priscilla b. varner | chitter-chatter

[ military spouse project ] back on the wagon...

hey folks! WOW!!! this last semester was a doozey. i'm so glad i survived it...oh my goodness. i wanted to catch everyone up on the military spouse project. even though i haven't been able to post recently, it hasn't been due to lack of interest. i've been showing the images of this project to a variety of visiting artists and professors for critique and things are going very well. i've received great feedback regarding the look of the project, the concept and the folks that will be included. right now I am working on how the images are going to be installed...I'll post images of my options when they are ready, probably early June. 

after all of that info, i wanted to share another image. i've introduced you to christine before but i haven't posted her collection of images. please take a look at christine's collection:

one last bit of info, it has been suggested that i include myself in this project. i'm not sure if you know this or not, but i HATE having my picture taken. i've decided to put my personal issues aside and dive in full force like all my other subjects. i will probably photograph my group of photos this weekend...so you have that to look forward to seeing. ha ha ha....

stay tuned! and thanks your support.

p.

[ voices in the life ] i made the shakespeare company website...

howdy folks. i had to let everyone know that my image for "voices in the life" made the front page of the nevada shakespeare company website. so excited!!! check it out if you'd like...

 

nevada shakespeare company

 

also, i hung my first show this weekend, it's titled "persuasion". i'll post pics later this week. so excited!!!!! i couldn't have done it without my awesome man and my very, very patient kids. they rock. :)

have a great rest of your weekend...

p.

classic essays on photography...

i am currently reading classic essays on photography edited by alan trachtenberg for one of my classes. basically, it's a collection of first hand accounts of the history of photography emphasizing the debate surrounding it's artfulness. it's been a very interesting read seeing-as-how many authors lived during the periods in which they are writing.

i particularly enjoyed an essay, really a collection of quotes, from peter henry emerson. emerson was a photographer in the late 1880's. he was a major proponent of photography as an art. unfortunately, he changed his tune later in his career. nonetheless, many of his quotes are fantastically appropriate to this day.

 "Though many painters and sculptors talk glibly of "going in for photography," you will find that very few of them can ever make a picture by photography; they lack the science, technical knowledge, and above all, the practice. Most people think they can play tennis, shoot, write novels, and photograph as well as any other person -- until they try."

 

i have a few more of these i'd like to share...and yes...some photography is art. :)

 

can't leave you without an image. this is one of his more notable images:

Rowing Home the School-Stuff, Peter Henry Emerson, 1886

 

[ 8 ] featuring reagan...

i am actively designing my first book " 8 ". this book investigates childhood dreams and highlights several individuals and their dreams. the idea for this book came out of discussions i've had with my girls. i think it's so important to have childhood dreams...i think it gives kids a long term goal to work toward. the kids and i chat all the time about what we want to be when we grow up. this book is dedicated to my eight year old...rea.

any guesses on what she wants to be when she grows up?? [yes...a teen with with attitude. ;)]

 

that's better!!!! and yes...she spray painted the unicorn herself. :)

 

there we go...both girls. i'll be creating and dedicating a different book for miss k. in the future.

 

i'll photograph the book as soon as it's completed. can't wait. it should be done in about 5 weeks!! stay tuned!!!

p.

[ 8 ] featuring karen

while we wait for more military spouse posts, i thought i would introduce you to one of my other projects.

in addition to working on my military spouses project, i started a series called "8". it's a series of images and handwritten text featuring approximately 20 individuals. each individual was asked to reflect on what they wanted to be when they were 8 years old and how that compares to what they are currently doing or did before retirement. it's been great discussing goals and listening to people reminisce about their childhood hopes and dreams. the thought process behind this project was to explore the correlation between childhood dreams and adult reality, if in fact there is one. all of the images and text will be displayed in a book format. i am hand making 5 of the books and they will be done by may. hopefully they will be on display somewhere. :) also,  i plan to share my childhood dreams with you in a future post but hopefully this gives you a moment to think about what you wanted to do as a child and compare it to the life you have now.

first up, karen. karen has her own business in nevada, Too Cute Totes, and she's been working hard getting her business where it is. not only is she extremely knowledgeable about her industry, she is also a very resourceful business woman. [she is my go to gal when i have a business dilemma!] when i asked her to look back to her childhood and remember what she wanted to be when she became an adult, she explained that she always wanted to be a business woman. well...it looks as if it's worked out for her. :)

it would be great if you'd take a moment and share what you wanted to be when you were a child and how it compares to what you are doing today. feel free to post on the blog or my facebook page. i look forward to hearing from everyone!!!

thanks for checking in.

p.

the early days...

ok...so i am hopefully going to be shown in a group exhibition that takes a look at photographer's early work. yup...a sort of "before they were stars." ha ha ha. sooooooooo....i thought i would share with y'all first.

let me preface this by saying, don't judge my parents! they were, and still are, very good parents. ok...so here we go.

the year was 1985.  i was in the 8th grade and my mom and dad allowed me to go on a field trip to new york city with teachers from my middle school and about 50 crazy pre-teens all from the Jacksonville Beach area in Florida. we went to nyc so we could see the city and experience "cats" on broadway. (the highlight for me, saks fifth avenue.) the teachers managed to fly from florida to ny without losing any of the kids. to me, that's a pretty good start! we showed up at the hotel, on 42nd street, and this is what greeted us. directly across the street from our hotel was sketch-ville. LOVELY! i didn't exactly know what "hot love champs" were and why a bunch of teenagers were all wet in a "theater" but clearly it made an impact on me. i always wondered "why on earth would they let us stay in a hotel with this type of entertainment directly across the not-so-wide street??" goodness! we ended up having a wonderful weekend. everyone made it home in one piece and i think we all had an eye opening experience.

looking back at these photos it's clear to me that i am in the right place. i have consistently photographed my surroundings. i always photographed a wide variety of subjects, sometimes strange things my mom would probably like to interject, but i just had to take pictures of everything. it's clear to me i am doing what i'm supposed to be doing...and i've been moving in this direction my entire life...oh, and i've always had a weird and not-so-appropriate sense of humor. :)))

to you, my viewers/readers/friends and clients, i hope you all are doing exactly what you want to be doing. it took me awhile to figure out what "my thing" was...and it took me a little more time to trust myself and take the leap...but i am not sorry for taking that leap. do what you love...then you'll love what you do. the end. :)

p.

[military spouse project] meet kristen

this project is moving along wonderfully and i am so excited. i couldn't be more proud to be a military spouse grouped together with all these amazing men and women. we are an incredible bunch of diverse people.

please don't forget to email or send me a family pic so you can be included in my spouse sculpture. it's going to be pretty cool!

our spouse of the week is...kristen! kristen has been a navy spouse for 8 years. she is an anomaly of sorts in the military community with "only two moves (so far), one deployment, and one never-ending tour in Fallon, NV (six years and counting).  kristen is a technical writer for a defense contractor.  She also owns and operates two small businesses – a technical writing consulting firm and a property management company.  kristen is also a self-proclaimed hobby farmer.  crippling boredom stemming from the isolation of rural northern NV has allowed Kristen to cultivate a bountiful 1250 sqft garden and to explore the adventures of animal husbandry.  cats, dogs, chickens, and any stray that comes on her property are part of her brood.  Kristen also loves to explore ghost towns and the wide open desert that is NV." (kristen is a great writer, so i borrowed the mini bio she sent me.) here's an image from her collection...


thanks for stopping by....more to come. :)) p.

military spouse project | meet christine

meet christine, our uber hilarious navy wife of the week. christine has been a navy wife for 10 years and has endured an 8 month deployment with 2 beautiful munchkins under the age of 3. christine is a deep down texas girl who, as i have become aware, does NOT enjoy cold weather and has recently embarked on a new career path as a real estate appraiser. ends up, christine and i were neighbors in nevada before we moved overseas. i am soooo soooo sad we didn't hang out when we lived near each other but maybe that was a good thing, i'm not sure we ever would have gotten anything done! we would have been too busy tasting wine and telling inappropriate jokes. the great thing i love about christine is....her infectious laugh which is why I love this pic.

christine's collection of images will include several laughing images (much like the one below) as well as a few images with some very tasty liquid grapes. :) thanks christine for your time and for being such a truly wonderful person to be around.

 

 

i will be photographing two more spouses tomorrow. :)) check back next week when i introduce you to another fabulous spouse.

p.

military spouse project | sneak peek

and here it is folks. after months of shooting, re-shooting and researching, i've finally settled on a look for the project. yippee!!!!! the final product will be fantastic. each person will have a small collection of images, between 9 and 15 for each person, arranged in a square. i hope this allows the viewer to see different sides of each person. i think it's going to be very clean and very beautiful. :)

I am constantly looking for additional participants and I NEED A MAN SPOUSE!!! I keep telling everyone that the male spouse is like my unicorn. i just can't seem to find one!! let alone one that is willing to participate. PLEASE HELP! if you know of a willing male military spouse, please send me their info so i can contact them. i am trying to make this a diverse collection of army, navy, air force, marines, coast guard, men, women and enlisted and officer. in addition, i'm still looking for family photos, new or old, for my sculpture. if you only have images on your computer, please email me the image and i'll print it. my email address is: priscilla@priscillabvarner.com.

 

introducing the first military spouse in my collection, Jill:

jill was a great sport helping me drag my background through her house and putting her beautiful daughter to work. :) Jill's been a navy spouse for 22 years which included 9 moves, 6 deployments in addition to her travels as a military child. she has two beautiful children, is a massage therapist and....a competitive amateur adult figure skater. her collection of images will include a couple of portraits of her in her skates as well. :)) i had a great time getting to know you jill and thank you so much for supporting me in my endevours as well the support you've given numerous families through your volunteer work with the navy relief society.

next military spouse...christine. :) stay tuned!!!

p.

side note: please be respectful and do not "borrow" my images. all images are copyrighted. if you require an image, please email me and i will be more than happy to work with you. thank you so very much!!!

calling all military spouses...

greetings folks. i have a giant request for all my wonderful military families out there. as most of you know, i am currently working on my military spouse creative project. i am actively photographing spouses, adjusting my project and then re-photographing. i think i am on the verge of figuring out the "look" of the imagery that i've been looking for, so i will be able to share some pics soon.

in addition to my images of military spouses, i would like to include a sculpture. this sculpture will stand in the center area of my exhibition, surrounded by the images i make of the spouses that i am in the process of photographing. this sculpture is going to be created by all of you. if you would, please send me 1 to 2 of your family pictures. make sure the military spouse is in the image...even if it's a cardboard cutout of the spouse, or it can include your family and your "hug-a-hero" doll and even the actual spouse member (imagine that!!!). ha ha ha. i will be creating the sculpture around all of these images. please pass this link on to your military friends and have them pass it on to their military friends.

Address to send to:

University of Nevada

Department of Art

Attn: Priscilla B. Varner

Stop 224

Reno, NV 89557

 

please include your name and email address on the back of each image and please don't include any images larger than 8"x10". I would say "included your physical address" but you and i both know that our physical addresses change as often as we change socks!! i can not guarantee when the images will be sent back. if my series gets picked up by a gallery, it will be on display for an unknown period of time. my goal is to have a "wall" of family images from military spouses. please note: by sending me your family photo, you are agreeing to participate in the series. you are agreeing to participate knowing your family photo will be on view for the public to see and possibly included in nationally distributed publications. (that's the goal at least!!!!!)

thank you so very much for collaborating on this project with me. i genuinely feel as if this is our project...not just mine. i've been a military kid my whole life and a military spouse for half my life. i've met many, many military spouses and military kids throughout my experience and this is just one way i can say "thanks" and we can celebrate our special families.

thank you so very much for your willingness to participate. if you wouldn't mind, please post a quick comment if you decide to participate so i can be on the look out for your images!!!!

happy holidays!!!

priscilla

military spouses needed...

good day friends and followers! i am posting a quick request. i am producing a series of artwork focusing on military spouses. here are a few details (sorry there are so few):

 

the series will be in appreciation of military spouses

family members may/may not be included in the session

there will be some "dress up" involved :)

series will be "shopped" to commercial entities for publication as well as inclusion in group/solo art shows

more details will be provided upon acceptance into the project

 

if you are interested in participating, please email me and let me know. in that email, please give me details of what you like about being a military spouse, how long you've been a military spouse and what you wish everyone knew about you. this information will not be shared, it will simply help me in the selection process. i wish i was able to photograph every military spouse out there, unfortunately, time and finances don't allow me to do so. once i receive all the inquiries, i will take a couple of weeks to choose the participants. my goal is to complete the selection process by the end of October. after you've been notified of your acceptance, we will discuss the project in much more detail and start planning and arranging dates and times.

prerequisites:

must be a current military spouse

rank/rate/service will not be a determining factor in participation

willing to volunteer for one session lasting about 3-4 hours and participating in several planning session (most planning sessions will be via phone or email)

willingness to sign a model release (images can not be used if a model release from participants is not signed.)

your time will be compensated via photographs

must live within 6-8 hours of Reno, NV or in one of my regular working areas (san diego, lemoore, monterey, hanford, virginia beach, jacksonville, norfolk)

 

this a really great project aimed at celebrating the military spouse. i'm very excited to get this up and running!!! if you are not interested in participating, please fell free to forward the link to another spouse that might be willing to lend some time. lastly...fellas. i would love to include some fellas in this series. if you know any willing dudes, please, send them the link.

thank y'all so much for all the support you've given me over the years. this is my way of thanking you. military spouses are the best!!!!

PRISCILLA

email: priscilla@priscillabvarner.com

 

 

a few more of the grand mosque...

the last batch of images from the grand mosque...

the domes from inside the courtyard...

looking back at the main hall

tile work about a water fountain or a bench in one of the walkways. it reminded me of a peacock.

view of the main hall

reflecting pool at the entrance. love it!

another view from the reflecting pool...

i'll let you guess...

entrance area

reflection of the trees in the marble. loved it! :)

and cheryl...we were so HOT! the abayas we wore were no joke!!! they were black...which was hot...and polyester...which was even HOTTER!

more abu dhabi coming right up!

 

 

inside the sheik zayed grand mosque...

as promised...here's a tour inside the grand mosque in abu dhabi...

one of the several GARGANTUAN chandeliers...

everyone knows that i like taking pics of ceilings. seriously...what's my problem?? ha ha ha

inside the hall looking to the right

mother of pearl detail on the wall...lots of these little guys on the back wall

looking to the left in the main hall

just outside the doors of the mail hall. this is the hall that leads you back to the entrance.

more shots from outside coming tomorrow!!!

 

weather forecast: partly cloudy to mostly sandy...

sandstorms...i always wondered what they were like. after living in bahrain for awhile...you really get to know what they're like! they sneak in it seems...it's a little creepy really. you go in the house and it's clear. you come out an hour later and it's all brown and gross an your freshly cleaned car is filthy and you now have a nice dusting of sand throughout the house that was just cleaned that day. argh! so what do they look like? here ya go...

here's the difference a day makes:

nice blue water in amwaj...

the distance from the camera to the little spit of land there is about the same distance from me and the buildings in the next image.

nice!! there are a ton of other buildings directly behind those buildings that you can't even see. i'll try to take a pic of this same area when it clears up. it's still a bit sandy out today.

the bahrain revolution...

good day friends. i have a few images to share with you today. as you may have heard, many bahraini's chose to celebrate the 1st anniversary of the february 14th revolution. some folks celebrated peacefully however some did not. there were about two weeks where everyone on the island seemed to just sit and wait and see what was going to happen. there were many, many protests throughout the island. some protests were anti-government and some were pro-government. i wanted to document this time during our stay here but it is against the law to photograph protests and government checkpoints and government buildings. i kept thinking...how am i going to document this and not get arrested! i finally decided to document exactly what i saw.

the revolution this year seems to be on weekends and after work. during daytime hours  you will see commuters, school buses, taxi cabs and shoppers. it is very strange that the island can be relatively normal until about 4pm and then things start to spiral out of control in the anti-government neighborhoods.

this photo series is an ongoing series...it will be on going until we leave the island in the not very distant future. i would like you to see "my view of the february 14th revolution".

 

what did i see? traffic. a lot of snarly traffic.

at times the manama souq is off limits due to protesting...but this is what happens on a regular weekday morning...

men gather in this alley and have tea...

this area looks relatively benign before sunset. protesters have converged in this alley and thrown oil in the street and burned tires in the middle of the road. just behind the camera there is usually a civil patrol officer parked on the sidewalk. i have seen remnants of the protesters evening activities in the morning when i pass through after my school run.

just beyond this empty lot/soccer field, there is a neighborhood that is quite active in anti-government protesting. they too have round the clock civil patrol officers in the area. there have been numerous protests resulting in an abundance of tear gas. the tear gas has been known to float over to the school causing activities to be cancelled or rescheduled.

 

 

i will continue to post images from this series. it is a work in progress...so they won't come overnight. i would like to make note that i am not advocating for one side of the other. i am simply documenting my life living in bahrain during the feb 14th revolution.

more of muscat...

today we continue to check out oman. fun times! the buildings are old...they use my favorite colors...and it was such a pleasant day to be walking around. here's an old mosque next to the souq. the wood work kind of looked like a little southern crossed with a little arab. it was pretty cool...

windows...

'

ugh...this is going on my wall. LOVE that door!

haven't seen old glory out in public and under the sun in quite some time. brought tears to my eyes! and then i realized...that is one bright flag!

the ship we were on docked at a working port. tons of shipping containers!!!

they're so cool. :)

view of the old part of muscat...

look who i found!!! oh wait...he was with me the whole time. ;) ha ha ha...

some sunset action

so i've decided...i need a really big house so i have the space to hang all my freaking pictures!!!

reflection from another cruise ship docked next to us. i thought it was pretty cool...

the coolest thing ever!!! this is a shot...in the dead of night of the ships wake. this is called bio-luminescence. it was amazing to see...and this is what it is thanks to the bio-luminescence web page:

the causal organisms are almost always dino-flagellates, single-cell algae, often numbering many hundreds per liter. They are mechanically excited to produce light by the ship's passage or even by the movement of porpoises and smaller fish. [and yes...the coolest thing ever!]

in the morning...this was our view...iran. this will as close as we'll be allowed to be to iran for quite some time i'm sure. this was just 2 days before they started their exercises in the straits of hormuz. we squirted through just in time.

look who stopped by the ship!!!!! the girls were so excited. :)

well that's if from me for now. next up...some more shots around bahrain. we'll be heading back to europe this spring but stay tuned for some other cool things that will be happening on my blog. :)

enjoy! p.

 

trying on some muscat...

our next stop in our adventure was muscat, oman. we stopped in old muscat and to be honest...this is what i thought bahrain was going to look like when i found out we were moving here. it's cute..and the folks there are very nice. taxi drivers are a bit aggressive...but other than that...really nice folks. muscat was an important trading port from for the east and west. it has been know since 1 A.D. now that's old!

this greeted us upon our arrival. it's a giant mabkara, i believe that's the correct word. arabs use this container to burn incense. this version is a bit larger. so large that it has an elevator in it!

the sultan's boat. there's another boat just out of the pic that is really large as well. it's the sultan's staff boat. so when he goes out...everyone goes out.

a feeding frenzy! the omani's dress slightly different than the bahrainis. they have the thobes...but their thobes have a tassle, or karkusha, sewn into the neckline. it is said that the tassel is scented. also, they wear a kummah, which is what this man is wearing, or a muzzhar.

the entrance to the souq. it was so clean and nice!!

the first shop we stop in at the souq and this is what i see....

one of the numerous shops...

concerned customer. the kids actually made me take this pic. they were begging...ugh. it did turn out kind of cute though.

old stuff at one of the shops. i LOVE me some old stuff!!!!

i also dig this urn!

anyone want hanging elephants??? i found a couple. ;)

coins anyone? they were coins from EVERYWHERE!

i could have shopped all day in there. so much cool stuff....jason just thought it was old stuff. what does he know. ;)

alright folks. that's it from oman for now. next up...part two of oman. we get to check out some cool architecture and you can see who we parked next to. stay tuned!

 

wadi ham and bithna fort...

the tail end of our dune bashing included a stop in a wadi and a view of an old fort. The term wadi is an arabic term for valley or dry river bed. sometimes the dry riverbed will have water in it during heavy rains...which i'm sure you can imagine...isn't very often. ;)

bithna fort. built in 1735, although there is discussion that it wasn't built until a bit later, was considered one of the most important fortresses in the UAE.

the girls chillin in the wadi...

palms...

next up...a few shots from muscat, oman....

 

a quick stop in fujairah, uae...

the family and i headed out on the open gulf for the holidays. there's a cruise ship that heads out of dubai and travels through the arabian gulf and the gulf of oman. it stops in a few places along the way. we thought it would be fun...so we headed out.

our first stop was fujairah, uae. it's taken me about 3 months to figure out how to say "foo-jai-ruh" i kept wanting to call it fallujah. that's actually in iraq and they are not ready for tourists quite yet. any who...we decided to do a little dune bashing whilst we were in fujairah. we rode out of the city...basically half way back to dubai...and went strolling through the hills. we had a great conversation with our driver, from dubai, about arab customs like arranged marriages...curb service in the middle east and a bunch of other things. it was very educational. i really enjoyed the chat. here's some pics of our dune bashing:

this is our posse. there were about 8 vehicles that headed out on the adventure together.

the girls hanging in the dunes

dunes to be bashed...

 

camel spotting...

our two sand bunnies...

you can only imagine how much sand we brought back into the car after this stop. and it all managed to be in rea's pants!! ;)

lovely dunes sans truck tracks...

yes...we slid down this hill in a vehicle. yes...i screamed like a little girl...and yes...we went down dunes much steeper than this. and finally...yes...that vehicle in the top left is stuck. our driver was kind enough to drive by laugh...and then proceed down the dune. ;) i liked our driver!

another stop along the way. our entourage had to stop because one the vehicles couldn't make it's way up the hill. you had to use major stategery to make it. our driver dropped us off at the top and then went down the dune...picked up the tourists in the other car and brought them up to the top. now that the other vehicle was empty...it was able to make it to the top. i really enjoyed the blowing sand on the tip of the dune. brought some of this back in my hair....

the other drivers watching the last vehicle finally make it up the dune...and figuring out how we were going to get down from the top...

the varners...yes...the driver took my several thousand dollar camera and said "give that to me...i will take a picture." you can't see my teeth grinding...my sweating armpits and puckered booty. that was the tensest moment for me the whole day!!!!

more dunes...

and this is why you double check your frame before firing away. who knew there was a man chillin' betwixt my hubby's legs. nice one p!

my feet. i do believe i had a great shoe choice this day. everyone had tons of sand in their tennis shoes. me? i just shook it out. :)

next up...a real wadi...a fort and little bit of muscat...oman that is. :)

p.

 

i need a little bit of this right about now...

i love paris in the winter. best time of the year to visit. :)