Days of the Pin Hole Camera

I love art making and especially using new techniques (to me) and interesting even odd materials. I was the kid late summer handling the erasers, pencils and purchasing my large box of crayons. I had an easel (my father built for me) and a couple of tins of colors. I loved it all and still do...a thrill for me is to walk the aisles of a good art store and sometimes even a craft store, looking for the perfect something, stones and stuff! If I collect anything it's art supplies.

This pinhole camera was my adventure into early photography. Out of a child's science book...I found instructions on creating the camera. The red oatmeal box was one of my favorites until Quaker Oats replaced the paper lid with plastic. I had all sorts and sizes of containers (I painted the outside (not necessary only the inside need be painted solid black) and attached a piece of tin (pie plate) with a needle hole for the view finder. I took my cameras to Yosemite, Hawaii and my backyard. I would expose the film and count Mississippi 1, Mississippi 2 (tourists shook their heads?) and then take my one hope per box home for processing. I turned my laundry room into a part time dark room and had mixed results but I loved every minute of the adventure. Mostly dreamlike images of trees, rocks and water. I had several shows and attached my poems to each image. Entered juried shows and did very well on awards....it was great fun and once again doing what I love, making art with a new or odd techniques in new or unusual ways. I was able to take advantage of the technician at the local college for help in processing and probably could have taken it further but gave it up when I moved to the beach. The framed piece is a pinhole image of my backyard...we lived on a waterway and had a big old oak tree....the oatmeal box created a fishbowl effect.