Life With An Iris

Edge of Night/Intimate Abstractions
An abstract photograph of an iris.

Let me tell you about my experience with one of the most frustrating flowers I ever photographed and why, in the end, these are now some of my favorite images.

The iris was one of the flowers I always found to be the hardest to capture an abstraction of was an iris. I swear, I was mesmerized by the iris because I kept buying them over and over, thinking this time I will get it, I know that this will be the time. And each and every time I bought them I was disappointed again and again. It felt the flower just wasn’t ready to share its secrets with me. I found it so frustrating but still, for some reason, I continued picking them up now and then. 

Finally, near the end of my time at graduate school, I picked up yet another bunch of beautiful purple irises. Honestly, after buying the same type of flower for around two years and it not working I am not sure why I kept buying them. I guess I saw it as a challenge and I wasn't going to let it beat me! Well, this time I was thrilled with the results that I got from that session! I remember that awesome feeling of accomplishment and how overjoyed I was to have finally captured that image!

These are now some of my favorite images because of how hard I worked to get them. It taught me to keep trying and to not give up when things were hard or not working at all.

I have a confession though, I haven't picked up another iris since then and as I write this I now feel guilty...maybe the iris has even more planned for me to photograph. I guess I need to take a look at them again soon on a flower shopping trip!!

Pulsar Peel/Intimate Abstract
An abstract photograph of an iris.

Random Facts About Me

As we all know, things have been weird this month. Because of all of the changes going on in the world, there are many changes going on around here as well. My kids’ school, and the rest of the schools in Arizona, have closed down at least until March 29. 

So two mornings ago I woke up a mom and a photographer. Yesterday morning I woke up to a new job of being a home-schooling mama, as well as mom, and photographer. The kids started the day off with begging for a school schedule and ready to learn. And then we come to this morning, my birthday, I woke up officially 40 years old.

There is so much seriousness going on all around us right now that I wanted to share as many random facts with you as how many times as I have been around the sun. 

So here we go...get ready to dive into all the random goodness of me and my life! (Finding 40 things about myself was a lot harder than I thought it would be!)

1. I am a fine art photographer

2. Wife of a wonderful husband for 11 years and counting

3. Mama of two awesome kids

4. Big fan of the Harry Potter books

5. I love to garden

6. My favorite movie is Princess Bride (The first day we saw this movie, on VHS, we watched it two times)

7. I enjoy adding fun color to my hair and pink is by far my favorite

8. My birthday is on St Patrick’s day

9. I went to Arizona State University for my BFA and studied photography

10. My favorite succulent is an echeveria 

11. I have lived in four different states, Minnesota, California, Arizona and Colorado

12. I love the beach

13. My favorite way to treat myself is with coffee or ice cream

14. I love books 

15. I have two sisters

16. My favorite tv show is Friends

17. I love to hike and camp

18. I had surgery on both sides of my jaw for TMJ

19. I went to the Academy of Art for my MFA and studied photography

20. Saturdays are for playing board games

21. My favorite colors are pink, green and purple

22. I photograph with a Canon 5D Mark ii

23. Fridays are spent hanging out with my parents

24. I’m a vegetarian and have been my whole life

25. We have two cats, one is 16 and the other is 12

26. I am a night owl and drag myself out of bed in the morning

27. As a kid, I wanted to be a vet

28. I love cool and cloudy weather

29. I don’t like to be in cold water

30. I love ice-cold water to drink

31. My favorite pajamas have cameras all over them

32. When I was a kid we would often stop at Thrifty’s to get ice cream

33. I hate to be late or be the last one to arrive

34. Daisies were my favorite flower growing up and now I can’t pick a favorite

35. I love to cuddle with my kids

36. I love bonfires in the backyard

37. My favorite holiday is Christmas because I get to see my kids happy faces

38. We have two dogs, one is 3 and the other 5

39. I love going to the gym and taking classes

40. Finally, I am super spoiled because my husband does the majority of the cooking, and I love it

Aurora Borealis

Aurora Borealis/Intimate Abstractions
An abstract photograph of a hydrangea.

Aurora Borealis is one of those images that invokes childhood memories in me. There are only a handful of times that I have seen the aurora borealis, or northern lights, and each time I have fun memories of those experiences.

The first time I saw the northern lights I was about nine years old in Minnesota, visiting my grandma with my family. One night, it had to have been about two or three o’clock in the morning, my sisters woke me up to show me the beautiful blue-green lights dancing across the night sky. My family stood out on the dewy lawn gazing into the fiery night sky.

The next time we saw them in Minnesota we were driving back to our cabin when the sky came alive. Now, this might be more common for people from the northern states, but at the time we lived in California and were just in Minnesota for the summer, so we pulled our car over and stood on the side of the road watching these beautiful colored lights dancing everywhere. When I look at this image I re-imagine all of those experiences and hope that I will be able to share something like this with my kids one summer.

An Introduction to Intimate Abstractions

Fires of Prometheus/Intimate Abstractions
An abstract photograph of a tulip.

Intimate Abstractions is where flower photography all started for me. I started this series when Bryce and I were in graduate school, and Intimate Abstractions was my thesis.

I chose to photograph flowers to express my feelings of separation from nature, photographing flowers was a way to overcome that feeling. When I started photographing flowers, I did so to escape the city and the claustrophobia I felt with buildings towering above me. I would walk through San Francisco, where we went to school, and see the streets lined with potted flowers, parks built in the shadow of skyscrapers, and trees growing in cement containers on the 35th floor of buildings - all this so that people could be in the city and still feel as if they were, in some way, connected to nature. Living in a big city, and being right downtown, I was deeply missing my connection with nature.

Intimate Abstractions is a series of images that explore the inner beauty of flowers. Each photograph reveals provocative and hidden forms, buried deep within the flower. The images show a diverse mixture of color and texture within the forms. Using a shallow depth of field, the eye is led into and around the images. This series invites you to explore flowers up close and in a unique way. These abstractions invoke feelings and images that you can find within our world and beyond. This portrayal of our universe lies within the flower, waiting to be discovered. Through creating these abstract photographs I was expressing my feelings of separation from nature, my isolation in the concrete maze of reality. 

Taking the time to closely view the intricate details, such as the twist of the petals and their rich colors drew me into their alluring depths. This everyday object has had a profound impact on my life which gives me peace of mind and relaxes my soul.

The Pthalo Range/Intimate Abstractions
An abstract photograph of an orchid.

A Change in Perspective

Sea Nettle/Growing Old

A photograph of a Mexican bird of paradise.

“The world is full of magical things patiently waiting for our senses to grow sharper.”

- W.B. Yeats

I find this such a fitting thought for dried flowers. I feel that flowers have been waiting and waiting for our senses to grow sharper and take a look at them once their original beauty has faded. 

My parents have two big beautiful Mexican bird of paradise shrubs in their front yard and I always love when they are in full bloom. They are rich with yellows, oranges, and bright reds (and as a bonus, they attract butterflies and hummingbirds!) The last time their shrub was in bloom I took a few of the flowers to dry and photograph. The individual flowers are relatively small but, I really wanted to see what they would look like dried. 

This beautiful flower dried in just the way that I had hoped it would. The stamen of the Mexican bird of paradise stayed intact, which can be very delicate, and I worried that they might break off. I feel like with this flower that the stamen made such a huge impact to this image. I photographed this flower in a few different ways and it always amazes me how if you just turn the flower, or turn the camera, how you can end up with a totally different image and what that image can evoke. With this image, I was struck with the feeling of a jellyfish! I love how you can obviously tell that this is a flower, however, it can take you to another place.

I use these little changes of perspective to remind myself that there are little changes of perspective to be had all over the place. What can I look at differently today?

Growing Old Series Origins

The Golden Knot/Growing Old

A photograph of a dried tulip.

I don't know about you but when I was younger always kept flowers from special occasions. I would hang them up in my room and treasure those memories. I guess, even then, I hated the idea of these beautiful flowers just going to the trash, so instead, I kept them.

I started the series Growing Old while I was in school in San Francisco. I was spending hours alone in my studio photographing flowers and found that yet again I couldn't bear to get rid of them, so, they kept me company. I knew that these flowers had so much more life in them even after they had officially died.

I had many different types of flowers hanging up to dry in my little studio but one of my favorite flowers to dry was tulips. Tulips are so interesting just in general and to watch them over a whole lifespan is amazing. When I would purchase tulips in the morning they were closed and after being in my studio for awhile the petals would start to open up. After having them for a day or two they would start to droop and then I would hang them up. As you can see, the petals took on a life of their own! Some petals would be spread open wide, while others would almost tangle themselves in a knot. I loved the unique shapes that they created.

I kept many of these dried flowers through our moving from the Bay Area down to Phoenix. I was entirely amazed at how well the flowers stayed together throughout our many moves when we arrived here in Phoenix. After years of delicately moving them from one place to another and having two children, it was time to say goodbye to the box that held all of these precious petals. I do still collect and dry flowers but now once I photograph them I allow myself to let go of them and keep my space, both mentally and physically, clear.

Fluttering Kimono/Growing Old

A photograph of a dried tulip.

Wall Art Freebie!

Hello friends!

I am so excited to kick off the start of my blog by offering up a free inspirational piece of wall art for you to print out! 

There are times that I find myself stressed or worrying about something that is out of my control. I have to remind myself, sometimes more than once, that I just need to breathe and continue on with my day. Worrying isn’t going to change the outcome of something but it sure will change the way that my day goes. So, just remember to breathe and know that in the end, it will work itself out.

Sign up below to get this free printable to put on your wall!!