Happy Birthday Big Bad Bettie!

Celebrating Big Bad Bettie's Birthday with the classic photo that started it all.

BBB Classic Photo Greeting Card

Today, we celebrate the woman who inspired this crazy adventure of photography and books.

 On this day, March 23rd, 1920, Elizabeth J. Ludwig was born to a musical family in the suburbs of Chicago.  She went to an all women’s college, joined the Navy in 1943, worked in her fathers’ drum factory, married and divorced twice, had three children, and four grandchildren. Always looking for her next adventure, Bettie was fearless, independent, and had a quick witted sense of humor.  She loved gardening, performing in the theater, and playing bridge.  The life of the party, she was forever laughing and enjoying life to its fullest.  Her drinks of choice were Arnold Palmer tea during the day and Scotch in the evenings.  Her favorite dessert, all of them!  So today, we raise a glass, eat some dessert, and make a toast to Big Bad Bettie for her bold, brassy, and creative spirit.

Today through March 26 Only- 

When you purchase the Home Connection Print Set, you'll receive the BBB Classic Photo Greeting Card FREE!  Handmade, 4x6 flat single card, blank on back.  We want you to share in the joy and inspiration this photo has brought to us.  

Send it to the fearless woman in your life.

 

 

 

Thank you for

the inspiration

& trailblazing.

BBB'S Bookshelf Pop-Up Sale REDUX

APRIL 8, 4:30 - 6:30PM @ REDLINE

JOIN US FOR ANOTHER

BBB'S BOOKSHELF POP-UP SALE!

In the area?  

Where: Redline, 2350 Arapahoe St, Denver, CO. 80205

It was so much fun the first time, we're setting up BBB's Bookshelf again! This time we will be in Denver at Redline April 8th 4:30-6:30p.  Our bookshelf will be set up during the Open Portfolio Walk Through hosted by Colorado Photographic Arts Center.  This event is free and open to the public and is a great time to take in some great photography and support talented local artists.  

On the bookshelf will be a great variety of photo books and limited edition prints from local artists, along with Rabbit Rabbit, the exciting first journal from Big Bad Bettie Press.  Plus, cards from BBBP and photography inspired letterpress goods from Black Dog Press.  With a price range of $2.50 - $150, there is something for everyone!  

Month of Photography Denver is a biennial celebration of fine art photography with hundreds of collaborative public events throughout the region. 

Come see what's on Big Bad Bettie's Bookshelf!

BOOKS:

Notes for Friends, Robert Adams

Firmament, Andrew Beckham

Along Buddha's River, Chuck Forsman

Walking Magpie, Chuck Forsman with introduction by Eric Paddock

Western Rider, Views from a Car Window, Chuck Forsman 

Collecting Words, Brian Fouhy

Head Trip: The 80's, Paula Gillen

In Passing: A Book About Death, edited by Todd Herman

Kathmandu: Impressions of the City at Its Margins, Todd Herman

Studio 2013 & Studio 2014, Zine's by Conor King

Rabbit Rabbit 01: Transition, edited by Big Bad Bettie Press

 

SMALL PRINTS:

Bad Girls, Archival Pigment Print, Paula Gillen (Signed)

The Path, 2016, Digital Photograph, Edition 1 of 5, Kevin Hoth

The Great Curve, 2011, Digital Photograph, Edition 1 of 5, Kevin Hoth

No Quarter, 2012, Digital Photograph, Edition 1 of 5, Kevin Hoth

Black Bird, Archival Pigment Print, Edition 1 of 10, Emma Powell (Signed)

Untitled 1, Untitled 2, Untitled 3, Untitled 4, Collage with Encaustic, Leah Swenson (Framed)

 

Read reviews and learn more about each title or artist by clicking the links.

The first Pop-Up Sale at Dairy Arts Center March 10, 2017

We're spicing up Month of Photography Big Bad Bettie Style!

We're celebrating Month of Photography Denver in our own bold, brassy, and creative way with Home Connection: an online photography exhibition that spices up the fleeting Instagram Takeover and transforms incredible work into something that lasts.

Home Connection
Online Exhibition & Print Sale
March 13th - April 9th
 only on Instagram @bigbadbettiepress

March 13th - April 9th, @bigbadbettiepress features Home Connection with new work from Colorado photographers Jessie Paige Rowe, Julia Vandenoever, Stephanie A. Lindsey, and Katie Harwood.  These four female artists access ideas of place, loss, and identity and scratch at the surface of their individual connections to home.  

Home Connection unfolds in a unique format -- It utilizes the publishers Instagram feed and allows each artist to temporarily take it over to share their photographic series.  The exhibition then migrates from the screen to the printed page transforming into a collectable handmade Print Set, which includes one signed print from each artist.  The Set is available in a limited edition of 40 and is for sale only during the exhibition at bigbadbettiepress.com for $75 each.

Lucy. Peek-A-Boo. 1-10-17, 2017, © Jessie Paige Rowe. Archival Inkjet Print. 4.5" x 4.5" image on 5.5" x 7.5" paper. Printed on Hahnemuhle Photo Rag Satin, 310 gsm 100% Cotton, white, satin-finish. Signed.

Lucy. Peek-A-Boo. 1-10-17, 2017, © Jessie Paige Rowe. Archival Inkjet Print. 4.5" x 4.5" image on 5.5" x 7.5" paper. Printed on Hahnemuhle Photo Rag Satin, 310 gsm 100% Cotton, white, satin-finish. Signed.

This is the second project for the new independent press who focuses on projects that are bold, brassy, and creative.  Their first curated journal, Rabbit Rabbit, a clever mash-up of art and words, launched in October 2016 with great excitement and was praised for its fascinating concept and imagery as well as its luxurious print quality.  Big Bad Bettie Press is rooted in the value of the tangible and produces books, art objects, and portable exhibitions.

In the spirit of this commitment to creativity and tangible objects, Home Connection is as much a new kind of online exhibition as it is a fun way for people to support photography they love.  The limited edition collectable Print Set is available for pre-sale only during the exhibition.  People who pre-order help to unlock the Print Sets production and become “co-publishers”.  Their names will appear in print and forever be part of the collectable.

Tissue 20, © Julia Vandenover. Archival Inkjet print.  4.5" x 5.5" image on 5.5" x 7.5" paper.  Printed on Hahnemuhle Photo Rag Satin, 310 gsm 100% Cotton, white, satin-finish. Signed.

During the online exhibition, @bigbadbettiepress Instagram followers will be introduced to new photographs every day.  Launching the take over with her own daily act of picture making is Jessie Paige Rowe. Paige Rowe explores the day-to-day life of her two young daughters and has compiled an incredible collection that echoes the complexities and wonders of childhood.  Julia Vandenoever delicately uncovers an unusual inheritance, her mothers used tissues, and through her grieving process imagines the untold stories hidden in the folds of each tissue.

Untited, © Stephanie A. Lindsey. Archival Inkjet print.  4.5" x 5.5" image on 5.5" x 7.5" paper.  Printed on Hahnemuhle Photo Rag Satin, 310 gsm 100% Cotton, white, satin-finish. Signed.

Stephanie A Lindsey contemplates the psychological and domestic space she faced after a loss and weaves a subtle yet complex narrative together that focuses on issues of place, family and race in American society.  Katie Harwood investigates her relationship with her childhood home focusing on an annual spring cleaning event that Harwood describes as a “ritual purging”, finding links between her personal family history and the “annual airing of dirty laundry.”

Green Chair © Katie Harwood Archival Inkjet print.  4.5" x 5.5" image on 5.5" x 7.5" paper.  Printed on Canson Satin Baryta 310 gsm, Pure White. Signed.

Home Connection Title Card, 5.5" x 7.5" printed on acid free paper

For more information about Home Connection and the Print Set, click here.

BBB's Bookshelf Pop-Up Sale!

March 10th, 3-7:30 @ Dairy Arts Center

JOIN US FOR BBB'S BOOKSHELF POP-UP SALE CELEBRATING MONTH OF PHOTOGRAPHY!

............. SHOP LOCAL ~ SHOP SMALL ~ SUPPORT ARTISTS .............

Where: Dairy Arts Center, 2590 Walnut Street, Boulder, CO

Month of Photography Denver is a biennial celebration of fine art photography with hundreds of collaborative public events throughout the region.  We're celebrating Big Bad Bettie style with photo books and prints!

On the bookshelf will be a great variety of photo books and limited edition prints from local artists, along with Rabbit Rabbit, the exciting first journal from Big Bad Bettie Press.  Plus, cards from BBBP and photography inspired letterpress goods from Black Dog Press.  With a price range of $2.50 - $150, there is something for everyone!  

Come see what's on Big Bad Bettie's Bookshelf and help us celebrate Month of Photography!

BOOKS:

Notes for Friends, Robert Adams

Along Buddha's River, Chuck Forsman

Walking Magpie, Chuck Forsman with introduction by Eric Paddock

Western Rider, Views from a Car Window, Chuck Forsman 

Collecting Words, Brian Fouhy

Head Trip: The 80's, Paula Gillen

Psychometry, Carol Golemboski

In Passing: A Book About Death, edited by Todd Herman

Kathmandu: Impressions of the City at Its Margins, Todd Herman

Studio 2013 & Studio 2014, Zine's by Conor King

Rabbit Rabbit 01: Transition, edited by Big Bad Bettie Press

 

SMALL PRINTS:

Bad Girls, Archival Pigment Print, Paula Gillen (Signed)

Yellow Chair, Archival Pigment Print, Katie Harwood (Signed)

The Path, 2016, Digital Photograph, Edition 1 of 5, Kevin Hoth

The Great Curve, 2011, Digital Photograph, Edition 1 of 5, Kevin Hoth

No Quarter, 2012, Digital Photograph, Edition 1 of 5, Kevin Hoth

Black Bird, Archival Pigment Print, Edition 1 of 10, Emma Powell (Signed)

Untitled 1, Untitled 2, Untitled 3, Untitled 4, Collage with Encaustic, Leah Swenson (Framed)

 

Read reviews and learn more about each title or artist by clicking the links.

 

 

 

Art Strike

#j20artstrike - It matters to us

Although we do not operate out of one single space, Big Bad Bettie Press will be closed on January 20th & 21st as part of the nation-wide #j20artstrike.  We stand in solidarity with the brave voices and peaceful protesters fighting back against sexism, racism, and xenophobia expressed by the president-elect and his incoming administration.  

"Like any tactic, it is not an end in itself, but rather an intervention that will ramify into the future.  It is not a strike against art, theater, or any other cultural form. It is an invitation to motivate these activities anew, to reimagine these spaces as places where resistant forms of thinking, seeing, feeling, and acting can be produced." - J20 Art Strike website


Big Bad Bettie Press invites our supporters to join us in peaceful demonstration on January 20th & 21st and to not continue business as usual.  

With love, 
Katie Harwood
Founder & Navigator

Read the full newsletter here

Why It Matters
Read this thoughtful essay about why this art strike matters by Hrag Vartanian, editor-in-cheif and co-founder of Hyperallergic.  (Graphic and essay © Hrag Vartanian)

Women's March
Inspired as we are by the women who guide and teach us, we stand in solidarity with our partners and children for the protection of our rights, our safety, our health, and our families.  We'll be there in Denver!  Find a local march. 

Our 2016 Winter Reading List!

Big Bad Bettie's Virtual Book Shelf

Recommendations from our artists & innovators!

Books help shape our world view.  For artists & innovators, books often help inspire new projects.  We asked the contributors of our first portable exhibition Rabbit Rabbit to share some of their favorite book discoveries (or re-discoveries) of 2016.  What they present is inspiring and speaks not only to 2016 as a year but also to a collective experience of being a recent graduate.   

We hope you'll curl up this winter with some good book recommendations from the next generation of great artists & innovators!  And if you want to have their work on your bookshelf, Rabbit Rabbit is available now at a special price!

Happy December 1st!

Thank you for an incredible first year!

You shared with us in 2016.  Keep it up!  We love it!

Read full newsletter here.

Happy December 1st!


Thank you for making this bold, brassy, and creative adventure possible.  I want to say a special thank you to each of the artists & innovators who contributed their work and to the incredible Big Bad Bettie Press team who gave their time and valuable talents: Stephanie A Lindsey, Stacy Bebié-Laiderman, Charli Ornet, Cait Molloy, & Liz Smith. 

Rabbit Rabbit just recieved a great review in Art Beat Magazine declaring, "The concept and imagery of Rabbit Rabbit is fascinating. It is a wondrous journey of enlightenment and contemplation...Get lost in the conversation presented."  Read full article.

This year we took our first baby steps and we were able to put together a portible exhibition of the next generation of artists and innovators.  In 2017, we hope to continue those steps forward.  We live, we work, we are just getting started.  I hope you will join us.

I wish you a happy and healthy December and a Happy New Year!  Good luck to each of you this month. "Rabbit rabbit!"


Katie Harwood
Founder & Navigator

Big Bad Bettie Press featured in SFAI Alumni newsletter

Big Bad Bettie Press: Rabbit, Rabbit

Created by Katie Harwood (MFA, 2015) in collaboration with Stephanie A Lindsey (MFA, 2006), Cait Molloy (MFA, 2015), and Liz Smith (MA, 2015), this new imprint has just released the first issue of Rabbit Rabbit, an annual curated journal of artists and innovators. ThemedTRANSITION, it features the work and words of emerging artists, 12 of whom are SFAI alumni!

View newsletter here.