Start of my Journey

Hello all, This is Dylan Lytle. I am the Photography Resident for 2019 here at The Bascom. I am thrilled to have this opportunity, and excited to share my progression as an artist, and as an individual with you all.

I have been photographing for six years now, and one year as a professional. I am passionate about landscape photography, and the beauty it encompasses. I look to further my art through my time spent here at The Bascom. I live in Old Fort, NC, right below Asheville. I am used to having a wonderful landscape within minutes to enjoy and photograph, and now living in Highlands, that certainly hasn’t changed.

I moved into my house three days ago, and love it. It is small yet spacious, and is perfect for what I need. Here is a shot I took upon my arrival.

The A-frame Cabin at The Bascom Gallery

I will be writing about my experience every Sunday afternoon, and possibly in between. I look forward to sharing my journey here as an artist with you all, and excited to be a part of this community.

Two Weeks of Photos, Faeries and Future projects!

I hope y’all are having a good night!

I know, I know, I am behind the times on updating my wonderful adventures at the Bascom!

 

Boys & Girls Club

So the week before last I had the pleasure of teaching an art project with the Boys & Girls Club. Our project was to go outside on the trail and take photos using silhouettes of animals found in North Carolina. It was a great project and a lot of fun! Sadly, weather compromised our adventure for the first session, but here at the Bascom we don’t let weather stop us in our art making! Instead we went throughout the Bascom to find images, artwork or places that would make cool imagery within the silhouette!

 

The second session of students were able to go out onto the trail and to take photos using different elements of nature to make their art! Both sessions were quite successful and is a project that anyone can do at home with their children!

 

Art By Appointments

My art by appointments are growing and I am getting such a great opportunity to work with some really talented and bright students in Highlands.  There a few similarities in what they want to learn but overall. Each of them are working on different projects. Alex finished his self portrait about two weeks ago. Now, we are working on creating two images to work with dry and wet mixed media. Kara Lynn is experimenting with charcoal and trying to learn how to do portraits and figures better!  Sophie is experimenting with digital painting and our next meeting will start her project in digital painting. Leah, the latest student I’m working with is finishing up her insect illustrations from a previous instructor.  So much creativity and talent and so little time… my time at the Bascom is slowly coming to an end in roughly a month, but I plan to find my way back after I finish my MFA! Let us see what happens.

 

Rec. Center Self Portraits!

At the Rec. Center we are starting to work on Expressive Self-Portraits!  This past week we worked on creating the backgrounds for our self-portraits and this upcoming week, we’ll be finishing them. So creative and colorful, it experimented with soft pastels which became such a fun messy experience!

 

Faerie Festival!

This past Saturday at the Nature Center was the Faerie festival! I held a workshop where the kids participating could make their own faeries, color them, cut them out and tape them to sticks! It was a lot of fun and a great time all around!

 

Re-Annoucement

Calling All Artists within Western North Carolina!

I am currently working with our  Art Education Resident Kristina Baker on working on some prints to create based from her paintings – imagery, concepts, etc. We are still in sketch and layout phase, but as we continue on, in this project I will be posting the process! If you are interested please let me know!

THE IDEA:

I will meet  with artist(s) they create a piece of art  and then I interpret it into a print. The prints will be theirs in authorship (signage) and we will make an edition (10-15) . Their will be a split 60/40%  between me and the artists. The prints that I collect go to the Bascom to sell in their shop or to use in auctions and/or events.

Right now, I want the experience but if things go well the idea will probably grow. Let us find out!

Please email me if you are interested in this opportunity!
chowell@thebascom.org

Once again, thanks for reading and I hope to see you at the Bascom!

-Cecily Brooke Howell

Photography Residence Experience

“I came to Highlands at the end of February and from March 3rd to April 5th I worked on my project that would culminate with an Exhibition on the 6th of April. At the beginning I had an idea of how I wanted to approach this project, but I still had my concerns and doubts. As the project went on, everything started to fall into place. At times it took a week and other times things were done in one day. This couldn’t have happened without the assistance of the wonderful staff at The Bascom. From day one, they have been very supportive in a variety of ways; from giving me constructive criticism to helping me fit into small spaces. I would like to thank everyone at The Bascom and a special thank you to Billy, Will, and Hayden. You guys are the best! 

This past Saturday evening was the Exhibition opening for “The Will to Power” and I am very content with the amount of people that came out to show their support. It was fun giving a short presentation of my work and answering some questions. I am already looking forward towards the next project and the next exhibition!

If you missed the opening for “The Will to Power” it’s ok! It will be on display from April 6ht until May 13th in the Education Gallery. So make sure you stop by! ”

-Byron Tenesaca, Artist-in-Residence

http://chulla-vida.com/

Photography Residence Experience

 

 

“We started this week with our Photography workshop on Saturday. This particular workshop covered Portraiture. When we talk portraits we often think about lighting and posing. This week we explored and had a profound discussion on those two topics. Often people dislike to pose simply because they want their images to look natural. As a photographer you are creating your own luck simply by giving your subject a few directions. We came to the conclusion that there is nothing wrong with posing, but the interpretation people have of it. We also discussed composition in Portraiture. It’s all about the lines and curves!

One of The Bascoms special features include an 87-foot-long covered bridge entrance called the Will Henry Stevens Bridge. A very historical and the first thing you will see once you arrive at The Bascom. For this weeks photoshoot, I chose this particular space in order to create one of my images that will be displayed at the Exhibition next month. It’s a black and white photograph composed of about 50 images. Some people call it a collage, I call it the path to blindness.

This week I also got to meet Greg Newington, a photographer from Australia who will be teaching a couple of workshops at The Bascom over the summer and who I will be collaborating with. We discussed some curiosities and philosophies that come with being a photographer. One of them was having different versions of the same person and how “the photographer” in “you” is part of this other world where light, composition, color, subject, and the unusual are paramount.

And lastly I am wrapping up my images for my exhibition. The Education Manager and Director of Education have pushed me to do my best by being supportive and giving me rich feedback which I believe have set my images to the next level. (Thanks Billy and Will!)

The opening for the Exhibition will be on Saturday, April 9th from 2 – 4pm. ”

-Byron Tenesaca

http://chulla-vida.com/