2021 & Big News to Share

 

Fred the Egret © 2021 JC Buck

What Happened This Year!

Silverthorne, Colorado

I just brewed a cup of CBD tea, so here we go with a year-in-review and some cool things happening next year that I’m excited to share!

Things I loved in 2021:

  • The gallery freight shipped large-format artwork as far east as Florida and Georgia and as west as California. JC Buck Gallery is nationwide in year one!

  • The gallery’s interior designer channel and retail partners accounted for the bulk of our large format sales. We are so grateful to all our partners!

  • I focused on creating a truly seamless process from client mockup to installation. Online art buying is easy and stress-free!

  • I was featured in a ten-page spread in Modern In Denver magazine Spring Edition - A highlight of the year!

  • In November, I released a memorable holiday print, the “2021 Holiday Tree,” in a limited edition of 100. It sold out before Christmas!

  • The gallery produced several one-of-a-kind commissions this year. This type of commission is one of the most enjoyable parts of my business and a growth area for 2022!

  • The gallery increased printing volume and expanded to two printing labs: one in Denver and one in Germany. This model perfected my vision for the large format black and white printing process!

I introduced five new collections:

  • The Alpine Collection: an in-camera multiple exposure series of mountain peaks in Summit County

  • The Mustang Collection: after the pandemic canceled an African expedition, I stumbled into more local wild animals.

  • Fred the Egret Collection: inspired by my Mom, I set out to photograph her favorite bird and fell in love with Fred for his personality and magic.

  • Time with an Elder Collection: a portrait of one of Colorado’s oldest Bristlecone pine trees and the lessons to be learned from our elders.

  • The Celebration Collection: a collection of nature photography prints resembling fireworks—a much-needed reminder to celebrate the smaller things in life.

Things I’m excited about in 2022:

  • A new book on the horizon: Many of you asked me if I would be coming out with another photo book around the holidays, similar to the ICE coffee-table book released in 2020. I intended to release my second book, GRIT, in time for the holiday season. But the project grew in scope, and the printing industry experienced severe delays due to logistical issues, all of which pushed the timeline into 2022. When this happened, my mind started to wander to more significant ideas…..like:

  • A new company on the horizon: I’m excited to announce a new business venture called Applehead Publishing! Named after my 14-year-old sweet Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, Maggie, who we call Applehead. Applehead Publishing will specialize in photography books that:

    • Showcase photographic art

    • Build awareness for a specific cause

    • Advocate for ideas and solutions through charitable donations

  • The initial focus of Applehead Publishing will be to publish my photography books. We plan to take our gained expertise and offer our services to other established and emerging photographers as we grow in year two and beyond.

  • I’m partnering with my long-time friend Krista Chism to build Applehead Publishing. Krista is a digital marketing/SEO consultant who is an accomplished writer, editor, and many years ago had a book-selling business. She has spent the bulk of her career advising major commerce and B2B brands and is thrilled to put her skills to work in bringing meaningful photography books to market.

  • Our first title will be GRIT, previously intended to be my Holiday Book for 2021. This will be my second photography book featuring the rugged and beautiful bodies of Colorado's wild horses. Not your typical equine book of perfect show horses, GRIT will showcase the cost of what it takes to survive in the wild and the passion to be free. Through artful and honest photography, the goal is to increase awareness of wild horses in Colorado. A percentage of proceeds will be donated to the organizations working day and night to fight for wild horses across the country, and ensure that population management is as humane as possible.

  • Interested in staying up-to-date on all things Applehead? Be sure to add your email to this list

  • Look for the Kickstarter campaign for Applehead Publishing in February!

Until then, peruse my online gallery and be in touch if something is calling your name! We ship throughout the United States and offer trade discounts for industry partners: interior designers, art consultants, architects, hospitality, commercial properties, etc.

Thank you for your continued support of my work, your business, and most importantly, your friendship.

Happy New Year!

JC

 

2021 Holiday Print

 

2021 Holiday Tree - © JC Buck

2021 Holiday Tree

"When I started counting my blessings, my whole life turned around." - Willie Nelson.

Silverthorne, Colorado

I recently listened to a conversation with Ralph Gibson, one of my all-time favorite master photographers, and he talked about the seven good decisions he has made in his life. The first good decision was to become a photographer. He recounts the story of serving in the Navy; he was at sea, on watch, middle of the night in stormy weather, and shouted to the heavens, "I am going to be a photographer!"

Gibson goes on to talk about how finding his vocation was like winning the lottery. As I listened to him, I reflected on my own life, the decisions I have made, and the one that changed everything – deciding and saying to myself, I will be a full-time photographer, and that is what I want to do the rest of my life. That commitment made back in 2013 was the best decision I have ever made. At that moment, I had clarity, following years of uncertainty and struggling to understand who I am and what I was here to do.

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving, and I am beyond grateful for having found my work; I have so many who support me, encourage me, and are along for the ride. Firstly, I must first thank my partner Liz for being the most supportive of my creative endeavors from the beginning. Right there with Liz are my parents, both my Mom and Dad, who are my most prominent advocates, my dad telling anyone and everyone he meets to check out my website! My mom has my work hanging in their home and often inspires the latest ideas and new subject matter. It makes me tear up just thinking about how lucky I am to have them by my side.

Then, of course, there are my clients and collectors. Without you, I would not be able to sustain this career choice. The life of a creative person is not for the faint of heart. We are putting ourselves out there, and that can be terrifying. And it can also be the most rewarding thing one can do. I can not thank every one of you enough.

It is genuinely cathartic writing these words. I am overwhelmed with emotions right now. In my last month's letter, I emphasized it is too easy to focus on what is next, what I have not achieved yet, and lose sight of the moment and small things that go right. We can find ourselves living a life of "tomorrows." Today, I am stopping to enjoy this moment, and thank you.

Over the years, I have written off and on, but this is the first year I have focused on putting words to paper monthly. And I am beyond thankful you take the time to read my thoughts each month and view my latest work. And I know you do; my email open and click-through rates are off the charts! Also, each month so many of you respond to let me know how my latest work resonated, and the words I shared sparked something in you.

It would not be a new month, another letter from me, without sharing some more work. I am excited to release a unique 2021 Holiday Tree print to commemorate the year. The limited-edition medium-sized 12" x 18" fine art luster print is of an ancient Bristlecone pine tree above the Goliath Nature Center on Mt Evans, Colorado's iconic 14er seen towering over Denver.

The print is a new addition to my series, Time with an Elder, a collection of large-format photographs of the same 2,000-year-old lone tree that I released in September. I am limiting this medium-sized print to 100 editions and only one size. It will be available for a limited time. The artwork will be shipped flat and is available for purchase today on my website. If you are local in Denver or Summit County, I will offer pick-up options.

I am thinking of all of you. I hope you, too, will have some time to reflect, have something to be thankful for, and enjoy time spent with friends and family this Thanksgiving holiday week.

Thank you for reaching the end of another one of my monthly letters. As always, if you know someone who may connect with my work, it helps if you pass on my letters and photography.

Happy Thanksgiving!

JC

2021 Holiday Tree
$125.00
Add To Cart


 

Celebration

 

“Celebration” © 2021 JC Buck

Dave Matthews sings “Eat, drink, and be merry for tomorrow we'll die” in Tripping Billies.

How many of us have heard this kind of advice? I’ll venture to say that all of us, at some point in our lives, have been told to “live in the now,” “enjoy the moments as they arrive” or “slow down to smell the flowers.” But it’s hard, right? So, so hard. Because we are always jumping from task to task or spending precious mental energy anticipating what’s just around the corner. We increasingly seem to live more of our lives with our gaze fixed on the horizon than on what’s right in front of us.

A social psychologist at Loyola University defined “savoring” as the ability to deliberately take in the pleasures we experience in our lives, moment by moment. He believes that when mastered, “savoring life” gives us the ability to deeply feel, integrate, and appreciate and celebrate the good moments in life.

Like all of us, I try to savor my life as much as possible. For example: I have a silver bell on my desk in my studio. When I make a sale, I ring the bell. Then I fold my hands behind my head, lean back in my chair, smile, and pause. I let the bell echo in the room for a moment while I close my eyes and appreciate how fortunate I am to derive real joy from my work.

But like any skill, savoring and celebrating life takes practice. For every moment I “savor” with my bell, a smile, and a mental high-five to myself….. I skip over hundreds. It’s as if I find it easier to focus on where I’m not instead of where I am, or to think through where I still need to go instead of celebrating the journey that got me here. I’ll ruminate about what is next, dwell on yesterday, and suffer the never-ending fear of what could go wrong. I’ll think about my next photograph, where I will be next month... next, next, tomorrow, tomorrow... it’s exhausting.

But what I know with hardened certainty is that I don’t want to live a life full of “nexts” and “tomorrows.” So like all of us, I need more practice.

Some recent work, unexpectedly, illuminated the idea of celebration and of consciously pausing to savor life.

Lately, I have taken an interest in photographing trees. They are wise and full of lessons. But my focus has been on trees, so the concept of celebration wasn’t on my mind when I was out in the field shooting all the stunning trees of Colorado. But one evening while working in post-production, a particular photograph I’d taken suddenly stood out from the hundreds of tree shots. I recalled capturing it, I recalled spending several minutes working the shot, changing angles, getting closer, but its beauty had a delayed effect on me. It is a close-up composition of a dead dandelion; a stunning example of a life once lived in its disappearing beauty.

The photograph is rich in tones, bright luminous lines of life and mesmerizing patterns that draw you in. It is the type of photograph that grows on me the more I view it. It isn’t immediately recognizable as a dandelion, but with some study the dots begin to connect and the greater picture materializes. I realized I had a lot of these types of photos interspersed throughout my self-directed assignment to photograph trees. They all comprise this month’s collection.

These photographs that I’m releasing this month are captivating fireworks of tonality and shape found among us in nature. I have printed them large, some as big as four by six feet, making a grand statement to any space. The natural forms are explosive with expression, full of life, full of celebration over just being alive and having lived. Because in life, the small achievements, the small moments…they are the moments worthy of big, large-formatted celebration.

Oprah Winfrey has a great quote, she says “The more you praise and celebrate your life, the more there is in life to celebrate.” I couldn’t agree with this sentiment more.

Thank you for taking the time to read through my thoughts this month and checking out my latest work, “Celebration.”

Enjoy!

JC

“People of our time are losing the power of celebration. Instead of celebrating we seek to be amused or entertained. Celebration is an active state, an act of expressing reverence or appreciation. To be entertained is a passive state-it is to receive pleasure afforded by an amusing act or a spectacle.... Celebration is a confrontation, giving attention to the transcendent meaning of one's actions.”

- Abraham Joshua Heschel



 

Time with an Elder

 
Time with an Elder - “Listen to the Trees” Collection - © 2021 JC Buck

Time with an Elder - “Listen to the Trees” Collection - © 2021 JC Buck

Long before you, long before me, a unique tree stood, high above the clouds in Colorado.

Trees are often considered representative of life, wisdom, strength and power. Philosophers regard trees as one of the few living witnesses to the evolution of human existence. From the Tree Of Knowledge to the Ancient Chinese who attached human characteristics to trees and wove them through poems and literature, trees have remained at the center of thousands of years of mythology and mysticism. It’s hard to pinpoint exactly why they are so magical; but we’ve all stood completely still in nature and marveled at the trees. We all know the feeling. It’s part of what makes Colorado….Colorado.

And so yes, that was the feeling I was swimming in one quiet weekday evening in the Mt. Evans Wilderness Area. It wasn’t just ANY tree in Colorado that sent me into the deep end of this emotional state of wonder. It was an ancient Rocky Mountain Bristlecone Pine, part of a small grove of elder trees dating back to the fall of the Roman Empire with ages between 1,000 and 2,000 years old.

The idea that I was standing next to something that had been alive over 1,500 years was breathtakingly beautiful. This tree has seen such enormous amounts of change in the world. But at the same time, it had stood here unchanged, living on, cycling through mother nature’s seasons over and over again.

Time with an Elder - Gallery Wall - “Listen to the Trees” Collection © 2021 JC Buck

Time with an Elder - Gallery Wall - “Listen to the Trees” Collection © 2021 JC Buck

It was a cold evening that I traipsed into the Mt. Wilderness Area in search of a Bristlecone Pine, at least colder than I had prepared for given it was still summer. And it was windy. So windy, in fact, that I had to weigh my tripod down as I captured black & white portraits of one of Colorado’s most ancient elders. The sun came in and out of the rush-hour traffic of sunset clouds, offering up a variety of light to work with throughout the shoot. And the lone Bristlecone Pine, swept over from years of wind, with its twisted trunk, made for a stunning portraiture subject.

But the way this tree made me feel was what I relished in the most. When I am working behind the camera, I find myself in the moment, focused, calm, and content; the antidote for a life filled with running thoughts, irrational anxieties, and annoyingly restless toe-taps. When I’m behind a camera, I’m HERE, in this moment, doing exactly what I love to do. And this tree? I felt like it was saying the same; I’m here, standing in this moment, doing what I love as I watch humanity unfold year after year.

Was it the act of taking pictures that brought me this calm or the presence of an old wise tree? I would argue both. We have much to learn from our elders, they will tell us, repeatedly, what to focus on, what is most important, but do we listen?

The next morning, I woke up recalling a very strange and vivid dream, I dreamt that all the world's trees were once living people. What a crazy and neat thought. Was I reunited with an old loved one on that mountain, a family member, someone I once was close to?

Do you have a special tree? If you are looking for answers, comfort, company, take a walk amongst the trees. They have much to offer.

JC

Time with an Elder - “Listen to the Trees” Collection - © 2021 JC Buck

Time with an Elder - “Listen to the Trees” Collection - © 2021 JC Buck

Time with an Elder - “Listen to the Trees” Collection - © 2021 JC Buck

Time with an Elder - “Listen to the Trees” Collection - © 2021 JC Buck

 

(BOOK UPDATE) ICE BY JC BUCK

 
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SILVERTHORNE, Co

I am thrilled to share with you that my first Limited Edition photography art book, ICE, is going to print!

The first shipment is expected to arrive in Denver on December 11th. If you order before then we will be able to ship just in time for the holidays. Or, if you are in the Denver area you can arrange to pick it up.

I want to thank everyone that pre-ordered a copy! I am extremely touched by how well the book has been received. I will be reaching out to each of you directly soon.

If you missed my last announcement, I am releasing my first collector’s edition photography book. The large book is a 12’’ x 12’’ inch Layflat style art book with 44 full bleed spreads featuring work from my ICE Collection. This is a unique style book with its extra thick (432 GSM) pages that are designed to lay flat when opened, allowing for beautiful panoramic prints in a book format, great for displaying open. The book is a collector’s limited edition of 500 and signed.

To order please click HERE.

Thank you all for your continued support!

JC