The Marcia Reed Virtual Gallery
Editor's Introduction
"I am proud and pleased to once again present to you quality original art. This show is The Better Drink's first photography exhibition and what makes it unique is that it was actually an assignment. Poet and muscian J. Blake Gordon over a phone conversation told me that he is also into photography. I was intrigued by a poet's view of the world through a lens. I asked him to send me some of his work, and what I saw was amazing. Much like his music (which I love) and poetry (which I also love) his photography is haunting, mysterious, and quietly beautiful. Since Mr. Gordon has become a regular contributer to the magazine I have had the opportunity to get to know him as a person and Mr. Gordon's sense of art, life, and contemplation is at times funny, unique, and dark; and yet it is always grounded in profoundity. He is always looking for the saturated experience. He wants to create and live fully--richly. One of the photos he sent truly put my heart in my mouth: it was of a lion lying on its side at the zoo with several onlookers in the background. It was beautiful, quiet, sad, and somehow neccesary. I immediately called him and asked for a whole collection of zoo photos, and this show is the end result. I truly love them and it is my hope that you do as well. Thank you very much J. Blake Gordon!"
Jennifer Barnick
Artist Statement
I do not feel comfortable explaining myself, and I feel dishonest when I try. But I speak honestly because I do not know the truth. All of my beliefs are founded in feeling. The stronger the feeling, the deeper my belief. And the more I believe, the more I can express, though the less I feel able to explain. My belief in art is made complicated through my relationship with God. Sometimes I feel closer to art than I feel to God. I recognize beauty as inspiration. I realize my own existence through feelings of wonder. I wonder what causes my feelings to grow. Inspiration is mysterious. Creation grows out of feeling, and feeling becomes experience.
Does God provide inspiration, or has inspiration created God? I feel that perception is infinite. Creation is infinite. I feel that God is presence. Art reflects the beauty of presence. Beauty exists dimensionally. Existence is limited by perception. I create art as a reaction to my own existence, to my own perceived limits. It is always a new experience.
I like black and white photography because I feel it is beautiful. I visit the zoo because I feel comfortable there. These pictures are an expression of my experience.
J. Blake Gordon is a poet and songwriter who lives in Evanston, Illinois with his cat. Born in Pittsburgh in 1975, Blake grew up primarily in Chicago, attending Hardey Preparatory School for Boys from the first through the eighth grade. Following four years at North Shore Country Day School in Winnetka, Blake went to Hobart and William Smith College in Geneva, New York, earning a bachelor's degree in English, and The Charles H. prize for Creative Writing, in 1997.
Settling back in Chicago after college, Blake began writing and assembling his first major collection of poems, a process which lasted for nearly eight years. Completed recently, the collection has been given the title Love Calls Out To Love, and the author hopes to (over)see its publication sometime within the next fifty years. Several poems have already been featured in literary magazines/journals such as Rockhurst Review, Chase Park, Wavelength, Curbside Review, New Rag Rising, Joey And The Black Boots and, most notably, The Better Drink.
With his highly imagined musical abilities, Blake has been creating and recording songs (at home, mostly with his guitar and his voice) for almost ten years, and he intends to release the good ones in a proper format - again, sometime within the next fifty years. Blake is also an amateur photographer, preferring to shoot on black and white film, utilizing skills taught to him by the late John Almquist. This is his first gallery show, virtual or otherwise.
(self-portrait and biography by J. Blake Gordon...his musical abilities are quite sound...the editor)
For information regarding the purchasing or exhibition of Mr. Gordon's work, or you just want to make a comment about this show please email us at The Better Drink (letters2editor@thebetterdrink.com ).
Instructions To View Art
In order to view art hit the next link in below tool bar. To go backwards simply hit the previous link below in the tool bar. To leave the gallery hit the exit link in below tool bar. To go to the home page click home. Enjoy the show, and if you have any questions or problems regarding ease of viewing the show please contact us at webmaster@thebetterdrink.com. Click here to see the first photo .