Alive After Five

Remember, you can click on any image to view it full size!

Spring is here, and ART is in the air...

This past Thursday was the first Roswell Alive After Five street event for 2008.

It's a small street festival in the historic district that the City of Roswell puts on every third Thursday during the Spring/Summer. Live bands, booths, face painting for the kids, and the galleries and businesses are open late. It's kind of like San Diego's Ray at Night.

And, even though my first Vanishing America exhibit is two months away, we put a few of my images up in the Ann Jackson Gallery for the Alive After Five event, and parked BABS nearby to get a little exposure. The response was fantastic. Historic Roswell's art scene is primarily painting, and people were glad to see some artistic photography on display. We got a lot of interest in the wild horse images... especially this one.

It was very encouraging for both me and the gallery that so many people showed so much enthusiasm for this body of work. June promises to be a great month!

This weekend, I'm parked at Alpharetta's Art Street Fest. I'm not participating, just getting some visibility. The weather has been perfect, and it even rained a little Friday night to help wash away some of the pollen that's been wreaking havoc on people's allergies.

And, speaking of allergies...
I was out shooting with the historians from the City of Alpharetta last week. And, if you know me at all, I like to wander around and explore, even if it means getting dirty. Well, I didn't get dirty. I got poison ivy. I'd rather have gotten dirty. If you've ever had poison ivy, poison oak, or poison sumac, you know how frustrating it can be. Almost a year ago, in Southern California, I got poison oak while shooting out at a Wagon Wheel Park. You'd think I'd have learned my lesson and covered up a little better. No, not me. The thought never crossed my mind. I grew up playing in the woods, and as a kid, could have rolled around in poison ivy and never have any kind of reaction. But, I guess, as we get older, our bodies change, and now that wicked weed and I simply don't get along.

Stay tuned for more updates about Vanishing America's First Exhibit, coming this June!

Fine Art Photography at San Diego's Ray at Night

Widow Makers VIP artist's reception for Holt Webb at 4 Walls Gallery
Fine Art Photography

What a great night!

I'd like to thank all of my friends and colleagues for coming out and supporting my first solo gallery exhibition, and for supporting Ray at Night. I can't express in mere words how important it is to me that everyone dropped what they were doing to see my work on the gallery walls.

There were over 1000 people in attendance for the 5th Anniversary of Ray at Night, and it seemed like every single one of them stopped in to view my images. The gallery was packed all night, and even stayed open an hour after most other places on the street were closing down. There was a lot of interest in my color image of the Salton Sea, as well as the two images from my Trembling Earth series, but the stars of the show seemed to be the wild horse selections from my series, Untamed.

At one point, I saw a young woman jumping up and down with a huge smile on her face telling her friends all about how much she loved one of my black and white closeup horse portraits. Not sure yet if she bought the image, but I do expect that the image will sell very quickly.

I guess the image that got the most "oohs and aahs" was the 3 foot by 5 foot canvas of "U-01", the first in my Untamed series. It seemed to be the most talked about image of the night.

From what the gallery curator, Elliot Linwood, told me near the end of the evening, it looks like we sold 4 or 5 pieces, including two from the Untamed series.

Maybe it was the full moon, but everything seemed to come together for me that evening. ..

• It was Ray at Night's 5th anniversary,
• there was a great band playing on the roof (U2 style),
• Toni Atkins gave a speech,
• my parents flew into town just for the show,
• almost all of my friends came down to support me,
• this same month San Diego Magazine did a small profile on me as a contributing photographer,
• San Diego Magazine also had a 6 page article on a home for which I did all the photography,
• my best friend, Marc, and his wife, Nancy, sent me a bottle of fantastic wine for me to celebrate because they couldn't be here to celebrate with me,
• attendance that night set a new record for the event.

I truly enjoyed the evening. It was a great start to what seems to be a blossoming career.

And, again, to all of you who made it out: A Giant THANK YOU!

And, to all of you who couldn't make it: I'll be having another reception on September 23rd. I hope to see you there.

www.holtwebb.com
www.myspace.com/holtwebb
© Holt Webb Photography