The Holidays are a Blur

The holidays already seem like ages ago, but I’m still trying to keep to my new year’s resolutions. Here are a few of  the photos from the first week of my 365 day photo challenge. The first shot is of my adorable mini-tree with (of course) all U of M ornaments taken with my DSLR using manual focus for a blurring effect and a bit of overexposure for a bright look. The second shot I took with my camera phone of my boyfriend’s cat jumping at me – the only post-processing I did was to make it black and white. The third one I got again with my camera phone as we were driving down the road in Florida.  You can tell that I did some editing to get that weird bowing effect around the animal’s face so he looks like he’s stretching the building.  Show off your own 365 day photo challenge images in the comments!

A Year Through the Viewfinder

As part of my new year’s resolutions, I’ve decided to motivate myself through art. I was trying to think of a project that would make me excited about my hobbies and breathe some new life into my photography. Thankfully, I stumbled upon Picaboo’s Facebook event “The 365 Day Project” meant for photographers (professional or amateur) to take a photo of their life every day for the next year. I’ll be posting my photos every day on the blog so follow me for the next 365 days and feel free to join me and post links to your own photos in the comments!

Freebie: I took this one yesterday as a means of preparing for the project. I love the camera on my new phone.

New Photo Calendars

First off, I absolutely love Groupon. Finding deals on things like new stores, restaurants, or activities to try is amazing. I save a ton of money and I get to have fun and do new things all the time. On the other hand, it also means I spend more money than I probably would have otherwise. But I’m not one to dwell on things like that so let’s move on.

I found an awesome Groupon for Picaboo a few months back and recently used it to make 2012 calendars using my photography. I first designed a simple nature-inspired one using my butterfly photos and aptly named it, “Chasing Butterflies”. It’s a decent size calendar with plenty of writing space in the date boxes and has a matte finish on the photos. The all white space really allows the photographs to show themselves off.

 

Then I moved on to making a more elaborate one for all of my travels around the world and included extra photos on holidays/important dates (like my birthday!). It’s quite a bit larger than the butterfly one and has glossy photos and premium paper so it feels very luxurious. I also adore the extra writing space since I’m constantly writing things down and scribbling them out. I can’t wait to hang this one in my office.

Silvine Designs Photography on Flickr

Silvine Photography’s photostream on Flickr.

I placed a lot of new photos on my flickr account. Check it out and leave me a comment about which one is your favorite.

Life Under the Sea

I went to the aquarium this past weekend and it was absolutely amazing to see what kind of exotic animals live underwater.  Here are a few of my favorites.

Forest Ring

Here’s my newest creation inspired by the quickly changing season. A fine silver ring embellished with vine detail and a sweet green stone. I simply love the darker antique finish – it gives off a bit of mystery, don’t you think?

ArtPrize 2010: “Coexistence”

ArtPrize is such a large platform that I definitely knew I wanted my art to convey a message, and an important one. It started with a trip around the world. I lived in Europe, Asia and Africa for almost three years and when I came home I was a different person; I had a new perspective on life. A lot of what I saw was beautiful and some of it was harsh, but the overwhelming message was that we are all the same beneath the surface. We have different lifestyles, different cultures, different religions, but we are all human beings. We need to understand that we are all just a small part of a larger whole and we need to learn to live together peacefully. That’s why at the heart of my art piece there is the message of “Coexist”. It blends together different religious symbols and those of peace and love. The rest of the photographs show different religions (Islam, Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism) and different lifestyles (nomadic, rural, urban). I included a photograph of Grand Rapids to show that we too need to be a part in spreading this important message of world peace and tolerance, we can’t simply let others do the work for us. So if you are able, please come to Grand Rapids and check out all the art in this year’s ArtPrize. Each piece is a work of love and labor by the artists and knowing that people are seeing their art and hearing their message is an absolutely amazing experience. You can see my piece, “Coexistence”, at the Ottawa Tavern along with a lot of other great artists until October 10th, but voting ends September 30th so make your votes count!
http://www.artprize.org/artists/public-profile/49142

Nine photographs taken during my travels around America, Europe, Asia and Africa representing the need for worldwide coexistence and tolerance for all people, regardless of religious or cultural differences.

Coexist: The center and focal piece showing graffiti written on a wall. The symbols represented are: the Islamic Moon, Judaic Star, Christian Cross, peace sign and heart (love) on the dot of the letter “i”.

The other eight photographs (starting in the upper left and going clockwise):

Dome of the Rock: One of the holiest Islamic sites, the “Rock” refers to the Foundation Stone, an important holy item for Muslims and Jews

Nomadic Berber Tribe Tents: Taken during my stay with a nomadic tribe in the Sahara, we see that not all cultures are similar to our own

A River View: A shot of Grand Rapids that represents us and our role in promoting world peace and love for all groups

Cross on the Sidewalk: A symbol of Christianity painted on a random sidewalk in a bustling city.

Lady in the Market: A photograph that represents me, the artist. I took this photo the moment I met the shopkeeper who looked exactly like my grandmother. Even in a very distant place from Grand Rapids, we can find people like ourselves. It is so important to appreciate the rural people who plant and harvest our food. Too often we simply go into a supermarket and purchase food without stopping to think where it is coming from.

Western Wall: An extremely important Judaic monument and one of the remnants of the wall that surrounded the Temple.

Blue Door: Peace begins with knowing and acknowledging our shared history. This door is from an originally Jewish neighborhood who painted the entire city center blue, it is located in the heart of an Arabic city in Morocco.

Monk: A Buddhist Monk asks for alms on the street of an East Asian metropolis. Unexpectedly the modern is confronted by the traditional. Do we avoid things that make us question ourselves? Do we become angry with them? Or do we try to understand and give them respect?

Eastown 2010: Rain and More Rain

I was at Eastown yesterday for the annual Streetfair as an artisan vendor. It was fun but cold and rainy. Rain and photography are a poor mix, but thankfully nothing got damaged throughout the whole day. I was really impressed by the quality and different styles of the bands that played – all of whom did a great job. We were situated pretty close to the stage so at times it was hard to talk to the people who came to browse, but at least I got to listen to a free concert during the down times. Thanks to all the people who came out to the Streetfair and stuck around to browse even though it down-poured on occasion. Much love!

Silvine Photography Featured on Senioritis!

I’ve been featured on Senioritis, a really fun and awesome blog.  You can read the interview here:
http://www.senioritis.co/2010/07/featured-artist-silvine-photography.html
.  Let me know what you think!

Fulton Street ARTisan’s Market

Every Sunday during the summer (June-September from 11-3PM) I’m participating in the Fulton Street ARTisan’s Market (www.grartmarket.com) aka FSAM in Grand Rapids, MI. It’s a great event with lots of local artists showing off their handmade art . I’m always amazed at how many artists there are in West Michigan.  You can check out a lot of these great artists at www.estywestmichiganblogspot.com. At the market, I sell mostly my matted photographs and a few smaller items like greeting cards and necklace pendants of my art. I think the necklace pendants are so popular because they’re a way of owning art even if you don’t have any physical space in your home. Below is a photo of my booth set up and you can see that FSAM takes place outdoors at the same location as the Farmer’s Market. Often we’re left to the mercy of the weather which in Michigan can change at any second. It can be so hot and sunny at first that it’s exhausting to set up and then it will start raining and pouring and no one will come to shop. However, the market can be a lot of fun even if other customers aren’t there because you can spend more time chatting with the artists discussing their art.

My Booth Set Up

My Greeting Cards For Sale