a studio of my very own ...

in a matter of weeks, my studio went from this to this:

it is soooooooo beautiful and turned out a million times better than i expected. 

i'm not sure i've ever worked as hard in such a short time, or been as stressed as i was that last week. 

thing is, i signed the lease just three weeks before the bi-annual open studios and badly wanted to be open for the occasion. needed to paint, hang lighting, edit and process photos, print, paint the wood boards, mount the photos, and print flyers. the day before open studios, i moved in. brought in furniture, hung the photos, put up signage, etc, etc, etc. 

so many glitches, and yet so many more things went unimaginably smoothly. people kept showing up at just the right time to help. one of my oldest friends and a brand new friend (met her the week before) gave so much of their time, talent and energy to help pull this thing together. it would have been absolutely impossible without all the help i received.

it seems that the universe is saying to me, clearly and loudly: YES! and helping me along my way. all week, i kept saying "thank you" right back when things were easy and flowing smoothly, and i said it a lot.

many friends came out to show their support:

and my very first sale was to young lauren who bought a small ttv piece for her mom for mother's day:

here are some more views of my little 13' x 16' space:



and my signs outside my doors turned out awesome! (designed them myself, i just love to design.)

we're open again this weekend, so if you're in the area, come on by!

ICB building, 450 gate five road, sausalito.

saturday 11- 4:30, sunday 11-12.

it's gonna be awesome!

 

tracey clark's motto is: "it's gonna be awesome."

and it was!!!

day two of tracey's workshop, held at teahouse studios, started with a photo walk. i focused on my fellow classmates sharon ...

and julia ...

and even a little boy in the park ... 

then some color in the park ... 

and of course, flowers ... 

yesterday i practiced shooting ttv (through the viewfinder) with a vintage camera in the studio. decided to bring in my dad's rolleiflex today, though i was sure it wouldn't work because there's a focusing circle and gridlines on the glass. tracey encouraged me, "just try it!" and so i did, with pretty cool results. i am definitely NOT going to clean that glass!

in the afternoon, tracey taught us how to make sun flares!

here's one of stef ...

and one of tracey ... 

she is awesome!

an uplifting, inspiring weekend, full of passion for photography and lovely, lovely women.

so. much. fun.

such light

 

big fun with tracey clark today. my first time to meet this inspiring woman face to face. she's the rockstar of expressive photography, founder of shutter sisters. in person, she's even more lovely, authentic, crazy talented, and warm as i found her to be online. but taller than i had imagined!

 

 

all day in stef's gorgeous and inviting teahouse studio space.

yummy, happy day. new friends, cameras, beauty, sweetness and light. mmmmmm.

the benefits of photo coaching

i've been teaching private photography classes lately. here is one of my current favorite portrait techniques.

have your subject sit and look right up into your lens while you stand above. shoot with an extremely narrow depth of field. manually focus on the eyes. make sure you're not focusing on the nose or the ears! 

this perspective is flattering to the subject, while allowing the photographer to include hints of information in the background.

works like a charm. even with me. i happen to be incredibly unphotogenic. it's true and i'm ok with it. it's like having brown eyes. it is just this way. but every once in awhile, someone will make a nice picture of me.

i'm so proud of my student for many things, including this image of yours truly!

 

let go. relax.

the day after one of the roughest weeks i've had in years and losing rocky boy ... i headed to a week at the ranch.

rancho la puerta, that is. those of us who've been there before, we just call it "the ranch." a health spa. a treat to myself for my 50th BD. worth every penny.

one full week of pure bliss. the grounds, gardens, facilities, food, and setting about as gorgeous and tasteful as could possibly be, with a rustic mexican sensibility. at the base of a sacred mountain. where everyone hikes starting at 6:30am, to kick off the day with golden boulders, fresh air, and meandering conversations with new friends.

i needed that week. i needed that 9am stretch class every day. i needed to walk along the garden paths. i needed that mountain. i needed those 8pm massages right before bed (!).

the first few days were about letting go, especially in the quiet moments. letting go of that last week with rocky, letting go of the to-do lists in my head, letting go of old ideas of how life should be.

the rest of the week was simply about moving my body in the mornings and relaxing in the afternoons. relaxing, as in falling asleep in the lounge chair by the pool. and sitting in the stone jacuzzi at sunset and watching the water spray dance in the light. 

i hadn't been that relaxed in YEARS. my system needed it. my heart needed it. and i am so grateful to have been able to go. 

* highly recommended *

my sweet rocky boy

 

my sweet rocky went to kitty heaven today.

 

he was the best cat. sweet, soulful, and smart, with big curious eyes, and extra toes making his paws seem extra large. he liked using those mitts (thus the name rocky); he had a penchant for opening closet doors. and he had just the right sensibility when it came to snuggling. not completely in my face like my other (bratty) cat, but always around, sleeping at the foot of the bed but never pinning my feet under the covers. we lived well together.

i'd never been sure how old he was because i got him as an adult from the humane society. and i'm sad to say he did not die from old age. 

i'm not 100% sure, but i think he ate some leftover grass after my yard was sprayed for weeds. normally i wouldn't have the yard sprayed, but all the grass and plants had been ripped out in preparation to completely redo the yards. the gardeners chose a supposedly non-toxic and organic spray, and i OKed it. the label said it was safe.

the main ingredients in this spray are clove oil and citric oil. sounded harmless enough to me, natural, essential oils. great. but our vet explained citric oil is toxic to cats. 

i will be so much more careful in the future. but i thought this information was worth sharing. it could save a kitty's life.

this is the last photo i took of rocky this last week, trying to coax him to drink water.  

do you ever?

do you ever feel like this? 

today i do. dazed and confused and unable to focus. or get anything done. like poor barbie here. 

maybe i should just sit in the garden and smile.

older now

 

so i'm fifty now. older now. wiser sometimes. 

more and more, i find myself. find myself wanting myself. wanting what's really in there. to come out. 

as for the others, they may see me as old. 

i see me as me.

 

found this poem just now. another moment of serendipity. they happen more and more ...

 

WEATHERING by fleur adcock

My face catches the wind

from the snow line

and flushes with a flush

that will never wholly settle.

Well, that was a metropolitan vanity,

wanting to look young forever, to pass.

I was never a pre-Raphaelite beauty

and only pretty enough to be seen

with a man who wanted to be seen

with a passable woman.

 

But now that I am in love

with a place that doesn't care

how I look and if I am happy,

happy is how I look and that's all.

My hair will grow grey in any case,

my nails chip and flake,

my waist thicken, and the years

work all their usual changes.

 

If my face is to be weather beaten as well,

it's little enough lost

for a year among the lakes and vales

where simply to look out my window

at the high pass

makes me indifferent to mirrors

and to what my soul may wear

over its new complexion.

oh special day

spent my big birthday in boulder. doing things i love with people i love ... 

walked around with my camera ...  

photo fun at lunch ... 

browsing one of my favorite spots in boulder, among the vietri dishes at peppercorn on pearl street. mmmmm ...

then a three-and-a-half hour dinner at the best (ambiance + food) restaurant in town ...  

with fab folks who chose tasty wine ...

and told exotic stories of their days in india and kathmandu ...  

 

they didn't sing happy birthday too loudly ... 

the gals didn't want their pictures taken, so i snapped away at the table.

a lovely day ... feels like the start of a very good year/decade!