The Many Faces of Water

Water, I love it. I could sit forever and stare into a swimming pool, watching the water move, the shadows change as they slide and pop on the bottom of the pool. I love to watch bugs floating on the surface of a pool cast magical shadows on the bottom.

Everywhere I go I find water to take pictures of. I'm drawn to it and compelled to gaze into it. I love the light that dances off the face of water, changing the colors and casting insane specular stars of light all over my face and blinding me. I love floating in water and being deafened by its silence as I sink slowly into its body. I dream of breathing under water and swimming under vast glistening oceans. I'm so at home in water and feel a sweet kinship with it.

So here it is, my love affair with water and its many wonderful faces.

I have many of these images printed in a 22"x17" size and they are fabulous! My dream is to see them all at about 8'x10'!

Beautiful Morning!

Orange County is beautiful and it's a wonderful place to live. We have everything from the beach, to hiking. It has a ton of shopping and entertainment and its surrounded by art. Orange County is the home of Disneyland and Knott's Berry Farm. There's so much to do here you could be busy all the time. However, for those of us who live here busy is not always what we want.

The great thing for those of us who live here is there is always a place to go to find some peace and quiet. There are places all around to go and get away from the crazy 100 mph lifestyle. One of my favorites is my morning walk through the neighborhood. All the kids are in school and the morning rush hour is passed and I just get to walk along the path and smell all the plants and flowers. The morning light here is so fabulous I sometimes forget I'm supposed to be walking and stop to stare at the tiny pieces of light everywhere and feel the warm sun on my face.

I wanted to share some of these sweet spots of beauty that I enjoy on my morning walks. I also want to remind everyone that the wonderful thing about light is that its everywhere! So when you go out and remember to smell the roses don't forget to look for the light too!

Enjoy what it is you do to regroup and find your happy place and take a peek at mine.

The path, seriously how could one miss that?

Light even makes the back of a road sign look beautiful.

Each little piece of light matters.

The last two spots wait for me in my own backyard.

The Invisible Black Backdrop

One of my favorite past times is to play on Twitter. I could sit for hours and hours following the maze through websites, blogs, and facebook pages of a gazillion wonderful and creative people. I don't follow anyone that posts their play by play activities. However, I do follow some of the most creative and professional people from all over the world. I follow people from my cousin, Ryan to folks in Delhi, India and the UK.

Now, the UK brings me to a photographer I follow named Glyn Dewis. Glyn lives in Buckinghamshire, UK and he was one of the first photographers I followed. Somehow I saw a photo he had taken from his morning walk. It was an image of where he was walking and it was dark and cloudy and wonderful. I thought to myself how amazing it was to peek into another part of the world at such a quiet moment. I was hooked when I saw his work and his blog. Glyn's site is on my list of pages to check everyday.

Clearly a teacher at heart, Glyn Dewis posts many tutorials, how to's, and how I did's on his blog. After reading his tutorial about The Invisible Black Backdrop, I was truly amazed! Now, I understood this concept in the studio but never realized it could be done out and about in the real world. It made perfect sense and I couldn't wait to put it in my tool bag.

This setup makes it possible to have a studio portrait at any shoot. Thanks Glyn for the new tool and for the constant inspiration from across the big sea.

The set up outside on a rainy day

Kim and Emma.

I have glass walls so we threw a towel over the reflection.

perfect model

Bringing the light down and hanging the towel

And tah-dah, lovely image with lovely light

Kim took this last image and we printed it out on gallery quality paper and it was just fabulous. In about twenty minutes time, she had a beautiful portrait for her portfolio and Emma had a fun time of playing on her plastic house in the back yard.

Engagement of Ashley and Gary

This weekend my girlfriend, Kim (Kimberly Foster Photography) and I spent the afternoon taking pictures of a darling couple getting ready to start a life together. Ashley and Gary are getting married in June. They are both very sweet and very much in love, we could see that during the shoot. Their personalities were so fun to be around and both Kim and I are really looking forward to capturing pictures of their wedding day.
We spent our time with them at the Armory in Carlsbad which was a great location. There are several historical buildings that are super interesting and the place is surrounded by beautiful flowering bushes and old trees.

It was great fun!

Heart's Desire

Art, wonderful art, you call to me in the morning and sing your song to me in the evening. I have heard your calling all my life yet pushed you aside for the sake of money and security. My heart craved for you in the desert of my life. My insecurities strangled your quest for my heart.

Yet you called after me day after day, year after year and decade after decade. This gift God planted in my heart burned with a lifetime desire. I was taught that art would never provide for me or my family. I was told to leave the art to someone else, so I did.

Oh my beautiful art you squeezed through the cracks of my life for 40 years, showing your fantastical light in the dark corners of my heart. You made promises to me and whispered your desire to occupy my life.

Still, like a soldier, I carried on in a world of green wool and concrete. Hate and discontent engulfed my hours of work but in my home art began to seep through the walls and swoop down from the ceiling. Until that day, that wonderful when heaven was disguised as hell and God closed the door that separated me from my entire life. While I was alone in that empty room He took my heart in his hands and then He took my hands into His heart.

God changed my hands from a fighting, struggling, and strong woman into the hands of a servant, humbled and broken. It was in that weakness that I was given the gift I yearned for all my life. God created me to be an artist and now He could bless me with purpose. I began to walk in the shoes created for me when I was a child who saw the dew on a flower and the sparkle of water on a blade of grass. I again see who I am.

I entered my life again and this time I brought with me a sort of "Pandora's Box" filled with the beauty in this world called art. It's a world filled with love and hope and destiny. It is saturated with acceptance and freedom. I walked into my home and placed the box in my kitchen. When I opened the box my beautiful children embraced everything in it as though it was a box of dress-up clothes. They pulled the art out and wrapped themselves in it and they threw it around like confetti and glitter and each one of them painted their bedroom walls with it. My heart soared because I knew they were in love and I knew they would never have to suffocate art from their lives. My passion has taken roots in my home and my life and it grows like ivy through my motherhood, "daughterhood", sisterhood, and friendships.

Art my wonderful art, you call to me in the morning and sing your song to me in the evening.

Christmas is Coming, The Goose is getting Fat!

We are quickly approaching my favorite time of the year! As soon as Thanksgiving was over I began to decorate for Christmas. I am especially excited this year for the holiday because my Las Vegas family is coming out to stay!! I wanted to write a little about Christmas at our house so I quick took some shots of our decorations and thought I would share them.

The little snowman above is a painted ceramic piece that my Mom made when I was a little girl. It is the first decoration I put out every year. My first memory of it was on December 7th 1971. We had just moved into our condo (which I grew up in) and before we even had carpet on the floors I remember finding him in a box and putting him on the gas fireplace. So every year I start the holiday out by putting him on my fireplace mantel!!

Speaking of the fireplace, this is ours. My middle daughter and I love winter for so many reasons! One of the top three reasons has to be because we can finally have fires in the fireplace without looking crazy. Living in So. California we don't get cold weather very often so when we do Amanda and I light a fire!

Last year I looked everywhere for blue stockings. I guess it's weird to have blue stockings because no one sells them. I decided to make my own so I bought all the fabric and trimmings. Two days before Christmas I was still sewing and the sewing machine broke. Long story short, I hand sewed all five stockings in two days and I don't think I slept till they were done. Sewing is not my forte but the girls liked the colors and gems so I was happy.

Amanda's stocking

Emma's stocking- must have FANCY!

While we were decorating the mantel my youngest daughter Emma asked me if we were over doing it on purpose. My answer was YES! Of course we were over doing it! Besides this is the "Star Garland" and I just want to know if one can ever have too many stars?? I think NO.

sparkle sparkle!

Next is the "Jingle Bell Garland" Self explanatory...

While hanging this garland Amanda and I had loads of fun balancing on the back and arms of the couch with an occasional fall into the blinds.

Now onto the "Snowman Garland"! These little guys are so cute I would love to have them all over the house. They came from a Department 56 line called "SnowBiz". Unfortunately the line only lasted one year and they decided to stop making them. =( I was forced to add a couple of Pier 1 snowmen to thicken my collection...

This little snow biz guy is a candy dish

how cute is that??

We kind of feel like if it doesn't move we decorate it. Our house looks like the Christmas section in a department store...

Christmas books are a must! We use them like Christmas music! We only read them during the holidays and then they are gone until next year!! Right now we have them all over the living room tables.

As much as I love beautiful snow globes I keep cheap ones on the table so the children can carry them around and shake them all day long.

More stuff that didn't move...

Lastly, we have the tree! You would have to know me to really understand how I feel about the tree. Until last year I decorated the tree alone and believe me when I tell you how much heat I took for that.

First, you have to realize When I was a child I was never allowed to decorate the tree. My Mom made a beautiful tree with birds, velvet fruit, and satin ribbons. Crazy beautiful. Naturally, when I had my own place and tree I wanted to decorate it myself and for many years I did. Last year I realized someday I will be all alone again and will wish I had three little girls here to decorate my tree!

Last year Emma was the first child to decorate "my" tree and at 4 years old she did a wonderful job! My heart was blessed and it overflowed with a happiness I never knew before.

This year Amanda, Emma and I spent two days listening to Christmas music and decorating, as I said, everything in OUR house that didn't move!

I pray God blesses you during this CHRISTMAS season and fills your New Year with fantastical adventures and shenanigans!

And "May God bless us all everyone!"

- Tiny Tim