Mayonnaise makes me want to vomit, but a card game with mayonnaise, ice and spoons is hilarious.

Ladies Metal night @ Sloan’s Tavern

36 N Russell Street Portland, OR

Spring is here and the Vernal Equinox happened last night while I was asleep. Every year for the past four years I’ve been thinking about the gravitational pull that happens on this day and how you can get an egg to stand straight up. For those past four years I’ve only remembered to try it the day after when it was too late. So this morning I woke up with eggs on my mind determined to take some portraits. Got up early, went to work for some coffee and my deviled egg costume (thats where I keep it), then bought an 18 pack of eggs. I learned that some eggs are better than others. Ten survived. Happy Spring!

I’m starting to get really into Camera Obscuras and Pinhole photography. I just had a nice birthday weekend journey around the great basin region of Oregon to Summer Lake Hot Springs. We went on a wild sage grouse chase, soaked under the stars and turned our cabin into a giant camera obscura. The cabin had a beautiful view of the  winter ridge which was projected upside down onto the walls. It was a long exposure but the image wasn’t too clear so thats why theres white paper on the walls. Once again, foil was used to block out the sunlight. Sometimes its worth sleeping in a big tin foil box in the middle of the high desert when you can have the outside projected inside.

I spent this afternoon in my studio listening to Sparklehorse and covering the windows with tin foil. It was a test run for a larger scale pinhole camera project that I’m starting. After blocking out most of the light, I made a small hole in one panel and was able to see an image projected on a white foam core board. It wasn’t dark enough for the image to reach the walls, but like I said, it was a test run. I ran across the street to Portland City Liquidators to find miscellaneous items I could photograph the image with. I found a lamp shade and a box. The photos below are of a two different boxes, a white board, the materials and the view from the studio faintly projected on those items. By the way, pinholes project the outside image upside down.

Its amazing how a couple of days can quickly turn into a month. Like many other photographers, I’d rather be out shooting than working on the computer so my attention span is constantly shifting to the newest photos taken that day. At the end of January I went to the Living Enrichment Center in Wilsonville, OR to explore the compound and photograph a metal band. My favorite part of the adventure was the underground tunnel that lead you to the site of the old Dammasch State Mental Hospital. The children’s nursery was pretty cool too and might have been a little spooky if the graffiti hadn’t been so ridiculous. It was a lot of fun so we spent a good amount of time there. At the end of the day we were all satisfied and feeling a bit sick from the toxic mold in the air.

Shepherd Book is Portland’s newest two piece metal band. On Monday afternoon we decided to check out a Megachurch and rehab compound thats been abandoned for the past five years. What we found were the remnants of an old cult, toxic mold and penis graffiti on almost every wall. Band photos below, penis graffiti to follow in the next couple of days.

Last night I went location scouting for some upcoming shoots. I think I just discovered a new playground. Click on the thumbnails to scroll through the photos. Last nights session was inspired by the puffy cat listening to the cassette tape player below.

I’m opening up an Art Gallery and Studio with two other female artists. The studio will feature photography, custom painted portraits and some mixed media items. For the first exhibit we’ll be showing a series about Masturbation that Marie Peller, one of the curators, and I have been working on for a year and a half. Our opening party will be Friday, May 9 at 8PM. Join us for art and booze! Just Out wrote an article about the exhibit, read about it here.