I’m continuing to experiment shooting through glass.  The rain and light on the glass really enhances the feeling of being in the Lake District – the wind, rain and the movement of the trees.

The darker evenings do have some benefits – light becomes scarce but also does some unexpected things.

I was lucky enough to spend a couple of weeks working on the Ilse of Man last month.  I had some spare time to explore including an evening watching the Southern 100 bike race (pictured), fantastic but a little  scary!

I continue to explore the minimum use of colour to create create short atmospheric sequences.  The conditions on the top of Snaefell (the highest point on the island), were perfect, take a look at the images I’ve added to the Isle of Man gallery page.  You’re supposed to be able to see England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales from here!!

BV Studios is having its first Open Studios next month. The converted 30,000 square foot warehouse in Bedminster, Bristol houses around 80 artists (including myself) who work in a variety of media.

I’m in an upstairs Studio – number M3, so please come along and say hello.  I’ll have some  new work as well the odd bargain for sale.

Opening times:
Friday 19th November: 6pm – 9pm (party continues/drinks served till late)

Saturday 20th & Sunday 21st: 11am – 6pm

Free Entry, Food available throughout the event from Katie & Kim’s Kitchen. Teas and coffees from Daisy Rollo of CoffeeArabica available Saturday and Sunday.

Here’s a copy of my image ‘walk on water’ that won the public vote and prize at the recent phone-ography exhibition at Photographique’s Photo Gallery

You can see the results of some of my recent iphone experiments in the  Phone-ography exhibition at:

The Photo Gallery, Photographique  31 Baldwin Street
Bristol BS1 1RG

The exhibition runs from 2-20 October 2010.

This is the first open submission exhibition run by The Photo Gallery.

I’ve just returned from a two week holiday in Turkey. Gokceovacik is near the town of Gocek on the Aegean coast of Turkey. It’s a beautiful location up in the mountains which thankfully was slightly cooler than the crazy temperatures down on the coast – 35 degrees which is far too hot for me. I spent a fair amount of time thinking about and then photographing the ‘olive pickers house’ which was next door to where we stayed. The colours, location and atmosphere captured my imagination and I hope to print and exhibit a series of photographs at some point in the future.

I’ve recently traded my blackberry in for an iphone.  For a number of reasons this makes sense: I use a mac so everything syncs up easily, I needed a new ipod, the iphone is GPS enabled which is great for some future projects and also it has a 5 MP camera.  Of course it’s a lot of money which I can’t really justify at all!

I’ve started experimenting with the camera, here’s an example of an early idea of using it like a toy/plastic camera which I really like,

After years of thinking about it, wondering if I can afford or even deserve it I’ve just got the keys for a studio.  It’s in the BV Studios which is a brand new development of purpose-built artists’ studios in Philip Street, Bedminster, Bristol.  I have a portion of one of the mezzanine studios (pictured here), I just need to get some shelving, furniture and all my boxes of frames in and I’m sorted.  I’m really excited about this and hope it’ll give my practice an injection of energy it needs and help me move my career on to another level.

Just a quick update – I’m really enjoying being in the space, I’ve got shelves and furniture, so it’s down to work now!!

I’ve just added my details to Saatchi online.  He seems fairly successful in the art world! so I thought might as well take advantage of the huge amounts of online traffic that no-doubt surge through the site and generate some interest in my own work.

I went to a fantastic wedding a few weeks ago at Banwell Castle in Somerset. More of a folly than a castle it was a beautiful atmospheric location.  Aside from the obligatory wedding shots of our friends Janine & Mick I spent some time capturing the other side of the castle – the quiet forgotten side.

I spent an hour or so in the Robinson building at the top of East St the other day.  The old paper bag factory and one-time home for local artists is being turned into apartments.  I managed to catch it before completion, in a state of flux which is how I like it.  The shot here was taken on the scaffolding looking down towards Dame Emily Park.

I suppose in a month or so we’ll forget the lack of sun this summer?  Actually I don’t really get on in the heat and like the slate grey skies, but I like to feel I’ve had a summer.  This picture was taken in August at a disused airfield in Pembrokeshire – it ticked all the boxes for me, although this tyre sculpture or race track as some describe it did elude to recent human activity..

First trip out with a new camera (Canon 40d), bought after months of deliberation. I love buildings whose original purpose seems to have long since gone, and who have almost become part of the landscape. I took a series of photographs in Norfolk around old air force buildings, hoping to capture some of the aura they obviously have. Some are good, some could be better – I need time to get to know the camera, but am happy with the first results.

This is the closest I come to figurative work!

I’ve just produced the postcard above. It’s a collage of 24 of my images to promote exhibitions and generally give people an idea of the range of work I produce. It’s proved popular; with some people wanting to see other collections presented in the same way?

In an effort to make this blog work I’ve imported some posts from my old blogger site and am going to try and post every week, mmm sounds a bit rash!

How to sell work over the Internet is a not easy. I’ve tried various options over the last couple of years, with very little success it must be said.

1. I used my site as an on-line image gallery, which looked good, but because it was hand-crafted in Dreamweaver was quite labour intensive to keep up-to-date.

2. I then discovered blogging and on-line artist galleries and signed up with isendyouthis.com this is a really well run on-line art gallery, but not really ideal for selling different sized images/finishes of photography prints.

3. Gallery 2C in Bristol were interested in my work, so I went through a lengthy process of selecting a range of work and uploading it to their site. Nothing sold, so I’ve recently pruned the selection so the body of work relates to macro textures and graphics based images. The jury’s out, so I’ll see how it goes. I replaced the isendyouthis link with Gallery 2C on my site.

4. After discussions with isendyouthis I decided to change the work on the site so that it is distinct from Gallery 2C. It has much more an art feel to it, and includes work I have exhibited and reflects the direction my work is heading in. I reinsated the isendyouthis link on my site!

so…. low and behold I got an email at the beginning of the week from someone wanting to buy £1600 of work. Wow I thought, all my time on the web has finally paid off. After a couple of days of email conversations I received a cheque for £2,750 (more than I asked for). However, some things did not really add up, and the whole thing seemed rather fishy. I talked to other local artists and it appears that quite a few SBA members have been caught up in this, a Nigerian scam based in Manchester. The long shot being that the guy invoices you for the balance to cover the overpayment. Luckily nobody I know has been caught out.

So it’s back to the drawing board.

Spring is almost here, and with the longer days and more light I’ve been taking shots containing a bit more colour. I like the dark atmospheric shots, but am pleased to have re-discovered a lighter side. I took some time out a couple of weeks ago to visit Avonmouth, not a place normally associated with day trips! but for anyone with an eye for a picture it’s pretty inspiring. I’ve also changed the banner image on www.davemd.co.uk to reflect the change in season.

I’ve been taking more sea and skyscapes, where sea and sky almost become one. The shots are almost devoid of colour and display a dreamlike quality. I am particularly happy with these and feel at last that I may be developing my own style with consistency which I am keen to develop and happy to show. I will be printing (24 x 20) and dry-mounting a series of images to submit to galleries early in 2007.

I’ve been experimenting with landscape, particularly that almost devoid of colour. People have mentioned there is a echo of Gerhard Richter’s work in these photographs, so I’ve been doing a bit of research. I must say I’m flattered by any similarity!

I had a weekend away with some friends on the Somerset Levels last weekend. The bleak landscape had a real impact on the photographs I took, infusing them with a real sense of gloom almost in the style of Don McCullin who lives in the area. This one however is lighter in mood and more the direction I’d like to take my landscape work.

‘imagined narratives #1‘ was shown as part of this years Southbank Arts Trail. It is an exploration in creating narrative from a set of seemingly un-related images.

Each person had their own idea of what the story might be; there was no right or wrong. Peoples ideas varied wildly, some stories filled with joy, others covering darker ground.

I would like to extend the work by providing postcards for the participants to send their feedback. Peoples stories could then be posted on the web thus extending the interactive nature of the piece.

DMD May’2006

The Bristol Pack is a deck of cards with the face of each card, back and box all designed by one of 56 artists currently working in Bristol. The offer to create an image for the seven of diamonds led me to explore the concept of luck. By installing and photographing acetate sheet with printed text ‘Lucky 7’ as it blew in the wind and as shadows were cast through it. For a brief second the word ‘Luck’ appeared as a shadow on the wall behind, and the piece was made.

DMD July’2005

The Avon Cut has one of the largest tidal variations in the country. The piece documents a section of the river at high and low tide over a period of 12 months. A years worth of tides also represented four seasons worth of climate and vegetation variations. The piece originally intended to be web based ended up as two photographic montages: Rise & Fall, each showing a slice of each months changes for the 12-month period (as part of the Bristol Bridges exhibition).

DMD June’2005

The Avon Cut has one of the largest tidal variations in the country. The piece documents a section of the river at high and low tide over a period of 12 months. A years worth of tides also represented four seasons worth of climate and vegetation variations. The piece originally intended to be web based ended up as two photographic montages: Rise & Fall, each showing a slice of each months changes for the 12-month period (as part of the Bristol Bridges exhibition).

DMD June’2005

It’s been a great summer, but Autumn is here at last. I think it’s my favourite season, I love the slight chill in the air, the light and the leaves.

I must admit I’ve been a bit dismissive of camera phones since they appeared a few years ago. But since my last phone broke I find I’m the proud owner of one, and am actually finding it quite a liberating experience. The quality (1.3 m) is not fantastic, but for the type of textural/abstract work it seems pretty good.