On Tuesday, March 6, the Alice in Wonderland graffiti wall on Market Street, downtown Tacoma was finally completed! I was able to capture pictures of their progress and then the final masterpiece. You can see the first stage here, if you missed it.

As far as I could tell there was a total of 4 working on this wall at various times.

They have amazing talent and we are blessed to have them share it with us.

I have enjoyed watching the images develop and transform.

Just when I think they are done with a section, I come back the next day to find more detail added.

Up close and personal with art…

… the last time we saw these guys they had light green clothing on…

And drum roll please… it’s finally done and it’s AMAZING!!!  Grab some coffee next door at Satellite or a smoothy at Smooth&Juicey… Joe says the PB&J smoothy is to die for!

The detail is just incredible.

… so cool! What a masterpiece, don’t you think?

Some of the same artists painted the characters from the movie UP on the graffiti garages down on Broadway … you might want to check those out too, but they are filled with cars during the week, so wait for the weekend and maybe you will catch some new pieces as the artists are developing them.

Awesome work!!!! Can’t wait to see more.

So, I present you, the SPOON… a reflection of Amanda… and I’m in there too .

Next Theme Challenge: Everyday, something you see everyday

Have a great Sunday night and remember to love the one next to you!
xoxoxo

Sunday was a special day.  Joe played on the worship team at our new church and I haven’t experienced that blessing for an entire year.  I could tell that he was at peace, a humble man with a great gift sharing it and using it the way God intended.  It was amazing to watch and our family felt good just watching God shine through him. (my favorite image from the shoot)

I started dating this man in January of 1982. He was in my Spanish class back then and …. well then there was love. It happened within 5 days of our first kiss.

From that day forward he has been my best friend. I feel so blessed to have such a wonderful partner in life. We can face ANYTHING together and believe me we have faced some big stuff and we are still here stronger than ever.

I decided that we should celebrate… it touched me to see God use him and minister through him. I wanted it to last.

We picked an alley in Tacoma and just did all the photos from the one location. Amazing what you can find in just one alley way…

Joe is not one to smile naturally for the camera, so it takes something funny to get that smile out. I had fun finding ways to make him laugh.

Had some fun using different processing techniques too.

Joe, I am so proud of the man you are today.

And I am blessed to have you in my life. Thank you for loving me in a way that every woman dreams of… it’s an incredible feeling.

{{hugs}}

Really now, how many of us have a beautiful portrait of ourselves other than when we were graduating from high school or getting married?  We just don’t take the time to do something like that for ourselves or the people we love.  I know I don’t have one… and quite frankly I understand why people shy away from doing this.  I would be afraid of not having deleting rights, or someone capturing a picture I won’t like of myself, or the photographer won’t be sensitive to those things that I really want to downplay in a photo. Because I know how I feel, I am extremely sensitive to others and really watch for the most flattering angles, I coach you through positions and we laugh a lot… I share images along the way, all in the attempt to make you feel confident that we are capturing you the way YOU want to be captured.

Suzy calls these her “Cougar Portraits”… she is so funny! Maybe we can open a whole new market for fabulous photos over 30, or maybe 40… not sure what the age limit is on the “Cougar” category .

I also try to turn the images into fine art pieces… not just snapshots that anyone could take from their point and shoot. I spend time finding the right affect for each photo, so they are special in every way.

I usually take hundreds of images in just a short period of time. I think Suzy and I spent about an hour on this shoot and I left with 500 images, which then got trimmed down to about 70. This next image was both of our favorites and you need to click on it to take a closer look… the bracelet and earrings were my mom’s and the necklaces were Suzy’s. It was fun planning this session out.

I love the vintage look. I grabbed a mirror off my wall, stuffed a bunch of pillows and blankets into a garbage bag and we were off to our location.

To prepare for my shoots I always first get into the “mood”.. I look for inspiration in magazines or review past thoughts I have journaled. I look around my house and see if there is anything I can use. I ask my client to do the same and see if they have any vision… if not, I am comfortable planning the whole thing. My mind is usually overactive with photo ideas, so I am glad to take that fully on and I LOVE doing it!

Suzy brought a couple of fabulous dresses and I grabbed a few scarves to add some interest. Did I already say that we laughed a lot! I just love her! She is honest and makes me smile.

Her blue eyes just popped out with the beautiful light coming in from the “window.”

There are just so many I would like to share, but will keep it to just a few more…

Promise, almost done… love how the necklaces stand out in this image…

Can you blame me?

Aren’t these fun? What I have enjoyed lately is finding my own style, not trying to emulate someone else’s style, but just doing what I love and envision. It is comfortable to get there and I am excited to explore that some more.

This is Suzy’s author pic, now she just needs to write a book.

I will leave you with one final image… xoxoxo

Over the years I have managed to lose the top of the ark and the ramp… must be up in the attic somewhere and some of the animals have their legs chewed off (hmmm….) but when I set them all up I remembered how much I played with them. I had purple shag carpet in my room, so these had to be set up in the kitchen where the floor was smooth.  I can picture my mom at the gas station while the attendant cleaned our windshield and filled the tank (the good ol’ days).  I remember them handing the bag of animals to me and the excitement I felt to get a set I didn’t have already.

I know I collected them long enough to see some variations in the way they made Noah and his wife and even some of the animal poses.

Along with the Arco animals I also had the dolls of the world – wonder where they are now and the glass animals from Red Rose Tea and cereal toys….
When opening a new box of cereal I would quickly puff the box up and look down the side to see if I could find the toy.

I must have spent an hour going through them all as I set them up on the living room floor. Then, as I was preparing this post, we spent another hour looking up vintage cereal toys on the internet… fun stuff I tell ya! These are from the R&L company called Daffy Dawgs – Corny Canines. They took a while to find, but we finally did! They came in Kellogg’s Corn Flakes in the 70’s (wow, that dates me). We found them on eBay for about $10 a piece… you might be seeing my collection on there soon .

Some are still in packages… and some are just little scraps of paper that normal people would not keep… My name is Connie Riggio and I have a problem…

Remember Grins & Smiles & Giggles & Laughs cereal? I must have liked it, I have a ton of these magnets. This was made by Ralston – isn’t that a pet food company?

My mom’s favorite cereal was called Sugar Pops, but for “some” reason it no longer has the word Sugar as part of the title… it’s now just called Pops. Can’t advertise that it is made with sugar. Times have changed!

Do you remember the scrubbing bubbles? I wonder where I picked those up?

Look, it’s an Olympic figure skater card from 1980 and do you see Frankenberry? Loved that cereal… along with Boo Berry, but I never liked Count Chocula.

Hope you enjoyed my walk down memory lane… I know I had fun preparing it for you.

Visit Sara’s blog for another example of Nostalgia!

Next Challenge: Reflections – Reflected image: the image of somebody or something that appears in a mirror or other reflecting surface or Considered idea: an idea or thought, especially one produced by careful consideration.

This past weekend I got word that the Market Street Graffiti wall was being revamped. This is just one of the walls I use for my portraits. I love the colors and admire the artist’s pieces.

When I arrived they were well on their way…

This wall looked like this the last time I saw it…

I have used it many, many times!

I love that I now have a new wall to work with…

I even got a chance to talk to a few of the artists. My question to them… how do you feel when another artist comes and covers over your piece? These same artists also worked on the graffiti garages (look here, here, here and here) I use and their work is covered much more often in those areas.

The answer… it’s hard to think about all the work that goes into a piece and then it simply gets painted over by the next person who comes along… it is ok with them as long as the replacement is another quality piece and they try to improve on it.

This wall is owned by Thane, so does not get changed until he arranges it. Nice to know this will not get ruined anytime soon.

I am always curious about the paint that they use, it is so bright!

Among the paint… another love of mine… coffee… Satellite coffee! Right on the other side of this wall is Satellite and Smooth ‘N Juicey (in this case that is the correct spelling). You should definitely check them out! Good stuff!

I will miss the old one…

but will look forward to using the new one!

I might run down later today and see if it’s finished yet… will post an update if it is .

P.S. I encourage you to find what YOU love and incorporate it into your photography! It’s a good way to bring out your originality and be different! Enjoy!

I found needles…

broken glass…

beer cans, caution tape and beer bottles… sad how easy all of this was to find…

a graveyard…

a balloon that no longer has air and is wrapped in knots as it hangs from a wire…

a hole in the wall that was once filled and now remains empty and forgotten…

a crumbled wall of brick that once stood strong…

a hospital…

I thought of more like a warn staircase, a rugged road, my childhood home, the bridge that so many take their own lives every year… but all led me to one image…

…darkness, total darkness… that is what pain is to me – all consuming… a feeling of being lost, not being able to recognize anything… feeling empty and scared, drained, weak, tired, stunned, alone, mind numbing, deafening… total consumption – mental and physical… as one.

So glad to be done with this week’s hunt. Now for next week and drum roll please…

Next week’s theme: Nostalgia – Sentimental recollection: a mixed feeling of happiness, sadness and longing when recalling a person, place or event from the past or the past in general or Homesickness: a longing for home or family when away from either

Have a great Sunday night… curl up with the ones you love and hold them tight! xoxoxo

The first is getting my gallery wall going in my Photography Office. We have an old house with a beautiful parlor, so I am transforming that room into my office, complete with gallery wall. I am sure it will have several revisions, but for now I am happy with the progress.

I staged the frames on the floor first to see how they worked together. I didn’t have to go out and buy even one! I found them all in closets or in other areas of my house. The wall to the right is where their new home will be… just waiting for all the prints to come back from the printers. So excited!

My office is so warm and inviting… a place you want to hang out, especially in the great weather we have been having the last few days. The blinds are new, the computer and monitor are new, the purple chair on the other side and ottoman (not shown) are all new for this room.

I will also be adding a canvas print above the fireplace, but haven’t gotten to that just yet.

My other project is a book cover (I was commissioned, not my book) … I can’t say specifics about it, but I can show you one of the ideas. It is not the final though. We are doing another shoot today. I love doing this kind of stuff! So fun!

Chris and Shannon are my models for the book, but I captured a few extras just for them to have as well.

Such a great couple! Shannon has strikingly beautiful blue eyes!

I loved their chemistry… and the sun, perfect!

Back to work, just wanted to share a little of what is going on with me… how about you?

[[hugs]]

We walked the streets in search of a special lock, but instead captured all kinds of images along the way. I make cards from many of the photos I take, so might as well turn some of these into cards for future family gatherings.

The Old Elks Building is one of my favorite places. You will notice it a lot in my shoots, but every time I go there I see more destruction and it just makes me sad.

Within the last week orange paint now spots the historic staircase.

A trail of rose stems along it with a broken vase…

A Valentine’s message I could not fully read…

And one red rose…

We spotted a few more locks on some of the closed antique stores…

Then walked to the graffiti garage I love so much!

We even got to watch one of the artist making some new graffiti.

We walked through all 3 garages admiring the work of so many.

There was even a fresh Valentine’s message.

We found some art on the floors too. This one will be a card for sure.

After hitting a few of the open shops we headed back home, but not without a few more stops along the way.

Can you see the opossum hiding in the tree?

Not far from our house is a lock smith with some pretty cool old safes in the front of his shop.

Loved the vintage vibe of them!

I grew up collecting antiques. My mom frequented garage sales and estate sales, then when I met Joe I introduced him and we have continued the collecting together.

Not everyone thinks that old stuff is cool, but we do!

We have been watching that show, American Pickers, lately… so cool!

Last lock image for the day…

Thanks for stopping by!

Next photo scavenger hunt theme: Pain – something that shows pain, but is not a person.

Then there’s the graffiti garage I use, well… I had to take out a few not so nice drawings and a words in my last shoot with Amanda.

I was so involved in taking the picture that I didn’t even notice the “bad” stuff until I got home and brought them up on the computer.

Last weekend, when taking Natalie’s pics we came across 3 syringes! 3!!!

Just saying… it’s not ALL fun and games out here…

xoxoxo