Portfolio Reception

Please Come :)

What Christmas means to me.

What does Christmas mean to me? Christmas means family, love, and hope.  It is the time of year when Families and Friends come from all over the world to be with the people that they love most.  I just love the red and green decorations, and my beautifully decorated Christmas tree sitting in the den.  Most of the ornaments have been collected over the years and have become real family treasures! It means traditions, brightly-wrapped gifts, and Santa Claus.

It also means more than that to me. It means a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes in a manger. It means a perfect baby growing into a sinless man. It means tinsel, cookies, and hot cocoa. It means hope, peace, and giving. Christmas is a time of birth and love, a time for family, gifts, and a time for remembrance too.

Christmas means going to sleep on Christmas Eve with your heart racing and waking up on Christmas morning with your heart pounding and your dreams soaring to the skies. It means hanging stockings and saying prayers and enjoying the blessings we have. Christmas is commercialized, it's true, but the meaning, beneath the twinkling lights and ruby poinsettias, is as pure as anything on this Earth, at least it is to me.

 It is being together with your family, listening to Christmas carols, baking cookies, and preparing a big Christmas dinner, with all the trimmings.  It is a time when you try to be at your best. Christmas means so many things that are hard to put into words. Christmas is a time of giving and receiving, a time of faith, love, and wishes. Christmas is a magical time when dreams come true. That's what Christmas means to me.

Merry Christmas!

Being proud and owning who I am.

Hello Everyone! I haven't blogged in a couple weeks now since it's nearing the dreaded end of the semester crunch.  To me Fall term spirals to an end between two weeks of classes in addition to finals between Thanksgiving and Winter break. Final projects, papers, and no sleep, oh my!

I have really learned a LOT this year at school. I have tried things that scare the hell out of me in an effort to challenge myself artistically. I have grown so much, and tried so many new techniques, put hundreds of miles on my car for those few great images I still needed. I have really grown as a photographer this semester and I have learned that I am capable of doing things that I never thought I could. I have fallen in love with wandering around finding things and seeing them differently than most other people do, it is my passion.

Lets face it, I have never been the Girl that just did what she was supposed to. I have always been diverse and refused to adhere to the guidelines. Not necessarily in a bad way but in a "I refuse to be a carbon copy of what this world deems appropriate!" kinda way. I have been given the stink eye for most of my life for not being a traditionalist, but it just isn't in me to be a yes Woman. I seriously don't understand why most people are so afraid to think for themselves. I am an imaginative, innovative, and  productive member of society who just happens to have have a few tattoos, get over it.

Anyways, I suppose what I am trying to say is that I am proud of who I am! I have had numerous people in my life try very hard to trip me up along my journey through this world. To each and every one of you who ever told me that I couldn't do this shame on you! I am graduating in May Phi Theta Kappa! I am the first person in my immediate Family to EVER graduate from college and I am doing it with Honors. I am an intelligent, creative, kind Woman who takes school and life very seriously, but not so seriously that I can't laugh at myself, or have to keep up with the Jones's.  "The greatest pleasure in life is doing what people say you cannot do."

My kids will NOT be the first generation of our Family to become educated. I have made sure they will never know the struggle of what it is like to earn a degree with no Family examples to look to for advice.  They can look at me and see that there is an education there for the taking, and they can do anything they put their minds to. I did not just do this for my Children, in large part I did it mostly all for myself. Although they certainly inspired me to keep going because I saw a rapidly approaching future and I knew for certain what I did, and did not want it to look like. Part of me feels released from the shackles of my upbringing.  My Education may never earn me a dime, but I still feel richer now than before I earned my degree.

Lastly in this post I want to thank my Family for all the support and love you have given me, I would have never made it here without you. Thank you to my Children who don't like it when I am busy and want to know when I will be done working so I can play with them. I know when you get older you will understand and appreciate the example I have set for you, and you will respect what I have achieved and be proud of me. To Ashley thanks for always being my Best Friend and standing by me through everything, I am so proud of the Woman you have become.  I would not be where I am today without the support and encouragement of my Fiancee Dan. My Mom who helped with the kids when I was busy doing homework, or going to class.

This has been been a very tough year starting with my Mothers cancer scare, recovery, and radiation treatments. It has been an uphill battle, but it looks like me & my Family are all winning the fight! I can finally let go of the chip society has put on my shoulder, and enjoy my life and continue to pursue my dreams. I am very proud of myself!

Advanced Digital Photography

So I was going to do a constructed art piece for this class, but I then decided to give forced perspective a try. It was indeed a LOT harder than I imagined, but I have been having a LOT of fun shooting this portfolio!   This class has been my nemesis, and to be nice I will not say why. Anyways, let me know what ya think! I hope you & yours all have a blessed Thanksgiving Holiday! Cheers!

My Artist Statement

Cynthia Marks, ACADEMIC ABANDONMENT

The old and abandoned buildings which can be found in most major urban centers hold a particular fascination for me.  Abandonments large and small inspire the imagination and tell us things about the past in an unsophisticated way.  With anything beautiful there is a gloomy, more mysterious side to it. Where there is good, there is also evil, dark balances light. The city is a tremendous source of beauty, but there is another side of the city altogether.

These tastefully grungy images have an appeal that is almost haunting.  An eerie characteristic that seems to radiate from within. To many people urban decay is unattractive, but I am fascinated by it, and it is one of my favorite things to photograph.  I find the visible impression left from this schools rich history, completely charming and inspiring creatively.  This buildings story is not told by its stick on accouterments, or fine furniture, but by the scars of the past and the accumulation of trash, graffiti, and vandalism.

The forgotten space I met on my urban exploration, inspired my work which concentrates on the beauty of desolation, demonstrated with the delicate use of light, and beautiful colors found inside. When people view my work, I'd like for them to also see the beauty found within resulting from the layers of history and the severe toll time has taken on this once lavish school house.  My poetry, my passion is expressed through my photography.  

~ D O N E ~

OK I finally have my portfolio finalized! YAY!! I ended up with 11 images, 9 - 8x10, and 2 - 11x14. All I have left to do is order my matte board, and get them mounted! I feel so accomplished, at the beginning of the semester it seemed like I was never going to get 10. Now I ended up with 11, and a LOT of extra miles on my car, but I am very pleased that I put the extra effort into what I really wanted to shoot! Annie Lytal is again up for demolition due to falling pray to vandals, graffiti artists, and the homeless. Not to mention that the fire destroyed a large part of the building, and it will most likely be cheaper to demolish the once lavish school and start over than to try to restore it. It is a real shame, but I am very happy I got to explore, and document the building, it really is an amazing place. Here is my finalized portfolio, now I must get to work on my artist statement for the reception. Have a great day, Cyndy

~1 & 7 will be enlarged to 11X14~

~academic abandonment~

Color Emotion

My advanced digital photography teacher had us randomly choose a color card in a sealed envelope last week, and the assignment was to shoot a triptych with that color as the subject. The color I chose was Sour Lime. If I had it to do over again, I think I would photograph my Son sucking a lime in the center photo with a sour face, maybe a Sour Patch Kid on one side, and some lime jello,or a sour lime lollipop on the other. Another idea I had was a corona & lime, some guacamole, and some people dancing, maybe a mariachi band, but I had no luck there, I was over ruled and my family wanted to eat on the water. I came up with a lot of ideas but ended up shooting at Squid Lips in Melbourne. This restaurant has amazing atmosphere, it's right on the water, and they have some great sour lime margaritas! So I decided to go with that as a theme, and hope I could find some more subjects that were sour lime in color that would fit well together. This is what I came up with, I hope it works, it makes sense to me. Have a great week, Cyndy

Autumn in Jamestown, NC

Well we are back from our trip, and my heart is very heavy. It was all I could do to make myself come back home, and leave Ashley behind again. I have things to do here still and can't move there until May, so till then I have to make the best of things, but we did have a great visit! We got to meet the caterer for the wedding, and we ate till we were sick lol I just can't wait! Here are some of my favorite pic's from up there, I didn't really have time to get to creative, when I am there full time I have so many ideas. Enjoy!

My Daughter Ashley & her Fiancee Eddie

They are so cute!

The Castle McColloch, where they are getting married.

Brandon & Heather, both are in the wedding party.

Brandon & Heather, they are so cute together!

My Daughter & future Son in law, I really do love that kid!

Me & my Daughter Ashley, photo by Eddie he he!  

Will you be my Bridesmaid?? She said yes!

Autumn is so beautiful, oh how I have missed it! 

 Just beautiful!

My Daughter & her Brother having lunch together :) 

Oh yes I did try to get in here, but the 7000 volt electric fence said otherwise! Boooo! 

 Natures beauty

 My Son & his cool firefighter chic buddy!

 My Son & his future BFF Axton.

 Castle McColloch Hillside Terrace, ceremony will be here

They are so in love.

I think this is my favorite :)

This is the panoramic I shot for class. 

Good times! I miss you already Ashface. Love Mommy

More from school #4

Wanted to share some more of my photos from Annie Lytal School in Jacksonville, I am not planning on using all of these for my project, just thought I would share them anyways, have a great weekend!