Cold Beach, Hot Cowboy...

Hello Lovelies~

I hope this Monday finds you all doing well out there! Things here are busy as usual. So much to share.

To start, my Westworld shoot is finally done and posted. Some of the shots are below, and the rest can be found over at Behance. This was such a fun project in so many ways. To start, it allowed me to put my own spin on one of my favorite 70's-era science fiction movies. Then, I got to work with a great crew and one of my favorite models who always brings his A-game even when it's 20 degrees out. We braved some runny noses, ice, finicky equipment that froze, and a dark, dirty coal furnace to get these shots and everyone nailed it, I think! I hope you enjoy...

Speaking of projects, I believe I mentioned starting another large-scale project a few posts back? (A project on-par with my Zom-B-Vex, Venomous Vixens and Cigar, Creeper & Dark pieces.) Well, the new series, which I've entitled Modern America, is inspired by the paintings of Norman Rockwell. Few know that Rockwell's paintings were in fact based on photographs he styled himself, so it's only fitting to take those paintings back to the photographic medium, I think. I will create 12 or so final works, based on his paintings, but I am giving each a modern twist by addressing issues, dynamics and aspects of modern life that in many cases, didn't even exist in his day. I shot the first piece over the weekend, and I will post that next week! Keep an eye on this series, it's going to be good, I think.

We had yet more snow over the weekend, but that didn't keep me from getting out to the beach and enjoying the misty pre-snow weather. It's quite meditative being out there: watching the waves and the sea gulls. I'm very lucky to be able to drive 15 minutes and be at the beach: it's one of the benefits of living in Maine, for sure. And I also found this strange piece of metal out there that was all beautiful and rusty. I have a little curio cabinet that I put beach things in and I added this to the collection. I hope it was off of a boat from somewhere very far away...

Until next time: unpleasant dreams...

Keeping it fresh...

Lovelies~

I hope you are all well this fine Monday! I have the day off for President's Day here and boy, am I glad I do. I was shooting various things all weekend long and it's time to play catch-up.

The shoot I'm most excited about, is a series of personal work that I mentioned a couple of posts back. Inspired by Westworld, a 70's sci fi classic, and featuring a killer robot cowboy, my crew and I braved snow showers and a dusty coal furnace to get these shots. And it was totally worth it! (But, if you ever do same, take note: bring Kleenex and something hot to drink!) Here is a trailer for that movie just to give you an idea of where I'm headed...



What else? Oh! I also did some client head shots and while I was in there, I took a new one of myself to keep my portfolio fresh. It came out alright, but photographing yourself is one of the hardest things you can do, Folks. Barf. Trust me. Take a peek. I was trying out a new lighting arrangement and background. What do you think?

All of this shooting hasn't taken me away from my other venture: STAG. A great group of items has been listed in the shop this week! It was a pretty clothing-centric group, but I will be back to listing things for the home next week! Take a look. That Dickie work coat is a classic, no?

I have found some amazing things that I wanted to share with you too. To start, if I ever have an actual budget for business cards that's bigger than $1, I would love some like these. Wow. Belinda Love Lee designed these cards for prop stylist Christina Yan and they have all the bells and whistles that make greeting card/graphic designers/artists like myself go weak in the knees; 100+ lb. card stock, gold foil and blind embossing. Goodness. Take a look... So classy.

Any of you have wee baby ones out there? Because one of my favorite design firms House Industries, has partnered with Uncle Goose (a high-end building block maker), to produce limited edition House building blocks. And they are cute and amazing and I want that set of Alphabet Factory Blocks like it's my job. So nice.

And I'm going to wrap up with some of the cutest Valentine's Day design I saw this season from another favorite design team: Lab Partners, out of San Francisco. I mean, just look at it! It's a 1960's era illustrated animal band... I mean, come on. That elephant? More importantly, that mouse? And those colors. This work makes me happy for sure...

Until next time: unpleasant dreams...

Findings and Collections...

Hello Lovelies!

Well, I am back from my great antiquing expedition and I found some choice items. But first, let me say that the people watching was almost the best part. I saw a woman completely wrapped in fur sables and a hat and gloves... and it was 75 degrees out. I saw a booth dedicated to chalkware cats (I'd never even seen one chalkware cat, let alone that many). And I saw more mullets, cigar smoking women and Happy Meal toys than I care to ever see again. 

Below is some of my stash, this is just the paper stuff. I picked up some great Victorian cabinet photos of ladies you may see in my work in the future, an old copy of Argosy which is great since I love old men's magazines, a couple of girly calendar pin-ups and a great original watercolor portrait. I love Brimfield!

  

Moving on, I am currently working on some paintings for my gallery co-op that I'll show you Lovelies pictures of in the next post. So, in lieu of my own work, I thought I would show you the work of yet another great Etsy seller. I love cabinets of wonder and Aldetha's pieces are an amazing display of eye candy for those who also like this type of work. Even her profile description is great. Here are some of her more high-end offerings.

And let me conclude with another movie review Lovelies. Some of you may like Michael Crichton for movies like Jurassic Park, but you need to go way, way back for the real gold. Westworld, starring Yul Brynner, is a wonderful combination of a creepy/interesting plot, robots, suspense and vacation resorts gone really awry. (Sound familiar? Only this one doesn't have Veloceraptors and a ton of CGI and overacting...) All of the effects were really executed using models and sets and clay-o-mation and the idea is really cool too. Just don't rent the sequel folks. I give this one 4 out of 5 corncobs.

Until next time: Unpleasant Dreams.