Exhibit – Maine / Process & Place – 8/4-5


In an inspiring dual exhibit Maine / Process & Place, John Paul Caponigro collects images drawn from over 23 years of living in Maine and offers a rare look into his unique creative process.
Place displays works made of the natural wonders of Maine; from Acadia National Park to Monhegan Island, from Rockland to Pemaquid Point, from Schoodic Peninsula to Popham Beach. You’re sure to recognize many of your favorite places, though you may never have seen them like this – through the eyes of this unique artist in his signature style.
Process displays many aspects of the artist’s creative process – drawing, painting, photography, Photoshop, iphoneography, writing and more. John Paul shows how each discipline contributes to the completion of his finished works of art. This exhibit reveals that the creative process is a never-ending journey of discovery that offers many insights along the way and that an artist’s creations are and come out of far more than the
activities in their primary medium. How artist’s get there is just as important as where they arrive.
Process, a new catalog that accompanies the exhibit, shows many more works than can be displayed and shares the personal insights of the artist. Preview it online at johnpaulcaponigro.com.
The exhibit John Paul Caponigro’s Maine / Process & Place is a rare opportunity to view this internationally acclaimed artist’s work presented in his own private studio / gallery.
The exhibit is open to the public for one weekend only – August 4th and 5th from 10 am to 5 pm with artist’s talks at 2 pm.
Come enjoy prints, books, web galleries, performances and conversations with the artist during this very special event.
For more information including directions, previews, reviews, statements, audio, video, and press kit visit www.johnpaulcaponigro.com or email info@johnpaulcaponigro.com.

Monhegan Island Reveries


What is it about Monhegan Island that gets your creative juices flowing? Maybe it’s the how beautiful it is; ocean, cliffs, forests, gardens, island life. Maybe it’s the sense of getting away from it all; the island is 12 miles out to sea. Maybe it’s the creative community on the island; it’s had a long history as an artist’s colony. Whenever I’m on the island I give myself license to play – writing, drawing, photographing and dreaming.
Here’s a selection of my iPhone images made on recent excursions to Monhegan Island.
Find out more about my Monhegan Island photographic workshop here.
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Monhegan Photographic Workshop – June 17-19


Lobster boats, rocky shores, cathedral woods, cape houses, blooming wildflowers, hiking trails and fairy huts.  Ocean sunrises and sunsets. It’s quintessential small town Maine life all on one tiny island 12 miles out to sea.
Monhegan.
Join me for a 4 night 3 day all inclusive, semi private (limited to 6), boutique photographic workshop on this extraordinary island.
Maine photography doesn’t get better than this.
Register here for this inspiring workshop
 

Exhibit – Charles Adams


Charles Adams (my assistant both in the studio and in the field) is having his first exhibition this coming Friday, May 4th at Asymmetrick Arts in Rockland, Maine. It will run until May 25th.
24  of his images will be on display, along with sculpture from artist Vic Goldsmith. For those that cannot make the opening, there will also be an Artist talk on May 19th.
May 4 – 25
Asymmetrick Arts
405 Main Street, Rockland ME
207.954.2020
Learn more about Charles Adams and view his images here.
Visit Asymmetrick Arts here.

Exploring Motion – Andrew Nixon


In my Maine Islands digital photography workshop, Andrew Nixon explored creating a dynamic tension between the still and the moving. He typically uses long exposures of moving subjects. But he tried a few new twists on his standard practices, like moving the camera. While he explored other ideas and tried many new things, he always returned to the same theme which gave his images a distinctive quality that stood out from his peers.
What themes make your images distinctive?
What experiments will help you explore and develop this further?
Find out more about Andrew Nixon here.
Read more in my creativity lessons.
Find out more about my Maine Islands digital photography workshop here.
Learn more in my digital photography workshops.

Fall Foliage Workshop Highlights

fallfoliage2009-1
The participants in my recent Maine Fall Foliage workshop discovered many creative solutions that helped them focus on their personal vision. The inspiration and new perspectives they found are ultimately more important than the images they made; these new insights will influence all the images they’ll soon make. They found some very nice images too.
What can you do to find more inspiration for your images?
What new perspectives can you find to enrich your images?

Learn more about my field workshops here.

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Workshop Review – Along the Waterline

At the end of my field workshops we do rapid fire reviews of the work done that week. Everyone puts in at least 6 images. We don’t know who’s pictures we’re looking at. We call out star ratings fast getting a quick first impression. Then we state quickly and simply why the image works or doesn’t work and how it could be improved. You get honest feedback and many diverse perspectives in a minimum amount of time. At the end, we sometimes look at all the images of each individual grouped together; suddenly new connections are made; sometimes images work better in context with one another than standing alone. The process is really enjoyable and educational.
Here are a few of the standouts from the week.

Anne Davey, having identified unifying elements in an extend portfolio review before the workshop, knew with confidence she would always be obsessed with color. But she took a risk in exploring pure abstraction this week.

Jim Brewster, after years of professional work for others, reconnected with his authentic voice this week, “I took ME off the shelf.” Initially he was documenting situations without composing them. With a little prompting he put the two together.

Sam Krisch enjoyed exploring a guiding metaphor, in his case a Kafkaesque paranoia. It gave him a subjective sensibility to unite many diverse experiences.

William Barek continued his explorations in photo-impressionism.

Rob Sylvan found many ways of connecting to story and themes with words helpful to find new perspectives and a deeper sense of connection in his images.

Jeff Fox admitted he was obsessed with structure and was torn between abstraction and representation
Alumni can read his comments on my Facebook Alumni group here.
Learn more in my field workshops.
8/9-15 – Iceland … 10% discount ends June 20.
10/16-19 – Fall Foliage … 15% discount ends August 15.

Special Guests – Greg Barnett & Patti Russotti




Having special guests always adds extra positive energy into an already dynamic mix. Special guests Greg Barnett and Patti Russotti, both long-time high-level educators at RIT with vast experiences in the medium and it’s digital evolution, participated in my recent field workshop Along the Waterline. Their presence and the receptivity of the students encouraged me to ramp up the curriculum to an even more advanced level conceptually. We moved progressively varying our modes of inquiry, to identifying ways of looking, focussing on themes, and identifying ways to make the finally images more psychologically loaded. Each day built upon the previous one. At the end, everyone had increased their skillset, learned a lot of different ways of looking, and deepened their authentic voice. It’s great to see everyone progress together, all in different ways. It was really stimulating for everyone involved. In many ways, both small and large, it will change my teaching for the better.
Greg and Patti mind at the end of the week here.
“Over the last few days while working with John Paul, I’ve had somewhat of a breakthrough …”
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