Friday, January 13, 2012

I think I'm in love

In love with the idea of a 1978 VW T2 Devon Camper that is....

Oh my gosh, I've never been so jealous or intoxicated with the idea of something (besides spending the rest of my life on Mount Desert Island).
Anyway, I came across this person's blog somehow. She lives in London. And her & her husband bought this run down VW camper and completely re-did it (beautifully & with an amazing amount of detail) making it one of the greatest things I've ever seen!!!! Oh my gosh! I can't get over it! SERIOUSLY...I WANT ONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Here are the before & after photos!

















Link to her blog is here: www.junkaholique.com/p/bit-about-me.html

Thursday, January 12, 2012

Paloma Faith

It was a couple years ago I discovered Paloma Faith. I'm waiting for her to come out with a second album. Seems she has hit it off big over in Europe but not here in the United States yet. I think she is cute as can be, quirky, theatrical, and has a mouth the reminds me of Freddie Mercury. Oh, and did I mention she has fabulous taste in outrageous shoes. Gotta love that!




Artist Sarah Trouche

I came across this French born artist on the internet, and was struck by her nude & surreal photographs. I think I am always easily captivated by photographs involving the nude figure in natural as well as civilized environments. I always wonder though what drives artists to use nudity in their work, as I am an artist that does the same thing.

I found a short statement from this artist in which she said:

"Live, photographer, video based artist. i try to always interogate my immediate environment by short lived actions that i photograph."

But I think "Why?"


“My work is everything that engages my curiosity
drawing painting dance sculpture video installations
It is performance
“l’instant pregnant” – a moment frozen in time and space, in a unique frame of suspension
A short-lived moment that summarizes the entire story
You stand as i perform; you make your trip
the trip becomes a ritual, mine and yours
A collective time, sacred in action
a “mise en scene” of symbols, constructing a new time and space
My work is about this time “in between”
it is experience, composition, color,
“entre ciel et terre
entre rêve et réalité
entre légèreté et pesanteur”






All images by Sarah Trouche

More at her website: http://www.sarahtrouche.com/

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Bone

I came across this poem by Mary Oliver that I wrote out by hand at some point several years ago in one of my travel journals.
It made me so happy to see it today, and so I'll post it here.

Today I became a CRNA. A goal that I have had now for many years. I'll tell that story another time.
But now, just this lovely poem. I am so hopeful about the upcoming year.


Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Less Apologies

I came across a quote today that reminded me of some so called "darkness" I feel I have lurking about at times.


Relationships are perplexing, confusing, and mixed sometimes with good & bad. But why do I hang onto certain people when it only seems they bring me sadness or frustration?

People come and go throughout your life. Sometimes it seems people that are close inyour life may love or like you but they are also jealous of you or envy you.

I don't want this around me in my life. I'm tired of wasting time or energy wondering what their intentions are with me.

Instead, this year I will only focus on the good friendships and cultivating the new friendships I have been blessed to make.


Stop spending time with the wrong people. – Life is too short to spend time with people who suck the happiness out of you. If someone wants you in their life, they’ll make room for you. You shouldn’t have to fight for a spot. Never, ever insist yourself to someone who continuously overlooks your worth. And remember, it’s not the people that stand by your side when you’re at your best, but the ones who stand beside you when you’re at your worst that are your true friends.

~from Caroline




Image from etsy shop: http://www.etsy.com/shop/shirae?ref=seller_info

Monday, January 2, 2012

Photographer Ellen Rogers

I don't even remember where I came across the work of Ellen Rogers, but it is more than fair to say that I fell absolutely madly in love with her work the second I saw it....

And it encompasses a personal philosophy I hold, something close to me, but that I wish was much closer- that is the love of traditional photography methods & alternative methods (which is basically the same thing as saying everything NON-Digital....)

Her work is shot with film, developed, and printed by hand in the darkroom and hand colored and manipulated. I love it! And it is lovely to come across an artist as skilled both technically and creatively as her.... Below are all images by Ellen Rogers as well as excerpts from a recent interview.



Most of your photographs feel like dreams. Is there a clear boundary between dreams, perception and reality?


Oh yes, I am very aware of that boundary. To live in a dream would be of severe detriment to me and my work. In fact the very understanding of these differences is what enables a capable artist to utilise it. A dreamscape is a tool as is the camera, or the idea of it. I can harbor them as a writer harbors their language. All too often when I meet new people they expect something quite specific of me; for me to be a rather ethereal waif like creature who spews poetry or creeps in shadows. Facets of my existence lay there but in truth I am much more resourceful, hardy and deeply competitive, with a very real tom boy quality. I need these qualities to do what I do. These images do not appear as before a dream. They take consideration, careful planning, large deals of orchestration and boisterous determination. I am very awake.






What is beauty to you? And what’s the most beautiful moment/thing you have seen in your life?


I have certainly seen true beauty as a psychical manifestation in a person, in my muse Hana and I might look at my lover and see beauty but I am in love so that is biased. My Mother was pure beauty in my life and I keep looking for her essence everywhere. I suppose beauty is too varied to be pin pointed to one moment, or mortal description. Meeting a very close friend was a moment of clarity and beauty for me last year.


If you had to choose only one of your photographs, which one would be the closest to your heart and why?


Hana with flowers.
Because it is the only photo I have of my mother’s flowers left at her funeral.


While photographing, you become kind of a director. What are the most important qualities to do such work? Do you strictly know, what you do want models to do and background to look like or does it work completely differently?


I think one of the hardest things to do is toget the models into character. By which I mean, what their makeup and hair looks like, how well I will work with a particular stylist. This all takes a lot of prepping between the team and the group as a whole. We all need to pull together and stand our ground. Sometimes all the hair and makeup will be finished and I’ll say, oh no-not like that, or perfect! And we go from there, the styling is not my territory so I leave that to the experts but it’s a large part to play. The location, that’s usually my responsibility and these places, they will already have their own developed characters… I just let them talk.




http://www.ellenrogers.co.uk

New Year's 2012 Austin

Today is the first day of the rest of your life.
-Anonymous





We were in Austin celebrating with close friends the coming of the new year. I have celebrated the coming of years in many different ways, sometimes at parties, some outside, some watching movies, and other years I just slept right through it....but this year was certainly different. It marked the ending of my life as a "graduate student," and the beginning of what I feel like is "the rest of my life."








So what will you do this coming year? How will you make the most of it? What will you do differently? What will you do the same?






Will you laugh more?




Smile more?



Stretch more?






Party more?






Connect more?










So here is to us, and here is to you, that we reflect on what we are & should be thankful for...that we reveal to ourselves what we have learned in the last year. I have learned that patience and perseverance are "key" to so many endeavors. I am incredibly grateful for my husband and my family and quality friends. May we learn to help others each and everyday in some small or large way.

“Your life does not get better by chance, it gets better by change.” –Jim Rohn









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