Connoisseur

A friend of mine knew I was traveling to Memphis and sent an email full of top notch suggestions for places to visit. These emails are like having a condensed, personalized travel guide in my iphone or a sort of detailed out scavenger hunt for city treasures. Last night I wandered around the city, went to a great little restaurant bar (McEwen's) where I ended up chit chatting with a couple of people and heading down the street to a neighborhood bar. Currently I am enjoying coffee and digesting my amazingly rich and tasty meal of sweet potato pancakes and grits at the oldest restaurant in Memphis, The Arcade Restaurant - a meal touted as a favorite by the food network. You may have thought I was a traveling art model, but I am also a traveling food connoisseur. Ironically, wikipedia defines a connoisseur as "a person who has a great deal of knowledge about the fine arts, or an expert judge in matters of taste." Perhaps my culinary and artist path do have some connection.

Variations on a set done with Lawrence Coffin of Boston.

Freshness

These past few days I have been staying with Tiana Hunter in Chicago. She is an incredible woman. It is such a joy to be around people who live a lifestyle that embraces a personal purity of head and heart and an abundance of experiences.

Last night I was reminded how nice it is to be around my own peer group. So many of my new friendships this past year have been a fair bit older than I am, and while I value these relationships immensely, being in a crowd of young artists who breathe a freshness of passion and struggle is incredibly refreshing.

Yes, I probably sound so very bohemian today. I have renewed zeal for my chosen nomadic lifestyle.

Photo by Chip Willis of Ohio.

Direction

Until you see the right parts of any place, even a city of splendor may feel wrong. A little bit of exploration and patience will generally get you to good areas of a city, but the recommendations of a worthy source will result in the best outcome. Sometimes we need people and an ounce of their direction in our lives.

Photo by Ade Ketchum of Corning, New York.

Memento Mori

Exactly last year as the clock struck midnight and I reached a quarter of a century years old, I was curled on a table, covered with talcum powder and laden with dead flowers and a skull. I was shooting with Noah Huber in Arizona and creating artwork in the style of Memento Mori . A latin term translated as, "remember you must die." The process was done with medium format cameras and was extremely slow. As someone who at that point had only a month ago changed paths and embarked in a journey to make the most out of life, this was a truly beautiful experience.

Family

San Francisco, oh how I love you.
I am in California for my brother's graduation this weekend, and am spending time with my family for the first time since October. This pleases me greatly.

Photos by Armistead Sapp, from a shoot on one of my last visits to San Francisco. These art nudes were done on a bed in a hotel - bet you never would have guessed that. :)

In Columbus

Tomorrow I will be in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and California. That's quite a feat!

Not only does this model brave the elements (rain and rushing, cold water for shoots in the past two days), but she apparently owns a spaceship.

Yesterday I met the illustrious Model Sarah, and am currently sitting on her couch, bottomless with my laptop on my knees. She took me to German town last night where we devoured rich spaetzle, potato pancakes, cabbage and schnitzel. I sure do like a good meal.

I also had the opportunity to work with Chip Willis. I had met him briefly at an art opening, but never had the chance to talk for an extended amount of time until last night. Not only is his work absolutely stellar, but he is awesome to chill with. From these photos it seems my butt was the star of the show last night. Clearly this shoot was not full of seriousness.

Rain

Yesterday I hiked in flip flops during a storm in a forest - at one point wearing nothing but my sandals and backpack. Turns out weather in Ohio is as unpredictable as in Texas. The one benefit to shooting during a rainstorm is the lack of potential visitors. Only goofy people shoot in the middle of the rain, or hike in the rain.

Photo by Tom Darby. He took outside and let me model in the dewy wilderness. And kept the day lively with his humor and unintentional somersaults.

Cleveland

Hello Cleveland. Why-oh-why is your symphony not doing any concerts tonight?

After stuffing my stomach with a tasty cheese, mushroom and spinach pot pie sort of thing at Tommy's, I find myself sitting sipping coffee and networking.

The couchsurfing person I am staying with tonight has talk of a music trivia night. Trivia is not my strong suit, but it is difficult to pass up a chance to be social and learn some new fact tidbits.

Photo by AHS Photography. I have worked with him twice now and am looking forward to my return to Portland this summer for another day of shooting with him and my other lovely photographer friends.

Fat Rain

Tonight I am splurging.
Econolodge and all its luxury awaits.

I spent the afternoon and evening gracefully tromping (is that even possible?) around in a lake and on mossy building remains in a Pennsylvanian forest. Rain has been falling on and off all day. Fat droplets of water gave a luster to the area I was modeling in, and added a bit of gothic romance to my wedding dress portion of the shoot. The galoshes I am sporting in this photo by ImagZen could have come in handy.

Pittsburgh

I could not possibly be more disorganized, but after 2 months on the road, what do I expect?
I lay here naked with the warmth of my laptop on my thighs and stomach, figuring out a fast return to Texas, the land of the big comfy couch, and consider the minutia of my August west coast trip.

Two days spent in Pittsburgh with a friend, a bit of modeling, shopping for random wardrobe, fine dining and greasy dinner food, new drink introductions, fat rain and a general introduction to the area have almost come to an end.

Photo by my good friend, magician and exciting photographer in New Jersey, Michael Randazzo.