Bright Spring Days...

Hello Lovelies!

It has been awhile since my last post. Life has been very busy, almost too busy to take time to share it with you lovely readers out there. So let's play a bit of catch-up, shall we?

Let's start with some business news. I have released the entire first part of my Modern America Series! It took almost a year to shoot and complete the first 7 shots in this series. I am very happy with how the series is going so far. I'm planning to do 5 more to finish this work off. I am actually opening these last shots up to my followers for suggestions. I will be asking for ideas over on my Facebook page in the coming weeks, so follow along for that. A few of my favorite pieces in the series are below, and you may view all 7 over at my Behance site. This is some of my best work to date as an artistic photographer: I'm very proud of it. A big thank you to all of my models, assistants and hair and makeup people for helping me realize my vision. I hope you like it!

I have also been listing and selling things like crazy over at STAG as usual. A ton of great items in the shop and more to come very soon, including the amazing buffalo plaid vest, women's Russian jacket with gold buttons and an amazing vintage Windmill brand stadium style overcoat for the ladies, all shown below! Stop by frequently, new things are listed almost weekly...

And the final bit of business news is in the area of illustration. I was recently hired to do the design work for the Old Port Festival Weekend here in Portland, Maine. It's the biggest music/vendor/arts festival in the state of Maine and this year they're extending it to an entire weekend, so I was delighted to be asked to do it! I'll pass along more official site/poster information as I get it, but here are some of the sketches and then the final work. I am happy with how it came out...

I mention life has been busy, and boy, it sure has. A lot of great things are happening and the weather is getting warmer and spring is here in Maine! Here are just a few of the beautiful things I've seen, done and enjoyed since my last post...

And finally, today is my birthday! As with most people, birthdays are a fun time of reflection for me. I like to take the opportunity at least once a year to stop for a moment and really appreciate all of the wonderful things that have happened over the last year. I have so much to be grateful for: amazing friends, a studio, the ability and opportunity to make art and get paid to do it on occasion, a life right near the ocean that is so beautiful in a community of kind, caring people. I co-celebrated my birthday yesterday with my dear friend Timothy and I realized I'm a very, very lucky girl. I hope the next year is as good as the last...

Until next time: unpleasant dreams...

Mittens & Mojitos in Maine...

Hello Lovelies~

I hope you are well out there! Things here are really snowy and cold. We have had three major snow storms in the past week up here in Maine and while I adore snowy weather, I'm honestly not sure where they're going to put this snow if we get any more! But, I have been staying warm and busy and I have so many fun things to share.

To start, I have listed a ton of great new things in STAG this past week. It had been awhile and I had amassed some great items that are now yours for the taking! Including this amazing vintage game of Cooties still in its original box, a set of 1950's Boy Scout Membership cards all filled out for the same Scout and a pair of handmade wool mittens from the 1970's that appear unused! Plus, much more. Stop on by if you haven't been in awhile, things are always changing.

And, I recently entered a contest to "show your work space" via Instagram hosted by a men's clothing company for a chance to be published in a magazine and also win a gift certificate. I entered the shot below, of me styling some Stag product in my studio. I don't have any shots of myself working in my actual studio, and it so happens my Sweetie is also a photographer, so I had her help. I love how this came out: it's nice to have this shot even if I don't win.

I recently did some head shots for an author client of mine. She just finished writing several novels and needed dust jacket head shots. We decided that quirky was best, so I brought along some antique books and a plastic dinosaur and we had some fun! It's like finishing school meets the Pleistocene up in here! Such fun. She was very happy with how these turned out and so, I am as well. Take a look:

I have found some amazing work recently from two different artists that I want to share with you. To start, there's the work of Chris Turnham, who I found via Pinterest. His Tumblr site is full of wonderful, 1960's style illustrations of architecture, people, travel, etc. I love his color palette as well as his sense of mood. It's very hard to create a feeling of daylight or dusk or moodiness with solid swatches of color, but he does this effortlessly in each piece he creates. Take a gander at his site, above. Here is just a taste:

And the other artist I discovered via the Modcloth blog of all places. Mister Finch, as he's called, is a self-taught textile artist who sews absolutely amazing nature-based creations out of cloth, pipe cleaners, beads, you name it. His pieces are heartbreakingly realistic with a real sense of literary beauty. I look at that miniature suitcase full of a spiderweb and I think of Charlotte's Web and his birds are just too much. What beautiful work he does, don't you agree?

There is no better way to wrap up a snowy Maine weekend than driving a few towns away, finding a cozy bar with a fireplace and having a cocktail, don't you think? And that's just how I wrapped up the long, Valentine weekend with my Sweetie. It was so nice... I kind of like this season called winter in this place called New England.

Until next time: unpleasant dreams...

The Holidays Are Coming...

Hello Lovelies!

I hope you are all doing well out there and that those of you in the U.S. had a nice, relaxing Thanksgiving holiday and long weekend! My weekend was busy, but good. I spent time with good friends having a good time. (It doesn't get much better than that, does it?) I love going on long drives in the winter (they're a nice stand-in for walks when it's too cold for those) and I caught this beautiful, winter sunset up here in Maine I thought I'd share. This really is a beautiful place to live.

What's new? Well, I just posted some new promotional work I did for the holidays for my STAG shop! I decided to make work for both Halloween and the holidays to show how good vintage can look and also to showcase some of the items in the shop right now. I really like how these came out, they really channel a 1960's vibe (which was my goal), with a fun twist. The rest of the pieces in this series can be seen over at Flickr. (A huge thank you to my models Katy and John and my makeup artist Christina! You guys are amazing.)

I have a couple of other exciting projects for clients that I've shot recently that are in the editing stage. I can't wait to show those off, but for now, you'll have to be okay with some candid teasers...




Here in Maine, there is a local photography collective called the Bakery Photographic Collective that provides photo space, dark room equipment and other resources for local photographers. It's a great resource and they have an annual fundraiser called Photo A-Go-Go that accepts donations from local photographers to be sold to benefit the collective. I have donated a framed print of Ms. Peacock this year to support the cause! If you're local, check it out. It's December 14th and the details can be found at the link above! So many talented people are represented.

Speaking of the holidays, one of my favorite companies House Industries (a typography & design powerhouse), has some wonderful products available this season for holiday gift-giving. Prints, bags, even a modern nativity! Check out their site. Here are just a few of the prints available right now:

Let's wrap up with some great vintage Firestone Christmas gift spreads that I found recently on one of my favorite blogs: Retro-A-Rama, shall we? Talk about eye-candy! The colors and the typography and the fact that they are entirely illustrated, really made me realize how much went into those old ads. We really don't bother anymore, do we? Ah, well...

Until next time: unpleasant dreams...