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Andre Feriante - Guitar virtuoso - January 26th '08
Gallery Show - January '08
Two accomplished photographers, Islander Kim Farrell and Deb Casso of Seattle, bring nature’s art to the Blue Heron Gallery walls in January. Join artists in a celebration of their art Friday, January 4, 6 to 9 pm, with complimentary appetizers and live music by pianist/vocalist, Maggie Laird.
Kim Farrell, known for her macro floral photography, directs her lens to new work she shot while traveling in Utah and Arizona. “This land has captivated my imagination since first being introduced to its colors and undulating formations in the 1980’s,” she says.
Farrell captures canyons, plateaus, hoodoos, wind and water sculpted desert formations and cloud-painted desert skies that bring to mind a land and time that existed before man. “My goal is to create photographs that demonstrate my love of the world…the enduring beauty of nature, people and cultures,” she says.
Farrell, a physician by day says, “I see both my work and my photography as art. Indirectly, there’s a healing aspect to both. It’s my small way to reduce inhumanity to one another.”
Farrell’s work has been seen in many exhibits including previous group exhibits in Blue Heron Gallery, Barnworks, and World in Focus Exhibit, Seattle. Her work has been published in Nature’s Best, International Photography Awards edition and British Heritage Magazine.
When asked what’s next, Farrell says, “I would like to experiment more with landscapes and portraiture. I would also love to return to Asia, travel to Africa and the Andes and spend more time with my camera in the wild.”
Click here to see a preview of Kim Farrell's gallery show
Deb Casso focuses on floral images, using a Nikon D200 digital camera and macro lens to capture what she calls ‘abstract flora.’ Beautiful color images shot from unexpected angles offer the viewer perhaps previously unobserved perspectives.
Under scrutiny of the macro lens, Casso’s subjects, from banana leaves and lilies to orchids and rhododendrons, become close-up and personal. “Aside from my two year old son, I most enjoy photographing patterns in nature….elements of a large landscape, or a tiny pattern on a single leaf.”
Casso says this body of work symbolizes her recent intentional commitment to slow her pace, reflect and observe, already intrinsic to the life of a photographer. Macro photography, she says ‘requires a near grinding to a halt in order to linger and observe the smallest of details.’ While many of her images are everyday plants, others were derived from botanical gardens and collections of serious garden enthusiasts throughout the Puget Sound. “My hope is that my photographs will encourage others to slow down and perceive the world more acutely amidst the challenges of our daily lives.”
Casso left her career in public health in spring 2007 to follow her passion for photography. “When I became a parent, I realized the things I was most passionate about were no longer fitting together so well in my life…I decided my son and photography were most important to me and I found a way to re-prioritize.”
Casso has studied photography since 2002, and attended many photography workshops including one presented by Island photographer, Ray Pfortner. One of her images (a coyote stretching in the sun at Seattle Arboretum) graced the front page of Seattle Post-Intelligencer, July 2007. She was also published in The Insider’s Guide to Bellingham and Mount Baker, 2006.
“I'm really excited about the Blue Heron show. I'm also pleased to be having another show in Seattle, also in January, at Habitude Gallery in Ballard. Beyond that, I look forward to photographing during the winter months. I haven't done a lot of winter photography and it will be a nice challenge to capture the stillness and simplicity of winter.”
Click here to see a preview of Deb Casso's gallery show
