Spotlight on...Justine Reyes

Untitled, Vanitas, 2009, C-Print

You have done a lot of traveling throughout the world- and have been doing so since college, are there certain places that have affected you and your creativity above others?

My time in Italy and traveling throughout Africa has had a profound effect on me. I love seeking out craft and artisan specialties when I’m traveling. I relearned how to crochet from my Amai in Zimbabwe and was encouraged to really learn new patterns and techniques by my friend’s stepmother in Tanzania. I studied weaving, batik and soft sculpture at Fuji Studios in Florence in 1998 and 2000. It was there that I began thinking about ways to use traditional crafts in my contemporary art making practice.

Can you talk about your travels in general- and what traveling means to you?
Traveling is figuring out the world and figuring out my place in it.

What are you currently working on?
I am currently working on a few new bodies of work. I began a still life series while in residence at the Center for Photography at Woodstock this fall. This series is inspired by Dutch Vanitas paintings and incorporates personal objects of my own as well as objects that belonged to my grandmother. Pairing these objects together speaks to memory and the legacy that one leaves behind. Both the decomposition of the natural (rotting fruit and wilting flowers) and the break down of the man-made objects, reference the physical body and mortality. These objects bear witness to a spiritual trace or imprint that is left behind or residual.

I am also continuing my Away from Home series where I photograph my Mom and Uncle in hotel rooms around the world and I’m still shooting my Guayabera Series and will be crocheting my installation until this war finally ends.

Al, Barcelona, Away From Home, 2008, C-Print

You have worked on a few different bodies of work--images of different objects, your Uncle's t-shirts, the suitcases, how does one project transition into the next? What is your train of thought while you are making your work?
My process is very intuitive and each project builds organically. Much of my work demonstrates the power of objects to bear witness to intangible ideas and emotional truths and employs the iconography and symbols of common everyday objects as a means of communicating shared
experiences. The death of my uncle profoundly impacted me and has in large part brought me to my most current bodies of work, many of which include my family, the idea of leaving and returning home, and the longing to hold on to things that are ephemeral and transitory in nature.

What Remains, 2007, C-Print

What is your dream project?
I’d really like to be able to take my Mom and Uncle Al all over the world for my Away from Home series. This year we are planning to go to Morocco. Time and money are the biggest obstacles but I’m excited to see this work grow and develop over time.

Do you collect source materials? and If so, what?
I collect everything. Seriously. I have a collection of candy wrappers and boxes and even have some framed in shadow boxes. I really like packaging, especially things from foreign countries. I also have binders of images that I tear from Art Forum, Art in America and other magazines of work that I love. Linda Connor actually had us do this in school and it really helps me remember the names and work of other artists.

Untitled, Vanitas, 2009, C-Print

How does your art practice fit into your daily life? or how do you balance your art and your life?
It seems like everything I do is art related or at least 95%. Its good to have a job you love so you don’t feel bad when you’re working all the time. Finding balance is an endless goal.

How do you get through artist's block?
I am always working on projects simultaneously so I usually have too many ideas and not enough time but if I get blocked I would read more and revisit art history for inspiration or go running.

Mom, Barcelona, Away From Home, 2008, C-Print

What words and/or philosophy do you live by?
I don’t have a personal philosophy. I’m just living, making mistakes and trying to learn and grow.

Thank you Justine!!

Justine Reyes lives and works in New York. Reyes' work revolves around issues of identity, history and time; and our relationship to these themes in a post 9/11 world. Using photography and installation, she examines family, the idea of leaving and returning home, and the longing to hold on to things that are ephemeral and transitory in nature. she received her MFA from the San Francisco Art Institute in 2004 and her BFA from Syracuse University in 2000.

Reyes’s recent work: Guayabera Series was included in Queens International 4 at The Queens Museum of Art. She was also recently awarded the Individual Artist Initiative (IAI) from the Queens Council on the Arts.

Os Gêmeos

Art Review | Os Gêmeos by Roberta Smith
A World Springs to Life on an Urban Wall

2 Brazilian brothers, Otavio and Gustavo Pandolfo, are creating this wonderfully whimsical, colorful, imaginitive mural on a wall on Houston St. and the Bowery in Manhattan.

Spotlight on....Isidro Blasco

(Shanghai Planet, 2008)

Your work combines elements of photography, collage and sculpture and I love how it plays with indoor/outdoor space and architectural space both within the photographs and as completed works on exhibit.... Can you talk about how you started working in this way?
At first I was just playing around with light and shapes projected on the wall. Mostly square shapes; and I was interested in building a second layer of that square, just hanging on the wall, just in front. It was sort of like illuminating that part of the room, a corner for example; and having that section built up. And when you turn the light off, you have this shape built right there, and it becomes an object. And you can add to this one, others around it, until you fill up the whole room. And some times I did just that, the whole space with structures overlapping. It was a lot of fun. I did one at PS1 as part of the defunct program ‘Special Projects’ in 2000. And I used only two very large squares overlapping just a little. The resulting construction took over half of the room and you could walk on it. That was the last time before using photographs. After that one, I realize that I could be doing the same but with the photos pasted onto the surface. I guess I wanted to open up my work to the richness of the surface. Whatever was there, on top of the floor or the wall, will be also on the photo and ultimately on my construction.

How is your work changing?
I try to incorporate as many things as possible into my work that I consider new. As you can see I practically have only one idea, and I keep making it in different ways. I bring in things from other fields as well--video, architecture and photography. The process is very slow and can take years; at the end what I am doing looks like something different from what I was doing before. But I can recognize the same idea somewhere in there. And if I explain it to you, you will also see that there is a continuum in my work.

(Courtyard, 2008)

What part of your art practice is the most fun for you? What part do you like the least?
The fun part is to cut the material and build the construction. I love building stuff. Also, when it happens that I have a new idea, that is all I can think of for a few days afterwards. It's not that I go bananas about it, but I can get pretty obsessed, and sometimes not fun to be around. And I am sorry about that. I don’t like all the hours that I have to spend on the computer. I try to minimize the work that I do on the photos, but there is always so much work to do that I find myself working late at night on some stupid images. I hate that part. I don’t consider myself a photographer, so I really don’t want to know all the editing tools and stuff. I wish I could pay someone to do all that work.

Do you make a plan or think of everything as an experiment?
I have a plan always, but it doesn't turn out to be as I thought. I start working with an idea in my head, and I can see how the piece will be at the end. I can see it in 3D in my head. And I can sometimes even rotate the piece around and see from all angles. This is something that I did since I was a child. It started as a game, closing my eyes and imagining something very familiar--my chair for example--levitating and then spinning it around. You should try it; it's fun. But not everybody can do it, I am told.

(Ball Building, 2009, C- Print, Museum Board, Wood, Plaster of Paris, Fiberglass Mesh)

What projects are you working on currently?
I am going to Sydney in July for a show at Dominik Mersch Gallery. There I will show pieces that have images of Shanghai where I spent some time last year. Fascinating city. While I am there, I will be taking photos of the city of Sydney and maybe later I will make something with them. I will be participating in September in a group show at the Museum of Photography in Chicago, curated by Davide Quadrio. It is about the image of Shanghai City. Almost everybody in this show is Chinese except for me; I like that. In December, I will be in a show at the Temporare Kunsthalle in Berlin curated by Thomas Eller. And next year I am having my first retrospective in Madrid, in ‘Alcala 31.” I am Ok with it-- I don’t feel any discomfort on showing older work and having to think about my career, etc. If anything I feel that I should make greater effort to produce a good show, since it is my country and city of origin and deeply inside me it matters a lot. I move to New York in 1996, seems such a long time ago.

Outside of your art, what feeds you creatively?
I love looking at images of other planets and cosmic events. I get very exited when there is a new bunch of images coming out from say Mars or Saturn. I go to the Internet and look for them. I also like to read about science and new ideas. I have to admit that more often than not, I don’t understand a thing. But it is OK, I like to play that I know what I am reading. It is just fascinating to me. Also, architecture of course. The new architecture is really amazing. I wish we had more of that here in New York, but unfortunately this city has became very conservative and is just letting pass great opportunities, like the new stadiums. What an amazing chance to build an incredible icon for Queens or The Bronx. Look at what they did in Beijing, what an amazing stadium.

What artists have inspired you along the way, and whose work interests you now?
I learn a lot from Picasso, Brake and Gordon Matta-Clark when I was at school. Later on from David Hockney, Nan Goldin, Lee Friedlander, Jessica Stockholder and Glen Seator. And more recently I like Beth Campbell, Valerie Hegarty, Sarah Oppenheimer, etc.

(Old City Interior I, 2008)

Did you ever have doubts about becoming an artist and if so, how did you overcome them?
No, I never have. Both my parents are artists and my house growing up was always full with musicians, poets, actors, painters and architects… So I never had that question, it was the only natural thing to do. I always had a studio, since I was like 12 years old. And my sister is also an artist. My parents had a small ceramic pottery business beside their own painting and sculpture studios, and everybody in the family had to work there from an early age. We were hippies I guess. What would probably today be considered childhood exploitation, gave me wonderful skills and knowledge of materials from early in my life. I had to work the clay very hard, which was my thing-- getting ready the clay for Antonio, the person that made the ceramic forms. I remember like it was yesterday, the smell of that basement where we kept the clay, the humidity, the endless hours knitting the material… it was magic. I am trying something similar with my two daughters, they are too little yet, but soon they will have a place in my own studio where they can mess around…let’s see how that works, it may not.

How do you get through artist's block?
I start calling friends on my cell, or sending messages. Sometimes, I even call my mother in Spain. And one thing that I definitely don’t do is listeni to NPR when I have a mental block; very often they are precisely the cause that I am in such a place, just kidding. I listen to music as much as possible. That is good advice that I took from Diana Cooper, she is great.

(Courtyard Annex, 2009, C-Print, Acid Free Museum Board, Cardboard, Wood)

What words or philosophy do you live by?
Work, work and work. I love it and I cannot have enough of it. I get up early, like at 5 AM; I am working all day long. I try to have more conversations and spend time with friends, but at the end my work always wins. My family comes from the countryside in the South-East of Spain and that is all that makes sense to do for us. Just work from early in the morning until late at night. I don’t see any other way to advance the ideas that obsess me. I always have these projects that are so complicated and take so many hours-- it’s just insane. But I also get a kick out of all that mindless work, of course.

The comment that you hear most often from artists is that you have to know people to advance your career; connections are everything. I just don’t understand how you can be out there meeting people, going to parties, and at the same time making some work at the studio that actually gets you somewhere. I don’t have time for all that. So I do my work, I try my best and take any opportunity to show it anywhere I can. And then I hope people like it and call me again for another opportunity. So far it has been working all right.

Thank you, Isidro!

Isidro Blasco was born in Madrid, Spain and has exhibited his work internationally. Current and Upcoming exhibitions include:

Transforming Photography, Edward Cella Art+Architecture, Los Angeles, CA
May 30-July 2, 2009

Isidro Blasco: New Works, Dominik Mersch Gallery, Waterloo, Australia, July 23-August 29, 2009.

Isidro has received many prestigious grants and awards including but not limited to: the Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship (2000), the NYFA grant (2001) and the Pollock Krasner Foundation Grant (1997).
For more information, visit Isidro’s website or the article: “Shanghai Cubism” from Art on Paper, or Artnet.
Isidro currently lives and works in New York.

Spotlight on....Diana Cooper

(Diana Cooper in front of Out of the Corner of My Eye, Staten Island, NY)

Do you have a daily ritual that prepares you to go to work in your studio?
No, I am not very good about incorporating rituals into my daily life. In fact, I always find it difficult to leave a place, whether it be my home or my studio. Wherever I am seems to be the place I want to be. But to facilitate the transition from the home to the studio, I will often start my day by making a list of what I plan to do that day. I fortunately have a strong work ethic that usually overrides the more disorganized and distracted side of my personality.

(The Dispenser, 1999)

Can you talk about your art practice? What kind of source material do you collect? How does a piece develop?
I feel like there is little separation between my life and my art, which of course brings with it a host of problems, but it also means that when I am not in the studio I am not intellectually, visually or emotionally far away from my work. Aside from the act of making, looking is probably the most stimulating thing I can do. Also photographing things. Photography has become a sketchbook of sorts. Especially when I am traveling alone.

I buy art books, postcards of artworks, stuff that catches my eye and might inspire me or be used in an artwork. I am also frequently cutting photographs out the New York Times, and printing images from the Internet and pinning them to my studio walls.

(images pinned to the wall in Diana's studio)

It is difficult for me to generalize on how a piece develops because there are many different ways in which I work. But perhaps most importantly is the fact that most of my pieces are linked together in some way, they feed each other. So even though I rarely start with a sketch or a preparatory drawing, I feel as though I am not starting from scratch. In a way, my work is simultaneously the sketch and the finished product. The process of making is almost always revealed to some extent in the finished work. A piece can start with a shape, a color or a simple set of rules or from an image or an idea that was only partially developed in a previous work or has been bopping around in my head for a while.

Your work is so colorful, energetic and playful--it seems to me to be the work of someone who loves to experiment and is truly in the creative flow, did you ever have doubts about what you were doing or doubts about becoming an artist?
I often have doubts. I wish this were not the case! But that is not to say that I don’t love what I do. For me, art making is a transportive experience. I feel very lucky to have something that gives me so much and that hopefully gives to others as well. The making of each piece has its own story but almost without fail there is a point in the process when I feel like I will never figure things out and never be able to finish it.

I had a lot of doubts about becoming an artist. It was a very complicated decision on so many levels. Both my parents were artists and teachers. I was exposed to both the joys and hardships of growing up in that environment. I grew up with two conflicting impulses: to embrace a creative life and to flee it; art was what gave life meaning but was also what made life so difficult.

Something I rarely talk about is the fact that my first love was dance and I danced, improvised and choreographed from a very early age. It was the improvisational and expressive nature of choreography and its relationship to music that attracted me to it.

You are using a variety of very interesting techniques-- building onto the surface of the picture plane, paper cut-outs, drawing and repetition, 3-d elements that cascade down the wall onto the floor. Do these techniques occur naturally through experimentation or have they always been inherent in the way that you work?
No, these techniques have not always been inherent in the way I work. I was first a painter. But I was a painter who always loved drawing and especially collage. I do remember wondering why everyone so slavishly adhered to the square and rectangle when making drawings or paintings and why it was assumed that paper equals drawing and canvas equals painting. These rules seemed arbitrary and unnecessarily confining to me.

The impulses to experiment and to improvise are at the heart of what I do. But as I get older, I have begun to realize that the 3-d nature of the work, and in particular, the spatial and experiential aspects, really hark back to the years when I danced. It wasn’t until 2005 that I became aware of the connection. In fact, it was a dancer/choreographer who brought it to my attention. For instance, for me the thousands of black paper arrows in “Swarm” evoke sound and movement, and in “Orange Alert UK,” the central spider/starburst form is the visual equivalent of a piercing alarm. There is a synaesthetic component to these works. In a way, I feel like I am trying to make visual art do things it is not fully capable of doing: to evoke sensory reactions not generally associated with it.

(image: Swarm, 2003-2007)

You use materials like pom poms, pipe cleaners, post its, foam core--How did you start using these particular materials?
Each of the materials you mention has its own little history and in some cases the histories overlap. In general, I am attracted to everyday objects such as post-its and sharpie markers that exist outside the context of fine art. Since so much of the work I do initially grew out of my doodling, it initially seemed natural to use materials that like the doodle had humble origins. Sharpies, post-its, pushpins, staples, scotch tape all fell within this category. Also, starting with something that isn’t particularly special offers more potential for metamorphosis. I am rarely attracted to commercially produced objects that are too specific and identifiable. Pom poms and colored pipe cleaners, on the other hand, attracted me partly because I didn’t know what the hell they were for, and that reminds me of my attraction to the interior of security envelopes. In security envelopes there is so much attention to color and detail, and for what? For me, there is poignancy in this. There are all these intricate patterns and colors inside a security envelope that you don’t even see until you tear it open it and then once you’ve opened it you throw it out and forget about it. The aesthetic impulse and its relationship to futility fascinate me.

But to return to your question, most of the materials I use possess two qualities: familiarity and malleability. The pom poms, however, do differ from the rest. I first encountered them when teaching art to elementary school students. I taught in an outreach program for seven years in Spanish Harlem. These saccharine colored fluffy balls initially repelled me. But I eventually incorporated them into my own art. I think I am attracted to things that don’t quite belong. Part of the interest for me lies in the act of mediation. The pom pom, like the felt I use, has the added benefit of being tactile, of mixing up the sensory experiences of seeing and touching.
(image: Orange Alert, 2008)

Since your work is non-traditional, is there a location outside of the gallery setting where you would like to see it exhibited?
My first response to your question is what does the term ‘non-traditional art’ mean these days? I guess I feel like so much of contemporary art could be described this way. That said, I have just completed my first permanent public artwork, so I have just experienced exhibiting outside the gallery, and it was extremely gratifying. I made a 107ft long piece at a new public school in Staten Island using wood, MDF, Nida-Core, acrylic paint and glass. It was commissioned by New York City’s Percent for Art Program and the NYC Construction Authority’s Public Art in Public School’s Program. Making an artwork in a place where people rarely encounter contemporary art was very meaningful to me. It made me think of the time I taught in Harlem. Looking back, I realize that was the most meaningful day job I have ever had. I installed my piece in two stages and was working on it while the building was being finished and the school year was about to begin. So I interacted with construction workers, bureaucrats, security guards, custodians, teachers, students and parents. It was great to hear their reactions and questions. In the future, I would love an opportunity to make a work inside a hospital or outside on a busy street.

(image: Out of the Corner of My Eye, 2008-2009)

What inspires you?
So much! Let’s see, other artists’ work of course, a good conversation, architecture, construction sites, films, nature (especially trees), and industrial design and engineering, what I see on the tarmac at an airport or in a hospital. Perhaps music is number one, I honestly don’t feel like I could get through the day if I did not have music. But to be more specific, recent sources of inspiration have been Gaudi, the IBM History Flow Charts of Wikipedia, Stephen Holl’s MIT Dormitory, Ohad Naharin’s dance “Max,” Sol Lewitts’ letter to Eva Hesse (1965) the recent documentary on Louise Bourgeois, “Man on a Wire,” and Julian Schnabel’s “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly.”

What project(s) are you currently working on?
Since I just completed “Out of the Corner of My Eye,” the Percent for Art Installation in Staten Island, I am a bit in transition and trying to change gears so that I can get started in the studio again. It has been at least two years since I have had a normal studio practice that was not overshadowed by an impending deadline. I am looking forward to being aimless and alone in my studio for a while!

How do you get through artist's block?
I listen to music and start singing along very loudly!

What is a typical week in your life like?
I don’t feel like I have typical weeks at the moment but I am working on creating more structure in my life. I have always found living in NYC extremely distracting and inspiring at the same time!

Are there any words that you live by? or a particular philosophy that you believe in when it comes to life and art and pursuing a creative form of expression?
This might sound somewhat contradictory but I try to be both open minded and true to myself. I also try not to take the easy way out.

Diana Cooper lives and works in New York. To see more of her constructions, visit her website!

Spotlight on....Julia Pogodina

How did your career in fashion photography unfold?
On July 15th, 2006 I quit my job as a foreign associate at Sidley Austin law firm in NY and started doing photography full-time.

But I guess it all started much earlier. As a child, I stayed up all night with my Dad in our homemade darkroom watching him develop b&w pictures from our family trips to the Black sea. Then it was my first camera, a 35mm Lomo compact that I received for my 8th birthday. And lots of art books in my parents library, weekly trips to the museums and exhibitions with my parents, beautiful art pieces & pictures on the wall of our apartment in St.Peterbsurg where I grew up. My parents always encouraged my artistic beginnings (my Dad himself is an antique restorer & jeweler) but the harsh reality of post-Soviet Russia didn’t allow the luxury to pursue your inclinations when it was time to choose where to go to school. Instead, stable income and prestige were the criteria in choosing your future career. The latter together with my excellent grades in school brought me to St. Peteresburg Law school at the age of 18. It took me 9 years to realize that it was a mistake. Without regretting the past I moved on to a very uncertain future and started a new career, fresh, without proper education, at the age of 27.

Honestly, there was no smooth transition between being a corporate lawyer and becoming a fashion photographer. I guess there couldn’t be. It was abrupt, unexpected, scary, and very exciting. I’m not sure I’d be able to do it again if I had to... It takes not only guts but also some kind of blind fearlessness, courage and sense of adventure. It’s like jumping with the parachute for the first time. I loved it! But I would be very cautious to recommend anyone to repeat this path.
2.5 years later everything is different now starting with my self. The way I look, the way I spend my day, my circle of friends and acquaintances, the place where I live. Elegant suits and high heels were replaced by jeans and converse sneakers. My tiny studio in a fancy building in the West Village was abandoned for a spacious loft in East Williamsburg. But the biggest changes happened in my head. Living your dream is a difficult thing. Dreaming about being an artist is easier then becoming one. It is not an overnight process and I still have a long and exciting journey ahead.


Can you talk about collaborating with stylists, makeup artists, models, etc. Each designer has a task but you are all working together to create a look, how does this collaboration work?
In fashion photography – opposite to fine art photography, for example, - team is a key. A glossy picture that you see in a magazine is always a collaborative effort – of an art director, photographer, model, stylist, set designer, make-up artists, hair stylist, photo retoucher, layout designer, etc, etc. It’s a huge production, and each level of it is crucial.
I personally always liked that part. I love working with creative people and this is one of the reasons I’m in this industry. It’s different from the type of team work people talk about in the offices – here it’s not as technical. It is a mix of creativity & different personalities. Magical in a way, and very powerful. Sometimes you feel that you have no control over it; this is when beautiful things are happening – when each team member is in love with the project and you see everybody’s unique touch in the final outcome.

There are no rules in this process, I believe. With my team I’m usually the one throwing initial ideas on the table. Some inspiration, a couple of reference pictures, a short description of a concept. Then each member of the team starts working on his own part. Here I usually give complete freedom and always encourage them to experiment and create something unique. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t, but at the end it’s all a learning curve, where an ultimate goal is to find and express yourself.

What inspires you?
Lots of things. The people around me. The places I used to live or visit. My childhood memories. Literature. Movies. Exhibitions. Music. Sometimes inspiration is very directional, for example, I can watch the Pillow book by Peter Greenaway and my head starts spinning with ideas about a fashion shoot inspired by the style of the film. But usually it’s more complex. Ideas come as a mix of experiences and aftertastes, dreams and fears, sounds and quotes, flashbacks of emotions.
What photographers, artists, books, fashion designers, or mentors, etc. have influenced you creatively?
If I ever need to write down all the acknowledgements that will constitute a whole book which will be interesting only for those mentioned in it. And this list continues growing every day.

I am blessed to be surrounded by incredibly talented, wise, creative, big-hearted people who always inspire and encourage me. At first it was my Dad who taught me to draw way before I could read and write; my childhood was filled with color pencils, watercolor sets, and canvas paper. My Mom was the one who cultivated a taste in fashion in me; she was the one sewing all my clothes since I was little, and always making me “the-best-dressed” girl in high school. Then it was FTV channel – one of the first foreign channels in post-Soviet Russia along with MTV. I was 16 and I was addicted. I could watch show after show all day long (skipping classes in school, of course). I knew all of the designers and their collections by heart year after year. The first fashion photographer I met was Andrey Borichevskii, my good old friend from St.Petersburg. He was the one who introduced me to names like Mario Testino and Nick Knight. He also showed me Italian Vogue for the first time. There were many others later on: photographers, artists and friends, each of whom added his or her little touch & inspiration to forming this passion in me .
As of now I’m breathing editorials and ad work by Steven Meisel & Steven Klein, Craig McDean, Marcus & Piggot. They are my virtual mentors when it comes to style and quality in fashion photography.

What does the medium of photography mean to you - and why did you choose it?
I like photography for its immediate and true results. I’m not fascinated by the process of depicting a subject (for example in painting) but instead by the subject itself. In my case, it’s beautiful people - and the moment they live in. In a way it’s all about pre-production – my team and I are spending days prepping for the shoot and hours creating a look for the camera. This look usually lives for just a couple of minutes. The camera gives me a chance to capture it imminently, intimately, as I see it - and deliver the message to the viewer later on. I think only video can compete with that, but that’s a different story.

What is the most difficult part of what you do? What do you like best about what you do or create?
The most difficult part is the people. This is also the part I like the most. This is the only part of the job that is always unpredictable, always out of control. It makes it challenging and magical.

What do you like to do when you're not shooting photographs?
Sleep. Read. Watch movies. Travel. Cook. In random order.

What is your dream project?
My dream project is to shoot the Pirelli calendar. Or to travel on assignment from Vogue to an exotic location – like Africa or Iceland – with my team.

What words or philosophy do you live by?
The sky is the limit!

Julia Pogodina moved from Moscow to New York in 2005 to pursue her dream. After 7 years of being a corporate lawyer she quit her office job and became a freelance fashion/beauty photographer. Her pictures stand out for their saturated colors, dynamic compositions, profound lighting and dreamy locations. Julia's commercial and editorial work, along with a list of publications can be seen at http://www.nymfea.com/.

Thanks Julia!

Spotlight on....Kate Cusack

Kate Cusack is a multi-talented artist living in Brooklyn, NY. Part sculptor, part designer, part jeweler--she creates elegant jewelry out of zippers, designs costumes for theater and window displays. Here, she talks a bit about her process, inspirations, and her current project.

(Photo: Kate in her studio)

You wear a couple of different artistic hats, as sculptor/jeweler/costume designer. How has your career unfolded?

My career is constantly unfolding and I constantly trying to make sense of it all. I often think of my career as a braid—different pieces, influences and experiences overlapping and coming together from various directions to form one complex creative career.
These days since my artistic outlets range quite a bit, I am trying to come to terms with the idea that I can be more than just one thing—more than just a costume designer, more than just a window designer, and more than just a jewelry designer—but an artist who does many things. The through-line that ties my work together is the association with the body (as in jewelry or costume) and the love for unusual materials.

(Photo: model wearing zipper necklace & bracelet © 2009 Julia Pogodina, Styling by Dina Yassin, hair by Jamal Hodges, make-up by Aldys Minaya)

Before getting to the point where you are today- Did you have some part-time (or full time) day jobs?

I have been very lucky to have jobs that have always related to what I was creatively interested in at the time. I think the most influential job was working at a costume shop called Parsons-Meares. They build costumes for broadway and a lot of Disney-on-ice costumes as well. That shop is known for incredible craftsmanship as well as creative solutions to complex costume needs—like a lot of the elements from the Lion King, and they also worked very intensely on some of the costumes from Wicked, among many others. When I worked there, it was like I was being paid to learn. There was so much to learn regarding technique, materials, protocol and designer/costume shop relations. I met some very important designers and also realized that I didn’t want to spend the rest of my life working in a costume shop creating other people’s ideas.

What outside interests feed you creatively?
This is the toughest question of the group, somehow. I think most of my interests are intertwined with each other and with my creativity, so it’s hard to think of any as “outside.” Interests that feed me creatively are:
-eating good food either at restaurants or at home
-shoe shopping
-going to museums
-going to theatrical events
-riding the subway and seeing all of the different kinds of styles in NY (this is not so much an interest, more of a necessity, but it definitely feeds me creatively)

What inspires you?
I am always inspired by raw materials. Whenever I see one thing repeated, I begin to think about what it could be turned into. When I was in high school and college, I really enjoyed going to 99 cent stores. I ended up with a lot of q-tips and toothbrushes and big plans that never happened. When I see a product or a material is a big quantity, I start to see it in its very basic visual form—as shape, color and texture. I had a teacher at MICA (undergrad) named, Annet Cowenberg (fiber artist) who taught a class in which she told us that any material can be either a line or a plane and from that you can make anything else. For an assignment, we had to make a list as long as we could of materials that fell into the category of a line or a plane—for example a piece of spaghetti can be a line, and a piece of paper can be a plane. It is very freeing when you can let your imagination and your creative eye tell you what to do.

Do you have a daily ritual that gets you ready to go to work in your studio?
My studio is in between my bedroom and the rest of my apartment. So just the act of getting out of bed gets me into my studio. I get ready in the morning, make tea, while the tea steeps, I get dressed and then sit down at my computer. I answer my e-mails, and then figure out the plan for the day. I am a big believer in lists, so if I am confused about where to begin, I either consult an existing list or begin a new one. Just writing everything down in my sketchbook gets it out of my brain and leaves room for other thoughts.

Do you collect source material? If so, what? and how do you use these materials?
I often collect images that are inspirational to me and I put them in my sketchbook. Sometimes those images are from ads, or catalogues, or given to me by friends and family. It’s usually looking back on these images and through the pages of my sketchbook that I realize how I was inspired by them, or following a common thread of design.

What are you currently working on?
I am currently working on developing a body of Zipper Jewelry to be shown through the Snyderman Works Gallery at a big event called Sculptural Objects Functional Art (SOFA). This is an expo held in NYC around late April/early June and in Chicago in October/November.

(photo: Zipper Necklace)

How do you get through artist's block?

I usually end up doing a lot of writing and some drawing. I spend a lot of time talking with my friends and my family and they are usually able to steer me back on track and remind me that I am moving in a direction that is not typical and that’s OK, and even exciting.

Did you ever have a project that stumped you as to how to do it, make it, fabricate? How do you figure it out?
Most projects present dilemmas or problems throughout the process of creation. I usually have to give it some time and in that time I often talk to my friends who are artists and to my parents. (They are also artists.) Whether or not the solutions they offer are useful, just the act of explaining whatever the problem may be plus the added creative mind usually solves the problem.

What words or philosophy do you live by?
There are a few catch phrases that I live by:

-be hard on the problem, soft on the people (from my mother)

-manage the expectations (from my father)

-if it’s shiny, buy it (personal philosophy)

-spend and god will send (from my grandmother)

-trust your instinct (general rule of thumb)

Kate Cusack earned her BFA at the Maryland Institute College of Art in 2001 where she began working with everyday materials and creating unique costumes and head-dresses. She studied theater history, traditions and practices at the Yale school of Drama and received her MFA in 2006.

Currently, Kate lives in Brooklyn where she compliments her collaborative work in the theater with intense independent studio work creating jewelry from zippers. The Zipper Jewelry is sold across the country in galleries and museum shops and has been featured in various publications both online and in print.

Please visit Kate's website, blog, and shop to learn more about her unique work.

Thanks Kate!!

Spotlight On....Marcus Stevens

Marcus Stevens is one smart cookie. He acts, he writes, he sings. He recently moved from Pittsburgh to NY and is attending the BMI Musical Theater Workshop. He is definitely one to watch!


Can you tell me about your interests outside of theatre?
I’ve always been interested in history. I’m drawn to reading biographies and nonfiction. I don’t know if this is an interest, but I love food. I love trying new foods (especially desserts!) and I’m hooked on watching the food network. Chefs fascinate me. I think because cooking is such a strange and specific art form, and it’s something I could never do.

What are you inspired by?
This is a tough question because it changes from day to day. As a writer, I’m inspired by good stories and good storytelling. I’m inspired by everyday things that reveal something surprising about our humanity. I’m inspired by things that make me laugh. As an actor, I’m inspired by projects that scare me. If I face a project that seems daunting, that’s usually good. And as a person, I’m inspired by good friends and all the cool stuff they’re doing.

What is your creative process? Do you have a ritual that gets you ready to write?
Not really…unless you count pacing as a ritual. I pace a lot before I write. Usually when I’m starting a project I spend a long time just thinking about it before anything goes on paper. I walk around my apartment, my neighborhood, anywhere just thinking. Then when I’m ready I write an outline or a rough sketch.

What are you currently working on?
Well, I’m working on a one act musical with Douglas Levine about a college girl with confidence and weight issues. It’s going to be directed and performed by college students, so I think that’s cool. I’m also in my first year at the BMI Musical Theater Workshop. It’s a training program for lyricists and composers, where you’re paired with a new collaborator for each assignment. Some of the things I’ve worked on so far are a song for Blanche DuBois in A Streetcar Named Desire (everyone who has ever been in this workshop since it began in 1961 has done this assignment), a charm song for It’s a Wonderful Life, and a comedy song for Tony Kushner’s Angel’s in America. As an actor, I’m preparing to do a production of Forbidden Broadway at the Walnut Street Theater in Philadelphia this spring.

You recently moved to NY from Pittsburgh…how is NY inspiring you?
Well, there’s something about being in a city where so much is happening. It can be scary, but it’s very exciting. It makes you feel like the possibilities are endless (ask me if I still feel that way in a few years and we’ll see!). Being in the BMI workshop, surrounded by really talented people who are all doing the same thing as I am is also very inspiring. I have people to talk to about what interests me about musical theater. We give each other feedback on our work. It’s really terrific.

You are a writer and an actor who is quite accomplished in both pursuits-- do you enjoy both equally? Do you find that acting and writing complement each other or are they 2 totally different processes for you?
I think they do complement each other. As an actor, it’s my job to get inside the character I’m playing—to think like that person and live in their shoes. As a writer, I have to do the same thing. In fact, I have to be even more engrossed in the character because I have to provide the words that he or she says. And to add to that, I’m not just playing one character when I write, but all of them. So I think it’s very similar. The only huge difference for me is that acting is always done while surrounded by other people and writing is very solitary. When I’m in a play, there’s a director and other actors to communicate with. As a playwright, I’m usually sitting in my apartment, staring at a laptop. I wrote a show called Eastburn Avenue that I also acted in this past May. It was really eye opening to create a character on paper and then have to create him as an actor too.

What is your dream project?
I don’t really have a specific project I’ve been dreaming about. A dream project for me is working on a story that I feel very passionate about, with a collaborator who’s…well, collaborative (sometimes they’re not)…and of course whatever it is, it has a role in it for me…if it were on Broadway, that wouldn’t be too bad.

How do you get through writer's block?
This is going to sound bad, but I procrastinate. I actually find that it helps. Sometimes when I’m stuck I just have to walk away. I can’t force it. So I watch TV or go to lunch (that’s my favorite form of procrastination) or I work on something else. Then later, when I’ve had some distance, the ideas often come back.

What are you currently reading?
It’s called The Lost: A Search for Six of Six Million. Daniel Mendelsohn, the author, recounts his search for truth behind his family’s tragic past in the Holocaust. It’s part memoir, part reportage, part mystery. The information he digs up is amazing, but more amazing is how he finds it. The man literally went to the ends of the earth to discover the truth about his lost family members. I just recently wrote a play about the nature of family, memory and history, so reading this is fascinating to me.

What words do you live by?
When I was in high school, I guess, was when I saw Stephen Sondheim’s Sunday in the Park with George for the first time. It’s about the artist’s personal quest to create. When George, our hero, has completely lost hope that he’ll ever break through to something truly original, his life-long muse gives him this advice…
Let it come from you
Then it will be new
Give us more to see

Marcus Stevens earned a BFA in Theatre Arts from Point Park Conservatory of Performing Arts in Pittsburgh , PA. He is a proud member of Actors’ Equity Association, AFTRA, and the Dramatists Guild. As an actor, Marcus has worked in many of Pittsburgh ’s premiere regional theaters, including The Pittsburgh Public Theater, Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera, City Theatre Company, The Pittsburgh Playhouse, Jewish Theater of Pittsburgh and Bricolage Production Company. His work as the title role in Adam Guettel and Tina Landau’s Floyd Collins and as Gordon Schwinn in William Finn’s A New Brain earned him accolades in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette for “One of the Year’s Best Performances” of 2002 and 2003, respectively. Other major roles to date, include Jamie Wellerstein in the Jewish Theater of Pittsburgh’s production of The Last Five Years, Sparky in the Civic Light Opera’s long running production of Forever Plaid, Jed (alongside Tim Hartman) in The Big Bang and Mandy Patinkin, Harvey Fierstien, Colm Wilkinson and many others in Forbidden Broadway. Marcus has taught musical theater at Point Park Conservatory and has taught and directed many high school and college students at Upper Darby Summer Stage for the past eleven years.

As a writer, Marcus is the recipient of the 2005 Richard Rodgers Award for his musical Red, co-written with composer/lyricist Brian Lowdermilk. Red was also a finalist in the Eugene O’Neill Festival for New Musicals and for the TAMS New Voices Prize. Marcus has also written the book and lyrics to Elliot and the Magic Bed and Eastburn Avenue, which had its world premiere with the Pittsburgh Playhouse Rep. Company in May of 2008.

Thanks Marcus

Lately Looking At..... Mary Heilmann

Mateo, 1996

Surfing on Acid, 2005

I first read about Mary Heilman's work in Vogue magazine a couple of years ago. Annie Leibovitz shot pictures of Heilman's home, her artwork, and a portrait of her. I really liked the spread because Heilmann's home in Bridgehampton, NY was decorated with the same colors and vibrancy imbued in her work. Also, it's very cool that she makes her own furniture and ceramics in addition to painting.

I am drawn to this work because it's so bright and happy and unfussy. The paint is splashed on but controlled. It's loose and liquidy. The work is graphic both in its jewel tones and references to geometry and the grid.

Heilmann was born in 1940 on the west coast. You can see the influence of sun, sand and surf in how she approaches her work. I read that she is also a fan of some very hip pop music that she often uses to inspire titles for her paintings.

Spotlight on.....Mika Johnson

I'm pleased to present an interview with film-maker, Mika Johnson.

Mika is currently working on a feature film, Amerika: a notebook in three parts. We have never met, but I've heard great things about him and his creative work from our mutual friend and collaborator, Honey Lapcharoen.

Can you tell me about your interests?

I’m an avid fan of the cinema, devoted mainly to the poets and visionaries. I also have a strong interest in photography, mostly for works that blur the distinction between truth and illusion or fantasy and reality. I like real scenes that appear artificial or set ups that appear real. Other interests include miniatures, optical illusions, and collages, all of which relate to my love for Surrealism. I’m more interested in making music than in listening to it and I enjoy reading books, mainly fiction but also history, psychology, and spirituality. I’m very interested in ritual, synchronicity, dreams, and time.

Can you talk about your travels and living abroad? How did those experiences shape your vision as an artist/film person?
After college I spent five years living in Japan, Germany, and the Czech Republic. I left two days before 9/11, and this gave me an outsider’s perspective on America and everything that happened afterward. Were it not for that experience, I wouldn’t have written my first feature, which in the end was my attempt to both understand America and re-mythologize it from a foreigner’s perspective.

As an artist, living abroad was a struggle, but a fruitful one. I went from teaching English, to supporting myself in Tokyo, to completing two short films and landing a job at Barrandov Studios, Prague. I spent all my free time either scriptwriting or studying European Cinema, un-enrolled at FAMU - a film school where some of my favorite directors attended, including Milos Forman, Vera Chytilova, and Jan Nemec. Since European schools tend to treat film making as an art form, I saw in their cinema a mirror of my own desire to make films that tackle philosophical and spiritual questions. During the three years between Prague and Berlin, I also completed two music albums with the Berlin-based group VOCO. I sang and played guitar.

I want to make sophisticated films, with artistic integrity, in America rather than Europe, where even independent cinema is entrenched in the values of commercialism. Not wanting to compromise this vision, my solution was to create a production company, based on the model of non-profits, and to make films that could be self-distributed over the Internet. I started
Arcanum Productions with these goals in mind. In November Arcanum uploaded a 20-minute short film that I directed and photographed in the Czech Republic titled “Yonder,” which viewers can now watch for free on our site.

What is a typical week in your life like?
I work as a freelance photographer, videographer, and editor; everything depends on the work that comes my way. When I have free time, I’m always working on the promotional aspect of trying to launch a feature film. I also love to spend time at photo libraries, like the International Center for Photography, or the image library at the Mid-Manhattan library. In the evening, I watch films with my wife Kaori and our two cats. Or I play the guitar. If it’s Friday we go out to a museum.

You are currently in the midst of developing a feature film... Can you talk about it? How did it come into being? Where are you in the process, what happens next?
AMERIKA: a notebook in three parts begins with a young Japanese woman named Kat, who is trapped in her job as a hostess in Tokyo. To escape, she leaves for America. This character grew out of my wife’s experiences, and conversations I transcribed in 2004. Kaori temporarily worked as a hostess and had intimate knowledge of that world. Imagine a situation where a man pays $500 to $2,000 to sit down, drink alcohol, and talk to beautiful women. That would almost never happen in America, unless it included sex. Something very different was at play in these Tokyo clubs that combined wealth, fantasy, and a psychological exchange. It never occurred to me that a Japanese hostess would make an interesting protagonist until Kaori described how these women often lost their identities through decadence and self-destruction. I regarded this self-destruction as a mirror of the commentary I wanted to make on American identity, history, and culture.

(Kat in Ohio still from Part II of AMERIKA: a notebook in three parts. Photo: Mika Johnson)

After Kat leaves Japan, her journey begins to overlap with America’s historical evolution, as she heads west and finds herself on this multi-dimensional road-trip; all the archetypal energies of America’s history rapidly unfold like a bizarre dream spiraling toward an apocalyptic conclusion. Kat eventually makes a sacrifice that symbolically turns back the clock. It’s an event of rebirth and reversals. I refer to this as “re-mythologizing.”

All our principle actors are cast and we have a solid crew of international artists from America, China, Japan, Iceland, and Germany. We also have our locations scouted and recently sparked a collaboration with Colleen, a French composer whose music resonates with the dream-like quality of our story. Now we’re waiting for an angel to step in and say, “I’m here to fund your film.”

How did you become interested in film?
When I was 13, my father got me a job at a local store, which also rented movies. Besides my meager pay, I could borrow movies for free. In junior high, my brother bought a video camera and we started making short films. But it wasn’t until I started college, and saw the films of Andrei Tarkovsky, that I really felt the drive to be a filmmaker. From that moment on I wanted to be a filmmaker and create poetic films with spiritual themes. Ten years later, I still feel the same way.

What is your creative process?
It’s always different. AMERIKA began as a script, which I began writing in cafes in Berlin. I needed that social environment. When we moved to Prague, I began collecting hundreds of images from photo books at FAMU that I would copy, print out, and hang up on the wall, where they began to tell the story from a visual perspective. I began casting and recording actors. My goal was to integrate each person’s real identity with the character on the page. When I began collaborating with writer Honey Lapcharoen, we tightened the narrative by removing what didn’t need to be there and adding things that were missing. It was all very organic. By the time I began taking promotional photographs for our website’s gallery, the vision completed itself.

(Kat's notebook from Part I of AMERIKA: a notebook in three parts. Photo: Mika Johnson )

What books, mentors, teachers, films, etc. have had the most influence on your development as a creative person?
It all started with my father, who is a natural performer. I was more talented behind the camera. When I think of the people who’ve influenced my development as a creative person, there are really a few that stand out: my former professor, Tim Scholl, who continues to teach and inspire me; my friends Bonnie Huie and Peter Hlinka, who I made my first short films with; and then there are those people in my life right now, who continually support, inspire, and push me to develop. These include my friends Robbie Schneider, Honey Lapcharoen, and Kaori. I’ve taken most of my lessons from my favorite filmmakers, such as Andrei Tarkovsky, Ingmar Bergman, Luis Bunuel, Sergei Parajanov, Hiroshi Teshigahara, Federico Fellini, Aleksandr Sokurov, and Bela Tarr. These are the people I study.

What are you currently reading?
The Brothers Karamazov, by Dostoevsky. It’s good, especially in the bathtub.

What inspires you?
My wife’s drawings. Our cats. Recently, archival films. And for the last two years, the museums here in New York City, especially the Metropolitan Museum of Art. My favorite sections are the Arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas and a reconstructed room, in the American Wing, which I know to be haunted.

What is your dream project?
I am currently completing my second feature script, which combines the genres of classic noir and sci-fi, as it follows a detective who is attempting to solve a bizarre murder in a dystopic version of America, where pharmaceutical drug companies have come to control consciousness. My dream project would be to make this film interactive, so that viewers could choose their way through the story, like a narrative labyrinth. I can foresee multiple endings, hidden scenes or texts within scenes, etc.

What words do you live?
“A sincere belief that anything is so, will make it so.” William Blake

“Wishes are recollections coming from the future.” Rainer Maria Rilke

How do you get through artist's block?
I find that working on multiple projects helps. When one isn’t flowing, I turn my attention to another. In time they all grow up.

Ohio native Mika Johnson is an accomplished filmmaker/photographer and holds a B.A. in Film and Religious studies from Oberlin College. Having already directed a documentary (Lake Street USA) and two independent short films while living in Japan and the Czech Republic (The Mountain of Signs, Yonder), Mika anticipates directing his first feature length motion picture AMERIKA: a notebook in three parts, a film loosely based on his wife and collaborator Kaori Mitsushima. He currently lives and works in New York City as a photographer, videographer, and video editor.

Thanks Mika!

Spotlight on.....Kimberly Belle

I'm pleased to present this interview with the food maven herself, the lovely and talented Kimberly Belle of The Dinner Belle, a boutique catering business in NYC. Kimberly and I walked the same halls in high school but never really knew each other. I just recently rediscovered her and her fabulous food blog, Midnight Eggs, through our mutual friend and another Spotlight interviewee, Amy Luraschi.

(photo above: Kimberly Belle by Kyle Dean Reinford)

First, can you talk about how your career unfolded? How did you become a chef with your own catering business?
I just jumped in. I was working a desk job and felt uninspired. I needed a return to some sort of artistic expression, but I knew traditional paths toward the fine and performing arts weren't for me. I loved cooking. Cooked all the time, was a regular hostess to my friends, and one day one of those friends asked if I would cater an event she was throwing at the United Nations for a Live Earth awards ceremony. She had like "no budget" and needed someone to step in to do the whole thing at cost. I believed in her and the event so I accepted her invite and haven't looked back since. I later asked Erin, my best friend and seasoned cater-waiter, to join me and The Dinner Belle was born.

You have a really interesting website that mixes eating and drinking, recipes, one part fashion, travel, a dash of life in NYC, topped off with some glamorous photos, as told from your point of view as well as that of 4 of your girlfriends. How did you land on this style of writing? How did the webisodes come about? Do you think your writing will evolve into something else? A book? A cooking show?

Fingers crossed on all fronts! We're developing a television concept right now that's a sort of outside-the-box food and lifestyle TV series, and I would personally love to publish a cookbook someday. Midnight Eggs was born from this same desire to use my passion for food as a vehicle for creative expression, to bring something new to the food blogging landscape. I wanted to do something that was fresh, hip, edgy and made use of all my gorgeously talented, food-forward girlfriends. New York was a given of course, that's been true since I moved here 12 years ago.

I noticed the disclaimer at the end mentioning fact and fiction-- any comment on that?
I think the comment speaks for itself: "Midnight Eggs is an inventive interpretation of a group of real friends, presented here in a somewhat fictionalized manner." We are big fans of Curb Your Enthusiasm if that's any help.

Can you predict some flavors or ingredients that will be hot this year?
Comfort food is the new black! Luckily for The Dinner Belle, that's exactly what we do. We're sort of a fusion where gourmet meets girl-next-door. Economic realities and cold winter nights are pushing diners and chefs alike toward comfort foods that feel homey and satisfying without over-indulging pocketbooks or palettes. The same is true of hot-ticket trends like offal, vegetables, peanut butter, eggs, American wines, craft beers, farmers' markets, pickled anything, and pork belly. Consumers want food they can feel good about buying; this means buying local ingredients, organic when possible, and shopping at affordable neighborhood markets. Let's hope it doesn't also mean a return to fast food...that's my biggest foodie fear in these tough times.

How do you prepare a menu for a catering event? Is there a conceptual angle to the ingredients you pick as well as a practical angle, like what is in season....?
We custom tailor every single menu we write to suit the client, the event, the environment, the audience, the season. We rarely repeat a dish unless asked to. We started this business in an effort to find creative outlets, and we continue to tackle events that challenge us to create anew and to keep learning. Our favorite clients are those who propose the impossible, like a lingerie store we partnered with last Valentine's Day to create a black-themed menu for their customers. Black food isn't an obvious choice, but we made it work with conceptual dishes like Midnight Crackles, Black Coffee Braised Short Ribs, and Black Truffle Parmesan Tuiles.

What are you working on now?
Pitching the TV show, filming a new series of video webisodes to post on our blog, and planning a Brazilian themed Carnaval dinner party.

What is your dream event/dinner/catering gig?

My dream isn't singular. I sort of want it all. I am lucky enough to live in New York and have dining experiences of note regularly, whether they are at some village newcomer with a hot, talented chef, or dishing round my coffee table with a big bowl of pasta and my Tribe of girlfriends. I'd like to see all my creative projects take off as a cohesive brand such that I might one day be able to sit back, relax, pick fresh herbs and vegetables from my garden and cook dinner for some future husband and the future babies we've made together, maybe on a piece of land we've bought out in Northern California. That sounds dreamy to me.

What inspires you?
Cheese. Joy. Excellence. My friends and family. Love.

What books, people, mentors, or other foodies have had the greatest impact on you?
New York is fodder for all things food. The press, the markets, the chefs, I adore the whole of the Mario Batali empire, and live in walking distance of three of his restaurants and his brownstone. I'm an untrained chef who taught myself to cook by reading books and magazines (I subscribe to every rag out there) and watching PBS and The Food Network. I take my inspiration wherever I can get it.

What is your personal philosophy of food and fine living?
Feel. Touch. Hear. Smell. Taste. Use your body's sensory capacity to lead you toward excellence in food and in life. You'll never let yourself down if you follow your instincts, though you may need to find comfort in a bottle of red on occasion.

And of course, last but not least, the camera loves you! Do you have any beauty tips you'd like to share?
Know your angles! The camera loves good lighting and well lined eyes, but more importantly, it has a cunning ability to capture phony expressions. I think happiness is eternally beautiful (and easily caught on camera). The best beauty tip I could give anyone in any circumstance would be to do as our forefathers asked of us and pursue happiness.

(Above: L to R: Amanda, Erin, Kimberly Belle, Celest, Sara, photo by Amanda Rose Rowan )

Kimberly Belle resides in Manhattan and is the Owner and Executive Chef for The Dinner Belle, a boutique catering business she started alongside business partner, Erin Fritch. Chef Belle, with a little help from her friends, writes a fabulous foodie blog called Midnight Eggs: Chronicle of a Food Life where she dishes out a spicy-sweet mix of restaurant reviews, recipes, webisodes, and tales of life in the big apple.

Thanks Kimberly!