View full series here: Behance Portfolio

For Lens Based Communications, my photography class this semester, my professor told us to shoot a series focusing on point of view. I was a bit stumped on what to do to be honest. Sure, I could command someone to stand still and let me photograph them from all angles, but in all honesty I've shown her a lot of portraits and I need a bit more time in the studio before I'm truly comfortable around all the lights.

So naturally my mind went next to pills. No, not really, but I've been toying around with a portrait series idea for a while that deals with drug addiction, so after realizing I needed to shoot before Friday, I grabbed the extra Pantoprazole 40mgs that I never took from when I had severe acid reflux.

Luckily, a change of diet and lifestyle really helped that out, but the insurance company kept sending prescriptions and they kept showing up at the pharmacy. 

I shot with both a 50mm 1.8 and a 55-85mm lens, the former only a few shots because of a troublesome focusing lens. I'll eventually get another 50mm, but I have to gather the money first.

You can view the rest of the series on my Behance portfolio.

I should preface this with a note that I've finally picked up the courage to follow my dreams of photography, and the change in major has been welcome as well as rewarding for me.

I originally headed down to Indian Beach with a group of fellow students to burn old, chemical stained silver prints for a motion project I am currently working on. What ended up happening was more an afternoon full of interesting conversation with both friends and strangers, including these two absolutely lovely individuals I happened to meet named Gerald and Nancy.

This shoot was somewhat of a breakthrough for me. I'm working with a new camera, and a new subject: strangers. One of the things I wish to do through my photography is tell stories-this is why I am drawn to the portrait as a subject. My problem had always been that I was too shy to simply ask to take someone's photograph.

These two welcomed it though, especially after having sat and talked with them for quite a bit about a wide range of subjects. They were so encouraging that I have a lot less fear now when shooting photography in the street. Sometimes it just takes that one person to encourage you before you can enter into something great.

"Too Cool" Photo Series

First off, Happy New Year! I've been terribly busy over break-more so with personal events and things rather than art, however the time away from the pressure to create has left me ready and excited for the upcoming semester which starts in a little over a week.

I'm immensely happy to be leaving the bitter cold of New York behind me in 7 days as the cold has been bringing out all those uncomfortable symptoms in me that it usually does, and even more excited to be jumping right back into my classes. I actually miss the late nights spent scrambling on homework.

Anyway, I whisked my brother away with me one morning to photograph him, and the results came out quite well. Having a bright personality as well as ADHD can make working with my brother a little hectic, however he often comes up with the better ideas for photographs and lets his true self shine through so much better than if I were to pose him.

Take a look on my Behance for the full series.

"Paradise Cafe"
Digital Painting

I've gotten to the end, and I'm not too sure how. Nonetheless, here I am at the end of a long but crazy, terrifying yet exciting, emotional roller coaster of a first semester. I've met so many beautiful and inspiring people and grown not just as an artist, but as a person as well.

Artistically however, I cannot deny that I've grown. Where I am now compared to where I was four months ago is just incredible. Through all the pain and sleepless nights, I have come to appreciate the harsh and demanding curriculum here at Ringling.

That brings me to the piece offered above. It is my 2D final, completed a few days early (much to the sacrifice of both my back and eyes from late hours in the labs) so I won't have class on Friday.

The task was to create an abstract design and then from that design pull a narrative illustration.

I've included some of my process behind this piece to show my workflow. I'm excited to improve in digital painting the more I work with the medium as I think it could be something fun to create in once I'm more comfortable.

Woman of Death
Watercolor and ink on watercolor paper
20" x 15"

I started this piece a few weeks ago, and then classwork got in the way of me finishing it until earlier this night. The idea had floated around in my mind for quite a while, the thought of choking on flowers, before finally I was able to capture it in my trusty sketchbook. 

Painting actually only took a couple of hours, but stretched over several weeks. College work takes up a lot of time, and unfortunately a lot of my personal projects get pushed to the side.

Prints are available via my deviantart

Within the Ice
Gouache on Bristol
10.25" x 9"

The assignment was to depict a season in an abstract way using complementary colors. Having come from the snowy, cold, and dreary winters of upstate New York, it seemed most natural to me to depict that season of winter. 

I actually have some process photos this time to share a little of the process.

Brainstorming words and shapes

Sketch and small color study

First Color Study

Second Color Study

This piece was so far removed from what I was used to doing. I haven't dabbled too much in the abstract world merely because it hadn't called me to it before. After having to do it for my 2-d design class, I am definitely going to pay more attention to abstractions and perhaps bring more of it into my design sense as a whole.

I wanted to explore the feeling of confinement in winter. There is awful cold up in New York in the wintertime, but also some warmth and life. There is always a fire going in the house during the winter, and a struggle to keep warm. Despite it being frozen, water is also there in the winter, bringing movement to the otherwise still season.

Edgar with ObscureGem's Crochet Cat Toy Ball

Edgar with Crochet Cat Toy

Photographing cats is seriously one of my favorite photography areas to work with. The fact is, cats have such extreme personalities, are completely unpredictable, and often make you work to their needs rather than the aesthetic you were looking for. And it is better that way.

I live with three cats at current, named Edgar, Tugger, and Dmitri (or Demetri, Dimitri, no one really knows), and I go to each one for something different. Edgar, being the youngest, most energetic and borderline bonkers, is in charge of modeling with toys, creates a great atmospheric mood when captured in film, and is in general pretty fun. Tugger, as he's 11 nearly 12, loves posing to show off how adorable he thinks he is (and...well, actually is). Dmitri I rarely photograph because he is an elusive creature that is probably contemplating how to get rid of the dog without anyone suspecting him.

Photo'd above is Edgar, newest addition to our little family, part monster part sweetheart, and a cat who absolutely adores the camera. In fact, several times I had to make him stop rubbing against the camera and have him engage with a toy. I used him twice for ObscureGems' slowly growing cat toy line, and will no doubt use him again. He's just a great sport, I mean, look at him.

The toys are handmade by Nancy Bukovsky (Co-owner of ObscureGems and my mum) out of 100% cotton yarn. There are several Curly Q's floating around the house, and Edgar chased his ball around for just about an hour this afternoon. Shooting for the Etsy shop was a lot of fun, and I'm sure Edgar had a blast. (He should be delighted to know that a couple more designs are being thought of!)

Woman of Anger. Watercolor and ink on watercolor paper.

This piece has claimed many sleepless nights. For the past week I've gotten around 4 hours of sleep a night and not even realized it.

I started out with a loose sketch, as I usually do with these sorts of paintings, and slowly began to build in color using watercolors. I always begin with the eyes and I fussed over them for quite a long time before moving onto the face.

This is one of those pieces that develops itself out of accidents and subconsciousness. I wanted to display the thought of anger eating away at the mind, but I couldn't quite get it until Sunday night, sleep deprived, when I finally let go of the conscious want for perfection and let the art do its thing.

By the way, I've discussed time and time again about prints but haven't gotten anywhere. Would anyone be interested in buying prints if I set up a way to do so?

Woman of Burdern, Watercolor and Ink Wash on Watercolor Paper

Now that things have settled down (just a tad! Tomorrow I head for Vermont) I really wanted to share this piece that I finished a month or so ago. The idea for Woman of Burden had been lurking in my mind since August or so when I re-read Beloved by Toni Morrison. Such a powerful image is in those pages, of a woman with a cherry tree growing on her back, that I was inspired to explore that image, though I did not know in what way.

Finally, in the middle of April, some time on my trip, it came to me. Of course, I didn't start work on it until I cam back, but man did I work. This has been one of my quickest pieces to complete, having worked on it for a little over 9 hours, which is proof that the more you do something, the quicker you get.

The tree was both my favorite and least favorite part to work on. I began with the tree trunk and had a lot of fun whittling away with ink washes, but left the top for last. I had a tough time wrestling with the image I had in my head (always sketch things out! Translating entirely from brain to paper in one try is tough!), but in the end, it created itself.

On a side note, I may or may not have prints available of certain pieces in the near future. I place my first print order of a drawing on Monday (when I get back from VT) and hopefully things go well!

Working on stone chip earrings at the Slanted Desk

My day starts at 5:50am. Or rather, it is supposed to. Most weekdays I wake up, fumble with my phone to turn off the alarm (Another Way to Die from Quantum of Solace's soundtrack-fitting?) and then lie in a state of comatose until my mother notices I've not made it to the coffee pot yet.

Then there is school, which is draining in and of itself (I am very much looking forwards to college next year! I expect it to be a big contrast). The good news? I am in the art room 80% of the day working with my paints or in the darkroom.

Afterwards, I run errands, take a walk, unwind from the day, and work on whatever open art project I might have. There comes a time in the evening however, that I greatly enjoy; catching up on business work, usually with a cuppa on my nightstand. For, as much as I enjoy creating jewelry, branding and communication is equally enjoyable and fascinating for me. I love shooting photography, creating business cards/banners, and designing the next piece of jewelry I'm going to make.

To me, jewelry is the crossroads between graphics design and sculpture that allows aesthetics to meet chosen materials. When Nancy (mum) and I decided to open an Etsy shop a couple of years ago, I was 110% for it. I love the community that I've found through Etsy, and the skills I've gained through helping to run a shop there have been so helpful.

A piece of jewelry usually starts with me looking at my materials. I tend to keep a stock of various semiprecious stone chips on hand as well as silver plated wire, czech glass beads, and some specialty items as well (including beads from this shop). Nancy is the one with the yarn stock and polymer clay that you see in our store, but our styles are often very similar, which is what makes us work so nicely together.

It is an adventure, no doubt, and I want to stress the importance of doing some things that you love in life. Hobbies and passions, whether they turn into businesses or just stay hobbies, are things that not only take up some time, but teach you things about yourself and the world around you. Trying something new every once in a while doesn't hurt either!

Woman of Conflict, Watercolor and Ink on Watercolor Paper, 15" x 20"

The fireplace radiated warmth as I gathered a blanket around myself and settled onto a pillow in an attempt to stave off the all conquering cold seeping in from the unforgiving winter outside. My paper block lay before me with an assortment of supplies framing the crisp white rectangle in splashes of color. With one hand I flipped idly through my sketchbook deciding what to paint and with the other I fought off the cat eager to drink the water from my mason jar.

My eyes fell on an earlier drawing of Edgar Allan Poe, one that I had wanted to put to paint, though upon sketching directly on my fiber canvas, I didn't feel it was right.

I launched into a portrait focused almost entirely on the expressive quality of eyes and the color scheme grew out of a desire to have the eyes as the center piece. Over several days I laid down countless layers of paint, trucking the poor paper block back and forth to school to work on it during my days in the art room.

Eventually, after consulting with my teacher and other artists, I began working with ink to bring out highlights and push back shadows. Sometimes I think this is my favorite part, using white to create shapes and forms.

More and more often I've noticed pieces connecting with me on a far more intimate level than they used to outside of my photography, and this piece in particular drew out many of my feelings of internal conflict about the future. It is, and probably will be for a while, one of my favorites.