The Seeming Impenetrability of the Space Between, by Colin Blakely

Dreamy Wednesday greetings, Patrons of the Emerging Arts. Have I mentioned that it's good to be back? So good!* And just in time for the Springing of New York, no less. Ollie and I spotted a teeny purple iris, freshly unfurled, on our morning walk today. A truer sign of warmer days to come has never been seen (or in Ollie's case, sniffed.)

Today's photographic treat is brought to us by heartland Hot Shot Colin Blakely. With Spring on my brain, it's hard to attribute the soft focus of The Seeming Impenetrability of the Space Between to winter weather. I prefer to imagine that we're viewing Colin's dreamy field through the static snow of a 50s TV set, a fitting frame for his sentimental (but never too sweet) meditations on a small, fragile slice of Midwestern heaven.

This particular photo is one of my favorites from Somewhere in Middle America, wherein Colin manages to evoke the everywhere of our center, while never straying more than a block or two from his own home. Colin first got on my radar with this project last year, when he was selected for the Winter Edition of Hey, Hot Shot!. Since then, fellow HHS! panelist Lesley Martin and I have frequently commiserated about the lyrical qualities of both the images and titles of the series. (There was, in fact, some back room lobbying from Ms. Martin to be sure to include a piece from Colin on 20x200.) While it's wonderful to have a woman of such impeccable credentials as a champion of his work, hers is just one voice in a chorus of admirers. His skills, both photographic and titular, are held in high esteem by other photographers, and yours truly too, but of course!

And with that, I am truly done for the week, with the newsletter writing at least. Want to feed your 20x200 jones in the interim? Well, wouldn't you know it, I've got lots of juicy pointers:

- Lisa Gray, 20x200 collector and Houston Chronicle columnist, wrote a feature most flattering that appears in today's paper: On the Internet, it's real art for $20.

- Lia Bulaong is now posting daily on the 20x200 blog, bringing you link love, storage advice and artist updates.

- Former Village Voice photo critic Jen Snow, a shutterbug in her own right, is firing up the Hey, Hot Shot! blog in preparation for the first round of 2008.

- Also not to be missed is Sweet Water which just opened at the real-world arm of JB projects, Jen Bekman Gallery. Ian's a Hot Shot, an Ultra and a 20x200 edition maker. (And I'm not the only one who sees what a talented fella he is.)