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I am currently working on a project photographing the tools of the trade and other paraphernalia that fill the studios of visual artists. In the photos, these art materials - brushes, easels, tubes of paint, scribbles on a pad, old palettes with dried bits of paint - become art in their own right. The images were shot with a medium format camera onto tranparency film, with only available light. They are printed as large scale giclees, a process that involves printing photographs on high quality watercolor paper rather than traditional glossy photographic paper. It has revolutionized my color work, enabling me to pursue a much more painterly style in my photographs. The importance of the heft and texture of the paper is emphasized by deckling the edges of the prints, and by float-matting them rather than over-matting. I began the series in the Spring of 2000. Eventually, I hope to publish a book of this work.

Pastels, Mary Sipp-Green Studio, Housatonic © 2002 Alison Shaw

Painting Tools, Tracey Sandford Anderston Studio, Provincetown © 2003 Alison Shaw

Mom's Paints, Farm Pond House, Oak Bluffs © 2001 Alison Shaw

Block Study, Cape Cod School of Art, Provincetown © 2003 Alison Shaw

Paint, Hawthorne School of Art, Provincetown © 2002 Alison Shaw

Palette Knives, Allen Whiting Studio, West Tisbury © 2001 Alison Shaw

Paint Tube, Anne Packard Studio, Provincetown © 2002 Alison Shaw

Glass Palettes, Allen Whiting Studio, West Tisbury © 2000 Alison Shaw