Dreams do come true... ever since I visited Yosemite National Park when 13 I wanted to "work" in a national park. This fall I will be, well sort of. Just received the call that has me on a big natural high. "The artist in residence selection panel really loved your work and appreciated the strong images shared," is how the conversation started. "You were one of the super scorers." Thank you to America's most visited national park, Great Smoky Mountains National Park. You've also fulfilled another dream, being an artist in residence at a United States National Park. 

I'll be there photographing end of fall and early winter in all their glory starting later this year.
While immersing myself in this wonderment there is the added bonus of supporting my personal mission which I believe directly relates to and support the mission of the National Park Service: using the power of photography to raise awareness and inspire conservation of the fragile beauty of nature, especially those threatened and endangered, for the enjoyment of generations to come.

As part of the residency it will be my honor to share my insights, experiences and photography taken during the residency with park visitors and people of the local communities. I'll be facilitating three interactive public programs. Subjects may include: outdoor photography hiking workshop stopping to photograph landscapes and subjects along the path, outdoor sunrise and/or sunset photography program, and outreach Artist Talk featuring the stories behind the photographs of my artist-in-residence experience to share with classrooms and/or community groups. 

Can't wait to share it all with you. 

Pictured, one of those "strong images" in the application: "Light in the Forest," 24"x36" on metal taken at Yosemite National Park.

Hope you can join us this Saturday, May 11. Honored to be asked to give ArtTalk. Presentation will feature interactive slide show of photographs from my favorite "outdoor studio," the Everglades. Come learn the stories about how I got the shots, including images recently featured in my solo exhibit at the Bailey Contemporary Arts Gallery (BaCA). 

Opening Act for Reception: ArtTalk by Phoenix, 5-6pm
Main Event: Reception for ENDANGERED Exhibit. Also, honored to have three of my works included. Proceeds benefit the Center for Great Apes.  
Location: ArtServe, 1350 E Sunrise Blvd, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33304
More Info: Center for Great Apes; Art4Apes

Always an honor to be selected to play... be juried into high end exhibits. This week is a double hitter. If you're local hope you can join us.  
 
"Art and Soul"
One Night Only-Thursday, April 11, 6-9pm
CIRC Hotel
1780 Polk Street
Hollywood, FL
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Featuring 170 pieces, including four of mine. Always a spectacular party. Proceeds benefit Business for the Art of Broward, and therefore local artists.  
ALL Art for Sale, 12"x12" aluminized metal
Flamingo, Yosemite Daybreak, First Light and Louie

Get Your Ticket

SPECTRUM
Friday, April 12, 7-9pm
Studio 18
1101 Poinciana Dr
Pembroke Pines, Florida
Show Dates: April 12 - June 5
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More Info and RSVP
 
Honor to be invited by Curator Michael Edelberg to submit my photography for this all abstract art exhibit. As a realist nature photographer, creating abstract nature photography is a whole new game. He specifically requested lots of color of indiscernible designs. Love to hear how/what you feeling when looking at these. Let me know.

This is the season to remember our blessings and share our thanks and gratitude with all who have helped to make that so. For me, that means you dear readers, followers, friends, collectors and curators. I'm truly abundantly blessed to receive all your love and support to share my passion for soul photography - nature, wildlife and people. 
 
This is also the height of the art season in South Florida, including ArtBasel-Art Miami, which I'm honored to be participating in again this year. I'm very thankful to be sought out and juried into so many special exhibits-eight in December. Below are details on this week's exhibit opening and receptions, including the prestigious ENDANGERED exhibit, where I will be speaking Friday, December 7. See flyer invite below.  ​

Gratitude & Joy Exhibit
Bailey Contemporary Arts - West Gallery
(at Blooming Bean Coffee Roasters)
Dec 7 - Jan 25

Juried by Sharon Lee Hart, head of photography and an assistant professor of art at Florida Atlantic University, this exhibition features images by 16 photographers who share their interpretations on joyful moments. Grateful to be included with this group of extraordinary photographers. Reception: Friday, Dec 7, 6 - 9 pm. Wish I could be in two places at once and I'll be speaking at ENDANGERED (see above) that night. If local, let me know if you'd like a personal tour during show exhibition run. Read more. ​

"Reciprocal Consciousness" Exhibit
Reception: Thursday, December 6, 6-8pm
Where: ArtServe, 1350 E. Sunrise Boulevard, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33304  
 
Excited to have three works juried into this beautiful show. National League of American Pen Women - Coral Gables, Ft. Lauderdale & Boca Raton Branches - are together showing "Reciprocal Consciousness" an ArtBasel Collective Juried Exhibition curated by Caroline Parker and hosted by Mai Yap at ArtServe. Exhibition dates: December 3 - 28, 2018. Let me know if you'd like a personal tour. Read More:  

What a privilege. So many people from different parts of my life - friends, artists, photographers, neighbors - came out to the opening reception of "The Everglades: Spirit of the Land." Heartfelt  thanks to Curator Juliana Forero and Cultural Executive Director Jody Leshinsy of Bailey Contemporary Arts for believing in my work. It's located in the west gallery inside Blooming Bean Coffee Roasters where owner Sharon loves being surrounded by nature's beauty that matches her love of all things natural in her kitchen.

Exhibit runs through Sept 28. Located at 41 NE 1st Street, Pompano Beach, FL 33060, 954-2840141. Tuesday-Friday, 7:30am-5pm; Saturday, 8am-3pm.

Also feeling blessed for the fantastic media coverage, including The Pelican Newspaper, page 21, and The Rickie Report.

Looking forward to seeing you on the 15th or send me an email if you'd like a personal tour and a cup of delish cappuccino.

See pictures of all the fun from the opening on Facebook starting here.

Looking forward to sharing with everyone. Thankful to BaCA for this wonderful show. 
Read More and RSVP Here

Press Release...
Bailey Contemporary Arts Presents The Everglades: Spirit of the Land
Acclaimed Photographer, Phoenix, Captures Fragile Beauty of Our Backyard Wilderness
 
Bailey Contemporary Arts (BaCA), in Pompano Beach, is proud to showcase a stunning exhibit that captures both the majesty and the frailty of the Florida Everglades. South Florida photographer Phoenix began a year-long photojournalism journey to inspire love and respect for the essential wetlands. Now, her solo exhibit of twenty photos will be on display in the west gallery, located inside Blooming Bean Coffee Roasters. The exhibit runs from August 3 to September 28, 2018. A free opening reception with the artist will take place on Friday, August 3, from 6-9 pm, during Old Town Untapped, and the Artist Talk is scheduled for Saturday, September 15 at 3pm. For more information, please visit www.baileyarts.org.
“With this exhibition we are inviting viewers to slow down and enjoy the moment,” said Juliana Forero, Ph.D., BaCA’s gallery curator. “Phoenix has a great understanding of how light and timing work in photography. It's evident that for some of the photographs exhibited, she waited for the ‘decisive moment’ to quote French humanist photographer Cartier-Bresson; working the composition in her brain and waiting for the ‘it’ that would make the photo worth the shot.”
The photographer, who goes only by her first name, established a love of nature as a child during family vacations to national parks. As she matured, she developed an exceptional talent and a passion to help protect nature and wildlife.
“Being a nature photographer is a mystical experience,” she said. “Like a meditation of light --color, texture, structure, pattern, and composition -- it awakens an inner peace and knowingness. With each image, it is my desire that viewers are inspired to love, cherish and protect the fragile beauty and wonder that is nature as they reconnect with that inner peace. For me, preserving nature and wilderness areas is not a luxury, but a necessity for the human spirit. In protecting the world's nature and wildlife, the environment, we are really protecting the family of humanity. The importance of nature is more than a scientific necessity for creating air, clean water and producing food. It is a sacred necessity for healing and bringing peace to the human soul.”
 
About Phoenix:
Phoenix has translated her depth of experience in leadership and community engagement for large, public-sector organizations into her career as an award-winning, fine art photographer as well as leader of art organizations participating in public art. For Phoenix the extraordinary beauty of nature and wilderness are a wonder. Attempting to fix them in time is her passion; photography is her art. Known for her painterly approach to composition, light, color and texture to capture the soul of her subjects in her photography, her works have been honored in numerous juried exhibitions, showcased in solo exhibitions, including Everglades National Park Gallery and Listowel, Ireland’s Olive Stack Gallery, featured in magazines and calendars worldwide and can be found in private collections in America and Europe. She is the recipient of several awards including the Broward Cultural Council’s Creative Investment Program Grant two times and Best in Landscape at the International Photography Juried Competition as well as the Olive Stack Gallery AIR. Professionally Phoenix serves as president of National League of American Pen Women, Fort Lauderdale Branch and Project COAT and is a principal in the Innovative Public Art Group. A native Miamian, Phoenix lives and works in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
www.PhotographsByPhoenix.com
 
Exhibit Times - during Regular Café Hours Tuesday– Friday 7:30AM - 5PM, and Saturday: 7:30AM – 3:00PM, Sunday: CLOSED
Bailey Contemporary Arts is located at 41 NE 1st Street, Pompano Beach, FL 33060.  For more information call 954-284-0141.
 
About the Pompano Beach Redevelopment Agency (CRA)
A Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) is a dependent district established by City government for the purpose of carrying out redevelopment activities that include reducing or eliminating blight, improving the economic health of an area, and encouraging public and private investments in a CRA district. The CRA is governed by State Statutes, Chapter 163, Part III. The Pompano Beach Community Redevelopment Agency is funded through Tax Increment Financing (TIF). The funds are collected as property values increase and a portion of that increase is captured by the Agency. TIF raises revenue for redevelopment efforts without raising taxes.
 
About Bailey Contemporary Arts
The mission of the Bailey Contemporary Arts (BaCA) is to cultivate, incubate and nurture a vibrant visual arts community that enriches Pompano Beach and its goal of being a nexus of art, creativity, diversity, and inspiration.  Serving as an incubator for artistic innovation and education, the staff of BaCA amalgamates emerging local and national artists with industry professionals to elevate the creative process. Located in the historic Bailey Hotel building, which was, at one point, the center of a thriving downtown in Pompano Beach. Built in 1923, the historic Bailey Hotel is the second oldest remaining building (right behind the old Farmer’s Bank building next door) and is part of the longest contiguous collection of historic buildings in Broward County. 

Artist Statement
The Everglades: Spirit of the Land
Photographic work by Phoenix

The photographs in this exhibition portray the waters of the Everglades in a moment of serenity and reflection. They invite viewers to pause, become one with the vista, and appreciate the beautiful landscapes in this exhibition. This body of work is part of a year-long project by Phoenix, where she photographs South Florida’s wetlands and the Everglades.
 
“It has been said that the camera reflects both ways. As an artist, every vision I capture through my camera’s lens is a reflection of my heart being touched by the soul of wild places and their inhabitants. Like a meditation of light--color, texture, structure, pattern and composition--it awakens an inner peace and knowingness. With each image, it is my desire that viewers are inspired to love, cherish and protect the fragile beauty and wonder that is nature as they reconnect with that inner peace.
 
“For me, preserving nature and wilderness areas is not a luxury, but a necessity for the human spirit. In protecting the world's nature and wildlife, the environment, we are really protecting the family of humanity. The importance of nature is more than a scientific necessity for creating air, clean water and producing food. It is a sacred necessity for healing and bringing peace to the human soul.”

Last fall I was challenged to take my photography skills to a new place. MAC Art Galleries' owner Mary Ann Cohen invited selected artists to create their versions of Dali original pieces she was exhibiting at her Fort Lauderdale and Jupiter galleries. This was extra special since she had never invited a photographer to participate in this exhibit in past years. I was simultaneously honored and puzzled. How was I, primarily an outdoor and nature photographer known for my painterly approach to realism, going to "tackle" surrealism photographically. 

From the available works I narrowed it down to two that spoke to me: Surrealist Flower Girl and Beatrice. At the time, I felt I had made my choices based on visualizing how I could reinterpret them through photography. Reflecting back as I write this post I realize that I was possibly also attracted to these pieces subliminally. I have a life-time of being called "a strong women" and I haven't always liked the connotations that come with it. Often wanting to be the "feminine" I was raised to be self-reliant, independent and, honestly, strong, not in the physical sense, but mentally, emotionally and consciously. Looking back, I have no regrets and, best that I know, it has served me well to handle the roller coaster rides of life. 

I share these two images with you since they have been accepted into the "Wild and Crazy" Red Eye Beyond Exhibit that opens this Saturday at ArtServe. They are also available through MAC Fine Art.

I hope you enjoy the images of the Dali original (on left) and my homage (on right) to it along with my interpretation -- photographically, color palette, symbolism and verbal notes.

Special thanks go to my longtime friend, graphic artist and yoga fashion designer Sushila for helping me turn my visions into reality; painter and sculptor Colleen Rochette, who granted me permission to use photographs of some of her eggs in "Surrealist Flower Girl/I Am Women" and my hair stylist extraordinaire Jasmine, who graciously sat as my model for both pieces.

​Surrealist Flower Girl ​

Inspired by Salvador Dali's Surrealist Flower Girl, "I Am Woman" reveals all that is within every women. I delighted in the nuance of each piece that created the whole art work – individual photographs, drips of color, colorful birds’ eggs, the scanned watercolor background, every color choice. Each individually and collectively tells the story of I Am Women. I am Mother Earth. I am spiritual. I am intuitive. I am all knowing. I am beauty. I am mystery. I am birth. I am rebirth, renewal, regeneration. I am air, sand, land, water. I am strong. I am vulnerable. I am Mind, Body and Soul. Dali’s symbolism speaks loudly so we may notice the powerful and complex being Woman.
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Beatrice

Beatrice, Dante’s real-life muse and literary angelic guide through Paradise, symbolizes beauty and grace. There is a dichotomy about her in Dali’s art. She seems to have an exaggerated strong or is it firm profile, yet she has a soft side too as she’s embraced by what appears to be small birds along with locks of curls. I saw her as one with nature – the world and herself – a living goddess wearing her crown of roses graced by a hummingbird, who too is simultaneously strong, demur and at peace.

As I spent time with each Dali piece, merging the metaphysical and physical symbolism, envisioning my homage photographs to his master pieces, I feel I discovered a new truth, that perhaps I always knew and chose to overlook. The nature or perhaps perceived idealized nature of the feminine is really a balance of many strengths; all worthy of embracing.

Now you've seen another side of my photography. For more "conventional" portraits, click to see more strong and beautiful women and beautiful life moments. 

And, next time you need a new, updated portrait (for work, social media, websites, magazine articles or gifts) or have special, intimate events you want to capture for life-time memories, I hope you'll call on me. info@photographsbyphoenix.com

l'd love to hear your feelings. Abundant Blessings!

Love to share my fine art photography. Here's a listing of the special solo, juried and group shows where I am currently exhibiting.
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Honored to have 11 pieces in this all women art exhibit. Here are a few.