Saturday ended our town’s annual “Alpine Days.”  It’s a time of the year I look forward to.  Town folk begin setting out chairs along the parade route well in advance of Saturday morning when much of the town gathers along main street to  watch local floats, gunfighters, marching bands, antique tractors, and classic cars.  Kids run out into the street to collect candy thrown from the people in the parade.  It’s a real home town feeling.  I love it!  They have an art and quilt display in a church building downtown and I’m asked to participate every year.  This year I brought down 5 pieces for the show.  The art director brought in another that has been in the local art cottage.  It was quite interesting to me this year.  As those of you who read my posts in the past will know I have a real passion for making photography “art.”  I am not a picture taker, I am an artist who uses the medium of photography to express myself.  I am passionate about turning my portraits into creative pieces of art work that my clients can enjoy and share with others as well as decorate their home with.  There was another artist displaying three beautiful portraits at the art exhibit this year.  The portraits were painted with acrylics.  They were very details and quite frankly looked like photographs.  I loved them.  But what was interesting to me was listening to the people as they strolled through the room to view the art.  They would look at this man’s paintings and invariably say, “They look like photographs!”  Then they would walk by my work and say, “They look like paintings!”  I was chuckling about it all day.  Here was a painter striving for the detail of a fine photograph, and a photographer injecting painterly effects into his photographs. One of my objections to entering the state fair is that the photography is separated from the rest of the art.  For 95% of the photographic entries that is appropriate.  But the other 5% should be on display with the paintings, drawings, and sculptures in the other building.  The photographs I’m including on this page are not the ones I showed for Alpine Days, but they probably will be next year.  But I’d like you to take a look at them, think about the latest snapshot of your child or grandchild, and see if you can not see a difference.  Are these images photographs or are they paintings.  Are they a simple reminder of what a grandchild looks like or are they art pieces to add to the decor of a beautiful room.  You decide.