DROPPING: Winter Solstice, December 22, 2024!
(So that I can observe the actual Solstice on the 21st)
The Umbrage Story
“Umbrage” is a duo of photographs, “Surface" and “Depths”. These images were shot in the transitional fall months of 22 but were released for Winter Solstice on December 22, 2024, so that I could observe the actual solstice on the 21st.
“Umbrage”
offense or annoyance.
"she took umbrage at his remarks"
Archaic: shade or shadow, especially as cast by trees.
I find these images to be stunning, and yet the light in the actual scene had even more magic than my camera could capture. It was during the vineyards’ harvest. The sun hangs lower and the days grow shorter giving more time for darkness. Light refracts off objects differently, extending the golden hours of warm hues in the evening. Certain surfaces seem to glow while others camouflage in the shadows, especially as the low light shining directly into our pupils creates more blind spots in our vision. Both images were taken on land and not under water, but I love how the lens and some editing was able to capture an ethereal envelopment of giant, exposing, quiet; much like the solace of spending time deep underwater and then breaking through to the surface.
The nature of photographs is a bit unlike paintings and other one-of-kind artworks. The medium gravitates toward multiplicity and the security that another version can be made should the need or desire arise. With paintings and other media, there’s only one of those original paintings, drawings, pastels, and other art. There are methods that come close to reproducing these originals down the miniature peaks and valleys of paint globs, but it’s an intensive process in both time and resources. The original painting or other media can be scanned and an image in its likeness can be shared widely like photographs. But in the cases of my pieces “Mountains In Heavens” and “Artifacts On Ice” that have iridescent paints and textural juxtapositions, details vital to the piece can get lost in digital translation, or scanning. Photographs have the potential to hold this one-of-a-kind characteristic like other media if approached wisely. Over time, a photograph negative could become the only one left out of several strips of film and guarded from being copied. Someone could make the painstaking effort to make sure only one print exists of an image and everything else relating to it, including the digital image that was used to make the print, is destroyed and then police the internet for “illegal” sharing. These possibilities exist, but I find it’s a better experience going with the natural photographic flow of multiplicity rather than fighting it, and instead find other media whose natures lean more towards “rarity” to express myself in that way.
The line of hoodies for “Umbrage, Surface” and “Umbrage, Depths” are composites of both images along with many of the variations of the images. Composing these pieces eventually and naturally lead to a distinction between the two photographs, which I took advantage of for front and back compositions of the garments. For the front, the images are warmer and with more light, while images on the back are cooler and darker. I’m amazed that the front image came out with focal points resembling organs of the body. A plume of foliage likens to a billowing heart and a stringy leafy line swinging our eyes to and fro like following a digestive tract through the body, down to the garment’s bottom hems. For me, it playfully invokes the question, “Is what guides our hearts and our guts one and the same?” One of my favorite features is in the composition on the back, which also naturally revealed itself. It’s the resemblance to a spinal cord positioned in contrapposto meeting the top of the pelvis and coccyx! Also of note in this back-piece is the fact that ONLY the coccyx showed up in my composite and not the whole pelvis. This connection to the human body wasn’t planned! It just wanted to be there. I find that incredible! Don’t you, reader? (I hope you’re all nodding, “yes.”) Besides the aptly-placed, anatomically correct, artistic anomaly, there’s something else I’ve noted too. Though I don’t think it carries much more meaning other than maybe being a marker on my path letting me know I’m heading in the right direction, my notation is this: the coccyx is a part of the body that, unless you’re an athlete or have a lot of experience falling down, most of us have rarely had to think about. If ever. As an avid snowboarder, it’s something I’ve thought about, protected, and advocated to everyone else to protect, a lot. It’s not a particularly useful body part, and while it’s easy to protect it’s also easily broken. Just sitting down too fast directly on your butt can do it. Luckily, breaking it poses no real threat, unlike a broken femur bone nicking the femoral artery. Nonetheless, it will hurt like hell for days to weeks to the point where you’ll do everything in your power to walk and move a little as possible. There are very few worthwhile ways to reset it, so you just have to wait it out and hope you don’t reinjure it in the mean time. Word of advice: “pillows”.
Again, I really believe there’s not a whole lot of meaning to this. It’s just something saying, “Yeah, so here's a breadcrumb you’ll recognize just to say, “Good job. Keep going this way. You can do it!” from whatever or whomever the benevolent entity might be, and to which or whom I say, “Thank you!”
Umbrage, Original Prints Series
Released December 22, 2024 for Winter Solstice
“Umbrage, Surface” | |
Natalie Digital Photograph 10” x 18” Shot: Fall 2022 Releases: Dec 22, 2024 Solstice Media: Digital Photo, Inkjet & Fine Art Paper Signature: Hand Signed by Natalie Series: 01 Original Print Series # In Series: 25 | Natalie Digital Photograph 10” x 18” Shot: Fall 2022 Releases: Dec 22, 2024 Solstice Media: Digital Photo, Inkjet & Fine Art Paper Signature: Hand Signed by Natalie Series: 01 Original Print Series # In Series: 25 |
Fine Art Prints
…are hand printed, signed, and numbered by myself, Natalie. Fine art prints are more than a typical print product because I, the artist, take extra care in making them, there’s a limit to how many of this series will be made, they’re hand-signed by me, and so much more. I’m also more interested in where they eventually end up in life, which might mean I reach out again one day to just catch up – with the patron’s consent, of course!
The number of prints is limited to twenty-five (25) for each of the photos in “Umbrage, Surface & Depths, Original Prints Series”.
At in-person events, I have a limited number of prints available on-hand, but will take orders for prints to be produced and shipped after the event as long as the series has yet to meet its limits.
Production by demand means it could take a week or more to print and another to ship, depending on the chosen options.
Apparel
Umbrage Hoodies
Umbrage Beanie
S, M, L |
Posters & Flags
Posters and Flags are designed and directed by me, Natalie, and fulfilled by Printful, a third-party print-on-demand service and company. They are signed with a specific digital signature, typically do not have a limit to how many can be produced, and are more affordable and functional. Plus, designs are specifically tailored to each product.
Posters
Posters are high quality prints unlimited in reproductions, digitally signed, and low-cost. They’re a great way to liven up your spaces with several works of Natalie’s fantastic art!
