End of Fall quarter thoughts

The grades have been submitted. The papers shuffled to be filed away another day... (I am so sorry - My GTD regime suffers in time like these....)
I try to turn my mind to creative projects and the things to do that don't have to do with school...but the transition is hard. I either poke at next quarter's syllabi or read/watch pointless books/movies....
The importance of fallow time - - of letting the field of my mind rest so that new sprouts of ideas and creativity can begin to peek out -- is difficult to affirm. Before I know it, I will be back at school, teaching classes again. Before I know it, I will be juggling life, online classes, on campus classes and administrative junk...
How to find time just to breathe? How to find space in life for the artwork that is one of the purposes of this life?
Projects jockey for attention - - I will be at peace with what I do and what I can't do. I will honor the process.

Midterm thoughts

I struggle. I try. I wish I could get more done, and do what I can. After all these years, you would think I would feel differently, but in some ways the bar gets higher and the questions more difficult. I want the classes to reach to all the students. I want them all to succeed and it seems that my years and skills should make this possible....I do have to accept that I can only prepare and present and encourage. In the end, the students must do the work and the failure or success is their own. As it should be....

Can I be centered as I accept what I can do and what I can not do?

50th Anniversary Thoughts

Happy anniversary to my mother and father. We are here in Georgia at my brother's house to celebrate 50 years of marriage! A wonderful milestone. A wonderful day.

They have shared life and love and all that comes with 50 years of living. Congratulations to them.

Marie and Martin O'Grady

Late Night Thoughts

How does time go so quickly? I am back to teaching (hurrah) and busier than ever. Listening to the debate replay while I click away on the keys. Wishing for time for creativity. Glad for time to teach. Enjoying time with my family. Looking forward to my parents' 50th anniversary and look fondly back to last month and my 25th anniversary. Onward. Choices, to-do lists, wishes, hopes, onward.

End of Summer BBQ thoughts

How did we get to the end of August! An event to notice the summer gone and the talent of the PhotoCentral Crew....

You are invited to join us on Friday for a Potluck/BBQ at PhotoCentral.

PhotoCentral - End of Summer Celebration/Staff Show
Potluck/BBQ
when: Friday Eve, Aug. 29, 6:30PM
where: PhotoCentral, 1099 E Street, Hayward, CA
bring: Food/drink to share. BBQ grill available, if you'd like to grill.

==================================================================

In the PhotoCentral Gallery: The 2008 Staff Show

Hayward Area Recreation District's PhotoCentral Gallery's September exhibition features the work of of staff and volunteers of PhotoCentral including Susan Honda Eady , Wendy Gray, Susan Hatcher, Glenn Hemanes, Juanita Hemanes, Robert Jankowski, Geir Jordahl, Kate Jordahl, Rick Knepp, Daniel Miller, Greg Stidham, Frederick Watkins, and Marco Zecchin The exhibition will be up from August 25, 2008 to September 25, 2008 with a Potluck/BBQ/Celebration: Friday, August 29, 6:30 pm. We will have the BBQ warmed up at 6:30; bring by a dish to help celebrate and relax at this end of summer event.
Gallery hours are Monday 5-10 pm, Tuesday and Thursday from 10-1 pm and Saturdays by appointment. Visit the PhotoCentral website or call 510-881-6721 for more information.
card: http://www.photocentral.org/staff2008web.pdf

Hope to see you there!

Florida Vacation Thoughts

I am off to visit my parents with family in tow for a week of hot weather, pools, sunburns (inevitably), trashy novels, day trips to local sites. I am looking forward to relaxing in the friendship of my parents and sharing them with Sierra and Jonathon.
I will bring my camera and take only snapshots and carry my textbooks for fall quarter, but feel no obligation to open them!
A vacation. Not a common event in my life -- I take adventures, go on photoshoots and lead workshops. The idea of a week with no real agenda but to visit and relax is an unusual thing.

San Francisco Airport Museum Exhibition Thoughts

My exhibition of images of Australia and New Zealand is up at the San Francisco Airport Museum. It is such an honor to be chosen for this show and for it to be located pre-security! If you are dropping someone off or on your way to a plane, you can stop by Terminal 3/D1 Connector to see my photographs!

Here is info about the Museum and about my show.

Here is my webgallery of the Show.

Having exhibitions is such a good way to re-assess work. It is also a good way to keep in touch with our creativity. During the crazy days of being dean, I could go and work on these photographs and remember that I am a photographer.

Nearly Deanless Thoughts...

Tomorrow I am dean for half the day and teacher for the other half...I end this adventure with so many thoughts about what it means to be a teacher, an administrator and part of a team of people working for the good of students. I am excited for the transition and sad at the same time....As I said in my 36th "Tuesday Times,"

This school year has been an amazing experience for me as interim dean. Thank you to all of you who supported me in this challenging adventure and were there when I called for help or advice. I learned so much in this time and the best part of all has been getting to know many of you better. We are lucky to have such a creative group of dedicated faculty and staff working together to help our students and each other. It has been inspiring. I go back to my classroom with joy and sadness and more ideas then I have hours in the day! Thank you to each and every one of you for all you have taught me and challenged me to achieve in this school year. I join with all of you in welcoming back Duncan Graham as our dean. With his new insights and experience, he will be an even more effective and helpful guide as we navigate the upcoming challenges of the state budget crisis and programs reviews. I am sure you will join me in saying that we are here to work with Duncan to make 2008-2009 a great year for everyone!

And as my last quote from Eugene Ormandy says:
Thank you for your cooperation and vice versa.


That's all for now -- on to class planning and life planning... (Funny how life planning is unnecessary when you are working 50+ hours per week! ;-)

SFTN Award Thoughts

I am so excited that "Searching for True North" is being recognized with these awards. We worked on this project for a year with such intensity and effort that it is difficult to be impartial about the outcome. This book was the fulfillment of our dreams in so many ways.
To now have the work recognized by awards is so wonderful. Thanks to all of you who have helped, offered positive feedback and purchased the book. Special thanks to those that purchased the limited edition or prints -- this support is what will allow us to make the next books and next projects....
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you!


Jordahl book, "Searching for True North" wins one Gold and two Silver awards in Book Competitions.
Searching for True North, by Geir Jordahl, edited by Kate Jordahl featuring poetry of Norwegian Poet Rolf Jacobsen has now won three book awards:

· Gold Medal/Best of Show, PubWest Book Competition

· Silver Medal, Prix de Paris

· Silver Medal in the Independent Publishers Book Awards

Learn more about the book, the awards and how to purchase copies, visit the Searching for True North Website.

From the website: Searching for True North is a selection of images from 30 years of Geir Jordahl's photographic work. On this lifelong journey, he follows his internal compass to discover the universal landscape, those places that, while separated by cultural or political borders, are united in their celebration of the Earth and its interaction with human-made elements. Although Jordahl is inspired by place, the work is not place specific. As Margaretta K. Mitchell says in the book's introduction, "Nature has given Jordahl a way to comment on our contemporary lives...The iconography of earth, air, and water come together in Jordahl's photographs with the artifacts of civilization, allowing the mysteries of these places to haunt us, making poetry of the visible."

Auction Thoughts

I hope you will join us for this very special event....
PhotoCentral Auction: Fundraiser 2008 May 17th! Mark your calendar
PhotoCentral Auction 2008, a semi-silent auction of renowned photographers’ works to benefit PhotoCentral, a community photography program is scheduled for Saturday, May 17, 2008, PhotoCentral Gallery, Hayward Area Recreation District Offices, 1099 E Street, Hayward, California, www.photocentral.org. Artists include: Bruce Barnbaum, Barry Brukoff, Robert Buelteman, Christopher Burkett, Brigitte Carnochan, Susan Casentini, Mark Citret, Mel Curtis, Richard Garrod, Fan Ho, Vaughn Hutchins, Richard Lohmann, Ray McSavaney, Margaretta K. Mitchell, Elizabeth Opalenik, Ted Orland, Bill Owens, David Pace, Thea Schrack, John Sexton, Brian Taylor, Keith & Annette Walklet, Marvin Wax, Al Weber, Marco Zecchin... just to name a few.

Bidding closes on Saturday, May 17. Contact Geir & Kate Jordahl with questions 510-881-6721 or email auction@photocentral.org.

Events/Dates:
Exhibition: Ongoing through May 17, 2008
Reception & Auction Close: Saturday, May 17, 2pm-7pm (all are welcome!)

Location:
PhotoCentral Gallery
Hayward Area Recreation & Parks District Offices
1099 ‘E’ Street, Hayward, CA 94541
Directions: http://www.photocentral.org/auction2008/PCmap.pdf

Auction Gallery Hours:
Monday 5pm-10pm
Tuesday 10am-2pm
Thursday 10am-2pm
Friday 7pm -9:30pm
Saturday noon-4pm

Bidding is in person or via FAX.
Additional information is available at the PhotoCentral Gallery and on the web:
http://www.photocentral.org
Or email: auction@photocentral.org

PhotoCentral Auction Prep Thoughts

So here we are -- a buzz of activity at PhotoCentral while our wonderful, dedicated, crazy volunteers sequence and hang the auction. Images that inspired, images that make us smile, images that we hope will raise funds to keep things moving forward....

Auctions are such a difficult way to keep funds coming into a non -profit -- but sometimes the benefits are the learning, the sharing and the community coming together to say "THIS IS IMPORTANT."

this is important...

(Thank you all who give their time, their art and their heart to this endeavor. You remind me why I work so hard and care so much....)

Glimpse of SFO show

Belated thoughts

How does a month go by without an entry? Life is so busy with being dean, working on the PhotoCentral Auction and preparing for an exhibition. I will have work at the San Francisco Airport museum beginning in June.
As break from the busyness, I decided to work in the garden which had unexpected consequences. A thorn was hiding in the grasses, went through my glove into the palm of my hand and caused a tendon infection that landed me in the hospital for much of last week!
I never counted gardening among the "extreme" sports...but there you go. A change in plans and a moment of thoughtfulness.
That day, before I went to the doctor and then the hospital I put the following quote on the top of my "Tuesday Times" (part of my deanly duties) :

Let us rise up and be thankful,

for if we didn't learn a lot today, at least we learned a little,

and if we didn't learn a little, at least we didn't get sick,

and if we got sick, at least we didn't die;

so, let us all be thankful.

Gautama Siddharta, 563-483 B.C.

The irony -- and the wisdom -- was not lost on me as I sat in my hospital bed....

Hope you are having a wonderful day.

Denver Thoughts

So, a day in Denver...to relax? catch up on work? think? The hints of a nasty cold have me moving slowly and cautiously toward the day. I am going to go to the Denver Museum to start to see "Inspiring Impressionism" if I can get in....one of those admission by ticket time shows....

I bring my index cards where I am trying to capture all of my do and turn them into actions...I have been reading David Allen's "Getting things DONE:The art of Stress-free productivity." (how that book got in my hands is a story for another blog...) Oh, how I could use some stress-free anything!!

Off for a mile high adventure...

More Searching for True North Publicity thoughts

A wonderful article by Ben Marks on KQED.org!


http://www.kqed.org/arts/visualarts/index.jsp?id=21862

Modernbook opening thoughts

The day is almost here - - the Modernbook show opens tomorrow.

Searching for True North Exhibition Opening on February 1, 2008 at
ModernBook Gallery, Palo Alto

The companion exhibition to the book Searching for True North
featuring the photography of Geir Jordahl with the poetry of Rolf
Jacobsen and edited by Kate Jordahl opens on Friday, February 1 from
7-10 pm with a reception open to the public. The exhibition is at
Modernbook Gallery, 494 University Avenue, Palo Alto and runs through
February 29, 2008.

For more information visit http://www.searchingfortruenorth.com and
http://www.modernbook.com/exhibitions.html.

(Norway.org, the official site of Norway in United States, has
published an article about "Searching for True North" Visit
http://www.norway.org/culture/photography/Searching+For+True+North.htm)

Thanks so much to all who have helped us get here!

All the best,

Kate Jordahl
http://www.jordahlphoto.com
http://www.searchingfortruenorth.com

Foothill College
650-949-7156
http://www.foothill.edu/fa/photo/katejordahl.html

PhotoCentral
510-881-6721
http://www.photocentral.org

http://www.jordahlphoto.com/JordahlPhotoNewsCurrent.pdf

I try to live what I consider a "poetic existence." That means I take
responsibility for the air I breathe and the space I take up. I try to
be immediate, to be totally present for all my work.
- Maya Angelou.

Norway.org thoughts

I am so excited. Norway.org, the official site in the United States, has written a lovely article about Searching for True North and included two images and an excerpt from one of the poems.

You can see the site here.

One week until Geir's show at ModernBook Gallery. It will be a busy week....

Photo LA thoughts

Heading to Photo LA tomorrow night. What does it mean? The excitement of sharing "Searching for True North." The hope that people will like it. The interest to see all the inspiring art and be part of the event. I must remember to pace myself. Photo LA is just too much. Too much photo. Too much talk. Too much information. The first time we went, we ran away and returned home to process film in the darkroom, convinced that if we stayed one more minute we would never take another photograph, so over loaded with images - - amazing images - - were we. "Why make anything else?" was answered by the smell of fixer and the rhythmic mystery of making something.

Now I feel like a long distance runner. I won't fade. I will go the distance. Giant Avedons and breathtaking Starn twins exhibits and exquisite minature Kertesz's will not overwhelm me. I will breath. Enjoy. Thrive in the company of greatness...

I will celebrate the medium that I love and am so glad to be a part of -- Photography.