Prescott Chalk it Up 2010...

The website for Prescott Chalk it Up 2010 is now up and running.

Check it out... there are lots of photos and a lot of good chalk art. The local fire department took some overhead shots in Album 7, too.

And, again, congratulations to our daughter, Lindsay, on winning the People's Choice award!

Vote for Lindsay!

Vote for Lindsay! The local Prescott newspaper is having an online reader vote. Lindsay can win a cash prize. Thanks for your support!

The People's Choice...

This weekend we went up to Prescott, AZ, so our daughter, Lindsay, could participate in the 2-day Prescott "Chalk it Up" festival. This is a street art festival where anyone could reserve a space in a parking lot and do a chalk painting. Sizes varied from 2x2 feet to 10x10 feet. Lindsay decided to take a 4x6 foot space. Originally her art club was supposed to attend and participate, but schedule conflicts canceled the trip. Lindsay decided she wanted to participate on her own. She had previously participated in the Via Colori national events (Scottsdale, 2009, and Glendale, 2010) and really enjoyed them. This is difficult and back-breaking work, too.

So, she had to pick a subject. She loves all things cowboy so she picked the most famous cowboy of all... John Wayne. She did all the prep work finding a photograph, overlaying a grid over it, and getting all her supplies together. We were very impressed. Seems a lot of other people were, too. Most could not believe she is only a sophomore in high school. One couple have even asked Lindsay to do a commission for their home... they are BIG John Wayne fans!

The weather was beautiful, in the 70s and sunny... a little too sunny it seems, as we all got a good pre-tan working. We went up on Saturday assuming that Lindsay could finish in one day. Well, she took her time (in a good way) and really worked the details. So we decided to leave around 3:00 PM on Saturday, get something to eat before the 1.5 hour drive home, get a good night sleep and make a strong finish on Sunday. She had the portrait done the first day and just had to fill in the background and fine-tune on Sunday.

There were between 100 and 200 participants this year, including some professional chalk artists from California and Colorado. Originally there were supposed to be a "Best in Show" and a "People's Choice" award, as well as several awards for the 12 and under artists. Due to budget restraints there was only a People's Choice award this year as we just found out... and the people chose Lindsay! We are so proud of her! Congratulations, Linds!

A note to any parents out there. With all the school budget cuts, especially in the arts and music, please have your children participate in these (mostly) free events. They also had entertainment featuring local students and residents, including a steel drum band, a children's marimba band, a senior dance group, a local high school freshman fiddler, belly dancers and hoop dancers. We found out that the marimba conductor, a school music teacher, had just been laid off. I hope that these casualties of the economy will see the need for extra-curricular classes and start businesses of their own. We have to offer them our support to keep the arts alive.

Still... Life...

First, I have to admit that I am not a still life kinda guy... I prefer to be outdoors. I have done a very few over the past 30 years but never spent any real time learning about lighting and the like.

In December, we took our daughter Lindsay to the National Portfolio Days. She received very high praise, especially being "just" a high school sophomore. However, they all said that she needed to do more drawing/painting from life (not photos). She immediately got "in the zone" and we took her out to the Goodwill and several "shops" to get what she needed for her "Western" still life. She set everything up and even set my lights up. I was so impressed with her that I glommed onto her composition.

This is 4x5 using Portra 160 (only the second time I have used it). I'm happy. I've also included Lindsay in action.

Guest Blog: Christmas... Lindsay Style

My daughter, Lindsay, is an artist at heart, and a traditional one at that. She loves the Masters and prides herself on technique. She paints and she draws using a variety of mediums. We took her to National Portfolio Days a few weeks ago, and at 15, she received comments like, "If you were a senior showing me this portfolio today, I'd offer you a scholarship right now... wouldn't think twice about it" (NHIA). "A lot of people are going to be after you in a couple of years." (AIBLU) Yes, she is an artist... but put a camera in her hands and she's a completely different person.

We went out to look at some of the larger displays of Christmas lights tonight. Lindsay is a very unorthodox photographer, especially when it comes to night photography and Christmas lights... she uses the camera as if it were a paint brush, creating strokes and abstract compositions, even though she does not like abstract art (yet).

She even got me doing it...

And, here are a few action shots...

Lindsay's debut exhibit at SuVino

Lindsay and I had our artist's reception at the Su Vino Winery show last Thursday. The owners were very pleased with the show, especially Lindsay's work. I gave her the prime wall spots at the end of the bar. A lot of people showed up, but as it was about 110 degrees outside and it was also the 20th Anniversary of the Summer Artwalks in Scottsdale, most of them were looking for free door prizes. Many members from Imageworks showed up and we thank them for their support.

Lindsay's paintings in the prime location.

My friend, Juan Garcia, also an accomplished painter, talking about painting with Lindsay.


Lindsay and her artwork.

Lindsay and me. (Thanks to John Prouty for this one.)

The show is up until August 4th. If you are in the area, please stop by and let us know what you think. As it will be hot for a while, why not order a flight of wine while you're there! Su Vino is located at 7035 E. Main Street, Suite 110,Scottsdale, AZ 85251 (480) 994-VINO(8466).

Portrait of an Artist #3

Self-Portrait, Acrylic on Canvas, 16x20", 2009 by Lindsay Coda

Actually this is my daughter's recent self-portrait. Not bad for a high school freshman. She recently took a portrait class in the continuing education department at her school. Her teacher, Mr. Pesselato, was one of my photography portrait subjects.

I am very impressed with my daughter's talent – I wish that I possessed her talent. I am sure she will have a long and fruitful career in the arts.

Remembering September 11...

World Trade Center, September 13, 1981, © Richard M. Coda

It's hard to believe it was seven years ago. I can remember everything about that day, like my father can remember everything about the day John F. Kennedy was assassinated.

My wife had left for work as usual. Lindsay had just turned 7 and started 2nd grade a few days earlier. As I work at home, it was my job to get her ready for, and take her to school. It was a beautiful fall day in Jackson, central New Jersey.

I dropped Lindsay off at school and then went to Dunkin Donuts for my morning coffee and a paper on the way back home, just like every other day. When I got back home I added cream and sugar to my coffee and started reading the paper. The phone rang... it was Michele. All she said was, "put the TV on." Just as I turned it on the second plane hit the towers. I was stunned. All I could say to myself was, "that son of a bitch!" In that split second I already knew who was behind this. He had failed years earlier, but hadn't given up. I ended my call with my wife. As soon as I put the phone on the hook, it rang again, this time it was my father. At this point I was so angry that I was using a lot of words that don't come up in polite conversation. My father asked if I had the TV on. "Yes," I replied as I went off on a rant. Being a very religious man, he did not care for my language. I told him I was sorry, but I was angry, angrier than I have ever been. We ended our call and I parked myself in front of the TV... no work today I thought to myself.

Then the news of the Pentagon arrived, and the possibility of another plane up there somewhere. Then the news of Flight 93, crashed in the middle of nowhere. All of the sudden I thought, "Oh, my God... Howell, NJ (where Lindsay's school is) is also the middle of nowhere... the middle of anywhere!" I didn't know what else would happen that day... for all I knew there were hundreds of planes up there. I immediately left the house... hot coffee, lights on, TV on. All I could think about was Lindsay. If ANYTHING happened I had to be with her. I couldn't bear the thought of anything happening to her. It's amazing how your life priorities change when you become a parent.

I arrived at her school 10 minutes later. Mr. Costello, the dean of Lindsay's school, was in the parking lot. I explained to him why I had come. I wanted to take Lindsay home. He requested that I leave her in school. The school was a K-12 and they didn't want to start a panic in the lower school. I said OK, but I wasn't leaving. He said that was fine and asked me if I would help him. The upper school was allowed to leave, but ONLY if a parent signed them out at the office. My job was to direct all parents to the office. First I went inside just to see Lindsay. She saw me peeking through the door window, smiled and waved. I then returned to the parking lot. I could not believe how beautiful it was that day. And as the planes started landing the skies were so quiet it was unnerving. On top of that cell phone reception was dead.

Three o'clock rolled around. I was tired from standing in the parking lot all day. I hadn't had anything to eat. I went inside to wait for Lindsay to come out of her classroom. Then it hit me... how do I explain this to Lindsay? We walked to the car and she asked me why I was at school all day. I started trying to explain the day's events to her. I said, "Sweetie... there are some very bad people in the world, and they did some very bad things today." She asked what happened, so with as little detail as I could, told her what happened. She started to weep.

By now the phones had come back online. My wife called and I asked her, "What should I do when we get home?" We agreed to not put the TV on until Michele got home. And then, we would let her see it only once. It seems like they replayed the scenes of the towers being hit and collapsing a thousand times that day.

When Michele got home, we prepared Lindsay for what she was about to see. We told her that if she wanted us to turn the TV off, just let us know. I also told my wife, "I don't know what's going to happen, but if I am called to serve I will go." Lindsay watched it once and began to weep again. We just held her and tried to tell her everything would be OK. After we put her down, she went and got some paper and a pencil and drew this.



When I saw what she had drawn I had to hold the tears back. How could a 7-year old have such a keen artistic instinct to draw something like this? The planes look like they're circling the towers like sharks circle their prey. The towers and background buildings are crying as if they were people, as is the sun. It was indeed a dark day. The people fleeing for their lives look like ants.

I was then reminded that we had dear friends that worked in the World Trade Center, as both Michele and I had in the early to mid 1980s. One of our friends, in fact, introduced us to each other. We then called each one of them, hoping not to hear bad news. The phones were jammed, but we eventually got a hold of each of them. They were all shaken up, but OK, and all had stories much scarier than mine. Two of them were late getting to work because of their kids, and witnessed the attacks from ferries. One of Lindsay's classmates dads worked for an insurance company on one of the top floors. He was one of the lucky parents whose children had saved them by being late for school. Unfortunately for him, he lost his secretary and a lot of friends and colleagues.

That night I didn't sleep well at all... constantly replaying the scenes from the day in my head, over and over again. I started questioning my God... how could people do this to each other? The next few days I bounced back and forth from thinking peace was the answer, but finally realized that this was bigger than that. It is a battle between good and evil. And we can all only hope that good will eventually win... whatever it takes.