BlackSheep Gallery is having an artists reception on Thursday, October 13, 2011 for artists Tim Hacker and Joni Gibb.
Stop out between 4-8p, enjoy a cocktail and look at the hundreds of photos by Tim or the beautiful and colorful mosaics by Joni!
Well, there was a successful Fashion Show event at Levis Commons in September. We had 2500 people and raised at least $10,000 for the Sight Center of Northwest Ohio. It was a terrific event and there are many wonderful fashionable photos – none of which I took. Thanks to many photographers on the scene, but a big thanks to Adam Rossi who was a hired “gun” the night of the event. I will post some photos on the site – but know they won’t be mine! You’ll love the shots, however, the event was great! View some of the photos at the links below!
Check out the:
Toledo Blade
Once again, I have no photos to share – just like with the fashion show – I had the perfect opportunity but didn’t have my camera. Isn’t that the first rule of photography? Always have your camera with you! Since I haven’t learned rule #1, I can only TELL you about what a great photo it would have been….
Emma and I are taking a walk around the Lily Pond in Iowa on vacation (after yet another Hawkeye win – we’re 5-0 with a big game against Michigan coming up this weekend). It’s about a 3 mile walk around the pond. The north side of the pond is generally the road, while the south side is more like the trails out by Grand Rapids – water on both sides and a path down the middle. Emma and I are walking along, taking in the sights of the pond when up pops a family of beavers. About 5 cute little heads bobbing in the water no more than 5 feet from us. Their water repellent fur made them look like they were greased, but their eyes were almost friendly! I’d seen all the beaver huts in the pond for years, but I’d never seen a family of beavers just hanging around – what a photo I missed!
The next day, Larry joined Emma and me and it was around 4p in the afternoon, so the sun was on it’s way down, but the sky was bright blue and it was crisp outside. After my experience just the day before, you’d think I would have remembered my camera this day. Well, no. Blonds ARE slow, evidently, and I was not too happy with myself – yet again. As we turned on the south side of the pond, the entire turtle population of the Amana, Iowa Lily Pond must have been having a sun bathing competition! Again, 5-10 feet from us were Turtles on logs everywhere! Turtles were actually stacked on top of each other to bathe in the sun. And I missed it. Again.
Well, the photos are in my head to enjoy, but the whole point is to share them with the rest of the world. I guess my brain really is taking a break this week – photos and all!
Cheryl has been an avid member and held several executive positions with numerous networking and community organizations including LISC, Schedel Gardens, CitiFest, Arthritis Foundation, and, since 1993, Marketing Education and DECA.
Early in her career, Cheryl was awarded with the Fifth Third Award, 20 under 40; and an Honorary Lifetime Membership Award from Port Clinton DECA. Cheryl designed and created both the Gatsby Gala (Arthritis Foundation’s signature event)
and the Garden Party
(Schedel Garden’s most successful fund raiser). and is in the process of producing the premier fashion event in Northwest ohio, the EPIC Rocks Fashion Show – Culture and Couture – at Levis Commons…along with sitting on and participating in countless other events for charity and private enterprise when style, creativity and flawless coordination were needed.
She was nominated numerous times for the Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year, and was awarded nationally in the Boy Scouts National Annual Report for a brochure she wrote and designed, “Jack’s Day at Camp,”. Multiple Addy awards and Crystal awards were also added to her portfolio over the years.
She was recognized by President Bill Clinton and the late State Representative Paul Gillmor for her accomplishments in business as well as her extensive community service, and her manual, published in 1994, on the global benefits of Free Enterprise. Giving back to the community and to those organizations that help the company grow is an important part of the business plan for Hardy.
strategic market plans, public relations and media management, media purchasing and strategy.
They have a Cabin rental company in the Red River called “Georgeous” – that seems appropriate. The Gorge was a great place
to hike and see some beautiful scenery.
We went on a Friday and came back on a Monday, so not a very long trip – but we saw a lot in a short period of time!
There are many short and easy hikes you can do right from the main roads – pretty easy for even those elderly or very out of shape people. However, the Gorge is known for world famous rock-climbing, so it attracts even the most “hard core” adventurer – and for good reason.
On Saturday, we did a handful of short, easy hikes from the road just to “see the sights”, but we did choose one moderate hike – according to the trail guide. The hike was supposed to be 5 miles round trip. Well, let’s get a few things straight – 5 miles means 6 miles. Moderate means starting at an elevation of 915 feet, climbing across a ridge, then down the ridge to 335 feet, across the floor of the Gorge and up another ridge to 922 feet, then down halfway from that ridge to climb out again to get back to the road. It took us about 3.5 hours to go 6 miles – we didn’t break any speed records for sure, but I wouldn’t exactly call our route “moderate”.
Anyway, the photos were great and it was a great deal of fun, but be careful what you bite off if you go!
So this trip to Hocking Hills State Park near Lancaster,
Ohio (birthplace of my Great Grandmother Ruth Mae Miller-Hardy)
was finally the addition we’ve been wanting to make to BlackSheep – it is now officially 2 BlackSheep and a Little Brown Dog! Larry and I have been talking about this for a long time since it is he and I and Emma the dog – in fact my license plates are BLKSHEP – when we get a different SUV, the plates could be 2BLKSHP and when we have a third vehicle, the plate will be LTLBWNDG. It’s an inside family joke, but finally, a trip we could take Emma and make it official!
Hocking Hills State park is a great place to visit and there are some real attributes for
“non-hikers”. Larry and I are gearing up for a trip to Jackson Hole – where last time we realized how out of shape we were! So, we’ve been hiking at Oak Openings (we did 16 miles or so one day) and we’ve been trying to do 20 miles a week to “get in shape”. Well, Hocking Hills got the best of us and all we realized was that both BlackSheep and the little brown dog were ALL out of shape!
However, one of the wonderful things about Hocking Hills is that even if you don’t like to “hike” or if you’re out of shape, almost all of the most beautiful attractions are within 1/4 to 1/2 mile of the parking lots. There are plenty of great cabin rentals and a lot of campgrounds. The facilities seem very nice and it was a beautiful place – even if it was hot and humid! That just made the ice-cream taste better!
I have to admit I didn’t get as many artistic photos as I should have – I did take my camera, but it was pretty hot and since it was our first time there, I didn’t plan our visits to the sites as they relate to the best light as well as I could do it now. However, there are a few shots that came out great and I’m happy to share. If you’d like to see all 189 photos which include our very cool zip line through the canopy of Hocking Hills, you can view the album on Picasa.
We enjoyed our trip and would go back for sure as long as we could have another dinner at the Inn at Cedar Falls – that place was just terrific!! Happy hiking for the summer!
BlackSheep Photography is an award winning and nationally published photography website and Gallery, located at Levis Commons in Perrysburg, Ohio.
Cheryl Hardy is the BlackSheep photographer whose eye and creativity as well as appreciation for photography was born out of the marketing and advertising agency world.
“I am involved in photography because after 15 years in the strategic marketing business, this is the best outlet for my creativity! It is the perfect mixture of work and play, and it’s the playground for my alter ego – the color outside the lines, the not play by the rules, the
I’ll do anything for the shot (or more often…”hold on guys, just one more shot”) kind of girl – the official BlackSheep.”
If you’d like to hear stories of far off African villages, crystal blue waters, near death experiences with an elephant, fairy tale endings, true love for 75 years, best friends, helicopters, bunji jumps, white water, marathons, ice-climbs, crocodiles, shark diving, moose, lions and tigers and bears, oh my!…And you might not believe that this one BlackSheep was a witness – or a participant – in each and every story.
The BlackSheep Gallery represents a lifetime, to date, of exceptional experiences, relationships and memories. It is a way to share local artwork, and a way for the owner of the artwork to know the story behind the photo.
“I hope my photos make you smile – maybe even make you say “Wow”. If I can do that, then maybe some day I can graduate from being the BlackSheep – but then again, maybe I don’t want to…
Larry Dillin throws out the first pitch at the Mud Hens game – what a night! (These photos can be viewed on the “other galleries” page.) He looks like he could be on the team!
Midland, Ontario – Canada
Just back from the Georgian Bay in Canada and it was beautiful! The water is so clear, I thought I was in the Mediterranean. However, other than Scully’s not a whole to do up there! Did manage to get a very technical mountain bike ride in at Hardwood Ski and Bike Trail. Very cool place if you’re ever up there – 6-7 trails, none of them are easy – in fact Nadya and I did the two easiest and still ended up bloody and sweaty! But, we had a blast and have yet another story to tell! Oh Canada!
7.23.09 – New York, NY
New York. What a place! As with most places I go, I could spend an entire year just in the city taking photographs and still not get to everything! I have just a couple photos from this trip – it was more for the company than for my photographic desires, but I was happy to get what I did. I’ll go back and get some more one day, for now, the photos will have to stay in my memory!
