Looking down on the patio at the Getty

Greetings!

Days are slowly lengthening, and at least in the Sonoita Valley -- warming. We have enjoyed a winter of vivid blue skies, cold mornings and extraordinarily pleasant afternoons. We wish we could share our benign -- no, inspiring! -- weather with friends experiencing far less inviting winters!

The months between late November and the present have afforded us time to devote to several projects. Karen has completed her interactive electronic book "The Armchair Traveler's Guide to Death Valley" while Steve has assembled a mockup for a book tentatively titled "Death Valley: Painted Light". In parallel, he has been working to shape his portfolio "Between Tidelines" into book form, a project which is not likely to reach fruition until after our upcoming travels.

We took time out twice to visit Whitewater Draw south of Wilcox to watch the cranes fly in after their morning feeding. Observing and listening to thousands of cranes as they land is an inspiring experience. If you are within driving distance, take the time to visit before the cranes head northward in a few weeks.

We did manage a trip to Los Angeles during which we were transported by the James Turrell Retrospective and the Alexander Caldwell exhibit at LACMA, and by the Robert Irwin garden at the Getty museum.

In two weeks, we plan a trip to El Pinacate y Gran Desierto de Altar Sonora and to Puerto Penasco, along with two friends from San Diego and photographer Richard Laugharn. We are eager to explore the wild volcanic landscape as well as the tidepools along the coast of the Gulf of California. Ten days afterwards, we head to the Anza Borrego Desert. Desert rats just can't resist deserts!

Cranes flying in at Whitewater draw

A gallery of Steve's paired images of landscapes on Earth and on Mars was published in the January/February issue of Orion magazine in conjunction with an article by Craig Childs. The story and images are not included in the free online version but you can request a free trial issue there if you have no subscription. Images from Steve's Earth and Mars portfolio will be exhibited at the Bokeh Gallery on Roosevelt Row in Phoenix starting in March. We will provide further details in an upcoming Newsletter.

The Lens on the Land: Rosemont: What's at Stake exhibit, including some of Steve's images, will open on Saturday, 1 Feb at Fluxx Gallery, 414 East 9th St (just off of 4th Ave - across the street from the Shanty) and run through the 26th. A screening of Rosemont Ours ( a NEW ARTiculations Dance Theater video will be held on February 16 at 7pm. The gallery hours are Thursdays and Fridays from 3 - 6pm and Saturdays and Sundays 12 - 6 pm.

On Saturday, Feb 8, the Cienega Watershed Partnership will hold its annual meeting at Civano in Tucson from 1:00-4:00, with a special theme of art expressions in the watershed. The meeting is open to all who wish to attend. There will be a silent auction in which three of Steve's agave and floral images are available for bid.

The One by One exhibit at the Colorado Photographic Arts Center, 1513 Boulder St. in Denver includes one of Steve's images. The exhibit runs from January 11 through February 15.

Karen's new electronic book, An Armchair Traveler's Guide to Death Valley, has finally been completed and is now available in the iTunes bookstore. The book contains almost 100 photographs and 35 animated and interactive panoramas. The information pages cover the human history and natural history of Death Valley, including detailed popup notes. The website for the book contains a video showing the book "in action." A sample file of the book can be downloaded free at iTunes.

One of Steve's photographs from "Illusions of Intimacy" was accepted into the Photo Review International Photography Competition. This image, along with other selected photographs is published in the Photo Review Competition issue and displayed on the Photo Review website.

The 2014 Juried exhibition of the Center for Photographic Art is now online and contains one of Steve's images.

Steve has four images in the Birds, Blooms and Bugs exhibit at the Phoenix Airport Museum, The show opened on November 2 and runs through May 4, 2014.

One of Steve's photographs has been accepted into the Visual Narratives exhibit at the Minneapolis Photo Center. The show will open on March 7 and run through April 28.

Steve will be available to sign copies of Secrets from the Center of the World, Sonoita Plain, Earth Forms, Tseyi, Sand Mirrors, and Observatories of the Southwest on Saturday, 15 March from 10:30 to 1 pm at the Arizona Geological Survey, Arizona Experience Store booth at the Tucson Festival of Books. The booth numbers are 274 & 289 (adjoining) in the Author-Pavilion in front of the Modern Languages Building.

Exterior wall at the Getty

LACMA interior looking out

Karen discovered that recent software changes in the iBook reader had made the animation in her first e-book Sticks and Stones: an alphabet book for the 21st century, inoperative. The revised version is available at the iTunes store; all previous purchasers will be notified to download the update.

We have now set up a website for our electronic books. Please visit and let us know what you think.

We want to remind everyone that prints of the images in Sand Mirrors are available at very reasonable prices from the Image Collective in Ashland, OR, in their TIC Collection. The photographs are all printed on archival materials, 8" by 8" centered on an 11" by 14" sheet, with prices starting at $25. All images in the book are available.

There is now an author page including all of Steve's books at Amazon.com.

Both Steve and Karen have created Facebook pages devoted solely to photography. We have each populated a 'timeline' where you can trace the development of our very different visions. For Steve, we invite you to visit: http://www.Facebook.com/StephenStromPhoto/ and for Karen, http://www.Facebook.com/KarenStromPhoto/). You can also follow our progress and view larger portfolios of images by visiting our websites: http://www.karenstrom.com/ and http://www.stephenstrom.com/.

The archive of our newsletters is now available on both of our websites.

To order Steve's books click on the book cover.