Distinguished Artist: Yvonne Porcella, Carnegie Arts Center, Turlock

This past spring I had the honor and pleasure of photographing a luncheon to honor the incredibly talented, nationally acclaimed artist, Yvonne Porcella.  Her works were on display from mid-January to mid-March.  She has created beautiful textiles that have been collected by the likes of the Smithsonian, de Young Museum of Art and the LACMA just to name a few.

Quite talented.

At the close of her show, she was celebrated for her contributions to the art world over the past few decades and it was a packed house.  The president of board for the Carnegie, Patti O'Donnell, was the host for the afternoon and a running slideshow of Yvonne's most popular works was running on repeat throughout the luncheon.

Guests were invited to view the annual Spring Juried Art Show in the gallery after lunch and I mingled with my camera, capturing all in attendance.

I do a lot of work with the Carnegie Arts Center and I'm so proud to be a part of such a wonderful art community here in my town!

 Yvonne with the Executive Curator and Director (and dear friend) Rebecca Phillips Abbott

What's new? What's next?

Spring is long gone and summer has just ended, I'm SO Happy it's finally FALL!!

This is favorite time of the year and not just because my birthday happens in fall  (next month, for those who are curious), but I love the cooler days, having hot chocolate or apple cider in the middle of the day just because, I can finally layer my clothing again and the fall colors are incredibly beautiful!

Here's a preview of the past 5 months and what's to come on the blog in the coming days and weeks!

Gallery shows and events at The Carnegie Arts Center.

 

Country Life, my dog-brother Buddy, at my parents ranch.

Collaborated on a fun project with a wonderful photographer.

Photographed my super cool husband one evening 

(we laughed SOOO much, it was awesome!)

Photographed some people in love in the spring time.

I also photographed some fantastic couples weddings, what an honor to be a part of their most special days!

This is just a taste of what's to come, can't wait to share it all with you!  It's going to be fun!

The Cuellar Family

Ah, the Cuellar's...

One of my most favorite families to photograph and spend time with :)

This lovely family has been featured on the blog a couple of years ago and my dear friend, Anita Cuellar and her larger than life, spunky and fun daughter, Annaliese were on the blog last fall.

I always love a reason to celebrate and when Anita called me to tell me her stepdad, Chuck, was graduating from college and wanted to do a celebratory session right after the ceremony, you bet I was there!!

The Cuellar gals are a blast to spend time with and Chuck is such a great guy.  It is always a great time with this family.

Congratulations Chuck on your accomplishments and best of luck to your future, you have earned it!  A huge thank you to Anita for always thinking of me and having me be your photographer, it is truly an honor!

Cristina & lil Nathan, City of Ten Thousand Buddhas, Ukiah, Ca

Well hello there blog, it's been a while...

I have been m.i.a for quite sometime, but for great reasons! Photography has been keeping me so busy, it's wonderful, so fortunate and blessed to be able to do what I love day in and day out and it never feels like work!

Now that it is fall, I have to play catch up on my blog.  Poor blog has had no love for far too long.

That is about to change.

I am so excited to share with you a session from early in April featuring the lovely Cristina, aka my best cousin/friend/everything, and her little man, the always adorable Nathan. It's been a while since I last photographed Nathan, he is now 3 years old! Can you believe it? I can't sometimes.  He has grown up so fast and he talks so much, he is so sweet and loves his mama to pieces.

When I was visiting them in their hometown,Ukiah (if you've never been, you must, it's tucked away in Mendocino County on highway 101, 2 hours north of San Francisco) we went to the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas to spend some time together and take a few pictures. I really enjoy going there because it is so peaceful and quiet, beautiful peacocks roam the grounds and it's a nice place to take a stroll and relax.

Enjoy a few goodies here because there is quite a lot more to come in the next few weeks ;)

Evening on the farm

I venture out to my parents house almost every evening to enjoy the peace and solitude that one rarely has while living in town. As I grow older I have an equal love for the city and country, I love the hustle and bustle of my little city and I crave the open fields, orchards and slower pace of life out in the country where I grew up.

One early evening in March I found myself in need of some inspiration, a new personal project to dive into, so I drove out to my parents house and went to the neighbors across the street and talked to the lovely Holly Smith about her beautiful horses and other fun farm animals she had. We got to talking and before I knew it, we were on a tour of her family farm and I had my camera out snapping up every little detail.

I love that when I am looking for inspiration I find it in the ordinary, daily life that we all too often overlook.

That evening was a true representation of my life and heart in that moment, free, calm and open to see the moments in between that are beautiful.

Take a moment to enjoy the moments in between, they happen so quickly, but can be so magical.

Into the sunset

A preview of what is to come tomorrow...

I am a country girl at heart, living life in the city. A trip Mom & Dad's house is always a great way to wind down and relax.

Meet, Becky, she's a gorgeous horse.

Tegan turns 1 !

In January my sweet niece, Teagan, turned one! Baby's first birthday is always so fun and special and it has been such a fun 1st year watching Teagan grow into her own cute little self!

It was so neat watching her grow from a newborn to baby to learning how to crawl, very slowly and then almost overnight into a little crawling machine, to suddenly walking when she was just shy of 10 months old. Now she runs...every where! My sister in law, Amanda and I were looking back on her photos from her first year and talking about how she is now becoming a toddler, not so much a baby anymore, and her little personality is shining through now.

She is a character, loves to play, dance, sing, hang out with daddy on the couch, give hugs and blow kisses, snuggle with mommy, she is very daring and is a girly-girl too. She loves jewelry and all things girly, it's so adorable.

I photographed Teagan at home one afternoon because we were designing her birthday invitation and Amanda wanted a few prints that she could use to decorate Teagan's big girl room.

Of course, photographing babies and toddlers is fun and we worked hard to get the images we did, but it was so much fun! Teagan was like a little bullet, running all over the livingroom, me chasing her with my camera and mom trying to keep her outfit looking nice, it was great!

Enjoy my favorites, can't wait to share more from her 2nd year as the months go on!