Thursday, December 29, 2011

I Remember Building Love


This image is a throwback to the early days of my relationship with my partner. We committed to a lifetime of partnership a couple of weeks ago, and in this new place there is a lot of space for looking ahead as a couple. I wanted to honor our past in this post because how we got where we are now is as important as all the planning, dreaming, and continued love ahead of us.

In gratitude,
SMB

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

December Blossoms


December 11, 2011
Boston Public Garden



I am leading winter photography workshops through the City of Boston's Park and Recreation Department.  The first of five workshops was held Sunday morning on the bridge in the Public Garden.  I positioned myself in the sun, hoping to keep warm while outside for two hours. 

I noticed these cherry blossoms from where I set up, and kept turning back to them as my toes got more and more numb. I was enchanted by these mid-December blossoms, as were many of the workshop participants as is evident from their photos. Our theme was color and as people came back to the bridge to share their work I saw their renderings of orange berries, white roses, leaves in shades varying from green to brown, and other pops of color in nature I never expected to see during a Boston December. It was a pleasant surprise that I think it warmed us up a tad.



Upcoming workshops
Sundays 10am- noon
December 18 at Jamaica Pond Boathouse, Jamaica Plain
January 8 at Christopher Columbus Trellis, North End
January 22 at Back Bay Fens Kelleher Rose Garden, Back Bay
February 5 at Millennium Park Canoe Launch, West Roxbury

All are welcome. These events are free and open to people of all ages and skill levels with any camera.

Sunday, December 11, 2011

The Berrys in France, a photo book

My family lived in Paris, France for 4 years. I visited a few times before finally moving there for almost 6 months in 2008.  This is a Shutterfly photo book I made last Christmas for my parents, which includes images from our adventures in France.

Cheers.


Thursday, December 8, 2011

I hear my train a comin'

My first studio space. I come here to make art and to be my true self. I see and feel the materials move from loose beads to wearable art and I envision what blank paper can become as I meticulously fill it with dots and lines of vibrant color (more on this series later). 

My visual senses are not alone, as my olfactory sense is often satisfied by the work of the artist in the adjacent studio who makes soap and candles.

Sometimes I work without music because there are train tracks right outside my window. My own rhythm is is accompanied by a rumble and the rhythm of  wheels clacking over sleepers and screeching against rails.  The commuter and cargo trains often remind me to stop and look, to give thanks for nearby travelers, to honor that food and goods must come from somewhere, to remember that I am on a journey.

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Thanksgiving Cranberries




Having Thanksgiving on Cape Cod was so memorable and meaningful. I got to spend it with the best people, in the best weather, and with the best food!  We gleaned cranberries at this beautiful bog on the bank of Santuit Pond

Deeply grateful you've stopped to enjoy my photography,
Sarah


PS: Last year at this very bog, I saw a gang of wild turkeys hopping over the water. I didn't this year. Hopefully they weren't garnished with somebody's fresh picked berries...




Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Hello?

 I spotted this 
phoneless booth 
in Brookline in front of American Craft.
The phoneless booth is a 3-year obsession
with no end in sight.

The pay phone is going the way of 
the film camera, the walkman, and dial-up internet...
only this technological t-rex leaves behind public
clunky vestiges of wired, stationary communication.


Please enjoy my growing collection of 
phoneless booths 
by clicking here.

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Party lights



Gorgeous light. Eve of my mother's 60th birthday celebration.
11/13/11

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Ode to Before: The Cat and My Work


Before: The cat and my work.


Hello. As of October 1, 2011, one month ago today, I have been working out of a studio in Allston. This week's photo is my ode to the days of in-house assistance from the lovely Kitty Jane. While I'm glad to have a studio (where I am now able to leave my supplies out) I do sometimes miss my fuzzy visitor. Please stay tuned for some "after" shots, though they may not be labeled as such.... I am excited to continue sharing what I can create now that I've got the space to do it.
Can you hear my art beating?
Sarah


Thursday, August 18, 2011

I love watching people interact in art

I see

Sparks

Dedication

Focus

Joy

Confusion

Passion

Genius

Concern

Haughtiness

Messages transmitted– news, pleas, reminders, stories…

Love

Kindness

Healing

Humility

New comers

Old timers

Tradition

Innovation

Memories

Expectation

Disappointment

Life

Real expression

I have

Encounters

Ahhs!

Hmmms!

Humility

Inspiration

Pride

Hope

Insecurities

Peace

Fullness

Learning

Friday, June 3, 2011

Emerging from winter, three jobs, and graduate school

All at once in Boston, it was summer- sweet and humid, and so much on the calender that I find it impossible to do everything the city has to offer. This week marked the beginning of my weekly CSA (community supported agriculture) pick up at a bakery in Brookline. Lucious local organic produce, and not a moment too soon.

Starting in February in the midst of a winter I thought may never end, I began my search for a CSA and an internship, intentionally putting a light at the end of a bleak winter, summer in sight. (I should clarify that bleak was the weather, hardly my experience. My life this winter was a colorful palette, as I worked three jobs and took a consulting class, the capstone course for my masters program....)

I was working as the interim program manager at The Art Connection, traveling to social service agencies in the Greater Boston Area, and facilitating their selection of original artwork, which our organization gives away. Free. We donated so much original art during 16 years, that during my five-month stint as program manager, I placed the 5,000th piece. The work was given to a low income housing development looking to liven up their community center for their residents. I also placed work at a community college, a residential treatment program for "delinquent male youth", an elder service community, and several others. Each place I got to meet staff and clients and watch their understanding of and personal connection to art blossom.

I was also working as a graduate assistant for the Arts Administration Department at Boston University where I researched education standards and rankings for international programs in arts administration and cultural policy. I also served as chief conference site coordinator for the Association of Arts Administration Educators annual conference, hosted by BU this year.

And once a week, I found myself trying to get tuckered out, texting teens interested in photography. I was received with both eye rolls and genuine enthusiasm (sometimes by the same person in the same three-minute span)... a great experience where I learned once again how to make something with nothing. With the exception of one girl, the students never brought their cameras to class. So I learned to bring mine, and shoot we did. We were at Temple Israel or TI, which for our group meant "trapped inside". I was impressed with their thoughtfulness and the outcome of their images, some of which completely transported us "outside".

Now all three jobs are behind me (though I still sit on two committees at The Art Connection), and I am eating local blueberries with my windows flung open. I am also preparing to begin my internship for the Boston Parks and Recreation Department's ParkARTS program! In a search to get experience working for a local government agency, I found a way to do that while work outside teaching art... amazing. I will be leading photography workshops in a different Boston park every Tuesday evening in the months of July and August (details in my next post). I am also doing marketing for the ParkARTS program, and assisting the watercolor teacher in landscape painting workshops in the parks.

Looking forward to an incredible summer, as full as winter, but with more leisurely activities... and only one job. And more time to BLOG. Keep reading :)