Thanks to the folks at Arts First Oakland, I’m having my first exhibition in the John Seeley Gallery at the First Congregational Church of Oakland:

The exhibition will run through September. I hope some of you will be able to make it to the reception on June 22nd, from 4-7pm; come to view the work, sit down and chat, and sip a glass of wine or punch.

For those that can’t make it to see the actual prints, you will be able to view the photographs and purchase prints beginning June 22nd at:

http://www.grantkinney.com/prints

(note that Adobe Flash Player is required to view this page)

Grant :: Jun.21.2008 :: art :: No Comments »

These past two months have been full. Highlights include:

• Celebrating the 4th anniversary of being married to the amazing and beautiful Robin Kinney
• CPE Unit 3 of 4. For those who’ve ever done a Clinical Pastoral Education residency, you probably know how intense this unit can be. I can hardly wait until those summer interns come to help lighten the load
• Learning about the Enneagram, a facinating personality typing system that’s way better than Meyers-Briggs. I’m a 9; how about you?
• Upgrading to the Pentax K10D camera, just before the rebate ended!
• Flirting with purchasing a medium format camera system and shooting film for the first time since my childhood (looking at the Mamiya 645 system right now)
• Selecting classes for the PSR Fall semester (mostly MDiv required ones)
• Enrolling at Laney College to take some photography and art classes in the fall!
• Enduring a water leak which spread into our unit from a vacated apartment across the hall
• A wonderful First Congo Oakland spring retreat in the Marin Headlands
• Starting the Artist’s Way, gleaning a wonderful sense of creative recovery so far, and writing my morning pages (almost) every day
• Starting a LIFE (”living in faith everyday”) group at First Congo focusing on contemplative prayer and meditation
• Surprising myself by getting up into handstand for the first time in yoga class without any help
• A visit from Robin’s mom
• A cross-country skiing trip to King’s Canyon National Park, enjoying 5″ of fresh powder on the trail

I am looking forward to the continued warming of the weather, getting outside more often, the extended daylight hours, and more time with Robin once her school year is done in June. May the warmth and clarity of the California sun be with you all!

Grant :: May.04.2008 :: life update :: 5 Comments »

If you’re in the Bay Area and have an inkling of interest in photography as art, go see the Friedlander exhibit that just opened at the SFMOMA. Robin and I went to the opening reception last Friday. It’s incredible.

There’s a quote by Jackson Pollack upon looking through a catalogue of Picasso’s work: ”God damnit.  That guy thought of everything.” It’s like that. What an amazing diversity of subject matter and creative vision, over 400 photographs in a career spanning half a century. And I’ve never seen a photographer with a better visual sense of humor–truly a delight. I am both captivated, intimidated, and frustrated–I want to be that good!

Robin’s started calling me “Kinney-lander” now. I take it as both a playful teasing about my obsession with photography and affectionately calling me to live out my potential.

Grant :: Feb.27.2008 :: Bay Area, art :: 1 Comment »

I came across a wonderful little blog by a commercial photographer the other day–what I love about it is that he gives us little glimpses of his life, not the nitty-gritty of a shoot or his lighting techniques or equipment reviews. He simply bears just a little bit of his soul as he writes about what it is like to be him: a photographer, father, and artist.

 See it here: http://thomasbroening.blogspot.com/

I mention it because I should aspire to such blog writing feats. Or maybe I could at least just update this more than once every two months.

I do want to say that CPE Unit 2 (of 4) was finished last week. That means I’m halfway done with my CPE residency! It’s 1) incredible exciting that I’ve made it this far 2) motivating to think I’m not going to have this program in 6 months, so I’d better use the time wisely in units 3 and 4. It will be back to the “real world” all too soon. Though after this, seminary is going to be like cruising in a convertable on a mid-summer’s day.

Grant :: Feb.24.2008 :: CPE, blog, life update :: No Comments »

I’m still working on Paypal integration, but a gallery of all the prints I exhibited at the Art with Soul fair is now online. You can view the images here:

http://www.grantkinney.com/artwithsoul

If you’re interested in purchasing prints, you can select which ones you would like and use the form at the bottom of the page to indicate your name, email address, and what sizes you would like. Here are the prices:

5 x 7″ (in an 8 x 10″ mat) - $12 ($5 shipping)

8 x 10″ (in an 11 x 14″ mat) - $27 ($10 shipping)

11 x 14″ (in a 16 x 20″ mat) - $49 ($12 shipping)

Shipping for more than one print is an extra $1 per print. All prints are archival and matted with acid free materials. Credit cards are accepted using Paypal.

They make great Christmas gifts!

Grant :: Dec.16.2007 :: art, photographs :: 4 Comments »

Thanks to everyone who came out to the art fair at PSR (The Pacific School of Religion) on Tuesday. All of you helped make this a successful first showing of my photography. It was a great pleasure to share my work and receive your appreciation and feedback.

I’m working on getting an online gallery up featuring the prints that were on display on Tuesday, so you can look at them online. Future enhancements will also include online purchasing through Paypal (which has free and secure credit card payments), hopefully sometime over the next week.

Grant :: Dec.09.2007 :: art, seminary :: No Comments »

On the second and third nights of our stay in Desolation Wilderness, we camped in a little spot tucked in between the trail and Susie Lake. I spent the evening and morning time walking around the lake looking for precious details in the golden light. These two stumps were a few feet off the shore of the lake, reminding us of a time when the water line must have been at least a little bit lower. The clear sky reflected off the still water around the stumps as the sun set.

Grant :: Dec.01.2007 :: photographs :: No Comments »

Thanks for your comments on “Moonlit Sonoma Coast.” I was very excited when I came back to our campsite on the evening I took that picture.

As great as Sonoma was, the trip to Desolation Wilderness was the highlight of the summer: 8 days of wilderness backpacking in one of the most beautiful parts of the Sierras. Not surprisingly, most of my favorite photographs from this year were from that trip. This one was taken on the first evening of our adventure. The clouds looming after sunset matched this tree perfectly.

Grant :: Nov.25.2007 :: photographs :: 1 Comment »

Here’s another from our August trip to the Sonoma Coast. The light of the full moon magically reflects off the ocean after sunset. A minute long exposure blends the nighttime waves together. (Photographed from the cliff above Furlong Gulch on Sonoma State Beach.)

Grant :: Nov.23.2007 :: night, photographs :: 5 Comments »

I’ve been getting some photographs ready for the PSR Art and Soul show on Tuesday, December 4th (a small art show for friends, alums, students, spouses, etc. related to PSR). I’ll be posting one every couple of days over the next few weeks.

The first is from our trip to the Sonoma State Coastline in August. Ever since we first drove up to Point Reyes through Sonoma County in 2005, I’ve been drawn to the open austerity of these hills. This black and white version is what I often see when I look at them. Click on the photo for a larger version.

Grant :: Nov.19.2007 :: photographs :: No Comments »