photo ops

Ok, so I know that my voice here has been pretty quiet for a while, but there are a lot of wonderful things going on.  I almost feel like there is a creative night sky full of shooting stars in my heart, but I am keeping all of you looking on during a cloudy day.  Soon, hopefully the conditions will be perfect and I will be able to share my voice and passion more fully.  Thank you for waiting.  Please expect some glorious things.
In the meantime, if you peek through the clouds I have several awesome photography and artistic adventures from my year to share with you. 


A Grand Group of Photos

First, and many of you already know this, I posted my 1000th photo to daily perspective recently!  And yes, I chose to celebrate!  Are you kidding me?  That blog has been a beautiful challenge in my life.  I have learned and grown so much because of it and even though my posting frequency diminished over the past two years, hitting that 1000 mark was/is a huge deal.  I don't love every shot I have put out there, but the ones I do LOVE make it all worth it.  I will continue to post to daily perspective next year.  I don't know exactly what that looks like yet, but I will be there.  Also, after I hit the grand mark (bahaha so punny), I posted some of my personal faves if you feel like checking them out!

The Stratejoyful Project

Last year, I began work on a series of 120 photos for my wonderful friend Molly's creation called joy juice.  Joy juice is just one of many amazing things that she has to offer through her inspiring business, Stratejoy.  She wrote.  I took photos.  And then it all went out to fabulous peoples emails as inspiring and challenging journal prompts for a year over a variety of topics.  (find out more from the link!) We encouraged, created, struggled, procrastinated and worked through it together and just a couple months ago, we finished!  (well, we finished for now...more to come)  I learned SO MUCH from doing this...about my creative process, my holdups, my desire to please people and my ability.  I wish I could go back and give it more time and focus and make my photos even more amazing and on time, but I cant.  I can move forward and take what I've learned into new and fabulous things!!  Please do check out Stratejoy if you want your life to change!

Sharing My Candid Perspective

Recently, another one of my wonderful friends, Alyssa, asked me to be a guest blogger for her with some photography tips.  Alyssa and her husband Chris blog over at a beautiful place called The Kid Project where they are embracing their kids, adventure and all the passions in their lives all together rather than becoming complacent.  It is awesome and I urge you to check it out! Anyway, I was more than happy to oblige, but I didn't realize how much it would open my eyes!  As I sat down to write an article about photography tips, I was super intimidated (like shouldn't some professional photographer be writing this?), but I soon realized how freaking much I know about taking photos.  I suddenly remembered that I came to understand how a lens truly works as a kid, know how to shoot and develop film and have been out there clicking that shutter A LOT over the last several years (over my life really).  And so I wrote.  In fact, I had a hard time keeping the articles short.  For now, I wrote three posts of tips about taking photos you love, taking photos of kids and taking photos outdoors.  But the most important thing about writing all this was that my own tips and awareness of my knowledge challenged and inspired my own photographic and creative journey.   
I have the tools and ability to do so much more.

And so, I wake up right now at this point in my life with that newfound (rediscovered?) awareness and these three 'photo ops' captured.  Combine that with the 'unbroken' piece of art I made this year, a recent brainstorm and the creation (finally) of my new insanely meaningful personal accountability blog, my morning moxie, and this whole candid voice thing, which still stirs my heart on a daily basis, is starting to pick up some sparks of momentum!

Its exciting.  Its scary.  Its more impactful than you or I realize yet.
And its up to me.  It's up to me!  But the part of me that knows (and not just dreams and hopes) I can do it is finally awakening. 

unbroken

As I mentioned recently, I am part of a new blog called blARTog.  It is basically a creative community (open to anyone) doing art projects together.  We recently featured a "repurposeful" project which was focused on creating a piece of art out of materials not found at an art store. 
My project was created with and inspired by brokenness.  To find out more about the process and the inspiration, please check out my project post on blARTog. 

a new art blog

I am excited to announce that I, along with my sisters boyfriend, Scott, have started another blog.  It is called blARTog.  I know that I have enough blogs, but this one is so much fun and is open for anyone to be a part of! 
We were inspired by a television show called Work of Art and decided to create a place where people can join together in a creative community online, find inspiration, make art and share it.  We will present a new project idea every month or so and anyone is welcome to join in, whether it is every month or just for a project now and then (past or present). 
Please check it out!  :)

resurfacing

I plan to write more soon about what I have been up to all summer.  For now, check out my thoughts about going MIA on my photo blog . :)

a juicy new tab

I am delighted to point out the new joy juice tab on the top of my page!! I have been working my little butt off artistically to help create something inspiring and fulfill the vision of my friend Molly, the founder of Stratejoy.  Check out the tab to find out more about how you can receive prompts for positive growth in your fabulous and juicy life sent to your inbox and learn more about how I am involved!!!  Yay!    

angels with attitude

I recently found myself in Central Park on a sunny and crisp Sunday morning surrounded by a group of friends old and new from scattered locations across the states. We were in New York for a 15k run  put on by the Colon Cancer Challenge Foundation to help raise  awareness  for  and join the fight against Colon Cancer.  I wish that I could say no one there had lost a loved one to the disease, but that wouldn't be true.  What is true is the amount of inspiration that I pulled from watching the journey from loss to victory.

Over the course of  more than a year, I observed as friends supported each other through pain and those who never considered themselves runners tied up their sneakers with discipline. A team of people emerged, and they became known as the Angels with Attitude.  They raised money to support the cause as they trained and encouraged each other toward the goal of the race.  Eventually, race day came.  It was a beautiful day and one where sadness felt more bittersweet.  After the finish line had been crossed, this team shared victory, exhaustion, pride, hugs and stories of the completed journey.

I didn't run.  I didn't need to.  I needed to watch the story unfold and gain some beautiful perspective.  I did, however, have the privilege of designing the team shirts for the race and I was thrilled to use my creativity for something so meaningful.  The shirts turned out beautiful and gained a lot of positive attention.  Initials fill the wings on the back to honor those being remembered and served as the motivation for many of those running. 

As happy as I was with the way the shirt design turned out, I was overjoyed with the inspiration I gained along the way.  Pondering upon the way that one persons decision from a dark place to take action influenced what took place on that sunny day has captivated my thoughts and ideas.  In fact, I am thrilled to say that a fabulous art project has been born of these ideas and I look forward to sharing the completed work later on in the year.  

In the meantime, find out more about Angels with Attitude and be inspired yourself. 

jumping ahead

Over the last couple of years, there has been a lot of building, brainstorming and behind the scenes work.  I'm good at that.  I do ideas.  However, I have recently been facing the fact that ideas are just ideas.  It's time for the creativity and passion I feel inside on a daily basis to become something tangible.  Because of the support and inspiration I have encountered so far, I have taken little leaps of action.  Starting the photo blog was a leap.  Putting A Candid Voice out there was a leap.  As I look ahead to the next year, I've got lots of opportunities for leaps of faith and action and I am hoping you will join me...

Things to look for sometime soon:

Daily Perspective
I've been struggling the last couple months to keep up with the posting on the photo blog and considered stepping back from it for a year.  However, after some heartfelt consideration, I have decided that continuing on with the daily photos for at least another year is the best choice for me. 

New Art and Etsy
I'm super excited to say that I have begun working on a new mixed media project and I can't wait to share it!!!  Not only that, but I am planning on getting an Etsy shop up and running to sell my photos and said new art.    

Other Projects
I will share more about upcoming projects on the blog individually, but am thrilled to share that I have three awesome projects already lined up for this coming year!  They each involve a great cause and my artistic perspective, so be watching for that.  :) 

A Creative Community
One of the driving forces behind creating A Candid Voice rather than just a simple art business for myself is my desire to expose creative voices.  I believe that art has the power to change the world in a positive way and am looking to build a community of people that want to help create change.  As I find these people, their art, passions and stories will be shared.  Can't wait!  

 A great big thanks for your love and support!

capturing life

I recently found myself wide awake at 3 AM with the distant sound of ocean waves luring me out of my sleeping bag.  Ten minutes later I was standing alone on a dark beach, crisp cold air swirling around me and staring at a sky full of stars.  It was pretty much indescribable. 
Then, the awe of the moment suddenly broke when I realized I had my camera in my hand.  Before I could catch up to the irony, the camera was out in an attempt to capture the amazing experience.
This photo represents that moment:

Upon reviewing the shot so void of the awe I was feeling, I actually laughed out loud (almost shed a tear) and tossed my camera (in case) into the sand.
Why did I bring my camera with me on a dark night for a short walk to the beach?
I laid on the sand and pondered my predicament.  For over six-hundred days, I have taken a photo every single day and shared it on my photo blog.  It is something that has opened my eyes in so many ways and taught me more than I ever imagined it would.  My camera lens has become somewhat of a third eye in my life and I love it.  However, I began to wonder if my lens was taking on too dominant of a role...
This photo shows nothing of what my senses experienced that night.  When I search this black rectangle, I don't hear the waves, see the stars or feel the cold wind on my face.  I see a black rectangle.  I also see that there was nothing for the camera lens to see, though.  This photo reminds me that sometimes life is meant to be experienced rather than recorded. 
It is a fine line to walk, knowing when to capture a moment with the senses and when to capture it with the camera, but ironically, having my camera with me that night on the dark beach opened my eyes to see that I want to walk that line as well as I can.  I long to inspire and influence lives with my art.  In order to do that most effectively, devoting time to creating something is essential, but don't be surprised if you find me occasionally tossing the camera aside.  Or just walking at night under the stars...