Rainy Day in Boston Harbor

Here's my first batch of images from my recent trip to New England. On our first full day in Boston we went on a morning cruise through Boston Harbor. As you can see, the weather was pretty miserable. I wasn't able to get those beautiful shots from the top deck like I'd hoped. Instead I got these moody, quiet images from below deck. We nearly had the ship to ourselves. I could barely see most of the tour highlights because there was so much fog so I shot inside instead. There are more posts coming with pictures from Maine and Cape Cod. So stay tuned!

1 Artist / 1 Piece: Brett Weston

Brett Weston (1911-1993) was the son of Edward Weston and was called a "child genius of American photography" by a former curator of the San Francisco Museum of Art. He was credited by renowned photographic historian Beaumont Newhall as the first photographer to make negative space the subject of a photograph. I love how he's captured the lines and the sculptural quality of this tree. Beautiful in its simplicity.


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Happy Valentine's Day

Here's a virtual Valentine for all of you! This year I decided to paint my V-Day cards after being inspired by Merrilee and her son and their fantastic color theory project. I think these are my best DIY Valentines yet.


All images by Maureen Price. Please do not use without permission.

Broken Polaroids - Bill Miller

I'm really loving these "failed" polaroids by Bill Miller. “It’s a camera, after all. Isn’t it?” I thought, even though it appeared to be totally indifferent to the objects I focused on. Maybe it’s a camera that was dropped on its head, got amnesia and became a photographic painting machine.
Random beauty!


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Charleston in September

I flew home to South Carolina in September and we drove down to Charleston for a weekend to visit family and friends. I hadn't been to Charleston in several years. After living in Los Angeles for quite awhile it's refreshing to get away to a place with some serious history. My mom and I toured a few historic homes (Nathaniel Russell House and the Aiken-Rhett House) and I highly recommend both of them. We couldn't believe that we'd never explored the properties before this trip. We spent an afternoon just walking along The Battery. We also took a trip over to Wadmalaw Island to tour the tea plantation there. It's the only tea plantation in North America! Sometimes it feels good to go back to my roots (lots of Charleston in my blood). All in all, it was a lovely (and HOT) weekend escape.


All images by Maureen Price. Please do not use without permission.

An afternoon at Joshua Tree

Just before Christmas, Luke and I made a quick trip over to Joshua Tree. I had been meaning to go for ages. We got a bit of a late start out of LA so we didn't have that much time to explore before we started losing light. I think we hit some of the main highlights though. We had a lot of fun climbing around on the rocks and exploring all the nooks and crannies. As the sun went down, we drove further into the park so I could try to take some pictures of the joshua trees against the sky. The moon was nearly full and it was amazing to see it way out in the desert! Once it was dark, we were making our way back to the park entrance and we passed someone slumped over on the side of the road. We immediately turned around and went back for them. We found a girl who had gotten separated from her friend and had been walking for miles and trying to find help. We took her to park entrance and left her with a ranger. I hope they found her friend.
On our way out, we stopped by the welcome center where they were doing a cool night sky talk. The ranger had a really great telescope that we were able to look through. It had a GPS so you could just input the coordinates and it would point itself in the right direction. Really interesting but it was so cold out there and we decided to move on. We stopped over in Palm Springs for dinner at The Ace. If you find yourself there then I would recommend the black bean burger! All in all, it was a fun little departure from the usual.


All images by Maureen Price. Please do not use without permission.

1 Artist / 1 Piece: Lady Clementina Hawarden

As a big early photography buff, I've been enamored of Lady Clementina's work for many years. She began experimenting with photography in the 1850s and is now one of the most well remembered Victorian photographers. I studied her work in college during a photography course in which we spent a lot of time focusing on capturing aspects of adolescence. She mainly photographed her daughters as children and teens and, in doing so, has given us an interesting look at upper class Victorian life for a teenage girl. Although most of her images are very stylized and posed (often portraying bits of Greek mythology), they still feel very real to me. This image is an albumen print from wet collodion-on-glass negative.



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Waiting for Autumn...

I've been day dreaming about autumn a lot lately. It's my favorite season. I love the crispness of the air, the sense of anticipation about the holidays, the food, the clothing, the colors. I've always wanted to run off and spend the season somewhere in Vermont drinking apple cider, riding a bike on country roads, and building a fire every night. We don't get much of an experience here in LA. It goes from hot to sort of chilly...aaaaand that's about it. It's hard to get in the spirit of things when you're surrounded by palm trees and it's 82 degrees on Halloween. Certain seasons are just meant to be experienced in certain places.
Not being one for summer fashions, I can't wait to break out the scarves, boots, and jackets. One of the best moments of autumn? Seeing your breath for the first time. I used to get so excited about that as a kid. It meant change and excitement were on the horizon. Oh, to be a child (jumping in a pile of leaves) again...


Images 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6

A spot of morning color...

Here's a bit of bright color to liven things up a little.


Images by Jana Laurene and S. Hansen

Wow

Who knew that every grain of sand on the planet is this stunning and unique?! Dr. Gary Greenburg did when he magnified grains of sand and fragments of shell 110-250 times. The grain in the first image (the blue piece in the center) is surrounded by bits of coral, a pink shell fragment, a foram (a type of protozoa) and volcanic material. The second image displays grains from a beach in Maui and the last pictures star shaped sand grains from Okinawa. I thought back to these pictures after seeing a show at the planetarium at Griffith Park about the universe. Carl Sagan said, "The total number of stars in the universe is greater than all the grains of sand on all the beaches on the planet Earth." Incredible. If you're as blown away by these images as I am, you can get Dr. Greenburg's photography book here.
PS: I had a great post written for this and then Safari went berserk. This is what materialized after a frustration fueled cookie binge.


All images by Dr. Gary Greenburg. Originally found on InspirationGreen.

Sneak Peek: Venice

Here's a little peek from my Venice photo-escapades. Everything was shot with either my old polaroid camera or my Lensbaby pinhole optic. I love the results! Gotta get scanning on those polaroids...


Image by Maureen Price

Broome Street General Store

Last weekend we discovered another little gem close to home. I'd been hearing some chatter within the blogosphere about Broome Street General Store and when I realized how close it is...well, no excuses not to visit. It's an absolutely charming little place tucked away on Rowena Avenue in Silverlake. I love the patio area out front complete with a white fence and lavender. Inside you'll find all kinds of goodies from tasty treats to vintage bits and pieces. Everything from old to new is so beautifully displayed that you just want to spend a good hour looking around the place. I was all over the vintage letterpress paraphernalia. We tried the verbena mint iced tea which was delightful and you shouldn't leave without one of their chocolate custards (with caramel on the bottom...ooo!). It's such a great place for a little summer gathering.


All images by Maureen Price

Proof Bakery

How Luke and I had not eaten at Proof Bakery in Atwater Village is a real mystery. We're right down the road and it is seriously tasty. One bit of advice: go early in the day. We showed up a little late in the game so most of the goodness had already been snatched for the day. Fortunately, there were still a few goodies to be had! Luke got the lemon meringue cake and I got a little fruit tart. Mmm! The orange juice was also very delicious. We're going to head back over there one morning when the place is packed full of new treats.


All images by Maureen Price

B/W

Images 1, 2, 3

Long Beach Adventure

Last weekend, Luke and I took a little day trip down to Long Beach. I'd never been and I wanted to check out the Aquarium of the Pacific. We made our way there and walked along the coastline across from the Queen Mary. I want to go back and have afternoon tea and a walk around on the ship! It was interesting to see a Carnival ship boarding right next to the Queen Mary. After a stroll, we went in search of food and, of course, the one vegetarian place I wanted to try was randomly closed (??). We ended up at the aquarium later on which was a pretty big deal for me as I'm deathly afraid of certain marine life (the toothy, predatory variety). Going to the aquarium was a step towards facing my fear. I did better than I thought I would but I definitely had one minor freak out along the way. My favorite part of the aquarium...jellyfish! Having been brutally stung by one as a kid you'd think I'd want to nothing to do with them but they are fantastic to photograph! I hogged the prime real estate in front of the tanks to get some decent shots. Such amazing creatures. I was hoping to see the sea otters in action but they were totally not having it. Most incredible sight there? The weedy sea dragons! I have never seen anything quite like them. I didn't leave empty handed (I'm not usually a sucker for gift shops). I bought a great watercolor print of seahorse species. Lovely. All in all, it was a fun day. We'll have to head down there again for tea on the Queen Mary!



All images by Maureen Price. Please do not use without permission. Thanks!

Color and texture

This afternoon I snapped a few pictures of some of my favorite things around the apartment.

1. Detail of one of my watercolor paintings
2. Agate slice that I bought in Palm Springs
3. Geode agate pendant from Etsy
4. Detail of a vintage postcard


All images by Maureen Price

Dwell on Design: 1

I've been meaning to post my pictures from this year's Dwell on Design convention for a few weeks (yikes!). Here's a post from my adventure at last year's convention. It's always more fun to go with folks you know (last year I flew solo). This time around I met up with my friend Beth. She worked some magic on one of the exhibits and then we ran into Abby who had also been working behind the scenes. We had some champagne at the Miele booth, checked out some very modern chicken coops, toured a luxury Airstream trailer, and I got my heartbeat made into an air brush painting. Yep. One of my favorite parts of the convention was Sasaki's Heartbeat Drawing Project. He began the project in 1995 and now travels the world listening to and painting heartbeats. At the convention, the proceeds were going to Architecture for Humanity's rebuilding efforts in Japan. It was too cool for me not to participate. You sit in chair in front of the giant canvas and Sasaki places an electronic pulse monitor on your finger. The sound is then amplified and he paints based on the speed and rhythm of your pulse. It was kind of surreal to know that everyone in the convention hall was hearing your heartbeat in real time as you watched someone methodically paint to its sound. Stay tuned for a bit more from Dwell! I'll share my own painting project and some very cool, new, eco-friendly paint.


All images by Maureen Price

One of those days...

You know those days? When you wake up and just don't feel "right"? The not-feeling-right usually doesn't bode well for the rest of the day. I've been having one of those days today. You feel sort of fuzzy, like a shadow of your usually self. A weird blip on the radar and then the next day things feel normal again. An out of sorts day. A disconnect. A funny reflection. That's today. Dragging along. Need to eat lots of fruit and vegetables tomorrow. Things somehow sort themselves out overnight while you dream. Nothing terrible going on, no need to really complain but bits and pieces are out of place. A slow whirlwind. Tomorrow...


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Amazing!

These two pieces are absolutely remarkable. I can't even imagine the time and effort that went into their creation. Both are by the artist BLU (with a collaboration with David Ellis on this first one). I don't really know what else I can say other than...watch them!

COMBO a collaborative animation by Blu and David Ellis (2 times loop) from blu on Vimeo.

BIG BANG BIG BOOM - the new wall-painted animation by BLU from blu on Vimeo.

Pierluigi Maco

I guess this week's 1 Artist / 1 Piece got me into a Renaissance mood. This fashion shoot by photographer Pierluigi Maco with model Vlada Roslyakova is one of my all time favorites. It was featured in Vogue China in January 2007. The mixture of period and modern is spot on and the styling is gorgeous. Roslyakova was a perfect choice as she really does look like she jumped out of a Botticelli painting. I wish we would see more fashion spreads like this one.



Originally found here