ParrotTalk

It’s time once again to look back at your year, and make some decisions about the Tax Man. The IRS Small Business Jobs and Credit Act of 2010 has made a big difference in how some companies are handling their large-ticket purchases, and you need to get the facts from your accountant or advisor to make the best decisions. However, if you want to learn more about the Act- commonly called IRS Section 179, we found a great reference for getting up to speed fast: www.Section179.org.

To quote the site:
“Essentially, Section 179 of the IRS tax code allows businesses to deduct the full purchase price of qualifying equipment purchased or financed during the tax year. That means that if you buy (or lease) a piece of qualifying equipment, you can deduct the FULL PURCHASE PRICE from your gross income.”

This means if you are toying with the idea of investing in some new equipment, this may be the time to consider it, before the end of the calendar year. Couple that with some impressive rebates on Epson and HP printers- shown below, and you may have a plan that will put more of your resources to work for you, and less of it into the coffers of the IRS, than you thought possible. That is, in fact, the intent behind the Act: “It’s an incentive created by the U.S. Government to encourage businesses to buy equipment and invest in themselves.”

Here are some of the details of the massive printer specials going on.
Both Epson and HP are offering huge rebates on almost their entire line of professional wide-format equipment- in some cases up to $4000!  Epson has instant discount and mail-in rebate promotions- but the list is as long as your arm, and with savings to match.

HP is calling it the “HP DesignJet Cash In & Trade Up Promotion”, and it covers almost 30 products and can save you up to $2000. Don’t worry – we’ve got all the information, forms and links you need to take advantage of these great offers- drop a note or give us a call today – (877) 727-7682 – and we can match up the best deal for you.

Look at it as your Civic Duty- Washington wants you to invest in Small Business?  The place to start is with your own!

In spite of the huge volume of background information available on Bruce, nothing can quite prepare you for talking to the man in person.  Animated, entertaining, energetic – none of those words can come close to describing the electric enthusiasm Bruce brings to his discussion of photography, art, digital printmaking, and even the Gulf Coast, Missisippi and the art community there that he calls home.

Bruce’s work hinges on his idea of the “Gestalt of the Lens” – his website bears the tag “Through the Lens Artistry” – the notion that the lens itself determines the vision, the organization of the work itself.  This philosophy extends through every tendril of the many types of work he does, from his book of documentary work for which he may be best known, Spirit of New Orleans, through his nude, abstract, experimental and extended documentary work.  Keyes follows his lens, wherever it takes him.

Keyes is completely involved in digital photography.  He finds it liberating, empowering, and, in fact, feels no need to burden students with all the baggage of learning traditional darkroom and film-based methods.  Instead, he encourages young photographers to experiment, relinquish control, see where a process leads them and their work using all of the tools at their disposal.  Embracing the potential this entirely new medium and remaining open to exploring and experimenting, Keyes could have been the original proponent of the “Let the Tools Set You Free” school of digital photography and imaging.

Interestingly, this is where his use of various media from Parrot comes into his process.  Keyes seldom, if never has a final vision of what media a photograph will ultimately be printed on when making the image.  His goal is to collect as much as he can, to make as rich a capture as he’s able to allow himself flexibility in the processing and printing of the photograph.  Once the image is ready to print, he’ll experiment with many of our papers, canvases and fabrics to allow the media to render the image as it does naturally: our canvas, Angelica cold and hot-press watercolor papers, our photo-base media, even our fabrics like linen and silk.  Rather than settling on one single paper or treatment, he may print the same image on a range of types and textures, and keep them all as different interpretations of the image.  Keyes relies us to do what we do best, to provide the highest quality media with the best performance, and in the broadest range of offerings, so he can do what he does best- create remarkable photography.

Take a look at the video of Bruce Keyes speaking about his work, his process and how Parrot media helps him create his remarkable images.  He follows the “Gestalt of the Lens”, but also the “Gestalt of the Paper”, and we’re proud to say we’re a part of that.

See more of his work at his site, www.BruceKeyes.com as well as his book Spirit of New Orleans and other projects.

-Ted Dillard