Inspired by...

the photography of Hideaki Hamada...

I can just hear the whir of the fan and their little kid distorted Darth Vader voices and feel that warm sun. Makes me want to be a kid again! I fell hard for Hideaki Hamada's images of his sons. They encapsulate so well the sense of everyday wonder and adventure of being a kid. These brother's seem so close. I wish I had a sibling that I could have grown up with, just like these two, discovering the world together! And, another thing I love is that a lot of his work is shot on film.

There are so many sweet photographs of these boys on Hideaki Hamada flickr and blog. Also, don't you just want to hang out with this family?! 

Oh, Eleanor....

Oh, Eleanor. You are so beautiful. This image of her by her husband, photographer Harry Callahan is one of my all time favorite images, ever. So iconic, so sweet and melancholic.

Yesterday, Eleanor Callahan past away at 95. Can you imagine what a legacy their family has in these photographs?  There are so many of her in their everyday life. I love this description she gave of what it was like being photographed by him...

Eleanor once said to me a wonderful comment about what it was like to be photographed by Callahan. She told me that she might be cooking or cleaning, doing something around the house and Harry would see a scene, interesting light that he thought looked beautiful or an arrangement of forms that he deeply appreciated. And he would say to Eleanor, "Take your clothes off." Eleanor's response to me was, "And that was that." via

This PBS article, Photographer Harry Callahan at 100, is a good read.

All images via

pssst... I've long had an affinity for photographer/muse images and even based my very first custom heart embroideries on some of these relationships. Harry & Eleanor are there, as well as June + Helmut Newton, Edith + Emmet Gowin,  Charis Wilson + Edward Weston. 

i'm on the instagrams...

This is my grandfather, who has quite a collection of really old photobooth pictures, my favorite kind of old photograph...

I finally can join in the instagram party. Since I got an early Christmas gift (an iphone for me!) I've been facetiming with my boo in NY and taking pictures.  Best gift! I don't know half of the little functions on it, or even how to link you to follow me (?), but it's lot of fun to mess about with. Must admit I resisted the instagram, but after clicking on so many of my friends images via twitter I wanted to play too...

I'm @miniaturerhino on twitter if you wanna see more pictures of pictures, pretty light and little things like this....

p.s so happy to see a shout out for my boyfriend's work on The Shiny Squirrel in a post "A Few Things I Love" picked by an amazing blog (words, words, words) Even Cleveland . I so want to join her book club...

new work + behind the scenes + a question....

I've been working on something for a long, long time now.... necklaces.



I have a few sample pieces and a few different designs that I'll be listing in the next few days (with your help, see the last photograph!)

You know, I don't think I've ventured beyond my apartment for any of the photographs I use in my Etsy shop? Well, I knew with this new work I really wanted to be outside for the photographs - and it's perfect light out right now almost all the time! There are a lot of great textures and colors around my neighborhood so we just set out for an adventure and found this great fence in an unexpected alleyway and just got to photographing...





What a beautiful crisp autumn day it was...



ANNNNND... I'd love your help with something. I'm having a hard time choosing between two names for this necklace. It's a little bottle you can store treasures in & wear! Which do you like best 1) Collector's Necklace or 2) Gather and Collect Necklace? Let me know and then I can name this to add it to my Etsy shop. Look out for the necklaces soon too!



Hope you like! Thanks!!

favorite things....

old school family snapshots!

I love just sitting for hours looking at old family pictures.  I like to hear the stories behind the images, look at ever single detail (the clothes, expressions, background elements), and I check the backs for any written description or date.

Recently, while my grandparents napped I came across these two.  They're so good, right?!  I've also been know to collect pictures of animals!





oh, analog!

camera love...

It's a vintage book.  It's a camera. It's a pinhole camera book! If you know me you know that I love photography and these repurposed books from engrained fill my photo nerd heart with joy.  I have so much expired film just collecting dust that begs to be shot. I'd love to shoot with one of these guys! My birthdays in October y'all....

Hope you are having a great weekend!!

"A photograph is a secret about a secret. The more it tells you the less you know." - Diane Arbus
 

via planetbarberella

A castle in Disneyland, Cal. 1962        via Moon River

Identical twins, Roselle, N.J. 1967

 

Happy Birthday, Diane Arbus. She would have been 88 years old today...

Read more about her work & see more photographs here...

poetics of light

imagine seeing this show, poetics of light, by kate breakey, in person. half mausoleum, half victorian parlor room full of ghostly, playful shadows.  i was told that these are contact prints of found dead animals, but don't quote me, i can't find much info on this work.  i spotted a fat little toad that i like quite a bit, but i must say the piglet and snakes are my favorite. although, i feel a bit ashamed saying so.  finding beauty in the death of an innocent feels somewhat against nature, but i also see tenderness in these images....



all images from etherton gallery

no context

via

how many images do i see on the daily? and then i come upon something like this and stop. there's no text or origin, credit or context. i can only guess....

protection

what strange beauty in these portraits of young danish woman in traditional costume.  the headdress, called a strude, is also the title of this series of photographs by Trine Søndergaard.  the strude protects the face from the elements, but out of context is an other worldly mask.  the textiles, light, and aura are so interesting to me, so i can't wait to see this show in person at bruce silverstein gallery.  it's up until june 26th in nyc.

may luk ceramics

by me!

here are some of my favorite photographs i took of may luk's new work. i love working with may. not only is she a dedicated hard worker, and super talented lady she's also hilarious.

check out her out website and etsy shop!

TPD at the PAC. be there.

my good friend toni pepe is going to be giving a talk tomorrow at the Philosophy & the Arts Confrence at Stony Brook Manhattan. it's a free event so if you're in the nyc area put on your corduroy elbow patch blazer and stop on by. she'll be talking about her new work, The Gesture of Tradition and showing a few images and embroideries from this series. i'm so proud to be friends such a talented, intelligent lady... good luck tomorrow toni!

all images toni pepe

check out more of toni's work here.

your old room...

Globe, by Rachel Hulin

"Lately, I’ve been making quiet still-lifes in the houses and spaces where I grew up. Globe is one of these images. The globe was an item I begged for as a child. I often had whimsical notions of items I'd like to own—one year I was absolutely nuts for an electric toothbrush. The globe is extra special because it's also a lamp. Now it sits in the room I stay in when I visit my parents' house and is always plugged in and glowing when I arrive, right next to my field hockey trophy from high school. I've been thinking about making this image for years and I'm pleased to have it now." - Rachel Hulin

I can relate to this, to the comfort of things and small actions of kindness. i have a whole room of things back in my old room CA, not to mention how good coming home feels. You can buy this beautiful image here at 20x20, which has some very reasonable prices for limited edition art, and visit rachel's website here.

fiber arctic inspiration....

...yesterday i sent this piece off to Schmancy in Seattle for the Fiber Arctic show.

i thought it would be nice to share my inspiration, which came from the image below, which is from the exhibition catalogue, The Marvelous Album of Madame B:Being the Handiwork of a Victorian Lady of Considerable Talent. How good is that title!? This image is from a family album- its a hand drawn butterfly with tipped in photographs. I used a luna moth and images of polar bears printed on cotton fabric.

Artist Unknown. Untitled, 1860-80. Mary and Leigh Block Endowment.
via the Art Institute of Chicago

i've always looked toward photography, especially vernacular imagery, very inspiring. i love Victorian memorial works and decorated family albums. one of my favorite books is Forget Me Not by Geoffrey Batchen. He talks about images, combined with tactile objects become memorials, relics and how through these objects we long to remember and be remembered. Most of the images are images in the book come from the George Eastman House (rochester do you miss me?) and the examples are a-ma-zing, really beautiful. You should own this book!

kristen rask, the force behind Schmancy and Plush You has a nice blog and did a short and 

sweet interview with me you can find the blog here and the interview here