2022 Ann Arbor The Guild Art Fair
I was one of the many artists at the 2022 Ann Arbor The Guild art fair. I wanted to create a few images using Detroit and Ann Arbor as subject matter. I was lucky during the two days I was there, the Detroit Tigers baseball team played a day game. I made it to Detroit early enough to get to the stadium in time for the game. Outside the ballpark is a giant statue of a tiger. People were getting ready to go into the stadium and taking selfies in front of the tiger. I chose this image because the couple got their photo taken in front of the statue. Of course, the tiger looks like he is about to pounce on the couple.
Detroit has many beautiful historical buildings. One of the best art deco buildings is the Fisher. I was in awe of the architecture when I walked into the building. Then I looked up at the ceiling and knew what photographs I wanted to create.
I visited Greektown in Detroit and created an image of the Pegasus.
I wanted to create a couple of images of Detroit’s automobile history. I found historic sales slicks from General Motors with 1960 illustrations. I created a few photographs on Belle Isle and as I was taking photographs, I noticed the Renaissance Center in the frame’s background. The Renaissance Center is the world headquarters of General Motors. I used this photograph and paired it with the illustration of the two 1960s Cadillacs. The other illustration I used was of a 1960s Buick. I paired that illustration with a photograph of the University of Michigan law library building.
I repeatedly heard from people at the Ann Arbor art fair, “Are these paintings or photographs?” They are photographs. I use a high-resolution camera with a lot of visual information buried within the image. I spend time bringing all that visual information out. That allows me to create images that have a painterly photo-realistic look. I brought additional photographs to the Ann Arbor art fair from other regional cities. I had photographs from Dayton (my hometown), Akron, Toledo, Cincinnati, Columbus, and Indianapolis. I also brought photographs from my Wright Brothers series including the book I published Wright Brothers: Then and Now.
