Happy New Year

The new year feels fresh and I have been trying to get rid of clutter and begin new projects and exercise and all sorts of healthy things. I feel like winter is over and that I am ready for spring with it's new beginnings. Our winter has been very mild and we have no snow on the ground. Soon it will be my birthday, always a time for taking stock. Always, for me a time of turning inward and perhaps changing directions or branching out...My husband made me a beautiful portable easel for shooting some of my work that I have moved in front of the window. I am excited about all the possibilities of shooting with a different light. I still need to shoot some snow scenes for next year and I am sure I will have the opportunity as we can have snow any month of the year at 4,000 feet. But for now, I am getting excited about traveling and seeing fresh sights through my lens. I love to work, it is my passion and my escape. Like everyone I get frustrated when I don't get the "perfect" shot. But there is always tomorrow.

I chose these three images..because I am really liking white and black and pink right now for one thing. It is really still winter...but these look fresh to me....This is a lama that I shot during a snow storm...and it's face just enchants me...it's buckteeth and markings. The small feather belongs to one of my little white hens and it is very simple ..and unspectacular...but it looks so soft and downy......and of course valentines day is just around the corner..so I am preparing myself...

Buffalos and Ballerinas

I am thinking I better change the name of my blog..because there is nothing FRESH about it...since I only post twice a year..my gosh!!!! So I was toying with the idea of Buffalos and Ballerinas....I think it is kind of catchy....:)
It's practically Christmas and then New Years and then My Birthday....oh my gosh!!!!
Where did the year go? I am always nostalgic this time of year..and I must admit maybe a bit melancholy.....Far from family and friends and childhood....I remember the holidays being so magical when I was a child...and now....well....I can't get very excited for some reason....too busy I guess...and, I do really miss my home.
But I have been super busy shooting....and I guess my photos this time are sort of home themed. I think people respond to images that remind them of home in some way. I know I do...even if it is only a home on wheels.
Happy Holidays everyone!!!

It's Still Summer Yay

This has been a super busy summer....I have taken 3 trips this year...and I am trying madly to get outside a little each day...we have such short summers where I live in Oregon.....It will be snowing before you know it...and I know people are already thinking about fall.....but my cherished peonies just bloomed....I have been trying to work on new products for Christmas..when all I want to do is shoot new work and read mysteries!!! I am excited to share that this month I have been featured in Poppy Talk's Handmade Market..which is quite an honor for me to be included with such smashing artists!
Here is a sampling of some of my new pieces.....

Bloggers Fever

I have to accept the possibility that I am not a blogger....I love blogs..they are so pretty....I love looking at the photos....but I am ashamed that I can not seem to keep on top of this....lately I have been shooting a lot.....my lovely friend Sarah of Tutus chic...
allowed me the use of her beautiful model Nicole for a quickie shoot this past week.....We really did not have time to do the model or outfits justice....however...I did come back with one phenomenal shot...It was so not my type of lighting.....or a backdrop that I would have consciously chosen....Which is good sometimes to shake things up....
I have gotten lots of positive feed back from other artists on this shot..which is unlike any of my other work...
Thanks to tutus chic and Nicole for this one!!! :)




There is this blog..which I haven't posted in since April!!!
And, now there is a fanpage on Facebook...
not to mention twitter..and I am basically an introvert...
so these forms of self promotion do not come easy for me..
You will know how much I love photography by the fact that I am forcing myself to do these things.
I do love to show my photos to the world online...and I am so honored to get positive feedback.

Meanwhile it is raining every other day in Oregon...
and I am lucky that I love the rain.....I spent the entire day shooting in the rain....
I have been photographing the ducks in the pond.....and I took a drive up to the lake....to check on my favorite "trees"...
There are three trees that I continually shoot..and I love to check on them in all kinds of weather...
And, I have been shooting little houses and trailers and experimenting a little...

Thanks so much for taking the time to read this post and for commenting.....it is so kind of you!!! :)
Hope everyone is having a lovely summer .....

Back In the Saddle

It is still snowing in the northwest where I live...but in other parts of this great big world...it is summer, spring, what have you!
I just returned from California where it was definitely spring...Beautiful rains and budding trees...and lots of sun......I was happy to get home to my little cozy place, but so sad to leave Los Angeles....I'll begin by posting a few of my favorite new photos.....which I shot on the beach in Malibu after a three day rain storm. The model is my friend modern/jazz dancer Jan Sizer. We collaborated with Gayle Davis Designs...who made this amazing Martha Graham inspired dance dress....I never saw the color of the dress until the morning of the shoot...She dyed the fabric in such a way to make the hem go from dark to lighter, as if wet...How incredible is the color she chose...it blends so organically into the sea and sky.
and how beautifully does the model capture the spirit of Martha Graham!!!! They did the work and I am so grateful that they allowed me to capture this moment...Hope you enjoy...

Is It Spring Yet?

I hardly know where to begin...it has been too long....The holidays were busy...with my little etsy shop and family...and now it is time to breathe....Time to be reborn..To become inspired and create new work...I feel snowed in...I AM snowed in!!! We don't have spring here until April or May. I feel ready for change though...ready for spring..and ready for different scenery. I have still been shooting snow scenes for next winter...but have a few new projects in mind. And, I am longing to create....These are just a few small things I have been working on while holed up this winter....and I am planning another photo trip...to get me out of my rut!!!
I am a homebody but I really have to travel for my work...so here goes nothing....Here is to a beautiful fresh start....to a brand new year of endless possibilities...

The Zen of Snowflakes

It has been very beautifully changing seasons here in the Pacific Northwest. I have been trying to capture...so many variations...the crisp fall leaves....which change colors daily for about 3 weeks...and then before you know it... gone! Each day the sky has so many colors....we are right next to the mountains...One day we will have fog.....drifting in mysterious shapes.....The next rain.....The next day breathtaking cloud formations....hiding all but one peak. And, then, without warning Snow....the first snow.

Last Sunday I dragged my husband out to drive me up toward the timberline to see if I could shoot any last bits of fall...in the forest....It was raining...it was a little before lunch...and I could tell he was bored..or annoyed? So often I go out..and don't come home with anything......It takes so much perseverance and patience...to create....

We headed back home...I was hoping for a nice mysterious fog to engulf us..and it just didn't happen....the fog was always just a little higher...the rain came down harder and we decided to head back for lunch...

An hour later...I looked out to see the first snow of the season....I grabbed my Japanese flute CD and my big old muck boots and my hideous gold ski coat....and camera and headed to the lake in a hurry...Because the flakes were big and soft and moist..and I knew they could disappear in a moment.

I thought I would leave my husband at home ....and that way I could make my way slowly up to the lake..stopping every other minute if need be..and see if I could find some deer or some magical occurrence. No pressure...and beautiful shakahuchi flute....accompanying me...

If you have read my blog before..and if you have bless you....for taking the time!! You will probably know I love haiku and have always wanted to go to Japan...so you can imagine my joy when I pulled over at the lake to see this amazing....zen like landscape....

I jumped out of the truck..and stood in the middle of the snow in absolute wonder...
It was one of those magical moments...outside of time ...when inner landscape and outer reality become fused. It did not look real...it was so still, peaceful, quiet....mystical.

When, I drove away, I passed by the boat launch..and there was the town's only Buddhist Monk in brown robes alone in the snow at the edge of the lake...We were the only two people there...

I remembered running with my dog in a torrential downpour in LA's Runyan Canyon.....there was only me and one other English man and his dog.. . As he passed me he said in greeting...."Couple of nutters we are..."

And, there you have it...the reason...I create...for that one mystical moment when time stands still And, the fact, that deep down...I really am a nutter :)