Happy Holidays!

Merry Christmas to friends and strangers, near and far. I look forward to encouraging, creating and capturing smiles and special moments with you and yours in 2011 and beyond!

Jeremy Cowart wears his art on his sleeve

Jeremy Cowart, founder of the global Help-Portrait movement, says that he wears his heart on his sleeve. I say he wears his ART on his sleeve. Talk about courage. Talk about generosity. And talk about going in front of a LIVE worldwide audience to create your art in real time. And not just any ole art, but experimental portraits that are each unique and one of a kind - glitter, laser beams and all. Thank you Jeremy and I can't wait to see what you teach us today in Day 2 of your creativeLIVE workshop.

Tamara Lackey Behind the Scenes Day 2

A picture is worth 1000 words, right? This morning I have a number of behind the scenes photos to share from yesterday's brain-overloading workshop with the never-ending-energy-filled Tamara Lackey at creativeLIVE. Tune in to Day 3 where we'll discuss Clients, Sales, Business, & Life. Time to get deep.

Behind the Scenes - Day 1 with Tamara Lackey

Day 1 of Tamara Lackey's creativeLIVE 3-day workshop on children's portraiture is a dream come true. So many wonderful insights today, but my greatest AHA was on a personal note. As Tamara described her career pre-pro-photographer, all I heard in my head was - wait, that's so MY story! Job in the corporate world - feeling like it wasn't at all what i was called to do - take time to travel - came back to corporate job - oh no! - this still isn't for me - and finally allowed myself to take a leap of faith to build my photography business. Thank you Tamara for validating my career flip decision!

Watching Tamara interact with her subjects (kids and parents alike) during the "To The Tapes!" section of today's session was so inspiring. I'm definitely going to read some child psychology books to help me get in tune with my kiddo subjects. Tamara advised us to recognize who the kids are and get into their world - connect, quickly. Time to get some sleep, but wanted to give a shout out to our in-class workshop participants who flew to Seattle from around the globe to learn from Tamara directly. I look forward to seeing them in action tomorrow as they get a chance to shoot children in the creativeLIVE studio. You'll rock it! Here are some behind the scenes shots from today:

Day 2 starts in less than 10 hours - woot! woot!

Artist Reception at the Bottlehouse - 11/18 7-9pm

I humbly invite you to join me tomorrow, Thursday, November 18th 7-9pm for my Artist Reception at the charming Bottlehouse in Madrona (Seattle).

Where: Bottlehouse, 1416 34th Ave, Seattle, Wa 98122

When: Thursday, November 18th, 7-9pm

Why: because Third Thursdays are for celebrating art at the Bottlehouse every month!

The show includes both giclee and aluminum prints of images from my travels around the world, set in hand-crafted frames made from reclaimed materials.

Bring a friend or two!

Thank you to Soni & Henri at the Bottlehouse for hosting this show!

Gabe the Babe

There was this guy in college named Gabriel. My ladies and I called him Gabe the Babe. Upon meeting Stacia & Karl's wee little Gabriel for his newborn photo shoot, I began what seems to be sticking as his new nickname. Sure, it might fade away after his newborn-babeness turns into toddlerhood. But rest assured, come 18 years from now this no-longer-little guy will be cheering on the Fighting Irish while freshman girls giggle and whisper, "look - it's Gabe the Babe!" Thank you Stacia & Karl for welcoming me to create a cozy studio in your home. Props to grandma, grandpa and uncle for joining in the fun!