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