Baby Oliver's 3-month-old Family Trip to the CNE :)

What better way to spend an afternoon than with a couple of sweet little guys at the Ex? Cameron - the Big Brother at 3 years - had such a blast with rides, reptiles, dancing, bubbles, running, riding tractors, playing drums, and probably a million other things, that we could barely keep up with him! Baby Oliver - being less independently mobile so far - was easier to keep track of, but no less entertained :) How sweet is this little face..?!

I seriously can't remember the last time a couple of hours contained so many different excitements :)  

Sarah & Mike - thanks again for allowing us to tag along on your perfect end-of-summer day of family fun! I'm not ashamed to admit that we came home and had a nap after this ;)

xo Jessica + Norman

Getting ready for The Artist Project!

It's now less than 3 weeks away - my very first indoor show - so I'm busybusybusy finishing up some new pieces and designing my booth. This would be pretty exciting no matter what, but The Artist Project holds a bit of a special place in my heart and here's why..

Two years ago, my friend Carolyn and I heard about this art exhibition at the CNE called The Artist Project. We decided to meet up and spend an hour or two checking it out. We spent six hours there - eyes lit up and imaginations set on fire. We're both creative people, but at the time neither one of us would have dared to consider ourselves "artists". Since then, we've both set up studio spaces and started devoting time to explore creatively. To make pretty things for the sake of making pretty things.

One of the most touching moments in my life was at my first show (the Queen West Art Crawl), when Carolyn walked into my booth and started crying - because she was there when the seed was planted. When I realized that it was not only possible, but really important to me, to create and show (and hopefully sell!) personal work, it literally changed my life. Don't get me wrong - I love photographing weddings, and tiny babies, and kids being kids, and locally designed fashion, art, and craft - but all those things are other people's creations. And I wanted to make something that was just mine. To ask for advise and opinions and be able to completely ignore them if I wanted. To take the love and joy I have for colour and texture and line, and make it into something that someone else can love too. To take the thousands of images that I have from years of travelling, and turn them into pieces that capture the way it felt to be on those trips.

So - here we are - two years later. I applied for The Artist Project months ago, and held my breath. I feel so honoured and fortunate to have been selected to hang my work among a crowd of such talented artists. I feel excited. I feel terrified. And it's all awesome.

And to honour the occasion, I've been working on some new pieces - collections of sets of 3 small pieces that go together - which I'm totally in love with :) They are the cutest and most colourful pieces yet, and I predict that they'll be crowd pleasers. Each and every one of the "birch panel" pieces that I've made are one of a kind (because I hate how reproducible photography sometimes is), so if you love any of them be sure to grab them before they're gone!

 

Bonus: I have two pairs of tickets to The Artist Project show in Toronto February 21st-23rd - if you're interested, just mention this on facebook or twitter and be sure to tag me so that I know to enter you in the draw (here I am on facebook, and here's me on twitter) - like my facebook page and follow me on twitter to get 4 bonus entries!!

Thanks a million for all the support and hope to see you at the show!

xo Jessica

Tanya Kirouac at The Artist Project show in Toronto March 1-4

February is normally a very slow time of year for us, but this year seems to have been non-stop! I've already had the good fortune to work with three amazing new clients - all very talented and inspiring women - one of whom will be exhibiting at The Artist Project show this weekend at the Queen Elizabeth Building at Exhibition Place. Tanya Kirouac is an amazing artist :) Over the years, she has built her technique of using encaustic wax painting to incorporate many layers (both physical layers and layers of meaning) into her pieces. I spent a day and a half staring at her work, and still kept finding new things! I loved talking to her about art and her process while we were shooting her work.. I think it's really awesome when you find out that the reason she's got so much bird imagery in her pieces is that she's enamoured with all the birds she's seen on her property in Prince Edward County. And that the pieces of sheet music embedded in her designs are chosen specifically because the songs are about gardens and flowers (as well as being visually lovely). I LOVE that kind of stuff - the added depth that a painting takes on as you speak to it's creator and learn where it all came from :)
If you're in Toronto this weekend you should definitely stop by the show to check out Tanya's work in real life. You may just find (like I did) that you need to bring one of these beautiful little gardens home with you!

Here's a sneak peek:

up close you can see the amazing detail and all the layers... 

(this one is mine now - so you'll have to come to my place to see it!)

If you can't make it to the show, be sure to visit Tanya in her studio space in the Distillery District!

And if you also happen to be a visual artist and would like your work shot for your portfolio, please email me now for more information :)