Gathering my Wits

Various relatives including my daughter are headed in this direction this weekend so the house etc seems to require more than usual. Factor in a long list of unexpected obligations and this week has kept me on my toes. I took the above photo on my camera's built in memory recently and just learned how to transfer these files onto a memory card so that I could export it. Amazing how the pieces can sometimes fit together.

My Romance

For as long as I can remember, I have been in love with nail polish in some form or another- so I thought I would start sharing some of the artworks I have created along the way to express this fascination of mine. This image is from 1985, when I was living in New York City and taking photos for more than reasonable fees. I would use my talents and my beautiful equipment to create images for myself whenever I could. I was friendly with a wonderful hand model named Liza O'Keefe. We did some nice paying jobs together so she was happy to lend her hands to my artistic pictures. I discovered Christian Dior hand products after college and painted a lot with the nail polish during my waitressing years. Their packaging spoke volumes to me, especially when I combined it with their product on a beautiful hand!

Wait Until Dark (in Sleepy Hollow)

My daughter Sarah is in our fall high school drama of "Wait Until Dark" and I photographed a rehearsal yesterday for my local Patch to promote the upcoming shows (also did headshots of the actors for the lobby- I felt a little busy). Their director, Mr. Kennedy, does a great job with the directing and the staging. This is also my fifth year with Mr. Kennedy as a parent because my daughter Nora was in many of his previous productions as well. Sarah is playing a criminal character with a New York City accent and is a lot of fun to watch on stage. My talented daughter!

Refashioning Chic for a Good Cause

I photographed a fashion fundraiser "Project Greenway" yesterday at Scarborough Church to benefit the Boys and Girls Club of Northern Westchester. Contestants were invited to refashion an item and invent a new way to wear it. An array of ages participated and the turnout was great. One contestant, Conner Ives, stood out from the crowd with the long gown he crafted of coffee stained doilies and filters. For pure talent and execution, I was floored in the nicest possible way.

(and to see Connor Ives' creation for the 2012 Project Greenway fashion grow- click here)

An Unexpected Reversal of Fate

When things fall apart in your hands it's take a little bit to gather your wits so to speak. Take the long view, the short view, the philosophic view, the tortured view and all the other ways you can find to make sense of events that don't really make sense at all. Kind of like the image that dissolves in front of your eyes when the light changes, the cake that refuses to rise, the deal that goes south in the blink of an eye. There is the interval of confusion and self doubt before you find a way to look at what has transpired. When we traipsed through Howe Caverns last weekend and saw the millions of years it took to create this spectacle below the earth- it gave me a unique perspective on opportunities that fail to gel. Things tend to work out for the best. Nothing ventured is nothing gained. Onward and upward. To thine own self be true. And all that.