In September of 2023 I traveled to the American Southwest and Rocky Mountain Region. I admit, it has taken me quite awhile to begin the process of uploading images to this website.  If you follow my artist page on Facebook, you may have had a glimpse of these images before. I took several thousand photographs.  It is a task to sort and catalog and edit that quantity of photographs but my trip covered well over 8,000 road miles. There was so much to see. My trip began in Santa Fe, New Mexico and ended in Kalispell, Montana. It was quite the journey. It was my first post-pandemic trip. I have been quite fortunate to have had the opportunity to visit many of our states in the US. This was my third time visiting Santa Fe. I was interested in traveling to some new destinations and I also wanted to apply some of the landscape photography techniques I had learned during the pandemic. While the majority of my working career had been as a photography teacher, my classes were focused on beginner and early to intermediate camera work, darkroom technique and PhotoShop skills. Working life did not afford me a lot of time to work on my own skill set beyond what I needed to use in my classroom.  My retired life is more forgiving. During the pandemic I had made the leap from a crop format DSLR to using a full frame, mirrorless camera system. I also began to use manual camera settings almost exclusively to refine my exposure results.  During this focused exploration, I learned how to successfully shoot night photographs and had become interested in dark and clear night sky photography. I diligently worked on my raw photo editing capabilities.  The images from this trip allowed me excellent opportunities to apply my learning.

Santa Fe has a distinctive architectural style and I am always fascinated by this. It is quite different from Northeastern architecture. Buildings are made of adobe bricks which are a mixture of sun dried earth (mud) and straw. Adobe style is unique, with many subtle changes in its tan to orange palette. These colors are warm like the desert surroundings. Here a Pueblo Style building serves as a backdrop to a rugged, wild, field of grasses, on top of a hill that overlooks the small city. Skies don't get much bluer than this. It was 55 degrees when we got up but it wasted no time reaching 81 degrees which is typical for September in the high desert.

Built by Archbishop Jean Baptiste Lamy between 1869 and 1886, The Cathedral Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi, is a Roman Catholic cathedral in downtown Santa Fe. Santa Fe is home to many churches. On previous visits I focused my time on the famous Loretto Chapel, home of the miraculous staircase. This trip included a trip there, but I was taken by the architectural presence of this Basilica. Saint Francis Cathedral was designed in the Romanesque Revival style. It features characteristic round arches separated by Corinthian columns and truncated square towers. The large rose window in front and those of the Twelve Apostles in the lateral nave windows were imported from Clermont-Ferrand in France. The cathedral was built from yellow limestone blocks. A 2005 addition to the upper façade of the cathedral is a small, round window featuring a dove, the symbol of the Holy Spirit. It is a stained glass replica of the translucent alabaster window designed in the 17th century by the Italian artist Bernini for St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City. It is quite magnificent.

Much of the area around Santa Fe is known for its rugged landscapes.  Mountains surround the city and it is easy to drive to a higher vantage point for a better view.  I am always fascinated by the textures of stone, grass, trees and sky. After a few days we headed toward Colorado for our next destination. Along the drive on US-84 we saw several areas of interest. Chimney Rock National Monument is a 4,726-acre U.S. National Monument in the San Juan National Forest of southwestern Colorado.  To me, Chimney Rock looks like a giant sphinx without a face and extended legs. It has quite colorful layers of rock and sits majestically at the peak of a mountain.

This summer I have been fortunate to be a part of COLORS OF SUMMER, an invitational group exhibition at GALLERY 4040 (4040 New Court Avenue, Syracuse, NY). The show runs July 17 through August 29, 2014.  This week the show was enthusiastically reviewed by Syracuse New Times' Carl Mellor. The article, Hue Ought to See Gallery 4040's New Show, discusses the work of the five artists in this show:  Scott Bennett, Diana Godfrey, Walter Melnikow, Jim Ridlon and Debb VanDelinder.  If you happen to be in Syracuse, stop in and see this great show that focuses on the vibrant colors of summer through the eyes of these 5 artists.

It is turning into a busy summer for shows.  Here is the listing for Debb VanDelinder's current and upcoming gallery exhibitions:

GALLERY 4040 (4040 New Court Avenue, Syracuse, NY) is proud to present COLORS OF SUMMER, an invitational group exhibition celebrating the season opening on July 17 through August 29, 2014.  While taking into account this season’s range of colors from lushness to scorched earth, this exhibition combines an accomplished group of established and emerging artists including Scott Bennett (acrylic paintings), Diana Godfrey (acrylic mixed media), Walter Melnikow (acrylic paintings), Jim Ridlon (acrylic and mixed media collage paintings) and Debb VanDelinder (Scanography on aluminum).

VanDelinder is pleased to announce that her work, Dance of Life © 2013, was accepted for the The Cooperstown Art Association's 79th Annual National Juried Exhibition, July 11 - August 15.  This year's juror was Sondra Freckelton.  The Cooperstown Art Association Gallery is located across the street from the National Baseball Hall of Fame at 22 Main Street, Cooperstown, NY.  The Galleries are free and open to the public daily from 11 - 4 PM and Sunday 1-4 PM.

VanDelinder had two works accepted into the Juried 74th Regional Exhibition at The Arnot Art Museum in Elmira, NY.  This show opened June 20, 2014 and runs through August 9, 2014.  Her works:  The Truth © 2013 and In Little Pieces © 2013 will be shown in the museum's West Galleries.  The 74th Regional is one of the Northeast's longest-running juried fine art exhibitions.

Debb has four works available in this year's Artful Raffle at 171 Cedar Arts Center in Corning, NY.  This exhibition opened on June 27th and runs through the silent auction evening on July 25th. Contact 171 to see how to bid on work.

Debb has three works on exhibit in Past. Present. Future. Art Teachers as Artists at Community Arts of Elmira.  This show runs July 12th - August 2, 2014. Gallery hours are Saturdays 11 am - 1 pm.

Coming up in September, VanDelinder's work, Abundance, will be featured in the 2014 Benefit Exhibition for Ballet X,  September 5 - October 4, 2014, at Bridget Mayer Gallery, 709 Walnut Street Philadelphia, PA.


Debb VanDelinder is represented by Exhibit A at 22 East Market Street in Corning, NY.  Her works can be seen in the represented artists galleries and can be purchased by contacting the gallery at 607-259-1008.  

Debb VanDelinder is happy to announce that she had two works accepted into the Juried 74th Regional Exhibition at The Arnot Art Museum.  This show opens June 20, 2014 and runs through August 9, 2014.  Her works:  The Truth © 2013 and In Little Pieces © 2013 will be shown in the museum's West Galleries.  The 74th Regional is one of the Northeast's longest-running juried fine art exhibitions.

I've been working on something different in the past few weeks.  Recently I was approached by Musical Director, Rick Pirozzolo to do some image work for the Elmira combined High School's Footlighter's Express upcoming production of Little Shop of Horrors. The musical comedy will be performed in the Jerome O'Dell Theater at Southside High School on March 21-22, 2014, at 7:30 PM. Little Shop of Horrors is about a nerdy floral worker who raises a plant that feeds on human blood.

Having seen my work, Rick approached me about possibly using some of my artwork for a poster and as imagery on the set of the production.  The idea was to utilize projection technology to project imagery into the set design.  I was intrigued and decided that I wanted to try working on this project with the production crew.  It helped that I teach art at Southside High School and would be helping out students with their overall project.  I found the projection concept an interesting one which might hold some future possibilities in sharing my work with a broader community.

Rick tasked me with finding several types of images to work with, scary flowers, pretty flowers, dental images and perhaps other somewhat frightening images.  I dug into my archives.  Flowers were easy as I had many, many existing images that fit the description, both scary and pretty.  I was able to easily find appropriate images for this.  Everything had to be sized to fit a 4:3 aspect ratio.  For the dental images I had to create some new things.  I put out a Facebook post a few months back looking for false teeth, impressions, teeth or any type of detail imagery.  It was a pretty strange request but, ask and you shall recieve.  I borrowed some impressions, teeth, false teeth and other items for scanning and image making.  I made still images and 2 animations.  The still images are what will be used.  The animations, although interesting, are actually too interesting and pull the attention off the actors.  They are so active that they demand a look.  I'm posting them here but you won't see them in the production. If they seem a bit scary, well, that was the intent.   I had fun making them and enjoyed the process.  The still images made the cut. Via projection technology they will grace the set of Little Shop of Horrors. So officially, I can add Production Media Artist to my resume for this production. As an artist, it never hurts to push your comfort zone.  I'm anxious to see the results.

If you're interested in seeing the production, tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for students.  For information contact:  [email protected] or by calling 607-735-3313.

I'm happy to announce that my work is in the eighth realist invitational, Re-Presenting Representation VIII at the Arnot Art Museum.  This show in the museum's west wing galleries opened February 28 and runs through May 31, 2014.  The eighth realist invitational features the work of 37 artists from around the world and addresses trends in contemporary realism.   

My works, Dance of Life © 2013 and The Secret of Life © 2013 were chosen for the show.

First developed in the 1970s, digital photography appeared in two kinds of image-capturing devices: standard digital cameras and scanners. A digital camera captures an entire subject in one single exposure. A scanner however, captures an image by use of a sequence. The scanner's sensor moves over the subject and photographs it line by line.  This is assembled into a composite image using software. These inventions have allowed photographers to push the bounds of photography.  The work I do is sometimes referred to as Scanography or Scanner Photography.  

Since these technologies were first developed, artists have been working with them and experimenting with a wide variety of possibility.  Digital camera technology became a mainstream technology quickly.  It has in fact more or less replaced film photography for common use.  Why not?  Once you have a digital camera you don't have the expense of film and making prints of every image.  You also don't need ever deal with harsh and environmentally difficult chemistry.  Digital cameras are pervasive and even built into our phones.  We've become an image driven society whether we acknowledge it or not.  In fact, the term "selfie" was added to the dictionary recently.  Still, not all digital photographs are art and not all digital photographers are artists.  There is more to an image than its technology.  

Scanner technology on the other hand, is not quite so mainstream.  One might have a scanner in their home but odds are if you do it is likely part of a scan-print-fax office machine.  And while that is a form of scanner it isn't the type of scanner that I use.  I use a flatbed photographic scanner.  The kind made for scanning film, slides and images.  It has the capability to scan at very high resolutions which can yield impressive detail in an image.

I recently read about an artist who has created a slit scan camera of his own using the sensor from a scanner like mine. He also developed some very interesting software to create his fantastic body of work. This Hungarian artist, Adam Magyar, has created a body of work including images created in the New York Subway system that are remarkable.  HIs project, called Stainless, created high resolution imagery of speeding subway trains and passengers seemingly suspended in time.  The images are hauntingly beautiful and are filled with a detail that no ordinary camera can capture.  This is one of the things that excites me about scanner technology as a tool for art making.  The imagery can capture more than a standard digital camera can see and record.  It is both a celebration of minute detail and that which we do not ordinarily notice or see. Check out Adam's work.  It's very different than mine but it shares a common thread, a scanner.

My solo show, Skin/Deep is done.  This body of work exploring the concept of concealing and revealing presented 19 allegorical images at Exhibit A Contemporary Art in Corning, NY.  I feel the show was a success.  Happily I sold some work.  The show also generated a really nice article written by Jeff Murray in the Elmira Star Gazette and Binghamton Press Sun Bulletin.  Most importantly, I was able to share the work I've been creating for the past year with the public.  For me, that's the most important part.  When I was a graduate student studying Photography, one of my professors said that showing your work to the public was the part that made it real.  However, she also said that when you show your work it no longer belongs to just you.  When you show your work it belongs to the audience, the public.  I may create work with one thought in mind but when it hangs in a gallery or in a museum, the work is open to whatever interpretation the viewer makes.  I think that idea scares many artists.  There can be a fear that your message doesn't come across.  

For me however, that has always been the most exciting part.  I know what every work means to me, because I was there when it was made.  But in the end that isn't what is important to me.  What is important to me is what the work might mean to you, the viewer.  Which pieces move you?  Which ones provoke thought?  Which works puzzle or confuse you?  Are there works that make you laugh or make you cry?  Are their works that spur you to action or make you consider something in a new and different way?  Are there works that you'd like to live with?  Which works conjure up a story in your mind and what are those stories?

In the end, my hope is that in looking at my work, you can find something in it that moves you, makes you react, affirms you and helps you to feel humanized.  I'm posting a slide show here of the work from the show and I invite your feedback in the form of your thoughts, observations, assumptions, stories or questions.  If nothing else, art should start a conversation. Let's get this conversation started.