Monday, February 27, 2012

New Dresses & Scared Squirrels...

Hello Lovelies!

I hope you are all doing well out there this week. So much to share with you as usual. To start, I have listed some new prints in the shop that I think you'll enjoy. A nice pair of Maine beach prints for you classy patrons here. (You get both of the prints below for one price. Good times.)




And, for those into the more unusual, I played around with a shot from the Forts I visited last weekend and turned it into a fake pulp novel cover, now available as a fine art print! That can be found here. Fun stuff, huh?


In a final piece of business news, I am slowly redesigning all of my sites to match my portfolio. (Oh, it's a tedious business, but necessary.) This past weekend, I redesigned my Twitter and Society6 pages. Next up: this blog. I will keep you posted on my progress!


Oh, and speaking of fun stuff, my Sweetie got a brand new dress for early spring and wanted me to shoot her in it. Well, I can't just go the normal, boring route, so I whipped our taxidermied squirrel off the wall and took this shot. Kinda cool, huh? I love how all the elements came together on this one.


Have you guys heard of the digital illustrator Matthew Lyons? No? Well, his work is sort of a mix between schematic drawings, futuristic sci fi art and architectural blue prints. I adore it. It's rare that I find a truly unique style like this.

I'd like to wrap up with an open question: Do any of you out there use Google+ successfully? And if so, can you recommend a tutorial to get started? I feel it's a place I need to be, but every time I jump into the menus, it gets confusing. Let me know what you've learned (any tips are appreciated).

Yep. This is me trying to talk to Google+ and failing...
Until next time: unpleasant dreams...

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Old Forts & Jump Shots...

Hello Lovelies~

I hope you are all well out there. I have so much to share as usual! I'm coming off of a long holiday weekend and we're having unseasonably warm weather up here in Maine, so my Sweetie and I took advantage of great weather yesterday and went to Fort Popham and Popham Beach. Located in a remote part of Maine, the forts are beautiful and desolate. I brought the camera along and took some fun shots, take a look. More here.

Having some fun with action shots here.

I love this one, it's so bright it looks like snow, but that's sand.

My Sweetie looking fierce in the Forts. Haha.

And I have recently tackled a project I've been meaning to do for awhile: hand embellished vintage suitcases! The first two came out just great. They each have names so, meet Blood Diamonds and Sweet Honey! These suitcases are in great shape (no weird smells or stains). These would be perfect long weekend/spy mission/overnight stay bags. More to follow as I find more suitcases... If you're interested in one (they are $50 each), shoot me an email.


And speaking of fun, funky vintage things, have you seen the photography of Holly Andres? She's a photographer from the other Portland (Oregon) and she seems to have the 60's and 70's nailed right down. Many of her series tackle issues of coming of age and growing up and losing innocence. (I personally just love her nod to Alfred Hitchcock and Nancy Drew.) Take a look!


Oh! And speaking of photos. I found this amazing arctic survival mask at the local army surplus store recently and I have no idea what I should do with it, I need help. So, suggest ideas on my Facebook wall below the mask picture and if your idea is picked, I will send you a free art print of the finished photo!


Alright, I want to wrap up with this amazing series of photos I found from one of my favorite movies: Breakfast at Tiffany's. Audrey Hepburn is the quintessential lady and I love everything about the orange coat and vintage Halloween mask. I mean... is there a more perfect movie scene? Nope. The answer is, no. Sigh...


Until next time: unpleasant dreams...

Monday, February 13, 2012

Last Kiddie Party...

Hello Lovelies~

How are you all doing this fine Monday? I have so much to share as usual. To start, I am finally done with the clown shot I told you about last week. A little back story, I found an amazing vintage clown suit for $7 at a junk shop and I immediately had the image below flash into my mind. The piece is entitled Last Kiddie Party and it depicts a clown who has tied his last balloon animal (also, I am almost positive clowns have glitter and confetti instead of brains). The response has been really good. Most people think it's both beautiful and unsettling, which is what I do best! You can see more shots HERE.


And on a more traditional note, I have posted another engagement shoot to my engagement album. Meet Tristan and Eleanor. This great couple was completely open to letting me style their entire shoot using some of their clothes and some vintage pieces to really take their look to a new level (this is what I love doing for people). We shot on location at Tristan's family lake house and the couple said these photos really captured who they are, but also made everything look stunningly beautiful. Mission accomplished! Email me if you'd like to book a shoot. More couples to follow...


I went junking last weekend with a couple of friends (that's looking for vintage things, to those not familiar with the term 'junking'), and we had so many laughs looking at peoples' old (and sometimes creepy) stuff. This Punch puppet took the prize for Most Creepy Item of the Day for sure. Whoa, boy. I wouldn't want that in my house. I think it would get up at night and bite me. It reminds me of Dead Silence and it's almost beckoning you to it... like, "Come here, and give me your soul." Ugh.


And speaking of junk, I found a great new site for you vintage/antique lovers out there: Bureau of Trade. Have you heard of it? Well, the site basically finds primo vintage items by category (and most of it is decidedly masculine since it's curated by a man) and then gives you the link so you can purchase or bid if you'd like. He scours Ebay, Craig's List, you name it and puts all the best on one page. I'm in heaven personally. Check out some of the goods up right now!


And let's wrap up with a music recommendation, shall we? I use Grooveshark regularly to compile playlists for work and the like and I recently followed a suggestion and fell in love: Uncle Skeleton's Sophisticuffs. Heard of them? Well, the Sophisticuffs album hasn't been released yet, but tracks have been released, including my favorite: Burgers RMX. Great stuff. I can't wait for the album. And that cover image? Amazingly vintage.


Until next time: unpleasant dreams...

Monday, February 6, 2012

My Fuzzy Valentines

Hello Lovelies~

I hope all is well with you out there! As usual, I have a ton of things I'm excited to share. To start, I have finally finished my brand new, professional portfolio! It took a long time to decide on a site I liked (with nice, big pictures and a simple lay out), and then a lot of work getting the site loaded up, but I'm happy with how it came out. I'll be posting all my new work to it, so bookmark if you want to follow along. Check it out HERE.

(It was like this much work, only not as embarrassing...)

I did a shoot this past weekend I'm really, really excited about. I think it's going to be amazing once I'm done with it. I'll give you hint, it involved the following things:


Oh, and while we were in the studio playing around with all manner of glitter, confetti, streamers and party poppers to get what we needed, my Sweetie went nuts with the confetti and I made a GIF of it for all to enjoy:

Photobucket


I was browsing at my favorite local book shop over the weekend, the Green Hand Bookstore, when I came across an entire box of unused vintage Valentines! Some of them were flocked, some had glitter, all were adorable and they were only 50 cents apiece. Needless to say I got some for my friends for V-day and to share with you fine folks here.


I also found this Men's Adventure artwork book from Taschen (who else) and I have thoroughly enjoyed flipping through all that great artwork. I find it immensely inspiring as a lot of my work starts with vintage imagery like this.


And speaking of random vintage stuff, I saw this old toy on a blog recently that I just had to share with you guys. Have you ever heard of Gre-gorey the Bat? Not in all my vintage trawling have I ever seen such a toy. Made by Mattel around 1979, it was literally just a huge rubber bat with a transparent chest through which you can see its guts. I don't think it even did anything, but... I love it anyway. Take a look.

I love this family photo + Gre-gorey. Priceless.

And on that note, I'll leave you.

Until next time: unpleasant dreams...