VANITAS

“Vanitas is a specific genre of 17th-century Dutch still-life painting that acts as a memento mori, symbolizing the worthlessness of worldly pleasures and goods (wealth, art, knowledge) against the inevitability of death.”

Memento mori (latin for “remember you must die”) and vanitas art emerged in response to 17th-century Dutch capitalism, reminding the prosperous of life's transient nature. Ripe with symbolic objects intended to emphasize the transience of life, the futility of earthly pleasure, and the pointless quest for power and glory.

In this first image we see a nod to In Jacques de Gheyn II’s Vanitas Still Life (1603)—the earliest known work of that genre—the artist portrayed a skull with a large soap bubble floating above it. The bubble(s) here, representing the idea that humanity is as ephemeral and fragile as the bubble itself.

What better framework from which to build a beautiful tabletop set that is at once a reflection on a life of whimsical possessions, earthly pursuits, and also an amalgamation of the parts that make that life, that person, who they now are?

Yes, I am talking about me here a lot, but not just me the human—me the artist, me the now grown child, all the parts that make up a life that sometimes is worth stopping and reflecting on before we jump to the next precipice from which to find ourselves a new vantage point, eventually. Man this life/death stuff is deep!

This was a personal one—a fun, silly, at times serious one—that I am ever grateful to Gregory Rollins (lighting & photography) for lending his personal studio space, personal time, and valuable technical knowledge to help me finally bring this project to fruition. My only regret is that we didn’t think to play the Carly Simon hit “You’re so Vain” while in the studio that day!

From the disco ball I’ve had since I was ten years old, to my great-grandmother Louise’s porcelain gardenia earrings that I’ve coveted since I was a kid, and a mixtape labeled “Ally off radio favorite songs” saved from a time when we would lay on the floor with a boombox and wait for a song to play on the radio to hit “record” on our cassette deck. The scene is filled with stuff, all stuff that is deeply personal and meaningful to an almost-forty year old woman who's lived a lot and learned a little along the way.

Vanitas is both a study of still life brought to prop styling, as well as a display of my own Chainmail jewelry that I spent the last year making at home on my couch in my spare time (more of that can be seen on Instagram @vanitasenvogue). It’s a reminder that while yes, one day, we all must die, there’s a lot of life yet to be had.

"Vanity of Vanities, saith the preacher, all is vanity"

Working with Still Life stylist Amy Taylor

Last month I had the pleasure of assisting prop stylist Amy Taylor on a campaign for Stanley Drinkwear. If you had told me a decade ago that I would be one of Amy Taylor’s assistants on a shoot of this magnitude I probably wouldn't have believed you, but it happened. It really happened!

We had a crew of talented creatives from all over the country, including photographer Yudi Ela from NYC, and Amy, from LA, to put this very fast-paced and packed 3 day shoot together. As most of you know (and if you don’t, scroll down to my post on ‘Vanitas’), I have a love of Still Life imagery, symbolism, history, etc. And it just so happens that Amy is one of the best Still Life prop stylists I’ve seen out there.

This shoot involved a lot of prop sourcing, which was made easier tenfold by having local Portland creative, sweetheart & nutrition enthusiast Leesa Renae on our team! We also made some fun props, arts & crafts—see my chalk art (used to imitate a grocery store parking lot space) and incognito soda cans, below! But all around it was the people, the camaraderie, and those gorgeous giant Lillies that made this an unforgettable experience.

It’s also imperative that I give a large, full throated, shout-out to Annie and the team at Happy Lucky agency for making this experience so seamless, enjoyable, and keeping us well fed and hydrated. I hope I get to work with this dream team again someday!

She's baaaaack...

After a very long hiatus from the production world, I am back in the saddle again and let me tell you how great it feels. Recently, I got to work in studio on a shoot for Rejuvenation where I met some really great people including one of my Prop Stylist legends Bergren Rameson (that if you scroll down this page to about a decade ago you will see a post I made completely swooning over her work).

It felt so good to be back on a shoot that I almost forgot I had ever stopped, and then wondered “Why did I ever stop?” Oh yeah. Money, bills, and needing a sustainable income was why. Unfortunately, in my twenties it was hard to find consistent work on sets / films so I did what a lot of people do who need to pay rent and got a job in a restaurant. Fast forward 10 years and it all feels like a blur! But what is time, anyway?

Somehow, this time around feels very full-circle, serendipitous, kismet and all those words combined that now, a decade older and wiser (?)—or at least certainly more life experiences under my belt—I’ve returned to the place where I feel truly inspired and excited to be: with all my fellow artists, weirdos, talented folks, and sleep-deprived friends on set. Here’s to hoping that in another 10 years from now you’ll have seen a lot more of me & the projects I’ve contributed to on this website!

Work is Art

We all can find ourselves in a rut sometime—Whether a creative rut like writer’s block, or a general feeling like our life needs a change, it’s a familiar and shared feeling among humans. We all, too, can palpably feel the moment that rut / block / fog is lifted, like a friendly, slightly chilly and far-away breeze passing through us on a hot, sunny day. There is often a moment where we stop, observe, and notice that something has changed us for the better. Our lens through which we see the world seems shinier than it did before.

I’m writing about this because this is how I’ve felt recently, and I’m excited to say that I’ve returned to photographing, to writing, to showing-up for the side of myself that has felt dormant and unconnected to the sparkling, buzzing, brilliant side of life that is: Creation. Observation of the Beautiful. Growth.

The spark began after some conversations with a far away friend who I hadn’t chatted with in some time; from a moment at my day-job where a bowl of freshly juiced citrus rinds beared the regalness of a fancy birthday cake to my eyes; and from an old journal found while packing my belongings to move to a new house that had an old silly and relatable poem jotted down from some years ago now. The first lines of the poem read:

“I remember feeling good

for a measly five bucks—

which meant I could rent a movie,

from the movie store,

one that I wanted to see.”

I hope this inspires someone else today to create something new, or notice the art in our everyday lives (even in our workplaces), or to revisit some old creation and be reminded that we are like the cool wind blowing through our bones on a warm, sunny day.

The Art of Empathy

Lately, I've been thinking a lot about the word empathy, and what it means. By definition, empathy is:

em·pa·thy /ˈempəTHē/

noun

1. the ability to understand and share the feelings of another.

In art, we often experience something that evokes feeling--especially if it is art that we particularly like or dislike. When we experience this we feel connected to something; perhaps we feel connected to the feelings of another time, another person, or to ourselves. Maybe, when we experience feeling through art we are experiencing the shared feeling of the artist who created the work. It can be a painting that moves us, a photograph, a song, a scene, the particular quality of light, a piece of writing that we capture and send to a friend because it reminds us of them. To some, it is a beautiful landscape or a moment in nature. I have been thinking about this a lot because I have been wondering what it means to be empathic. A lot of people understand that there are people who feel a lot, or that some people feel deeper than others, but it is still somewhat of a topic that, in my experience, is under-explored. Often times, empaths are labeled as "hyper-sensitive" or negatively viewed as being "too sensitive" people. But what about the artists? So many artists feel so much, and that is how they have the capacity to create incredibly beautiful work that can evoke profound feeling in another.

In a recent article I was reading (I am constantly reading articles), there was a quote by novelist Pearl Buck. In it he said, "The truly creative mind in any field is no more than this: A human creature born abnormally, inhumanely sensitive. To them…a touch is a blow, a sound is a noise, a misfortune is a tragedy, a joy is an ecstasy, a friend is a lover, a lover is a god, and failure is death.”

To many people, I think those words might sound dramatic. To an artist, those words are like poetry speaking to the wilting flower in the window-sill of the soul on a dark and dreary cold winter's day. We artists need feeling, and connection, and empathy, to survive and inspire us to continue to create. Because it is through this creating that we connect to others in the most valuable way we can: by invoking feeling in another. Although this is not my usual post on prop-styling or otherwise film-related work, I felt the need to express my appreciation for art and the art of empathy tonight. Thanks for reading.

Justin B. Paris Photography

While ducking into Powell's bookstore trying to escape Portland's first actually-cold-winter day, I noticed a food styling book on a shelf in the Pearl Room. The Pearl Room tends to be my go-to spot when at Powell's--- for those who have never been, it's the Art & Rare Books room and usually has a new artists' installation showing. Coincidentally, it also houses the mycology section for those of us in the PNW who want to brush up on our mushroom identification skills. If for nothing else, it's worth checking out the current artist on display. Today, though, I'm glad I picked up this book because it led me to discover Justin B. Paris' photography. 

What initially caught my eye was a photograph of what looks like churros drizzled with melted chocolate lying on a newspaper which is clearly open to the crossword section. Appealing to the playful pragmatist in me, I loved that he chose to photograph this tasty fried treat on top of a crossword page as if you were sitting in your Sunday jammies at the kitchen table and a plate of churros just happened to fall on the newspaper while you were half-enjoying the weekly puzzle. It's as if to say, you weren't enjoying that puzzle as much as you are now enjoying these delicious churros.

Looking further into his website, a noticeable eye for textures and patterns is apparent. Some of his best images, I think, are those that highlight the varying textures of each element in the image--I like how you can see the blistering skin of a char-grilled pepper and the squeezed pulp of a lime both, equally, in such great detail. His style ranges from playful, such as his "Symbiosis" project that marries two opposing images together (sometimes by a single string), to dreamy (like we see in his image of the morel and chanterelle mushrooms and his quirky-but-realistic portraits of carrots). He is sometimes simplistic, other times chaotic, but always seemingly with a vision. I know nothing more about him than the images of his work that I have seen just today, but thanks to the mysterious Justin B. Paris for inspiring me while I stayed warm in the City of Books and Roses; Bridges and Bikes; Creatives and bomb-ass food.

Still Life With Sherrie Wolf

Recently, Sherrie Wolf had a show at the Laura Russo gallery in Portland. One night, as I was passing by on my walk home, I happened to peer in the window and instantly fall in love with what I was seeing. In many ways, prop styling or set dressing is a lot like creating a Still Life-- you have to think about colors, textures, shapes, placement, lights, shadows, etc. In her artist statement, Sherri Wolf hints toward this connection between the Still Life and the motion picture when she says My process is like designing a theatrical production in which I set the stage, choose the characters and determine their gestures." I am inspired by her work, which borderlines the surreal and adding a healthy mix of juxtaposition (just enough to make you think). I hope you enjoy her work as much as I do, and stay interested my friends.

Stay Golden

There has been a lot of talk of Golden Ratios in my feed lately, a subject which seems to come and go but never stay gone. I remember falling down the Fibonacci-sequence, rule-of-thirds, golden-ratio-rabbit-hole years ago while studying photography in college; it's a comfortable hole for me to be in and revisit from time to time. From the talk in the news about photographs of Parliament brawls and drunken New Year's debauchery following the aesthetic rule of Renaissance painting, to a recent book I picked up on watercolor painting, to my new favorite t-shirt (see photos above), I just can't get enough of the glorious spiral that governs all law of nature and beauty--and apparently everyone else is on the same page!

In all seriousness though, Fibonacci was a mathematical genius and his discovery in 1202 has (knowingly and unknowingly) influenced art and famous artists for all of time. I know that I personally often think of these rules, sequences, and patterns when I am creating something. Landscape, portrait, and still life paintings (which to me are huge inspirations for prop styling), utilize this golden rule in them often and throughout history.  It's amazing how a mathematical string of numbers can arrange into a beautiful eye-pleasing image, and even more amazing that someone can translate those numbers into said image. Inherently, symmetry may never go out of style it seems, and I'm glad to see it's still alive and kicking. Stay golden, my friends, and keep on with the "gratio" (way to go Clare for coining that term earlier today).

Indigo

Indigo-dyed fabrics and clothing have become a booming trend in the Western world, lately, and at first glace it's not hard to see how such a beautiful, deep, and rich color could win the hearts of so many. Recently, I stopped by one of my favorite shops to wander around in on a Portland rainy day, Cargo, and came across a tall cabinet bountiful in Mali Indigo mud cloths of various sizes. As I stood there unfolding one-by-one, laying them on the floor to see their unique patterns, and feeling their individual textures, I became curious about the richness of the culture which creates such beautiful works of art. And so, I turned to one of my best friends who always has the answers: Google.

In my researching, I learned that there are deeply significant stories and carefully placed symbolism from long-withstanding tribes in Africa that are laboriously poured into these fabrics themselves over the span of weeks. I also learned of the different roles women and men of the village play in this ritual task. One particular cloth, the bogolanfini, is a cloth that literally stays with you over your entire life; it wraps the body at childbirth and at death. This fabric is more than just a foot-of-the-bed throw or a wall tapestry, it is a "profoundly traditional fabric at crucial stages of life" for many women, and "with men, it is used by hunters as camouflage to protect them from spirits".

Often I find that the depth of the cultural significance behind an object or practice, is what gives it richness and meaning in everyday life. In this case, the beautiful blue Indigo dyed fabrics we've all come to know and love are far richer than (probably) most of us know. It's true that I will have an extra appreciation for my recently acquired Mali indigo mud cloth in knowing as much.

Vanitas

While reading and researching about one of my favorite Still Life painting styles, the 17th century Vanitas, I came across a book and artwork series that really spoke to me. The book is called "The Nature of College", and is a kind of philosophical and social exploration into the life of a modern day student. What really interested me, though, was the artist known as TONKY, who was commissioned for the book cover. Naturally, the prop stylist enthusiast in me would have almost peed my pants to get to do a project like this, with all the symbolism, humor, and historical references involved. I love the final product they created, the juxtapositions, and the modernized version of traditional symbols we see. I imagine the cup of ramen noodles and rice krispy treats to represent gluttony; the six-pack of Budweiser beer and handle of Smirnoff vodka as sloth or some other inherent vice; a tube of lipstick as the vanity of youth itself; and a plastic skull--perhaps a nod to the plastic world we live in: that even a natural, decaying, artifact representing death could possibly live forever (as most plastics tend to do). I might have to go pick up the book, or just do a project like this myself, now, but in the meantime my mind wanders and wonders about "the meaninglessness of earthly life and the transient nature of all earthly goods and pursuits."

Learning, Evolving, Improving

It's been awhile since I've posted about the goings-on and projects that have been floating around my world, but my what a great year it has been! Since I last updated, I've had the priviledge of working Art Department on two friends' short films: Welcome to 30 and Monsters; I've begun working as a camera operator here and there for some fun, comedic, and sexy Burlesque shows around town by Go Go Rocket Productions; tried my hand as a sound technician for a day on the documentary Imprint: Tales of Therapy Animals; and the short film I worked on last summer, The River Bride, won first place at the Oregon Independent Film Festival! ...all while still getting to see one of my good friends get married, attending my first ever Portlandia wrap party, and entering into the last year of my twenties. So, my apologies for not telling you all this sooner, but as you can see I've been keeping (somewhat) busy.

Now that Fall is here, and our lives seem to slow down with the cooler air, I'm hoping to get started on some new writing projects and reconnect with some photographers in town like Joe Wilson of Joe Wilson Photography, and Jim Golden to see what creations we can conjure up. Here's to always learning, evolving, and improving little by little.

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Working with Joe Wilson & Friends

I've been really fortunate to meet some great creatives since living in Portland, OR for the past 5  years. Even more fortunate that one of those people is Joe Wilson, of Joe Wilson Photography. Joe has a charisma, youthfulness, and sense of humor that a lot of photographers should take notes on. He's always a pleasure to work with, and we always have a good time in the studio. Through Joe, I've also had the pleasure of meeting and working with Carrie Strahle, of Carrie Strahle Makeup Artistry, and some wonderfully talented models. Carrie is exceptional at her job, and just an awesome person to be around. She contributes a sense comfort and ease to every photo shoot we've worked on together, while never lacking in creative vision and professionalism. if you ever get the chance to work with Joe or Carrie you should! 

Most recently, the three of us put together a series of shoots and images called "For Dummies." The concept was thought-up by Joe, as an avenue for showcasing his advertising skills, and sense of thoughtful humor. I think the final result was a total success, and although a nasty cold kept me from attending the last photo shoot for the series, I'm really grateful to have been a part of this project, and to have contributed in the wardrobe sourcing, styling, and conceptualizing areas. See more on Joe's blog at: http://blog.joewilsonphoto.com/2015/01/21/conceptual-series-dummies/, and keep on  keepin' on friends! 

Still life with Daniel Gordon

I just stumbled across a website showcasing Daniel Gordon's still life art photography. They are like beautiful cross-breeds of montage, papering and patterning. It's almost, even, like an optical illusion the way he treats depth perception.

Of course, what I love most is their resemblance to Still Life painting, albeit reinvented and revamped. Still Life is eternally fun, and never dull--contrary to what the Academics might have thought ;)

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Food Styling with Studio 3

I had a fun opportunity a couple months ago to do some burger styling for a promo Studio 3 was working on. It was such a blast getting to be chef as well as stylist, and working with Liz the Studio Manager to achieve the look they were after. Six burgers (and lots of ketchup) later, here's the final version they went with: 

The River Bride

I had the pleasure of getting to be Prop Master & Designer for a short film shot in Oregon called "The River Bride." It was such an exhilarating experience working on a movie set. It's amazing how fast a 16 hour day can fly by when you love what you're doing! The film is still in editing phase, getting ready for Sundance submissions etc., but we have been able to peak at some of how it's turned out with video stills from the Producer. Here is a still from the Diner scene, styled by yours truly :)

(note: the image has not received color correction yet).

Outtakes

Hey friends! Here are some outtakes from a recent shoot with good fellow & photographer Austin M Shaffer. I'm really looking forward to seeing the images, once they're developed, since Austin took them with his Hasselblad--and we all know how beautiful the world is through the eye of the Hasselblad! Debuting in these photos are: my delicious vintage hand-painted pitcher & glass set, with cameos from Zeus the Cat and Austin himself. (click on image to see more)

Bergren Rameson Prop Styling

A photographer in town was really kind to turn me on to Bergren Rameson's website. I am completely awestruck by the elegance of her photos. This is some really nice work. A detail lover like me can really appreciate how the slightest things, like two spoons touching each other a certain way, creates an emotion to these images that is nothing short of inspiring. Check out her website! (Page 3 of her portfolio is my favorite)

Still Life by Keegan Grandbois

A new artistic acquaintance who just moved to Portland from LA introduced me to the work of Keegan Grandbois this week. I especially love his Still Lifes, and the simplicity of his shots. The commentary is also pretty whimsical and fun-- an old Casio, some Pipe Cleaner, and a Slinky are just a few cameos that appear in his work.

My First Prop Styling Crush!

Theo Vamvounakis is seriously impressing me. His styling and the resulting images are so swoon-worthy that I could probably just sit here, drool, and wax poetic all afternoon-- seriously, I'm in love with these looks! See for yourself what I'm talking about. Click on the image below to see more, or follow the link above.

JCrew is Impressing me!

Have you seen JCrew's recent campaign for the "Ludlow Suit" yet? Their prop styling is impressive, quirky, and fun. I love male styling, too- something about masculine sophistication appeals to my love of strong simplicity with a softer side. Check out this screen shot of the ad campaign, and see the rest at: https://www.jcrew.com/AST/Navigation/theludlowsuit.jsp