Bent Objects

An older one, and an announcement!

noreply@blogger.com (Terry Border) — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 09:46:00 +0000

Yesterday's Flowers

Also, what I really wanted to post about (boast about?), is that a Bent Objects calendar is finally being produced. I remember very well the first time someone left a comment asking about the possibility of one, and I'm now happy to say that 2013 is the year of the Bent Objects Calendar! Will there be another one? Who knows, so please purchase this one while you have the chance.

Final Winner, and thanks to everyone for playing.

noreply@blogger.com (Terry Border) — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 14:43:00 +0000

Yesterday's winner was probably the most difficult to name. Several people tried flattery, which almost worked, a few others mentioned the word "poo", so of course I chuckled even more at those. So, really strong efforts, but I finally chose Willow's 4 stanza go at it. Below is the first bit, which caught me by surprise for some reason. Congrats Willow.

“Be careful,” I said,
“sh*t happens. It’s true”
But you wouldn’t listen.
Now it sucks to be you.

If you entered a contest, you need to scroll down and check the post. They've been edited to name the winners. Thanks again to everyone who gave it a try. Don't let this loss turn you bitter towards the world, or me.

Next- Nolan Clayton made this computer monitor background and shared it with me,
so I'm sharing it with you.
Thanks Nolan!

If there's a better way for me to share this with you here, please let me know.

Last Contest for a book.

noreply@blogger.com (Terry Border) — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 14:03:00 +0000

Here's the last contest for a copy of Bent Object of My Affection,

which is good for me because I find picking the winners difficult!

Since all of these images I've been posting lately have been about Valentine's in some way, how about a "Roses are red, violets are blue" poem. No other rules, other than it has to be in that rhyming rhythm.

Good luck!

Happy Chocolate Eating Day

noreply@blogger.com (Terry Border) — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 13:15:00 +0000

(Special note- this will be one of the images in the Bent Objects Calendar later this year)

Today's contest should be fun. Leave a sappy love note to your special someone (real or fictional) below. I'll pick the winner and send you a copy of Bent Object of My Affection.

I'd also like to announce a special win for Kirok, who has consistently entered great comments for so many of the contests. Please contact me, Kirok.

I enjoy reading all the comments, but picking winners is hard. I'll be relieved when this is over.

Edit- Contest is closed, and I have chosen, after much serious deliberation, Cornbread to be the winner.

The "I hate Valentine's Day" post

noreply@blogger.com (Terry Border) — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 13:37:00 +0000

Sylvia Muffin Left Her Head in the Oven

Today's contest to win a copy of Bent Object of My Affection (sorry this was posted later in the morning,

I slept in), has the theme of "I hate Valentine's Day. In 50 words or less, how much do you dislike this

holiday? Or maybe describe your worst Valentine's Day ever, true or not. No other rules. My favorite will win a book. Good luck!

There were 10 or so Tom Swiftys from yesterday which could have won. I picked Marcia's (the one about coconuts). Please get in touch.

Also- if you have entered a contest, check that post and see if you won!
edit- contest closed. I picked Stacey Halstead as winner. Congrats, Stacey!

Also, this.

His Dream Job

noreply@blogger.com (Terry Border) — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 14:04:00 +0000

The photograph within this photo was created by the GREAT Man Ray. His model here is Lee Miller, a wonderful photographer herself. They were sometimes partners in surrealism.

Today's contest is to do with this image OR something to do with the them or Love at First Site.

The trick? Today your comment has to be in the form of what is known as a Tom Swifty.

Go here and learn what it is, post yours in the comment section

and my favorite will be awarded a free copy of Bent Object of My Affection.

Contest is closed. Thanks for playing.

Wow, there were around 10 that were worthy, but I picked Marcia for the win.

Dedicated to the late Whitney Houston

noreply@blogger.com (Terry Border) — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 02:48:00 +0000

This image is a few years old, but it's what I thought of when I heard of her passing.

Crushed Nuts

noreply@blogger.com (Terry Border) — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 15:23:00 +0000

Would you like to win a copy of Bent Object of My Affection?

Leave a haiku with the theme "Love Hurts" in the comment section.

Doesn't necessarily have to do with the image.

Good luck.
(edit- remember haiku is 5 syllables, 7, then 5)

Contest is closed.
I picked Rick Goldstein as winner. Contact me Rick.

Perfect Pair (today's contest theme)

noreply@blogger.com (Terry Border) — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 12:06:00 +0000

Limericks!

Leave a limerick having to do with today's image somehow, and have

a chance to win a copy of Bent Object of My Affection!

Or you can always buy a copy here.

A copy will be given away every day until Valentine's.

Contest is closed!
Many fine limericks, but I give the win to Ash Collins on this one.
Thanks for all your efforts!

Bachelor's Nightstand, during the other 23 hours 55 minutes of the day.

noreply@blogger.com (Terry Border) — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 11:34:00 +0000

Would you like to win a copy of my second book Bent Object of My Affection ?

Leave a haiku in the comment section about the above image.

Make it a real haiku though (5 syllables, 7, then 5 again).

I'll be giving a copy away each day until Valentine's Day in contests
having to do with different Bent Objects images.

But maybe you want to buy your own copy?

(I've heard it makes a pretty good gift)

Contest is closed! Thanks for all who entered!

I gave the win to Caty, an artist for making me chuckle the most.

Book Give-away!

noreply@blogger.com (Terry Border) — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 20:45:00 +0000

My agent (yes, I'm that kind of big-time person) Sorche Fairbank will be giving away a copy of my latest book Bent Object of My Affection every day until valentines at her Twitter account!

Go here today and reply tweet to her with your 140 character story about today's image.

If Loving You Is Wrong, I Don't Want To Be Right

noreply@blogger.com (Terry Border) — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 15:46:00 +0000

From the new book. You could order a copy and I wouldn't be at all upset! Think of it as a gift book for someone you like! Much longer staying power than either chocolates or roses.

Working on a new one!

noreply@blogger.com (Terry Border) — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 20:28:00 +0000

But until then, here's a really old one- SouperHero.

This one was photographed in my kitchen using a flashlight directed from either side, and a mounted-from-under-the-cabinet-radio-player light above him to light his top and the background. Very high-tech.

I'm just writing this to get it out of my system.

noreply@blogger.com (Terry Border) — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 18:43:00 +0000

I think you could call this my love letter to the internet.

A few times in the last year I've tweeted my opinion that we are living in the most creative time in human history. I strongly believe this, and can get quite excited by the awesome possibilities of sharing work via the internet. I just had to write something here explaining what I meant, and to state the facts as I see them (It's quite possible that no one else cares, plus a lot of this is obvious, and I find it more than a little embarrassing that I can get worked up about this enough to write it all down, but it's my blog, and it's no secret about how nerdy I am, so...).

I'll start with photography and it's growth in popularity in recent years. When I was in school studying it, I carried a camera with me an awful lot. How geeky did I have to be to do that? Very. Carrying a clunky 35mm camera around your neck at all times isn't very cool, or comfortable. But nowadays, how many people do not have a camera with them at all times thanks to their phones? And in those days, unless you were a student, or a member of some sort of club of photographers, who could you share your work with? What was the motivation for the average person to photograph anything but family, or to remember your vacation by? Who would you show it to? Now with Flickr and groups like it, it's so very easy to become part of a community to share your work, so you are motivated to make more. That's really what this is all about, I think, the ability to share. And how many people have discovered the joys of photography thanks to the ease of uploading an image to share immediately via Twitter? Lots, I would say. So many people are on the look out for something funny or beautiful to share. Same goes for movies. Creating videos to post on Vimeo and Youtube is possible for anyone to do at a very low cost. Barriers have been removed.

Think about the art of writing for a minute. Think about creative, or biographical, or whatever kind of writing. Before blogging, how many people wrote any more than it took to fill the space of postcard? If it wasn't their profession, I'd say very few. Now, it seems like everyone has had a blog at one time or another. And now "micro-blogging" is in style thanks to Twitter. Not as many words you say? Right, but it's a different skill that people are learning. Very concise wording. Do people want to post boring tweets? Of course not. People spend quite a few minutes of their day trying to write interesting, humorous, or informative Tweets and Facebook updates. Small bits of creativity for sure, but add them up on a weekly basis, and it's quite a bit.

I think of all the craftspersons who have learned from each other on-line. Popular knitting blogs for instance have taken that old past-time of grandma's and made it mainstream. Before Etsy and the like, where would a person sell the scarves and hats that they made besides the occasional craft fair? I mean, a family only needs so many scarves, and then the knitting needles were put away. Communities on the web not only serve as a place to share work and ideas, but that also serve as shops to sell your product worldwide, creating a reason to make more, and to try new, crazy ideas. Kind of incredible.

My work exists because of the internet. If it weren't for people on the internet urging me on when I started, I wouldn't really have known I was "onto" anything when I began Bent Objects. Showings at galleries were few and very far between, and I sold practically nothing for months at a time. Creating and posting work onto the internet is almost immediately satisfying and informative. Feedback is quick, and inspires me to make more. Going back to the days of making things to only display in a gallery would be depressing and slow down any evolution of my work immensely. People inspire each other with work on the web in even real time at this point, thanks to things like "hangouts" on Google+. (And as far as getting inspired by other peoples work? 10 years ago, you could buy a magazine and see work that was months old, look at a book with work that was years old, or go to your local museum and see the same work that they've shown for decades. Not exactly cutting edge stuff.)

Now, here's when someone says- "Sure, there's a lot out there now, but most of what is created today is crap," and... I would agree. I've even said that, but there's still a lot of it that isn't. First of all, everyone starts out by making crap. But more importantly, with only a half-hearted try, a person can find many amazing things every day on the web, and thanks to the ease of sharing with others, more and more people are having a go at it. How can this not be the most exciting time for artists, writers, musicians, or whoever wants to try something new? If you have something good to share, people will take notice! And if they don't? Try harder, or try something else.

Paris in the 1920's and 30's is looked back on through a gauzy lens. So many artists and writers, from Picasso to Hemingway were there making some of their best works, meeting up in cafés during the day, in bars at night, an exciting brew of our creative heroes inspiring each other to great heights. Last year's wonderful film, "Midnight In Paris," visits that era with great flair. One funny thing is that the characters in the film in that classic era don't know that they are living in a special moment in time (of course) they are longing for one a few decades earlier. It's just what people do, I guess. My contention is that these days we live in right now will be looked back on with longing, especially with various governments trying to push through laws to control the internet. If that happens, these will be the good old days, so don't take them for granted. Look around and enjoy. I think this is an incredible time to make things, and I hope it stays around for a while.

I've been building a house.

noreply@blogger.com (Terry Border) — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 22:13:00 +0000

This will be part of a story I'm making. Not that I have any takers for it yet. I'll just have to try and make it so good that they can't help themselves, I guess. That's my goal anyhow. It's good to have goals.

Crab Meat

noreply@blogger.com (Terry Border) — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 17:32:00 +0000

---------------------------------

In an effort to raise funds for a new project, he can be yours ~~for $75~~ sold(more for international mail).

One of a kind, by me. People who tell sad stories to get a better deal are welcome to look for the occasional one I leave behind on holiday. Good luck! :)

Cost 99 cents

noreply@blogger.com (Terry Border) — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 19:03:00 +0000

Cheese Spread

noreply@blogger.com (Terry Border) — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 20:03:00 +0000

A Young Prince

noreply@blogger.com (Terry Border) — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 01:46:00 +0000

The title is a joke. The image could stand by itself without it.

Abstract Espressonism

noreply@blogger.com (Terry Border) — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 22:29:00 +0000

Museum Of Coffee History Art (M.O.C.H.A.)

-----------------

The French photo magazine Phototech is obviously very sharp, because they've put Bent Objects on the cover of their November/December issue, with several spreads on the inside also. Thank you Phototech!

And- For those who have asked, I'm not selling anymore autographed books for now, because I'm trying to stay away from the post office! I'll probably have them for sale again in 2012.

Grim Brûlée

noreply@blogger.com (Terry Border) — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 03:02:00 +0000

Empty Feeling

noreply@blogger.com (Terry Border) — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 19:14:00 +0000

U.S. Capitol Building

noreply@blogger.com (Terry Border) — Sun, 27 Nov 2011 00:07:00 +0000

Children of the Candy Corn

noreply@blogger.com (Terry Border) — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 00:57:00 +0000

(go ahead and click on it if you want to)

Don't have candy corn in your part of the world? That sucks.

The Caramel Helps to Hide the Bruises

noreply@blogger.com (Terry Border) — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 01:23:00 +0000

Click on it for a better look, why don't you?

Happy Halloween.

Also- I just received a new shipment of books if you would like to order an autographed copy. :)