Great time last night...

I may have mentioned in the post concerning the installation of the sculpture piece I photographed a couple of weeks ago, but I met the lady that owns the foundry that cast the statue while there. We hit it off well and she was in need of a professional photographer as her guy had decided to move on for one reason or another. In the course of the conversation she invited me to Pawhuska Oklahoma for  an art show last night. Karen and I went and I was blown away. The show was well done with some real talent from throughout the United States but the real surprise was Pawhuska. What a vibrant local culture there. The town was hopping, clean, Oklahoma friendly, and the buildings and renovations were outstanding. A really great surprise !!

It really reminded me of Carthage when it was on it's upsurge in the 80's. Excitement, cohesiveness, and the merchants were game for anything. The town square had a great variety of businesses wow..
it really looked good. Distressing that I see just a hint of that now. Granted it can be reborn but it will take leadership that I think must come from out of town. The complacency of being in a location for an extended time is like blinders on a horse.....your vision becomes limited. Pawhuska has buildings like Carthage, many of which are being renovated into condos on the top floors and retail establishments on the ground level. It would do the Chamber of Commerce leaders well to take a chance, do a day trip to Pawhuska, and light the fire again. If they don't think of it as a good idea...other business owners and leaders could make the journey themselves and come back invigorated and start the revolution. If there is enough positive feedback from the trip maybe...MAYBE the ball could start rolling again.

I ran some tests to show my new client how her pieces could look on a white background and as close-ups. I'll have the black backgrounds to show you tomorrow.