Kostelec Studios

02/13/2025

Our band - The Blue Ribbon Tea Company. When looking for a band name to apply for our first folk festival Bill looked up at his print above his desk and said to me over the phone “How about the Blue Ribbon Tea Company?” I said “Okay.” That was that, and we’re still at it…

02/07/2025

01/10/2025

On this National Day of Mourning, sharing a photo Bill took many years ago at Emory University when he was there working on his PhD and teaching. There’s more to Bill’s story but for now we’re remembering Jimmy Carter and his very good friend Desmond Tutu - great men, leaders by example, and Nobel Peace Prize winners.

12/26/2024

Can’t resist sharing this one today. We’re missing the snow this year but we’ve got the photos and the song. Peace, Bill and Kathy

We found this recording and along with some others a while back on a personal cd Bill made long ago "Songs for Kathy". Bill wrote it on the day after Christ...

12/10/2024

A few more pics and a great big THANK YOU to those who came to our open studio! We enjoyed seeing you all and the great conversations about photography! And it was also our biggest print sales event ever… wow. The support is tremendously appreciated!!! If you couldn’t make it and would like to come by let us know and we’ll be happy to arrange a time. The setup won’t be quite the same but there’s still lots to see. Enjoy the Holidays! Bill and Kathy

12/08/2024

Today, Sunday 1 to 5pm, is the last day of our open studio. Thanks to all who have come so far! What fun! Lighting is a challenge turning nearly every room in this old house into a gallery but we do our best. Here are a few pics, but there’s much more to see.. come by if you can. We’ve even got some of Bill’s homemade cookies and brownies.. 🙂

12/06/2024

At this weekend’s open studio you’ll something very different… Bill’s has been working on a series of super interesting tree prints! It’s quite a process and he can tell you how he does it. Here are a couple and he has more on the wall..

12/05/2024

This is the print of mine that I’m most excited to show this weekend - Corral Lake from a 5x7 negative I shot in 2014. I printed it for the first time a few weeks ago and toned it slightly in sepia and selenium. We love the central Washington landscape but find it challenging to get a great image that illustrates the beauty.

I think this my best so far. It’s fun to find these jewels while going through bunches of old negatives. I guess that’s the plus side of not being able to travel this year. Framed size is 26” x 20”. You can’t quite catch the glow of the toning with the cell phone but the real print is quite nice. Kathy

11/20/2024

Our Holiday Open Studio Weekend is coming up! December 6th 7th 8th (Friday 5pm to 9pm, Saturday 1pm to 5pm, Sunday 1pm to 5pm). Come see a house full of prints and the darkroom where we work - 1123 S. Cherry Street, Spokane. Message with any questions. Come and enjoy!
Card image: Moonrise (Spokane backyard) by Bill, 8x10 negative 1998, silver gelatin contact print.

10/08/2024

So many negatives.. picking out more to print for the holiday open house (Dec 6, 7, 8th). This is 8x10 negative, Rosalia, Wa. We’ll have more including still life’s, Bill’s tree project, and others. And as some know from our Blue Ribbon Tea Company band page, we’re back at it musically - played the Tumbleweed Festival, opened Inland Northwest Bluegrass Music Association season of showcases, and will play the Fall Folk Festival Nov. 10th. Happy Fall!

07/12/2024

Some unexpected things slowed us down this year but back at making new prints and working toward our open studio later this year. I made this a while back for my natural characters series - on old slightly fogged 8x10 film (too expensive to toss). I under exposed it a bit but the detail is there and going to give it my best shot. And while I’m printing Bill is writing and practicing new songs. A good way to spend summertime if you can’t be on the road making new negs…. Kathy

05/29/2024

This Friday! Opening reception at Jundt Art Museum at Gonzaga University We have three prints in the show and so much more to see. Joins us if you can - May 31st, 4 to 7 pm.

05/28/2024

We sold two mushroom prints yesterday, enjoyed the visit, and want to remind folks that we welcome you to our studio! Her are just a few of the prints we have for sale but we have VERY many more, framed and sleeved, hand processed silver gelatin prints starting at $50. To make an appointment direct message us, email [email protected], or call 509-868-8910. We’d love to show you around!

05/01/2024

New 5x7 negatives. I suppose they are too blooming pretty for the fading flowers series... ha!

02/20/2024

These are some of my prints from the Manzanar War Relocation Center in California when we were there in 2017. We learned from an Ansel Adams Gallery post that yesterday was a Day of Remembrance of Japanese American Incarceration. If you have a chance to visit this site and museum please do. It is a powerful reminder of what should never happen to law abiding American citizens. Kathy

02/15/2024

White Bird, Idaho. There’s something about a contact print that we love.

02/14/2024

We’re happy to once again have prints selected for the Jundt Museum’s Inland Northwest Juried Landscape Art Exhibition, opening June 1st. Kathy’s Snow Fields and Snow Sky, and Bill’s mysterious Elm tree.

02/12/2024

Death Valley, looking down on Badwater from Dante’s View. The basin became a lake agin in recent months but usually doesn’t last long. Silver gelatin print no. 3, 4x5 negative, 2017, by Kathy