Recently, I had the pleasure of creating the poster art for TownFolk's third annual Victory Festival in addition to leading the art show and silent auction portion of the event. This year's festival theme was "flora and fauna" based on the growth and abundance currently at the garden. It means a lot to me to be able to help sustain the Victory Garden, which was created in Jillian Johnson's honor, through this yearly fundraiser.
The art show and silent auction was full of dozens of donations from local artists and businesses. I'd like to highlight a few of my personal favorite pieces:
Read MoreThis October, Rachel and I traveled to San Fransisco to meet up with each other, explore a city to new to both of us, and celebrate Halloween together like we used to in college. Little did I know ahead of time that I planned this trip during Terez and Andrew’s San Francisco honeymoon. I found out just a few weeks before the trip, so we were able to all met up several times throughout our time in the city. I got to see my two best girl friends in a San Francisco for the price of one! 💕
Read MoreHalloween is the most magical time of the year to be in New Orleans. By late October, the weather is finally feeling brisk, houses are decorated spectacularly with skeletons and cobwebs, and an enchanting mood sets over the city. Everything feels just a little more dreamlike.
For a few years, I spent my Halloweens visiting a group of friends in New Orleans in their magnificent Victorian-style home on St. Charles Avenue. The house was lavender-colored with huge ceilings, dazzling chandeliers, black wrought-iron lined balconies, and a ghost who, on occasion, left kisses on the downstairs hallway mirror. It was in this larger-than-life house that some of my favorite memories were made, dancing barefoot throughout the night in the hazy smoke of the fog machine to some of our favorite psychedelic songs.
Read MoreThese milk bath female figure studies feature three different women with three different body types. The models range from having a very thin frame to being 8 months into pregnancy. These images serve to empower each of the women in them and showcase their individual beauty in a way that makes them feel comfortable and beautiful. These images were not created for the male gaze, but rather for the women themselves.
By showcasing my models’ partially-unclothed bodies, I am working to de-stigmatize the female nude. To that end, the natural elements in the images (such as fruit, leaves, and flowers) were chosen to complement the natural beauty of the female form. I do not believe that there is anything inherently dirty or wrong about nudity; on the contrary, I believe that it is natural, and that it can be used for empowerment.
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