Music Video ... Wednesday

I am a little backlogged with posting videos, but that's because life has been busy. Well. Relatively busy. More so, relaxingly busy as I usher in the new year in my fantastic little apartment with a decorated Christmas tree, a cat, and the best boy in all the land.

I did a little bit of online boxing day shopping in the form of Urban Outfitters and it's fabulous sale. I picked up a whole heap of thrifty faux eyelashes (some just $1.99!!)  for upcoming shoots, some adorable knee socks, and something I have been searching for for nigh on twenty years: DECENT BUNNY SLIPPERS. Wheee!

iTunes also had a super awesome sale this week as well, and I reaped in the benefits via gifted iTunes gift cards! So, in the spirit of posting awesome music videos, here is a song I grabbed today that I can't stop listening to: Devil Spoke by Laura Marling.

 

 

Love : This necklace.

Dodecahedrons by Spinthread on Etsy.

Things That Amaze Me : The Miniature Pencil Art of Dalton Ghetti

Dalton Ghetti is a Brazilian miniature pencil artist. Using a razor blade, sewing needle and sculpting knife he is able to build these spectacular tiny creations. According to the article, Miniature Art on the Tip of A Pencil, his longest work took two and a half years to complete. Outside of that, most of his works take at least months to complete.

 

Source : Here  and Here.

Head shots of Elizabeth!

A couple of weeks ago I took some head shots of Elizabeth for her portfolio. She did an amazing job! Here are a few.

This semester in one post!

The Christmas season is always a busy one! School is finished for the semester, and I'm now in possession of a GIANT WOODEN CANVAS PAINTING OF MY FACE. Thanks Painting class! I have no idea where I'm going to hang it, but I am considering leaving it in the most uncomfortable place possible. Like glaring down at passersby from our balcony or some such. I also made a collage representing a newspaper article, and a huge painting dedicated to Sarah Harmer. I love Sarah Harmer because it seems like every major life event I've experienced in the last ten years can be easily referenced in one of her songs. I can't wait to start next semester, as well as a few big photography projects I have on the go.

Below are some images from the last semester's art projects!

Elizabeth applies Emily's makeup. The resulting image was used blown up to 11x17 and featured Emily lying in the woods. 

Here is my collage on canvas. It's about the newspaper article referencing my grandpa's fire in 1997.

GIANT BOX OF NEGATIVES! I went through some of my old film negs to pick out a few photos to blow up to 11x14 for my final photography portfolio.

Just taken with my cell phone, the final collage and painting self portraits. One element from the collage fell off after I displayed it, so it still waiting to be reapplied. The collage was probably my favourite part of all to do. And, alas, the painting could have used a touch more blending but ... what can I say. Semesters are crazy and I was in a rush to get everything done and handed in!

From my project with Carolyn McKenna we did a photo shoot entitled, "Let the Sunshine In". Here is one of the extra images from the shoot. 

Can't wait for next semester and its sure to be awesome projects! But for now, super excited about the holidays and the impending trip for coffee Jamie and I will be making in T-minus 20 minutes. Hooray coffee!

Music Video Monday : Cosmic Love!

Film, Field In Murillo, 2004

Sometimes I really, really miss NWO. I don't think I could live there full time again, it's just that I miss the history, and the memories, but sometimes most of all, the feel of walking through a field, the sound of birds overhead, and walking through the country on cool summer days.

Christmas Wishlist 2010!

Every year I like to make a pretty concise wishlist of fantastic Christmas shopping finds, for myself and for others.

Yesterday Jamie and I did our first round of Christmas shopping, which somehow lead to us coming home with a small bag of Rocky Mountain chocolate, two scarves and a Lush vanilla and honey bath bomb... for our selfishes. However, on the plus side, we did make a solid plan for our Christmas cards this year which are going to be AWESOME.

Without further delay, here is my Christmas Wishlist / Gift Ideas for 2010!

1. Some of the amazing jewelery from Justine Brooks. 

2. This Urban Outfitters Laundry Bag. Maybe it's the ruffles, maybe it's the colour, or maybe it's the fact that most of my laundry somehow ends up on top of our dresser and drives Jamie CRAZY, but I have been pining away for this super awesome laundry bag forever now. 

3. A delightful iScarf from Lolita's Luggage. It comes equipped with a little pocket for your iPod! Sweet!! And she's local!

4. So very in love with this birdcage lamp from ModCloth. I don't know where I'd put it, but it'd sure be pretty.

5. I have an obsession with owls, so check out this adorable Leo the Owl Bank from UO.

6. I bought this yesterday, but national treasure Holly Black recently came out with an anthology lovingly called ZOMBIES VS UNICORNS!!!11 and it pretty much knocks my socks right off.


7. The Unbearably Cute Wallet from ModCloth.

8. Currently for sale at our local Book Man, Out of Print Clothing offers the most delightful tshirts referencing the covers of old classic books. I, personally, am a big fan of the "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" tshirt. 

9. This clutch from Anthropologie makes me think of the kind of night where you get completely dolled up, put your hair up 1960's style, and down shots of Scotch in between discussing politics and smoking fancy cigars. 

10. Fall in love with this Nest Ring from Fey Handmade.

 

11. Give a well-loved secondhand book from the Book Man. 

12. A custom camera strap. This one from High Key is pure win.

12. While you're at it, embrace film photography again with the Diana Dreamer. So pretty!

That's it for now! I have a date with a coffee and a couch and a mountain of homework. Can we say : one self portrait painting, one abstract self portrait painting, one collage covered with EnviroTex referencing newspapers, another technical project, a 20 photograph photography portfolio (10 film and 10 digital), one final project for photography featuring zinnias, balloons, cupcakes and vintage televisions, a paper about Marie Antoinette's clothing, two websites, a commercial, a super fun photo shoot, and probably something I'm momentarily forgetting. Whew.

Music Monday : Tallest Man On Earth - Live

via my cousin Melissa. :)

Please Do Not Feed the Birds, film, 2003.

More from the old film files,

Music Video Monday : William Fitzsimmons

LOVE. I can't stop listening to "Derivatives" specifically, but I have yet to found music by this man that I don't immediately fall in love with. Listen to that voice, listen to those words. What a sad, heartfelt man. Makes me want to invite him over for comforting amounts of pie.

Down memory lane...

I used to take film ALL THE TIME. I didn't have access to my first digital until around 2004 or so, and I hated the quality I got from the images. Carting around a tiny compact digital camera was a lot easier than lugging around my giant SLR, but looking back now, the quality is just not even comparable. These days, it's the opposite. I still take film, but rarely. I recently used a large format camera and developed the negatives myself, which is always interesting. Even though it's not convenient, there is something to be said to getting back to the roots of photography and really throwing yourself into the entire process of creating the image. It's a little bit like Christmas when you pull those negatives out of the wash and see, hey! There are IMAGES ON THERE!!!!

I was looking through my flickr the other night with Jamie and we were kind of going through some of the pictures -- images we had completely forgotten taking, places we had been, looking at how crazy fast three years can pass.

Below are some of my favourite film images. Nothing recent (I haven't scanned my new film stuff in forever -- but will be doing so soon.) -- just a few images I took when photography first held onto my heart. Please excuse some of the scan quality --- all of this stuff needs to be rescanned.

Melissa at the Italian Festa, 2003

Mel at McKenzie Falls, 2003. This is also the day I almost drowned. 

Melissa, 2003. At one of our favourite places to walk to -- the big Gravel Pit.

My cousin Melissa, 2003.

Becky, 2004.

My two best friends since we were very, very small. 2004.

Alicia painting the sign for Mountain Fresh Farms. 2004.

Super old, picture of my cousin Gen. 1999.

My Nan's dresser, 1999.

My Aunt Isabel calling her horses, 2003.

Just some little things...

1. Is it weird that this year's number one Christmas wishlist item is an embroidered floor pillow from Urban Outfitters? Because it's pretty awesome, and I can see it planted right beside our fireplace.

2. A big chunk of the Let the Sunshine In photo shoot can now be seen on flickr!

3. My best friend Mellers recently posted this whole thing on facebook about a $400,000 ancient bungalow for sale in my old city, and it made me start wandering down memory lane, checking out various houses. (The house my parents lived in when they first got married is up for sale, for instance! And Mel's old house, where we used to stay up late watching taped "Elvis and Me" made for tv movies, relaxing out on her trampoline and hanging out in her room -- which was at one point plastered with posters of Leonardo DiCaprio as pulled out of Teen Beat, etc.) Which in turn lead to Jamie and I looking up local houses in Chilliwack, which in turn made me totally fall in love with this pretty little house. I would paint the walls in all light colours, turn the upstairs into a little light filled studio and putter around in the garden planting heliotrope and gladiolas. Awesome.

4. Another shot (tinted) of The Magician!

Music Video Monday : Lissie + Ellie Goulding

Let the Sunshine In! : Sneak Peek continued!

I love when fall falls back! Today I am going to make Finnish pancakes, Hoito-style. Autumn always puts me in a cooking sort of mood, because last night I whipped up a batch of Italian Wedding Soup for Jamie and I (basically: cook carrots, celery, onions (optional), 2 cloves of garlic and zucchini in the bottom of a big pot, add in a large can of diced tomatoes, then two containers of chicken or veg stock, salt, pepper, fresh thyme and rosemary, some chunks of kale or spinach, and either little meatballs or Italian sausage .. and ta da! Soup!), with big chunks of fresh bread and a little bit of cheddar. Mmmmm. Not to mention that tonight Jamie's mom is making Komler, a super delicious Norwegian dumpling. I have put in a request for Jamie to bring me some at work! Hooray!

I went to the Evans school shopping fair yesterday with my mom -- it started out as a day full of homework and photo editing, so I had on the closest thing to pajamas I could muster in public. Somehow, this turned into a day of shopping fairs, hunting down Krispy Kreme donuts for a very excited Jamie, and lots and lots of coffee. My favourite part of the shopping fair was Lolita's Luggage -- beautiful knit items, including the most clever and awesome scarf ever. It has a pocket for your iPod! Check out her etsy shop here.

I have another photo shoot currently in the works, and it all depends upon the location, but stay tuned for updates and announcements about it! Below are some further images from the Let the Sunshine In shoot, a collaboration between Carolyn McKenna and myself. MUA : Elizabeth Toney, and modeling by Emily Hamel and Lacy Banks.

Cupcakes and Dreams

I will give a gold star to anyone who realizes I referenced that from Cocktail. Except instead of "Cocktails" I put into the title exactly what Tom Cruise, of course, meant to say. Cupcakes are soooo much better.

There was a photo shoot around the wilds of Chilliwack this weekend, avec a lovely, huge, super irritating to maneuver but neat to integrate large format camera, and of course, my trusty 7d. This was also my very first collaborative photo shoot, as my good friend and fellow photographer Carolyn also shot and planned with it. It was a ton of work, mainly because we put together a multiple person shoot within the span of ten days, but somehow I have an entire portable car trunk filled to the brim with the most random and wonderful junk. ... My entire backseat is currently crammed with balloons, fun shoes, crazy costumes and probably about a million safety pins, which came in handy.

Here is a sneak peek of the images -- nothing is going to be officially released until Carolyn and I get together this week to rummage through all the images. Once again the amazing Elizabeth Toney did hair and makeup, and this time a friend and fellow classmate Jane came out to carry things, take stills, and be awesome. Thank you to everyone who was involved! Including models Emily, Crystal, Lacy, Shelly and Tasha!

Sneak peek!

Music Video Monday : Wax Philosophic

Straight out of my hometown of Thunder Bay and filmed by Damien Gilbert, one of my old film school alumni ... fantastic video for Wax Philosophic's "Devil In a Red Dress".

Carnival : The Greatest Show On Earth!

Images from August's Carnival photo shoot are now going up on Flickr. Life is extra busy now (isn't it always?) but I'm in the process of : editing some photos taken last week for Head to Toe Restoration, preparing for some more commercial photography this week, as well as priming and painting a board that will eventually feature Bat for Lashes' giant head on it. (I have to admit, I'd like to be further along on this project than I am and am currently in the "It's due in a week!" freak out stage.) Today I'll be doing a class presentation with Carolyn on the Rococo period, aka, one of my favourite fashion periods of history. The dresses and garments were insanely beautiful, although I do have to wonder how extra creepy everyone looked with their white zinc makeup, belladonna enhanced pupils and highlighted blue veins. Beyond all that, somehow, mysteriously, I busted up my foot real good so have been hobbling around town lately. No idea what I did to it, but at least Advil works.

Also, soon the redesign will begin for this website. The blog will still be available for updates, but there is also a facebook page you can join! 

Here are some images from the Carnival!