Anthony DeVito - Local Potter

I am blessed to live in Asheville and be surrounded by so many wonderful local artists. As you know, I have worked with Gabriel Shaffer in digitally reproducing his wonderful mixed media on canvas art pieces and now I have had the recent pleasure of working with Anthony DeVito, a local master on the pottery wheel.
Anthony came to me to help him capture the beauty and nuances of his pots so that he can can utilize on line merchandising opportunities. When I said yes, I had no idea how much I would enjoy shooting these pieces. I have shot many products before and I enjoy that type of studio work. Close the blinds, set up the table and the lights, get my favorite tunes going, or these days, my rockin' Pandora station, get out the camera and go to work. I find a lot of Zen and beauty in working with static objects in the studio but I did not realize how much of a relationship I would develop with each of his pieces.
The way that Anthony uses glazes and a wood fired kiln add many dimensions and unique personalities to each of his pieces. It was with those subtle qualities that I found myself building relationship. By examining angles under different lighting, watching carefully how the reflective surfaces picked up the lights and seeing the glazes come alive with my reflector, I really felt that I got to know each piece that sat on the table.

If you want to contact Anthony his number is : 404-545-9156. Once he has his web presence, I will add a link to this post. Again, I love this town and the people that I meet here!
Thanks, Anthony for the opportunity to get to know your work. I am already looking forward to your next round of pots and bowls!


Large Jar about 7-8 inches tall.


Another Large Jar about 7-8 inches tall


Breakfast collection - bowls and cups


My favorite Vase - about 10 inches tall


3 Sides of my favorite vase


Large Vase about 14 inches tall

Big Boys Toys

Wheels wheels and more wheels!
After my shoot yesterday, I have a renewed respect for tractor trailers and the people who drive them. I was hired by Chambers Transportation in Charlotte to shoot images of their big rigs here in the mountains for their website and some new art in their offices. I got to spend a day with Ryan Chambers and one of his new Kenworth rigs.
Wow, that is a big machine! I have seen millions of trucks in the road and it was not until I stood next to the truck to take pictures that I got a real sense of how large one of these transportation devices really is. Ryan told me that fully loaded, that the trailer and rig could weigh 40 tons...that's 80,000 pounds for those of you keeping score at home. The cab has two bunk beds and is 72 inches across, room for a tv, bed side tables, built in drawers and Ryan said some of the cross country trucks could have bathrooms and showers as well. Working in teams, these trucks can run non stop 24 hours a day to make it back and forth across the country in 3 days.
In addition, the truck holds 300 gallons of fuel and gets about 7 miles a gallon. Lets do the math on that when diesel was 5 bucks a gallon and your shipment has to go 3000 miles... no, never mind, you get the idea.
For those of you, like me, who may have in the past cut off a truck or two when on the highway... this rigs needs a full football field to stop when going 65 mph. That's a long way to come to a stop, please take that into consideration the next time you want to make a quick lane change with your kids in the car.
Ryan, Chris (my driver and assistant extraordinaire) and I had a great time shooting images of the big rig. I got to sit in the drivers seat and look out over the hood of 500 horsepower of diesel love. We shot in Swannanoa, and in Canton and the weather could not have been better. We had to wait out some early morning cloud cover in Canton and once it broke, it was one of the nicest days we have had up here. I particularly enjoyed hanging out the back window of my 4 wheeler (that's big rig cb talk for passenger vehicles) and shooting Ryan's truck going down the road. We got some confused looks from some of the other people on the road which just added to the fun. Thanks to Chris for a great job driving!
These are a couple of preliminary images from the shoot. I have artistically tweaked a couple of images as I find myself really enjoying the lines, size and aesthetics of this big truck. These trucks really are pieces of art in engineering and functionality and as the trucks evolve, the shapes, curves and body styles become more and more stylish in my eye.
So, with a newly renewed respect for the men and women who cart my stuff from here to there and the machines they use to do it... Ill let you decide if you think these big rigs are as cool as I think they are.
See you down the road...
Jon


Movin'!


Optimus Prime kicking it in the mountains.


Truck Portrait

WNC Magazine Artist Profile

Hey Everyone,

I am excited and honored to be the artist profiled in this month's issue of WNC magazine. As July is their music issue, they called me up in May to do an interview with me for my involvement in the music scene here in Asheville. The interview and the images can be found on page 26.
I must say that that the entire experience has been wonderful... from the interviewer, J. Hansburg, to the editors and art director and everyone in between the folks at WNC magazine are a joy to work with. Big thanks to Melissa, Brian and Matt for all of their efforts and support.
It still catches me in a certain spot in my heart to see my images on the pages of a magazine that I read on a regular basis, especially one of the caliber of WNC Magazine. I hope I never get used to that. :)
In addition to the article, my images can be found accompanying the "Sound Advice" article on page 52 and again in the "Fete Set" on page 92.
Please support this wonderful magazine and drop by a newsstand and pick one up, it looks great on the coffee table, especially open to page 26.

Thanks to all for your continued support, I hope to see you all through my lens soon.

Jon

Link to WNC Magazine article

Soundtrack to my youth

Allow me to take you for a ride in my time machine...
Go back... the year is 1986... High School is about to begin, I'm out of school for the summer, riding my bike around town on Long Island. A few miles to the west, 3 Jewish kids have put together a new album that breaks through the walls of what hip-hop is, and I love it. The album is License to Ill and the Beasite Boys just became a household name and the heroes of NYC. I play the album until I wear it out. I sing all the lyrics, my parents hate it... so I love it all the more.
Now it is 1998, I am a sophomore in High School, boarding school to be exact, in upstate NY. I am in my dorm room, headphones on, blasting Paul's Boutique, learning the lyrics and throwing my arms in the air, mimicking the movements of the boys from Brooklyn. I love "High Plains Drifter", who samples a shot gun cocking? The Beastie Boys, that's who.
Fast forward to 1992...college, I live in Charlotte NC now, mostly known for being a yankee on campus, driving to fast and playing the stereo too loud and Check Your Head is the album that most people hear as I drive by. It's played at parties, in dorms, in the clubs,it is everywhere, it is college to so many people my age. 1994 brings Ill Communication and "Sabotage". My friends and I bang our heads, jump up and slam into each other, having our summer highlighted by the Lollapalooza tour at BlockBuster Pavillion in Charlotte and headlined by the Beastie Boys themselves!
I gaduate college and look for my place in the world, and I am listening to Hello Nasty more than anything else as I try to figure out life after school. It is a cd that I reguraly wear out, swapping it from car to house, to walkman and back again.
The twin towers, symbols of my youth, a place I went on field trips every year in grade school are removed from the landscape of lower Manhattan in 2001. My Mom passes is 2003 and my relationship with NYC comes to a close... enter To the 5 Boroughs and with it my pride of being a New Yorker returns.
This is how the Beastie Boys have been with me all these years. They are a huge part of the soundtrack of my youth, of my life. Thanks to Michelle Moog and the Moog Fondation I had a rare opportunity to hang out with the boys from Brooklyn, shoot images of them in a casual setting with about 10 other people and go to their sold out show in front of a mere 900 people at the Orange Peel. The BBoys agreed to do a ribbon cutting ceremony for the mini-Moogseum installment at the Orange Peel as they are avid Moog equipment users and all around cool guys.
I could go on about the ties I have to these guys and how their music was playing during so many monumental moments in my life...but I wil save you the details. I think you get it.


Money Mark, MCA, Ad Rock, Mike D


Ribbon cutting


The BBoys get their learn on about new Moog equipment


Ad Rock listens to all the fly sounds of the new Moog Guitar


A little style to round out the shoot!

Brooklyn in the House!

Working with a Model

Hello again,

As I realized the many shoots I have done without posting, I am taking some time to post some of my recent work.
I love photography and I am continually looking to add to my portfolio and develop my skills. I do this by branching out of my comfort zone and shooting scenes that I would not have normally shot 6 months or a year ago. Enter Trecy.
Trecy is a friend of a very close friend of mine and a beautiful model. She and I had coffee recently and hit it off immediately! We brainstormed on some shoots we both wanted to do and have started working on that list. The building where I have my studio has a great 1920-40's feel to some aspects of it and Trecy and I decided we would start with a film-noir inspired shoot.
The idea here being a heroine looking for her salvation. She does not know where that is, yet she feels drawn to the door she stands in front of. Some of the shots, she is fearful she is being pursued, others she is confident she is in the right place, yet others she is inviting her hero to join her.
Hope you like the shots, more to come as Trecy and I work on the list of ideas we have.
Cheers,
J

Jessica and Benton

Greetings All,

As life continues to stay busy, I have neglected my blog :( I feel badly about that and I promise not to let it go so long again, I have missed you guys. I have been shooting a lot and have not made the time to post, such a bad blogger I am! I did not want that to be the case with Jessica and Benton's wedding, so here we are, reunited at last!

Jessica and Benton got married at a friend of the family's farm outside of Tryon, NC and could not have picked a better spot. The barn, the fields, the dance barn (yes, dance barn!), the whole pig roasting in the background, cooked by the #1 whole pig cooker in all of Tennessee, 100's of friends and family and blessed by wonderful weather and capped off by a jump in the lake, I don't think there was any way to have a wedding be more perfect. I feel so lucky to have been choosen by this beautiful couple to document their special day. The blessings bestowed by so many freinds and family on the couple were a testament to this couple and their love for one another. Did I mention they are high school sweethearts?!

Jessica and Benton, thanks for having me there to share in the beauty and magic of your union! I look forward to seeing your family grow and being there to capture all the stages of Holden's life.

Here are a couple of shots from the big day! Special thanks to Jessica for being such a wonderful sport and being so excited to shoot the "trash the dress" session by jumping into the lake.
See you all soon!


So much love for one another!


These two are so much fun to be around.


Beautiful Jessica struttin' her stuff! You look great Jessica!


The beautiful family...


This sums it up! Taking the plunge, loving each other, life is good!

Having a blast at Hatch fest

I am sitting here at Hatch Festival learning about social networking
and decided to take a pic and blog it. How great is technology?
Artists teaching artists. This is how life should be all the time.