As The Days Get Longer...

Hello Lovelies~

I hope you are all well out there, as usual! Gosh, there is so much to share, this will be a long post full of pretty things… ready?

To start, let's get the business out of the way. I mentioned last post that I was going to be doing a fine portrait series entitled 1910 that channels sort of an explorer-meets-fashion vibe. Well, the pieces are falling into place for that series and I am getting really excited about it! I designed a mini logo for the series itself both to help give it a unified watermark when the images are done and also to identify it as a series in my portfolio. I went really simple and included the signature crown from my logo as well as my initials to tie it all together. Here it is. What do you think? I also ran it over a photo just to make sure it held up and I believe it does. Subtle, simple and classy are the buzz words for my new work!

And speaking of business, I have found some absolutely amazing pieces recently that are going to go up into STAG very soon. Several amazing vintage coats, including the Windmill Fashion brand coat I mentioned last post for the ladies, the buffalo plaid hunting coat pictured below (I took that for a test drive to work the other day and wow, is that a nice coat! You boys sure are lucky it's too big for me…), and another piece that I will have to get some shots of to share next post. Some of these pieces will be used in the 1910 series before I sell them because they deserve to be photographed properly and the buffalo plaid coat also has pants to go with it and I will be photographing a man in that entire suit very soon! (That shoot will look a bit like the below shot, only less geeky and awkward and more trendy… ha!)

And speaking of stylish plaids, that brown and plaid coat below is my new winter coat! It is a Penfield brand winter coat for the ladies! My sweetheart gave me the heads up about a used one at a local consignment shop and I fell in love with it. It was cheap, stylish and in great shape, so winning all around! I was so happy to find some buffalo plaid that's also a bit girly because I love men's fashion but I wear women's fashion. When the two meet, I am a happy girl.

And lastly, I was asked several months ago to paint a piece for a children's hospital in Seattle. They do an annual fundraiser where painted parasols are auctioned off to benefit the hospital and artists from all over the country are donating pieces. I started mine this past weekend and there are a few process shots below. I am doing an animal carousel themed parasol and I am really excited with how it's coming along so far! It's so nice to do the occasional commission to keep my hand in painting a bit and when I'm not painting all the time I tend to enjoy it much more. I will show more shots as I proceed with this fun project!

And speaking of fun, I have to share this amazing lime cheesecake my friends made for my honey's birthday recently. I didn't even know you could make a lime cheesecake, but they did it and what fun decorations they added! Wow. So pretty. And it tasted delicious as well! We did some serious celebrating and had such a good time. Goodness, I have some amazing people in my life. I am so lucky.

To wrap up, I have recently found the work of an amazing photographer I wanted to share with you. I first discovered Christopher Payne's work with his Asylum series several years back. (A couple of those shots are below.) Stark, beautiful, well-composed with a great eye for color, Payne's work immediately drew me in. I can't say that I'm a big journalistic photography fan, preferring people-based work, typically. But his work hints at the people in these spaces as much as the spaces themselves, I think. Then he did an amazing series called Textiles, that covers textile mills in the Northeast and South and then there's his Steinway series. All are breathtakingly beautiful and you owe it to yourselves to really take some time to enjoy his work. Pieces from all series are shown below.

I will send you off into your weeks with this beautiful Maine sunset I got to experience the other night. Yes, it was that pretty in real life. Goodness, Maine is such a beautiful place to live, you guys.

Until next time: unpleasant dreams...

A Van, A Dog & A Mountain...

Hello Lovelies~

I hope you are all doing well out there as usual! Things here are very, very good as always. And, as always, there is a lot to share.

To start, with the New Year, I have decided that my photographic work is going to take a decidedly new direction into the arenas of fine portraiture, fashion and lifestyle work with an eye towards the commercial end of things. In that vein, I have started planning some new projects that I think you will enjoy quite a bit. The first project will be fine portraiture and I am calling this series: 1910. I can't wait to get started! This series was inspired by the Ralph Lauren shot below and I will be shooting that next month, so get excited!

I have also been hinting at my big secret project for months now and I plan to release the first part of that in just a couple of weeks! I will give you a hint, the name of this series is Modern America and as the title suggestions, the work deals with modern issues that we face in society today. That's all I'm going to say. Standby for those shots very soon.

What else? Oh! I am working on a very exciting long-term project for some clients/friends of mine that I am getting really excited about! My friends own Premium H2O, a plumbing, heating & gas company up here in Maine. They bought a vintage Metro van from the 1950's this time last year, and they have been slowly working away at getting that van completely restored. Ultimately, it will be used in their actual fleet of vehicles and as a marketing tool. The van is amazing. I am documenting the process of its restoration for them and I will ultimately be using these photos to create a restoration book for their business. I was in the garage last weekend shooting part 2, as they are completely replacing the entire undercarriage. Here are some shots from that day. (Any day that finds me in a garage in Maine in winter with a bunch of boys who are drinking beer, laughing and wearing buffalo plaid is a fun day for me!)

And speaking of boy things, I went to a flea market while I was up north shooting the truck and I found some great, quality items for STAG. Including: a red wool men's vest that's amazing, a vintage Windmill brand tan women's wool coat that's in excellent condition and these things below (a pair of vintage, all-leather shooting gloves, a pair of women's wool mittens with flowers from the 1970's and a pair of vintage boots). All will be listed soon, so check back regularly for that!

We've had a beautiful winter here in Maine so far. A lot of snow, some nice, cold days and now the days are getting a bit longer. It's really boring spending all that time indoors, so I try to get out when time allows and when I have the motivation to do so! This past weekend, I went hiking up Bradbury Mountain ('mountain' really over-states it, it's really more of a hill) with a furry friend and took some shots of this beautiful place called Maine…

Until next time: unpleasant dreams...

Glittery Goblins & Sunny Islands...

Hello Lovelies~

I hope you are all doing well out there! Things here are so good I can barely stand it. To start, exciting news, I recently shot the crew over at Jack Tar 207 (an alternative lifestyle blog and creative team out of Portland), as you all know. (I've actually modeled for them as well.) They're doing great things in photography and fashion and just a whole ton of different things. Well, they were just featured on The Huffington Post! And one of my photos was featured in that article. Very exciting stuff for me personally since I enjoy and respect The Huffington Post immensely. Congrats, Jack Tar!

What else? Oh, I had mentioned a post or so back that I was hired to shoot the Color Rad Color Run up in Brunswick recently. Well, I finally have a couple of shots from that day to share. Because I had more studio experience with lighting etc., I was asked to shoot the photo booth at the end and I was so happy to do it! Great opportunities for those color-covered candids. Take a look! (That baby with the white-blue eyes was my favorite...)

As I mentioned last post, I've really been trying to build the lifestyle portion of my portfolio recently for new client work: people doing everyday things, scenic views, day-in-the-life type shots. Well, I decided to try to grab some Labor Day shots over on Peaks Island this past weekend. What a beautiful island and a perfect time of year: a perfect combination of colorful island flowers, bright boats and also some early fall foliage. I managed to shoot some real winners! Here are a couple and you can see the rest over at my Flickr feed.

So, as some who've followed this blog for a long time know, I used to paint. A lot. Painting was my primary artistic medium and I was fairly prolific. Well, when I fell head over heels for photography, I found I was too busy to produce both, so my painting fell to the wayside. Now, the only time I pick up a brush is if I get a commission (which, I find I actually get those more than when I was trying to get them), or when someone very special has a birthday or other special event. Well, it was the latter that got me to bust out those brushes recently to create my latest piece: Space Goblin. Like my artistic photography, most of my paintings are bright, whimsical and completely twisted. This little murderous goblin is no exception. Oh, and glitter. Lots and lots of glitter... Take a look!

And let's wrap up with this amazing artist with an amazing Etsy shop that I found recently: Derrick Castle is the owner of Straw Castle and he is a crazy good artist. His illustrations style is woodblock meets vector and his subject matter combines Native American imagery with motorcycle gang art and some Colonial America mixed up with skulls and southwestern influence. What? That's right. Take a look:

Until next time: unpleasant dreams...