Jun 15, 2016
Pastel Sky
I found myself in a zombie-like state at 3am. I was determined to examine every blue and purple object that popped up in my Etsy search. Decorating our new kitchen was my obsession of the moment, and even though I was going crosseyed, I kept clicking away.
“I should be making art,” my guilty concious reminded me when I first sat down with my laptop at 7pm. This is what happens to us artists: by making art a job, we often feel guilty when we want to scratch a new creative itch.
Among the many beautiful handmade pieces I found on Etsy, I came across a little ceramic jewelry dish shaped like a cloud. It didn’t totally match all the other things I bought, but it was just too adorably dreamy to pass up.
The photo above was made by looking at my little cloud through the lens of a water-filled wine glass. If I had never taken the time to shop, I wouldn’t have been able to share this photo.
I didn’t know it at the time, but I was creating art all along.
What are these numbered posts all about? Read the introduction to my Photo & 100 Words project and find out!
Jun 10, 2016 |
I’m a reflective person, and I’m not just talking about the sheen from my sweating problem… da-dum-dum; I’m an overthinker. Such extreme thoughtfulness has its curses, but I’ve come to realize it’s what makes me so sentimental.
I cherish memories so much because I live them over and over again in my head, on paper, and then, sometimes, on this screen. It’s why photography is so important to me.
Every photo is a frozen memory. BUT every memory is also a reflection. AND every reflection is a distortion of the truth based on perspective.
In my next series I’ll be exploring all kinds of reflections, both literal and figurative.
Oct 10, 2014
Want this hanging on your wall? Click the photo to buy now!
I twisted the crystal wine stopper above my set. It was like looking through a Kaleidoscope. I rolled it between my fingers until the colors and shapes called to me; they said red wine spritzer.
The last time I thought of committing such a crime to a glass of wine a customer asked me to do it. Just like my confusion about the point of keeping a wine stopper around, I was always perplexed about why anyone would cut their wine with seltzer or, even worse, 7Up. Just ask for a grape soda next time.
I bet you didn’t know I was a bartender in a couple of my past lives (okay I know one of you knew-but you’re the only one Ray!). Thinking back to my bartending days is much like looking through a Kaleidoscope too. Some colorful characters popped in and out of my world and left so many impressions on me.
There were characters I wanted to jump up and hug for getting me through college, and there were characters I wanted to strangle for keeping me well past closing time slurring, “jussonemore.”
If only I had my wine stopper back then!
What are these numbered posts all about? Read the introduction to my Photo & 100 Words project and find out!
Oct 3, 2014
Want this hanging on your wall? Click the photo to buy now!
“Don’t forget to take your favors!” Melissa, the bride-to-be at the shower, shouted. “Here, you want a wine stopper?” She shoved it into my hand and grabbed a handful of boxes from the dainty basket that held the rest of the favors.
“Wine stopper?” I said, “why the hell would I ever want to stop the wine?” I was the the cynical bridesmaid, and I was determined to make myself laugh at every opportunity ‘til the day my friend wed. I even got a chuckle out of the waitress.
It was more than a joke though, it was a personal truth. I’m not afraid to admit I’m a lush and I certainly do love my wine. The wine stopper, although practically useless in my mind, was pretty, so I took it home.
Here it is up close. It’s just one more layer on top of my black lace and pink louffa (yes that’s what the pink tint in last week’s photo was). I look right through the wine stopper and it looks a bit like pouring a glass of wine; from white, to pink, to magenta.
What are these numbered posts all about? Read the introduction to my Photo & 100 Words project and find out!
Sep 26, 2014
We’ve all been there, and by there I mean right smack in front of someone who just doesn’t see you. Maybe it was a teacher you were trying to impress in grade school, a crush who sat behind you in high school algebra, or that rude co-worker who doesn’t even glance in your direction when you give them a cheery “good morning.”
We all have those moments when we feel invisible and under-appreciated sometimes. But even when someone looks right through you, you are still coloring their world. My camera isn’t focused on the pink in the foreground, I’m looking right past it to the black lace below. It’s blurry, but it’s there, and it makes the lace so much more exotic. Don’t you think?
P.S. Can you guess what that pink thing is that I’m looking through? Give me your best guess in the comments below!
What are these numbered posts all about? Read the introduction to my Photo & 100 Words project and find out!
Sep 19, 2014
Want this hanging on your wall? Click the photo to buy now!
I was ready to give up. They say the hardest step to take is the first one, but for me the 101st step is even harder; especially when nothing seems to be going right. I always have to remind myself that the first 100 photos are shit. I have to convince myself that if I take just a few more shots, I’ll stumble upon something magical.
There are only so many photos I could take of a backlit leaf, so I had to let go of it and move on. I hummed “Mad World” to myself. The lyrics repeated in my mind, “look right through me, look right through me-e-e…” What else can I look through? I wondered. This lace called to me, and this was that magical moment in this series.
What are these numbered posts all about? Read the introduction to my Photo & 100 Words project and find out!
Apr 11, 2014 |
Want this hanging in your house? Just click the photo to buy now!
Twenty-four hours before my flight back to NY I felt desperate. Desperate to stay, desperate to go, and desperate to capture every detail of my Guatemalan existence.
This was the hand-carved dresser that was in my room. Every day the sun would crawl across the wall, slide down the wood, and by afternoon had reached the orangey tile on the floor
On the floor that bright, slanted box served two purposes: it made a wonderfully warm spot for my chilly feet and it threw a beautiful fiery glow right back at the blue daylight above.
What are these numbered posts all about? Read the introduction to my Photo & 100 Words project and find out!
Apr 4, 2014
Want this hanging in your house? Just click on the photo to buy now!
Flowers, glass, and water. There seems to be endless possibilities when it comes to these three elements.
A few minutes ago I was twirling my pen in my hand, staring at this photo, and wondering what to write. It was a sudden realization that these subjects are repeating elements in my work.
There’s this periwinkle photo, and this underwater close up of a flower petal, and one more I call “Loves Me, Loves Me Not”. (There are even more, but I’ll stop here)
Perhaps I should spend some time seeing what else I can come up with. What do you think?
What are these numbered posts all about? Read the introduction to my Photo & 100 Words project and find out!
Mar 28, 2014 |
Want this hanging in your house? Just click on the photo to buy now!
Every morning I dragged my butt out of bed at 7 am while I was in Guatemala.
The two tiny windows in my bathroom were beacons of colorful light that guided me, with half-closed eyes, in the right general direction. Every day I would stare at those windows in the early morning light and promise myself to capture it before it was time to go.
It was one of the last days I was there that I finally did. I could have a lot of fun if I had a piece of wavy glass to play with… another thing to add to my shopping list.
P.S. – When I take my art to the abstract level I love to reveal just what it was that I was photographing. Do you like finding out what you’re looking at or does knowing what it is ruin the abstractness of it all? I’m curious what you think, just leave a quick comment to let me know!
What are these numbered posts all about? Read the introduction to my Photo & 100 Words project and find out!
Aug 31, 2013
For those of you who don’t know me very well, I hate weddings. I know what you’re thinking: Who in their right mind could hate weddings? Well the answer is me, I do, but no comment on whether or not I’m in my right mind.
Well I’m in that period in my life when everyone and their mother is getting married, so I’m at least beginning to develop a numbness to all the poofy, showy, expensive nonsense of it all. But I’m not here to complain about weddings am I? No, today I’m going to be grateful for a wedding I went to.
Nearly two years ago my boyfriend’s best friend got married. We were sitting at our table, just after dinner when the DJ announced a game for everyone. If I remember correctly it was like hot potato only with a dollar bill. The dollar circled around the table and if it was in your hand when the music stopped you were kicked out of the game.
Well I won, then the DJ said with a big cocky grin, “Now pick up that centerpiece and give it to the person who originally supplied the dollar!” Well, the dollar was originally supplied by my ever generous boyfriend so I won twice! HaHa, joke’s on you Mr. DJ.
The centerpiece was a floral arrangement in a square glass vase with a big beautiful Gerbera daisy. So I took it home, pressed the flower, forgot about it, and recently discovered it again. Well thank you wedding for giving me an art opportunity, and thank you boyfriend for being such a winner!
This is the simple equation for those of you who are just a little curious, but if you’re a fellow Photoshop nerd scroll down below the photos for more details.
Want this hanging in your house? Just click on the photo to buy now!
When I first compiled these two images I thought I would come here to write a tutorial on how to give any image this opal like iridescence. I was oh so wrong though. Try as I did, I couldn’t get this effect with any other photo or photo combination.
In my Photoshop document I had two layers, with the flower image being on top of the candleholder.
I changed the opacity of the flower layer to 65% and changed the blending mode to color dodge.
Then I adjusted the hue to +11 and the saturation to +25.
The only thing I did to the candleholder layer was change the brightness to -23 and contrast to +100.
Then I merged the image together and silhouetted around the edge of the candleholder with the pen tool in order to get rid of the grey background.
That’s all there was to it, a bit of playing around, and a bit of luck!
