I love babies!

This is Baby Sebastian’s nursery…painted and prepared well before he breathed his first breath. I was asked to paint the 3 baby animal characters, and I adore them Here are some highlights. Annete did a great job decorating the room too! Everything came together lovely! Stay tuned for Sebastian’s newborn photo shoot…

Let me know if you are interested in a mural

I haven’t quite decided which one is my favorite… maybe the giraffe?

I try to take my camera to as many performances as I can. This time, the atmosphere was lovely at El Cid (the food looked good too!)….later in the evening I was so happy that we stumbled upon this hidden room. Arthur and I were just waiting around until Omar came back when we turned a small dark corner disguised with a curtain. This burnt reddish orange curtain from what seemed like the 70s. He peeked in and flipped the switch. It was some sort of dressing room, but we called it a green room and explored while we waited. It had such a cool feel to it because it was aged. Plus, Arthur standing inside of it just added to the style of the room. I got excited and started snapping away. Eventually Omar came back, and it was the perfect opportunity to get some band portraits. It was the perfect setting because it fit their style of music. I hope this gets featured one day in an episode of “Before they were Stars” on VH1.

You guys will get there…

I put some toning into this one because I couldn’t help it. It looked like a film photograph (As did most of the rest)…Love it.

Okay, so I already had a post ready to show you all the other photos from the baby shower. The fun and games portion. But, then…I came across a photo that I just LOVED…but knew that I would love it even more if I could get creative with it.  I haven’t done this in forever.  Right after I took the picture I knew that it was going to be special, I just didn’t know to what degree. It was in the beauty of Stephanie and the candid moment.  I love taking photos of people when they’re not looking.

So, let’s back track a little bit.  Before I settled on photography, I was all wrapped up in art…every kind of art you could think of. I wanted it ALL. To do it ALL.  I started out in a more design area. Graphic Design, magazine layouts…I was always creating things. Once my brother, Matt showed me how to use masks, I took it and ran! . I mixed my love for photography with design, lettering…and I would create these layered art forms. I call them art forms because well, I don’t see them as photography. Not that either is better than the other…just that I recognize them as different systems.  Back in the day, I was somewhat of a photoshop queen (I used “Photo Deluxe” before I had ever heard of photoshop)…I mastered it early because I had always had images, designs, colors and everything in my head.  All I had to do was make it come alive.  So, I punched out composite after composite of sometimes 10-15+ images/text, you name it into one photoshop canvas.  It was amazingly fun and I would get so caught up in it.  After I discovered my next love of painting…I realized that I had soooo many saved up and created that WHY not PAINT them?  I had an extreme fascination with color and flowers. Every color. Every flower. I also had a fixation in creating movement in my paintings with these elements. Which you can notice if you see some of my oldpaintings/ink drawings.

Anyway…as I progressed in my artistic journey (just as any artist goes through phases), I began to recognize that mesing with photoshop using photographic images and graphic elements wasn’t quite the same as straight up “out of the can” photography.  Photography is an art form in itself. Getting the lighting, focal length, sharpness, drama took time to perfect.  So, I continued down that road.  I wanted to master that to strengthen my creativity and quality of images. Then, becoming a photojournalist spiraled me down another hole toward capturing real moments, and that was a trick to master as well.   I kept telling myself to stay true to keeping the photography real.  But, I have two sides battling each other. I love to paint. Painting is the opposite of photography to me.  It’s working backwards…or vice versa depending on how you look at things. You start with a blank canvas and just go to work. The image isn’t always there in your head instantaneously. It’s certainly takes me more time to do studies, mess with mediums, play with colors, brushes and the whole nine yards. I don’t ever have time to sit and paint. I’ve got tons of ideas stored up to paint (most of which stem from the images I photograph..usually a complete layered composite). I guess I just never make the time.  Maybe that’s the real heart of it. Sometimes I feel more overwhelmed with the ideas I have stored up, that instead of making them tangible, I just don’t do anything, Kind of like when you get super busy coming and going, your room gets messier, and then when it’s finally hit the limit and you have to clean….you just don’t know where to start. I’m also super focused on my business as well, so that takes some time out of the game.  But, in this instance of editing photos I rolled with the punches. I got out of my set schedule of things…and welcomed the thought of being side tracked.  The flowers, the color, the pretty image of Stephanie,  the idea of a newborn baby and the beauty in carrying that life within…I just went with it.  I plan on painting it.  I hope it just doesn’t get lost in the list of painting ideas, so I’m going to aim to make it a priority.  I usually don’t show my painting ideas, but maybe this time it will keep me accountable…so that I actually set out to paint it.  I think I would appreciate it so much more if I painted it. Really, the challenge is making time.

I saw it from a mile away. I hadn’t been nourishing the artistic side in me enough. It’s time to change it up a little.

And because I couldn’t choose between the two, maybe you all can tell me which one is your favorite 

This is an old painting from college. There’s actually two more small square canvases but then wouldn’t fit in the picture. Oil & Acrylic on Canvas. This was during my deep red and warm tones color phase.

I don’t like looking at old artwork, but  I thought I’d share.