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Jim’s Nature Corner: Know Your Moths, Part 2

December 14, 2012

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My son, Aaron, creates skillful digital imagery, as a previous post spotlighted. Below is the first photography I’ve seen from him. It’s a photo he took of the outside of our basement door with a Luna moth (actias luna) perched on the window:

AA's Moth

It’s a pleasing photo; I like the soft colors and the different textures. The weathered doorknob and the bare wood where the knob has rubbed the old door over the years add interest and contrast. It also provides a sense of scale; everyone knows how large a doorknob is.

As in my earlier post about moths, I have to provide a little bit of background info: Lunas are silkworm moths, and one of the largest moths of North America; some can have a wingspan of four inches. They only live for a week. Seems a pity. The round markings on their wings are said to resemble eyes for scaring off predators.

Nice photo, Aaron!

Aaron Page Art

September 30, 2012

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Creativity, in most of its forms, scares the living Hell out of many people; by definition it is original or different, and that makes many people uncomfortable. I can understand that, but my wife and I encouraged our two kids to be creative in what they do. My wife and kids are all good at various kinds of art, which makes me proud. My wife, Patty, is an amazingly skilled cook and a wonderful photographer.

My daughter, Colleen, is also a talented photographer, and she’s a whiz at calligraphy and design; she has a color and texture/pattern sense that I envy. She won national awards during her school days playing music; I recall panicking when her music teacher informed us that she needed a pro-level Buffet Crampon clarinet in the third grade, because they don’t come cheap, but I sold a couple of guitars and got her one.

Today, I want to showcase some of my son’s work. Aaron is 27 years old and is self taught as an artist. He’s also a heck of a bass and guitar player and he’s a good writer. Today, we look at some of the digital art he’s done.

For some reason known only to himself, he insists on using PC-based software to do his work. As a Mac user, I don’t quite understand where he’s coming from on that score, but to each his own.

I know he used to use a Wacom tablet but doesn’t anymore; he now uses a Penpower Picasso and that the software he uses are Photoshop and Illustrator. He’s now tackling zBrush on the PC to learn 3D modeling. Aaron’s not talkative, so that’s about all I know.

I showed, or tried to show, some of Aaron’s work to a fellow who’s an artist rep in NYC, but from his response, I know that he threw a stock answer at me and never looked at the JPEGs I sent him. So it goes. But I hope that Aaron gets an opportunity to use his talent. He wants to get into character or concept art for a career. His website is at http://www.aaronpage-art.com and his email address is aaronpage.art#gmail.com (I’m trying to defeat spambots with the way I wrote that email address; for the real one, substitute a @ for the #).

If you have any way he can help you, please give him a shout.

Here’s some of his work. Enjoy!!!

All Hung Up!

July 21, 2012

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My son, Aaron, and I are both members of the Hyattsville Community Arts Alliance, and are proud to announce that six of our works are now on display (and sale!) at local restaurants; four at Franklin’s and two at the Calvert House.

Aaron does his digital paintings from scratch on the PC and I recreate and revise ancient comic book covers on the Mac. These images are then printed on canvas and placed on wooden stretchers by my daughter, Colleen.

So it’s a family project and we are having a lot of fun doing it!

The giant copper vats shown in the photo collage are where they brew their own beers and ales at Franklin’s. If you remember the actress Karen Allen from Raiders of the Lost Ark, she’s sometimes seen at the Calvert House, which has been her favorite restaurant from childhood.

The company I started with my brother, Jeff, is called Page Bros Prints and you can see our website at www.PageBrosPrints.com. We have some historic prints for sale at the Surratt House Museum in Clinton, Maryland. That was where John Wilkes Booth stopped for some previously stashed stuff after he shot Abraham Lincoln.