, Scholar

Tonight I found out that my friend Hanno Hardt passed away on October 11th. I am profoundly saddened by this news. Hanno was an inspiration to me while a student at the University of Iowa. Hans Breder and Hanno were friends and I was in Hans' Intermedia program.

Hanno Hardt loved black and white documentary photography. He loved Iowa. "A Time in Iowa" is a book he self-published in 2007. He has self-published a great number of photography books on Blurb.

I still have my notes from his class. We talked about the media. Film, photography, TV. My paper was about Woody Allen and all the controversies surrounding him at that time. I still have that paper. Later, Hanno served as a member on my MFA committee. I appreciated his support of my work.

Over the years, we stayed loosely connected. He wrote an invitation for me to teach and research at the University of Ljubljana last year and again this year. Hanno wanted me to help assist him teach photography and video at the university. He believed in me and in my work as an artist. Hanno Hardt was an incredibly smart and creative thinking man. He was also very generous and kind. I hoped I would see him again...this time in Slovenia.

There will be a memorial for him at the MILL in Iowa City on November 4th from 4pm - 7pm.