Needlepoint Polaroid

From Nicole Gastonguary:

I want.

Darkroom...

I suppose that's true...

Minnesota State Arts Board Grant (for the Kernel’s Show)

The 37 photos that I printed, matted, and framed for Kernel Days were made possible in part by a Minnesota Festival Support Grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board. I worked with the Wells Chamber of Commerce in order to obtain the grant, and they were very helpful.

Here’s some of the work I was doing throughout this process:

Budgeting: how much for what sizes.


Blueprints of the 2 possible rooms I could use for the show.


Keeping track of what I was printing (and what sizes).


Photocopies of the receipts in progress.

I shot a few rolls with my Holga during the Kernel Days Parade that I’ll scan and show over the next few weeks. But here’s one I scanned this evening - it’s one of the last photos I made, and it’s of 2 people looking at my work:

So a big THANKS to the Minnesota State Arts Board and the Wells Chamber of Commerce for making the Kernel's Show a possibility! Back with more soon.

Kernel Days Show

The city of Wells received a grant to have me print, frame, and show many of the photos I’ve made over the last few years around the Wells area. So they asked me to come back and show my work at Kernel Days, which is the yearly town celebration – complete with baseball, volleyball, beanbag toss, and cribbage tournaments, lots of fried food, a talent show, a classic car show, and a big parade on Sunday. (Among other things.)

I got back home late last night after Kernel Days. It was a busy weekend. I hung 37 photos Friday night, was around all day Saturday to show off the work, and was around after the parade on Sunday (yesterday). Here are a few photos from my little exhibit:

I sold a number of pieces along with one of my “Faribault County” books, so it was a successful weekend exhibit! Thanks to everyone from the area who stopped by to see my work!

Final Prep for Kernels Show

The show is up! I have 37 pieces on display near Half Moon Park in Wells, MN for Kernel Days. Here’s some of the final prep work for dealing with all this work:

Pile of trash: linen tape backing, empty bags of
framing hardware, and Windex-covered paper towels.


Paper that once wrapped all the pieces to my metal frames.


Titles mounted on foam core.


Nine photos on the seat, and 8 on the floor.
All are laying back-to-back with sheets between all the fronts.


20 large pieces (22x24 frames) in the backseat of my car.

I hauled all the pieces SAFELY to Wells on Friday afternoon (yesterday), and hung the work immediately in a cleaned-out shed near the park where Kernel Days is held. Many people have already stopped by, and I hope to have a good turnout tomorrow after the parade. It’s been great getting feedback from people who live and work in the area where many of these photos were made - they view the work in such a different way than my photography peers in Minneapolis / St. Paul.

If you’re in the Wells area, stop by tomorrow after the parade and say hi! Photos from the show to follow shortly...

Kernels Day Show Prep

Last week, my huge frame order was completed. I had to make 4 trips to my car with frames, mats, glass, and framing hardware. Here’s 38 frames all laid out and ready to be assembled (with the hardware in the bag in the foreground):

I also printed stickers with my blog address on them to add to my postcards:

Framing work in my studio.


Signature on the back of all prints.


The first 10 framed 16x20s.

OK, back to work... I have 28 more prints to frame by Friday afternoon. And if you’ll be around for Kernels Days this weekend, make sure to stop by Half Moon Park to see my prints!

Lots of Printing...

.... soon to be “Lots of Framing.”

Over the last few weeks, I’ve printed around 40 photographs to show at “Kernel Days.” I mentioned this a few posts back - I was given a grant to print, frame, and show many of my photos that I made around my hometown of Wells, MN. I’ll be showing those images at the yearly town celebration known as “Kernel Days,” which takes place in about 10 days.

It’s been interesting selecting work for this show. It’s a mix of what I consider to be my best work from this project, along with some of the images that I know people who live in the area would like to see. I’ve never selected photos like this before.

Anyway, here are a few photos of everything in progress:

16x20s in the drawers


Lots of drawers of 16x20s


Prints “drying” in my studio


11x17s drying

Note: in case you didn’t know (or you think I’m crazy), the prints come out completely dry to the touch. But they release gases over the next few days as they fully dry, so I like to lay out my prints and let them “dry” for a few days after making the prints. Otherwise, it can lead to some framing issues once they are put under glass.

I’ll be checking out the space where I’ll be showing this weekend. It’s not going to be anything fancy. Far from that, in fact. But it will be fun to get the reactions of the people from the area where I made the photos!

OK, time to call the frame shop....

First Day of My Class

I'm in the middle of a week-long digital photo class for high school students at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design. We only have a week, so we jump RIGHT into it. Here's the board at the end of the first day of class:

Super nerdy. Super fun.