Come check out Booth 101!

This weekend I will be sitting around in my rocking chair (within a pretty swanky tent) and selling some AMAZING (and affordable) prints at the Sugar Creek Arts Festival. Come say hi (booth 101, right by the Children’s Museum in Uptown Normal) and check out the huge gathering of great artists, music and food!  

More details about Sugar Creek can be found at:  http://www.mcaart.org/mcac/html/sugarcreek.html

The One and Only: Show details

You might think that I’ve forgotten how to blog these past two months, but I assure you I’m just playing catch-up after a really busy final semester and preparing a show of 29 images from Moweaqua. Before I move on from ISU (and bring the show down to Moweaqua), I thought I’d share the set-up from Gallery 2 at ISU. Yes, I even managed to include my favorite Moweaqua ashtray into the gallery….

The 2010 First Farmer’s State Bank Calendar is here!

This year I had to honor of working with First Farmer’s State Bank to produce their 2010 Calendar titled “Rural Route”. I spent a good amount of time exploring Delevan, Minier and Bloomington (the locations of the 3 bank branches) and we came up with an edit of 12 images from that work. This has been a wonderful project to be a part of!  The calendar was designed by local graphic designer Dena McDonald, and printed at Alpha Graphics in Bloomington. I just got my copy today and couldn’t be happier with the final results!  

Prints from the calendar are available for purchase for $60. The money is being divided equally to benefit the 4-H clubs of Tazwell and McLean County, and to establish a  photography award for the Illinois State University Student Annual.  

First Farmer’s State Bank has  been a huge supporter of Photography at Illinois State. For the past year ISU students’ work has been featured in their lobby. Now you can see  a few Britten Traughber prints in the lobby, or order one for your home or as a gift and help raise funds for these local organizations! 

Orders can be placed by sending a check to the address below. Please indicate which month you are purchasing, and don’t forget to include where the print should be shipped!

First Farmer’s State Bank

Rural Route Calendar Project

4001 GE Rd.

Bloomington, IL 61704

The images for each month are included below, feel free to e-mail me if you have any questions!  

Happy Halloween!

These pumpkins have been keeping me company as I work on the new gallery space- the good news is, we’re almost done!

Isn’t it funny how easily pumpkins make us smile during this time of year? I can’t stop giggling when I look at this guys cheesy grin.

Fun with Tots

This semester I have been lucky to be part of the Graphic Design department’s bookmaking class at ISU. 

Bookmaking is an art form that lends itself to new ways of thinking about photographs, sequencing and structure. It’s been an amazing challenge. Like I need another hobby right?

For my second accordian fold Alpha-book, I photographed the coolest things ever- Alpha Tots! I’m planning on making a small edition of these books for the holidays, as they are so small and cute (2″x3″)- the perfect present for kids and those of us who refuse to grow up!

The Moweaqua Coal Mine Museum

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Located in Downtown Moweaqua, the Coal Mine Museum is a trove of documentation, artifacts and memories from the 1932 Coal Mine Disaster. 

The museum is open weekends and is run by volunteers (including Marabeth Sarver, below, whose husband founded the Museum). A large educational and historical archive concerning the mine disaster can also be found at www.miningmoreinmoweaqua.com

I love spending time at the museum reading, exploring the displays and photographing… It’s amazing how well our town’s history has been  preserved.

 

JoeBen, the last living Miner in Moweaqua, on his 93rd birthday

Jack and Cally’s Wedding

Congratulations to my cousin Cally and her husband Jack who were married last Saturday in Moweaqua! It was a really wonderful ceremony to witness… (I promised them only a few pics will end up being used for my Moweaqua project)  These two crazy kids are just too adorable, so much love!

Visiting the Lions

I had the chance to be a guest speaker at the Lions Club last Thursday in Moweaqua. We passed around a lot of photographs, chatted about the people and places that need to be part of this project, and took a group picture at the end of the evening. It was great to see so many familiar faces and hear their stories about what memories my photographs brought about. And of course, the Lions know how to have a great time… I heard the Peanut Butter Pie was to die for as well!

Artist’s books and prints available on Etsy

Because nothing says “I love you” like good art!  (Or happy birthday, Merry Christmas, etc..)

http://brittenforqueen.etsy.com

I love it when my art  makes someone happy, and has a place in their home- so I thought Etsy would be a good venue to make my prints more available year-round. Prints will be added slowly in the next few weeks, but I can also print specific sizes, and of course, can print any image you find here but not on Etsy. Just e-mail me-   brittentraughber@hotmail.com.

Also, I have 2 copies left of my Limited Edition leather bound artist’s book, featuring 10 color prints from my Illinois, Illinois portfolio (2007-2008). All books are signed and contain original archival pigment prints made in the studio. This is a limited edition of 8 books, and 5 have sold so far. They make wonderful gifts and I’ve heard great things from people who bought one for family and friends over the holidays.

These book contain some of my favorite images from the past year (included below) made with my Hasselblaad 500c/m, including: The Lincoln Room, Midwestern Romanticism, Coop (Secor), Old Style and many more…

 

MFA Biennial

These images from Moweaqua were part of the 2008 MFA Show at Illinois State University, which ended yesterday. All were printed as 20 x 14 or 16×16 and framed beautifully with homemade pine frames made by my fiance Bert. It’s handy to have a woodworker in the house. 

Special thanks to Gale Wempen (holding the pepper, his last of the season) who has been a longtime resident of Moweaqua, or just outside of town. He graciously let me photograph him and told me about how much my Grandpa Ira used to love Sassafras tea, which I never knew. 

Included are: 

East of Moweaqua

Gale Wempen and his last pepper

Cigarettes and Tomatoes 

Jesus on Coatrack