karen casey smith photography: miniview

i want everyone to visualize calm right now. let’s breathe in deeply through the nose and hold it for a moment. now, slowly exhale through the mouth. if it make you feel better, then i think you’re ready to look at the meditative work of karen casey smith. karen’s collection is filled to the brim with thoughtful, focused shots that lead your eye in and hold it, quietly. afterwards, whether you were prepared to do it (or not), you might find yourself a bit more relaxed afterwards, a bit more focused inwardly, a bit more healed - in a million different ways. it’s a zen feeling. and who wouldn’t want to know a little bit more about the brains behind that operation?

q: where do you live and where do you create your work?
a: home is about 30 miles from chicago, in the northwest suburbs. my work is created first in thought, then with attention to my subject while making the photograph and then in my computer at home.

q: your flower collection is pretty extensive. what is it about flowers that appeals to you most?
a: i love being around flowers. they are a miracle of beauty, and with closer attention even more amazing than anyone could know at first glance. throughout the ages flowers have been loved and given in love, to celebrate, to comfort, and to lift spirits. the beauty of flowers can be experienced directly, without words. when contemplating a flower, time seems to cease to exist and in that silent space you can experience the beauty to the core of your being.

q: i think your mandalas are mesmerizing - can you tell us a little about your technique, and the reasons why you create them?
a: mandalas are so appealing to me. i’ve been working in that form since around 1995 when i first read judith cornell’s book, mandala. she teaches that creating and contemplating mandalas is healing at the deepest levels. each of my mandalas carries a energy or vibration uniquely its own. the mandalas are a way to share positive, healing energy.

the mandalas are made with the aid of templates i designed myself. i first do any editing of the original photograph that’s necessary to make sure the contrast is good, and that all color is in gamut and printable. depending on the flower, i have different templates to choose from that have a varying number of divisions of the circle. in choosing the flower and creating the mandala, i work intuitively. the message or energy of the piece is revealed when it’s completed.

q: what are you doing when you aren’t taking photographs?
a: sometimes i work with and assist my husband, and occasionally do freelance graphic design. i love photoshop, and am always studying and working to improve my skills in both photoshop and photography. currently you could also find me cooking, baking (sometimes in my solar oven!), gardening, playing my ukulele or djembe, practicing tai chi, and playing with our two cats.

see more of karen’s work on her website as well as at her etsy and redbubble shops.

thank you karen!

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fun jellio furniture and accessories

hear me now and believe me later, beloved readers: i am a nostalgic fool. i have fond and vivid memories of my childhood and the toys and games that were the fabric of my youth. i clicked through all the different scenes in my viewmaster, ate those colored candy dots on those long pieces of paper, made pretty patterns on my lite brite and tried many times in vain to draw circles on my etch-a-sketch (to no avail). and i loved every minute of it. i was just starting to think to myself “they don’t make ‘em like they used to” but changed my mind when i saw the exuberantly fun collection of new york company jellio. they have created a line of unique designs as an homage to certain iconic items from our youth, and their pieces have me grinning from ear to ear whenever i look at them. can you identify what these pieces were modeled after?

what a wonderful way to combine memories of childhood play with modern adult style. and seriously — i’ve got my eye on that button bench.

purchase these items and see more at the jellio website.

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alpha coffee table

hey letterpress fans - check out this fun mod alpha coffee table offered at crate and barrel. it was created by a graphic designer in london after an inspiring trip to a paris flea market by the cb buyers. the glass-protected top is carved from a single piece of shesham wood, has raised letters and sits atop a steel base.

it’s 36″ square x 17″ high, it’s $899 and it’s available right here.

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shohei abstract paintings

if you enjoy abstract acrylic paintings with vivid colors and thick brush strokes, you will enjoy the prolific work of japanese artist shohei.

see much, much more on his flickr stream!

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martha bishop recycled pillows and quilts

i love these contemporary handmade pillows, blankets and cotton quilts from michigan artist martha bishop, aka the lazy gal. it’s obvious that she has a terrific sense of humor, and bonus: her felted wool pillows are made from recycled sweaters, with cardigan backs for ease of pillow insertion!

purchase these pieces on martha’s website, where you can see much, much more (and thanks for the great tip burt!).

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amy stein photography

excellent work in new york photographer amy stein’s portfolio. i especially am enjoying the stranded collection today. amy traveled back and forth around the country for weeks creating this brilliant chronicle, which is as much about isolation and anxiety as it is about faith and community.

i don’t know about you, but i’ve been there.

see more work from amy on her website, and see what she is up to on her blog while you are at it.

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flickr friends: la trollette

there is more than one a gem of an artist photographer in the vast sea that is flickr, and when i find them, i want you to see them too. today, we kick off this regular series with some lovely french style from rachel osowiecki, aka la_trollette. whether rachel’s subjects are people, animals, places or plants, her photos are striking, vivid and balanced - and tell some beautiful stories. turns out rachel has a few tales to tell as well…

q: where is your hometown?
a: i have lived in paris for 17 years now. my pictures are mostly taken from our windows, on our parisian balcony, in the public gardens and sometimes in the streets during public events or during concerts. when my husband and i visit our family, i can shoot in the east or the south of france. of course we always travel with our complete equipment, photography bags are always packed first!

q: how did you get into photography?
a: i think i can say that love get me into photography. my husband is an amateur self-taught photographer. in the beginning of our relationship, he took me as his model. but i quickly wanted to know how this thing works on the other side of the camera. fred taught me everything he knew about photography, composition, DOF, etc… on his olympus OM-1 reflex camera. this camera was completely manual and was a very good way to understand technique. fred quickly offered me my own camera, a semi-automatic minolta x300s.

a few years ago, we had a sort of black out. fred and i mostly did black and white photography, as fred developed the films in our tiny parisian bathroom. photography never was a cheap hobby but as digital snapshot cameras were getting affordable, silver-based photography became really expensive and difficult and we bought a sony cybershot. we mostly took pictures during friends and family events with a digital snapshot camera. and as i had some sad family events to manage, i almost abandoned practicing.

two years ago, as i’m a little lazy and had enough to mail the same things to each of my friends, i started to write a blog. i talked about what i saw or what i read, who visited us, where fred and i went for the weekend… a simple regular “that’s my lil’ life” blog! as i read many other blogs, i quickly thought it would be cool to illustrate some of my articles with pictures, and why not my own pictures? i again listened carefully to my dear husband when he gave me some very wise hints to get better pictures. that’s how i got back into photography. i shoot and/or process on photoshop every day or so since.

q: what do you enjoy most about it?
a: as a child, i secretly wanted to be a painter and a pianist. the thing is i’m not only a little lazy but i’m also very impatient. that’s not really compatible with the hours you need to learn painting and drawing or to practice piano. i tried of course but i didn’t try enough to be decent. maybe later, when i’m old enough to be less impatient ;o)

but as i can quickly be a decent musician by singing in a choir, i can quickly express what i want to with photography. photography is also a good way for me to be connected to the world and at the same time to have some distance with it.

what i really enjoy about photography is that i cannot control everything. i learn to give up with details, i learn to wait till the conditions are good enough so i must not give up with details… i learn to take my time as well as i learn to be very reactive. but i’ll never be able to control everything and i find it very comforting: photography remains bigger than me, something magic.

q: what you are doing when you are not taking pictures?
a: processing pictures on photoshop, publishing pictures on my blog, reading blogs, a little drawing, writing to best friend, singing in a choir, doing the dishes, fixing dinner, buying food, ironing (not very often, i confess!), going to the museum, having lunch with friends, shopping, sewing some little things and send them to friends and, the most important thing: petting my lovely husband and my big fat grouchy cat. life is a full time job.

q: if you could shoot photographs anywhere in the world, where would it be?
a: that’s a very difficult question… location is important of course and some day i hope i can go to japan, iceland or canada or go back to new york and new zealand. but what i really need is time to see these places live during seasons, time to see all the little things, all the details, time to meet people, time to capture the fleeting, time to live for the moment. i’m blessed, i can do all that right here, right now, everywhere i am.

see rachel’s flickr stream here, and her blog over here.

thank you rachel!

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sarah spitler paintings

reader hilary pointed me towards the powerful, engrossing work of san francisco artist sarah spitler. sarah relates her work, crafted from ink, acrylic, graphite, enamel and other media, to geographical forms and the chance combinations that come together to create such entities. she is also mindful of chaos and the ephemera that is created and affected by it. i don’t think i need to urge you to look at the details of these pieces; they speak for themselves.

there are extraordinary delicate and intense details, explosions of color and feathery lines and bulges and drips that lead my eye down and around and in, and lead my mind to otherworldly places.

we don’t need permission to fall in.

see more and contact sarah on her website, and also find select works at the beholder.

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