Monthly Archives: August 2012

AWAKE

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You may remember a couple of weeks ago I announced that I would be receiving a proof for the book that I wrote. It arrived and I made a lot of really good edits, refining my text and some image adjustments. I’m proud to say that the finished product is available for purchase from my website!

I’d like to share some of the background on how and why I wrote AWAKE. On my personal Facebook page, I began posting nature photographs along with inspirational and philosophical messages. I received a lot of positive feedback from my friends and family, but it was until 2 months ago that I decided to do something with all of that information. When I started my business, I explored ideas on how to share my work other than galleries. That’s when a coffee table book idea began to take shape.

About the same time, I was organizing and reviewing my work. I’ve been taking digital photographs for 10 years now and wanted to show some of my older work because it’s good. The calls I read usually state that work needs to be made within the last 2-3 years. So what was I to do with my archive of work? Hold off until I became famous enough for a formal retrospective? True to my nature, I found a way that I could share all of my work without approval of a call for entry. AWAKE solved the problem because I could share older images, introduce myself as an artist, and incorporate my experience, strength and hope from my Facebook page…all of which exists outside of a gallery. When I do show, I plan to have my book for sale along with the photographs, paintings, or whatever the primary medium may be because I consider the book to be a promotional and marketing compilation.

If you’ve read my blog you’ll see I have 3 major categories: nature, street, and abstract. I believe my best work incorporates more than one of those categories, but people respond to the nature photographs straight-up. AWAKE covers my more accessible art, which I am perfectly okay with. They are indeed beautiful photographs. AWAKE contains a collection of 85 full color photographs! They are sequenced in a lyrical flow designed to awaken your body, mind, and spirit.

I have spent considerable time reflecting on my personal journey, perusing my journal and extracted 69 inspirational, insightful messages to pair with the photographs. They are my intimate thoughts, observations, and reflections on humanity, planet Earth, and spirituality. Combining these thoughts and images, I divided AWAKE into 3 sections: TRUTH, SECRET, and LIFE. TRUTH is a set of observations to help us live more honestly and with greater awareness. SECRET contains ideas that help to unlock the mysteries of life and make sense of our world. And, LIFE is about the marvelous lives we live. Each section also has a short essay to frame the photos and messages.

So, please order AWAKE. I know you will enjoy my book and it will prove to be a great investment for you!

inspiration

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I unexpectedly ended up on the cape at sunset and captured these serene moments. Further down on the beach a young violinist was playing out on a sand bar. It was one of those magic moments that sent my inspiration into overdrive!

Beauty All Around © 2012 NATE METZ

Taking Refuge

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I went out today to scout and brainstorm some ideas for a photo competition. Next time I’ll have all my gear for some sharper work and not quick snaps. These are just a teaser:

Taking Refuge © 2012 NATE METZ

Damn Good Advice – FIVE

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Oh yes, here we are again: the rebel. I remember having to take a stand with my work on a few occasions during my school years. I didn’t take art classes in high school and only a couple of electives in college. My primary foundation in creativity were my college fashion design courses. During my study abroad I visited Barcelona and caught inspiration off of Gaudi and the tile mosaics. After 9 months in the incubator upstairs I entered my senior year and began my senior collection. Of the 12-15 looks designed we were to construct 3 for the runway. My masterpiece design was a pair of pants with 2 optional panels (embroidered or chiffon) that converted to capris and again into bermudas, and with one final conversion it became a pencil skirt. Out of 1 pattern I got 5 looks! Here is were I took the stand. My professor only wanted to count this feat of engineering towards one of my final three, but I stood my ground: the pant/short combo for one and the skirt for another. [images below]

And again, I will reiterate: I think it is just dumb to rebel, take a stand, or be outside of the box for sake of being different. Outrageous ideas should still be grounded with a purpose or an intelligent point of view, elsewise the effects of pushing those boundaries will be lost. A wonderful contemporary example is Lady Gaga. I implore you to watch one of her hour-long interviews, listen to the ballad versions and see what an amazingly beautiful, articulate, educated, and talents woman she is. I guess my mentor would say it’s about “having the goods to back it all up!”

As for the excitement of an idea, let me say that upon inspiration and brainstorming new work I operate so well (organized, punctual, error free), adrenaline is coursing through my body (often denying me sleep), and when I have the goods to back it all up I find other people are excited about my work!

AWAKE – Proof Delivery Pending

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I woke up this morning to some very exciting news: the proof of my new book
AWAKE is en route to be delivered tomorrow! I selected the cheapest delivery option (Hey! I’m on a budget and have not set a launch date yet, so no actual deadline for completion) and was originally scheduled for 8/17. So far the no hard deadline is working out great for me. My soft timeline is to have a final product, .pdf preview, and start taking orders by the end of August. I’ve been updating my Nate Metz Artist Facebook page regularly over the last few weeks with images of my progress: selecting images, choosing a cover and title, sequencing images, pairing with text, fine tuning the editing on the computer, and finally a humorous spell check. All of these images are below, so if your eye sight is really good you may be able to read the first 1/3 of the book. If you would like to stay on top of these updates or more, then by all means like my page and keep in touch! As I get my press release and order forms up and running, that’ll get blogged as well.