Fine Art Pieces - The France Collection

I love travelling. There are few things I enjoy more than the adventure of exploring somewhere new - the unfamiliar sights and sounds, the musical rhythms of each new language, the way the flavours you taste seem somehow connected to the colours around you..

Every time we go away, people ask if it's for "work" or for a "holiday". If you've ever travelled with a photographer (and I don't really recommend it!) then you know there's no distinction between the two most of the time. Being immersed in a different culture - even just being pulled out of my everyday routines - frees my mind up to see things in new and fantastic ways. I roam city streets and countrysides with my camera never far from my face, greedily gathering new images. 

For years now I've been gathering images, storing them and backing them up. And nobody ever saw them. I hadn't decided what they were meant to "be" yet, and I didn't want to force a purpose on them. 

Then a couple of years ago, I started to go through my thousands of images. Not just the travel ones, but dozens of images taken in my kitchen while preparing dinner, images of words from signs with great fonts, all the images I've taken over the years with no clear purpose other than the fact that something about the subject matter spoke to me. And I started to see new images. Scenes that existed nowhere outside of my imagination - yet. I created a series of scenes that used colours and graphic patterns to turn regular places into fantasy worlds.

I make giclee prints of my finished images on watercolour paper, and then hand tear or sand the edges to give them a soft, organic look. These archival prints are mounted onto boards that have been softened at the edges with more sanding, and then painted or stained to suit the image. Some have stencils along the edges. The final step is multiple coats of satin finish, resulting in a piece that is pleasing to the touch and UV protected.

My first exhibition of these finished pieces was at the 2012 Queen West Art Crawl, and I was really touched by the amazingly supportive response they received. For a peek at some of the smaller pieces, check out this post. To see the full collection in person, please come check out my booth at one or more of these upcoming shows in Toronto:

Cabbagetown Art and Craft Festival - September 6-8, 2013

Danforth East Art Fair - Sept. 14-15, 2013

Queen West Art Crawl - Sept. 21-22, 2013 - booth M36 

Hope to see you soon!

xo
Jessica

Fine Art - smaller pieces available from The France Collection

As many of you know, last year I began creating my first collection of photo-based fine art pieces using images from my trip to France a few years back. I had a great time selecting the images to print and an even better time preparing the printed images for my first outdoor show last fall (the Queen West Art Crawl in Trinity Bellwoods park). 

I had giclee prints made on watercolour paper, and then hand sanded or tore the edges to give them a softer feel. I mounted them onto boards that had also been sanded to soften their sharp edges, and painted or stained to match the images. I gave all of them a few coats with a satin sealer to protect them, and added ribbon embellishments  or stencils to a lucky few.

The larger pieces have many images layered together to create surreal scenes - check out this post to see some of my favourite examples :)

The smaller ones are mostly images that are so close up that they become abstract gems of colour and pattern..

My favourite part about these smaller pieces is that because of the 1 1/2" depth of the boards, I was able to wrap the image around to two or more sides on many of the pieces.

They range in size, but most are either 4x4" or 6x8" (with a few 6x6") and they are perfect either as part of a set of 2 or 3, or just on their own to brighten up a smaller spot on your wall :)

These pieces are all one-of-a-kind, so once you fall in love with one you'd better grab it before someone else does! I'm happy to announce that you can come by and see them in person and hear their stories at the following upcoming shows:

Cabbagetown Art and Craft Festival - September 6-8, 2013

Danforth East Art Fair - Sept. 14-15, 2013

Queen West Art Crawl - Sept. 21-22, 2013 - booth M36 

To get all the lastest information about upcoming shows as dates are added, be sure to Like my Facebook page and Follow me on Twitter :) And if you have any inquiries, please feel free to email me!

Thanks and see you soon!

xo

Jessica

Tracey + Paul's Awesome Mini Putt Engagement Session

I first met Tracey when she and my sister were in college together over a decade ago, so in a way I feel like I've watched her "grow up". The two of them had their first "real" jobs together, and I even saw Tracey and Paul buy their first house (I wasn't spying - it was on Property Virgins!). So not only are they are great (and very photogenic) couple, but it's really exciting for me to be a part of them taking this next step in their lives together. They also both have a fantastic visual sense, so I've really enjoyed discussing the details of their upcoming golf-themed wedding :) To tie in with this, we headed to a mini putt for their engagement shoot..

 they even brought a blue plaid blanket to tie in with the wedding colours and the golf pants the guys will be wearing.. it really was perfect to have since we were doing these shots in between hail storms and pouring rain last weekend! (though you'd never know it from how cozy they look..)

Tracey & Paul - thank you for braving the elements with us! You guys were adorable and we can't wait to photograph your wedding in November!

xo

Jessica + Norman

{We love engagement sessions with a fun theme! If you're recently engaged and want a unique engagement session, please get in touch!}

Special thank you to Within Range Mini Putt for being fantasticly accomodating and a great place to shoot an engagement session!

Meghan & Frank - Engagement session in Blossomy High Park

Meghan and Frank are awesome. They felt like old friends after we'd known them for about 5 minutes, and we've had lots of fun discussing their plans for their wedding in September (with a Steampunk theme!) We met up with them at High Park to do engagement photos this weekend, and they were so fun - I've maybe never met a couple more willing to say "yes!" to every crazy idea I threw out there ;) What was also fantastic about photographing them was that they had a great sense of fun and silliness, and are obviously crazy about each other :)

 I love Meg's "angelic" face in this shot below..

The decision to bring along their puppy Sidney was a great one - he was so well behaved and loved being photographed!

Meg & Frank - thanks for being such fun to work with - we can't wait for your wedding in September!

xo

Jessica + Norman

Beautiful Newborn Oliver

Last weekend we had the pleasure of meeting Baby Oliver, and of photographing him with his Mommy & Daddy. Rasha & Wil are two of the nicest, most relaxed and easy-going people I've ever met - they were such a joy to spend time with :) We had many things in common, from our taste in headboards and art (we even have a couple of paintings from the same artist!) to our agreement that Baby Oliver is pretty much perfect :) See for yourself..

this next image is one of my favourite shots EVER - love it!

I also really enjoyed all the cool owl details in his sweet nursery..

Baby Oliver is happiest when he's being snuggled :)

Love those tiny toes :)

Rasha & Wil - thank you so much for sharing your home and your family with us! We had such a great time snuggling with Oliver and playing with the cats, and can't wait to show you the rest of your adorable images :)

xo

Jessica + Norman

{if you're expecting a tiny new addition to your own family and would love gorgeous maternity and newborn portraits of your own - email us now for more information! We also do gift certificates and registry - inquire for details!}

Some of my Favourite Images from our Trip to Japan

As many of you already know, back in October I finally got around to living one of my biggest - and longest put-off - dreams: going to Japan :) We spent an amazing three weeks travelling and photographing this fascinating culture and the lovely people who live in it. 

We went to Tokyo, Mt. Fuji (although not UP Mt. Fuji), Kyoto, Hiroshima, Miyajima, and spent an amazing week living and working on a farm in the mountains in Gifu. We spoke broken Japanese, broken English, and some barely-remembered high school French. We ate things with names like "octopus balls" (and enjoyed them!). We learned how to make sushi from a woman who was deemed an expert due to her 30+ years as a Japanese housewife. We braved multiple onsen (hot springs) and were not shunned for our tattoos. We saw a few real Geisha and many young women dressed up as Geisha for the day. We stood in a cage to feed wild monkeys who live outside of the cage. We were enthusiastically greeted by teams of employees at every restaurant, shop, and museum. We heard automated greetings and/or warnings from escalators, elevators, and subway entrances. We learned the difference between saki and shochu (the hard way). We stood shoulder-to-shoulder with thousands of people crammed into the narrow streets of a tiny village while men paraded with huge fiery torches.

It was AMAZING. 

I have the distinct feeling that I'm still unaware of how much this trip changed my life, which is a pretty awesome feeling :) 

Being photographers, we of course took many photographs while we were there. We also made 80 short digital videos, and shot 4 rolls of super 8 movie film. Needless to say, there's a lot of really amazing material to work through now that we're back. The best of these images will be included in future art shows and exhibitions (stay tuned for details), and I'm going to work on piecing together the video and film footage to create a short piece in motion. And (as with past travel images) I will be selecting a handful to use in the creation of my photo-based multi media art pieces, which I am SO looking forward to making :) I've already started one, which you can see below..

I can't wait to show you more of these images from our awesome trip, and tell the stories that go with them! I'm currently knee-deep in application and submission forms, so stay in touch to get the latest news on where we'll be :)

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Thanks to everyone for your much-appreciated on-going support! You guys are the best!

xo
Jessica + Norman

Sweet Baby Asher at 6 months :)

In case you missed it, here was Asher's debut about 5 months ago (time flies when you're a baby!).. since then, he's become a huge fan of smiling, balloons, and "flying" :) We had such a great time capturing all these things and more!

Seriously - how perfect is he??

 He was such a great sport, and even let us take him outside in the snow even though it was getting close to nap time..

Nathalie & Rich - thanks so much for another fantastically fun day of documenting your family :) We don't want Asher to grow up too quickly, but can't wait for his next photo shoot!

xo
Jessica + Norman