Where’ve I been | of late

I attempted a description of a short collection of Natalya’s poems recently, a blurb of sorts. I was pleased to arrive at the final line in the paragraph and finally articulate something about Natalya’s poetry that never fails to move me: “sink into the lovely internalized rhythms of Your Last Exhalation.” Her poetry often moves her readers/listeners into and through the liminal. The external, concrete methods of ink and word create successful transliterations of those internalized conflicts. Even the most fractured take on a lyricism that familiarizes the pulse, the breathing.

I like the Quiet that is contemplative; yet I often mistake it for the Quiet that is sinking and consuming. This isn’t a deafening Quiet, but it presses the mouth and eyelids closed, shuttering in the conversations going on in my head. During my brief forays in the study of Melancholia under Dr. Pompa Banerjee’s excellent guidance, we spoke of the detriment of a melancholy that failed to produce meaning—well, really, to produce anything at all. It needn’t be the production of a piece of art, but a realization that takes on some articulation (read activity). I’m not suggesting I’ve been melancholy, or that other slope, depressed, but the topic has always challenged me to seek a better balance.

I’ve felt the scratching on the eyelids, the settling of a heavy line to my lips. I have to resurface. I may as well do so here. Perhaps the concrete methods of hand and ink and mouth will alleviate a poisoning circulation of blood that is failing to breathe properly.

I should, perhaps, take a cue from the daughter, find an articulation that resonates; find reconciliation—or at the very least, a healthier (better oxygenated) space in which to explore the fractures, the conflicts, the seemingly innocuous queries.

quote | e.e. cummings

“It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are. ”

— e.e. cummings

Meghan Scott Molin | photography

We met Meghan at the same firm that introduced us to David Kingham and she is someone, whom after meeting, you want to continue to know. She is a Colorado native with a Masters in design from Montana State University. Among other things like photography and kin-keeping, Meghan currently manages a household of horses. With such eclectic interests and skills, Meghan inhabits many different roles. She is difficult not to admire and her journey toward measuring her capacity has been, and continues to be, inspiring. Meghan is beautiful. Her work is beautiful. We are so happy she took time for this interview.

Meghan Scott Molin | credit: Julie Patton Photography

s | b: You keep the most insane schedules of pretty much anyone I know. Up at (or is it before) dawn with the horses. You are married, have a growing puppy, a cat, a photography business. You are an architectural intern, you are a vocalist, someone who cooks from scratch, and you’re working on a novel. You still manage to read (audible) and have friends you keep up with. How do you prioritize your passions?

msm: Oh Lord, prioritizing has been an issue in my life. I think that happens when I feel like I’m four different people all in one body! I’ve *had* to do it in recent years though, because trying to do everything full force was just not working, and taking some pretty serious toll stress-wise on my health, my marriage, and my sanity.

There were a few years that I got up at 3:45am, cleaned stalls and rode horses until 7am, went to work at the Architecture firm until 6, came home, made dinner, and then worked on photography until 10pm. It just wasn’t sustainable. I’ve done a lot of reading - and some visiting with an excellent therapist, honestly - to try and figure out my work/life balance that keeps me happy, satisfied, but still able to function. Gifts of Imperfection; Start; Daring Greatly, and the Getting Things Done have all helped me quite a bit.

I think the first thing I realized is that if I don’t fuel myself properly, nothing gets done. So food and healthy cooking became the first priority for Kent and I. Added bonus that we love to cook together, so it’s kind of a date! Next, I had to analyze what made me tick.

Second to eating, creative energy is my other big “problem” in the day - the photography stuff really helped take the edge off when my Architectural job was less than creative for a few years.

The animals are sort of a tour de force in my life - they require a lot of work and money, but they’re also a way for me to stay fit, and to get outside of my own head for a while. They only fall a little ways down the list because the riding part can wait a day if I really and truly need the time for something else - I don’t compete much anymore, which has taken much of the pressure off of that.

The vocal stuff had to go down a notch simply because there was no time - I love to sing at church on the worship team, but it worked for me that it was only a few days a month.

Reading - I just shove that in where I can. Audible really has revolutionized my reading - I can now get through 100 in a year, just listening while I drive, and clean stalls!  

Edgar & Katherine St. Amour

s | b: Looking to some future date out there, are there interests you would like to be able to pursue that you aren’t currently? Or maybe there are current passions you’d like to be able to invest more time/energy in?

msm: I’d love to be able to sing more often, and go back to performing in some local opera productions. Maybe in the next year or so. I’d also love to do more home food production - canning, pickling and such. My scrapbook of Kent and I is woefully out of date - it’s not really a hobby or a passion, but I’d like to be more organized and settled with some of my home projects so that my personal space and calendar isn’t so full all the time =)

Happy Horse(s) Staff Shoot

s | b:You have and are continuing to hone your skills at photography. You’ve gone into business for yourself. What has that meant to you, making the transition and working at making it a bigger part of your world?

msm: Honestly? It’s felt like a huge breath of fresh air, and a big step into freedom. It was terrifying, and we’ve had to make some pretty serious life adjustments to accommodate me working for myself and changing the goals and vision for our life as a family. I reduced my architectural work to consulting on equine projects and contract work (which is what I enjoyed about my work anyhow), and have been blessed to be able to fill my ‘bucket’ about as full as I’d like it right now with photography. I spend time each week learning how to continue to produce better images, and better client service for my clients - focusing on the business end takes a lot of time, but I think it will be worth it in the end. I’m a huge people person, and I get to spend more time with people this way. I also feel like the photography gets through my pile of creative energy more regularly than I ever experienced working in a traditional office, even in a ‘creative’ field like Architecture. This has meant far less creative frustration, far less stress, and a much happier ‘me’.

Matt & Laura Schaeffer

Matt & Laura Schaeffer

s | b: When selling your eye for photography, you write of your ‘Colorado chic’ vision: “We live in an elegant setting, it is my goal to show that elegance reflected in you!” I like that your word choice of ‘elegant.’ It is a word that I would use to describe you, that and ‘vivacious:’ two words I rarely attribute a single individual, but the person is always someone seeking to not only create beauty, but have the energy to be a kind of timeless beauty in the world. How much of who you are do you attribute to your surroundings?

msm: My surroundings inspire me, so … quite a bit! I grew up on a horse farm, and I don’t think I realized how precious the quiet mornings with the horses, watching the sunrise, and hearing the birds were… until I didn’t have them in college. My photography comes out of my feelings, my heart. Sometimes I say that it’s my heart spilling out my eyes through my camera, though I know that’s kind of a gross analogy. I just get really full of a feeling sometimes when taking a picture, and if the final image can evoke that emotion in others, I’ve done my job. I’ve shared that moment in time with someone else, so that they can have it in their little box of treasures too. It can be anything from little birds at sunrise, a bride and groom laughing after a wedding, my horse galloping in the field -- there are just moments that I *have* to share through the lens, or I’m not being true to myself, if that makes sense.

I also try very hard to just experience things sometimes, and not put a camera between myself and the world. Gatherings at our house are one of those things. There is a time for the camera, and a time just to be a human soaking in the moment. Finding the balance has been important. The environment can’t inspire or recharge me if I’m not paying attention and living in it. I’ve been pretty spectacularly lucky to live in such inspiring places - and growing up on a ranch doesn’t mean I don’t love the finer things in life (I think that’s the ‘elegant’ part of me) - like opera, ballet, good wine, good food. I do, however, have a farm girl can-do attitude (I think that’s the vivacious part)... I don’t like to be told I can’t do ANYTHING. I will prove you wrong.

Meghan Scott Molin

Happy Horse(s) Staff Shoot

s | b: Do you find yourself drawn back to the places you grew up?  And what has being away meant for you (positively or negatively)?

msm: It’s been tough, but we’re trying to see Utah as one big adventure. We’re growing as a couple, and as individual people through this experience - sometimes it’s tough, but I can tell it will be sooooo worth it. Colorado has our heart, and always will. My second home, Montana, has a close second place, but I think Utah has proven to be a fun and special place to live. We’ve met amazing people, done some pretty amazing things, and we will never be sad that we did this. Overall, I think we intend to live near our families in the place we consider home, but it doesn’t mean that we can’t take home with us for now.

Meghan Scott Molin | Credit: Julie Patton Photography

s | b: Who inspires you, and how?

msm: I am inspired by my mom - who is the nicest woman I have ever known - to be kind, and to be vulnerable - to always be myself. I don’t know if there is anything more important to teach your children, and she did it not through words but through example. I am also inspired by my friends who work hard to achieve their dreams, and who have taught me to view failure as a momentary setback, not a reason to quit pushing for what I want. There are many artists that inspire me - photographers, painters, sculptors, and I have a real and deep love of the performing arts. I am in awe of how many ways we all have to express our emotions.

Happy Horse(s) Staff Shoot

Happy Horse(s) Staff Shoot

s | b: Kent seems like an amazing life partner; the adventures the two of you embark upon, the supportive decision-making at home when the market has had a hard time funding one architect, let alone two. What do conversations look like?

msm: Ha. Well. We do have a lot of conversations about our experiences in the Architecture field… both good and bad. And what we dream of doing someday with our degrees. We both agree that our values were out of whack when we were both working full time in the field. I don’t know that it’s the same for everyone, but that was our experience. I think the most important thing we did was to openly talk about our struggles, and as a couple decide to take a step back in our lifestyle to allow both of us to figure out what we wanted to do without the obligation of paying a high rent for a house in a nice part of town, etc. We both drive older, paid off cars, and we’ve made a lot of decisions based on the fact that we want to have the freedom to find a career that fits us first, and then build a life on that, instead of obligating ourselves too much and HAVING to keep or take a job just to afford the car etc.

We both have a huge passion for sustainability, for beauty, for travel, for experience, and good food, and good design, and enjoying life. I’m so lucky to have found someone that can attend a Vivaldi concert with me and then follow it up with a home-made slip n’ slide.  We agreed when we got married that we were in this thing together - on the same team. If we didn’t look out for each other, no one else would. I can’t imagine being on this life adventure with anyone more supportive, or amazing. I don’t know how I tricked the universe into giving me Kent.

Kelsey Martinez

Kelsey Martinez & Andrew Berglund

s | b: Any specific concerns/worries you are working to overcome?

msm: I’m a huge people pleaser, and I’m working very very hard to overcome that, at least in part. Not an easy thing, but as a photographer or a designer, something I need to get over. I need to do my best, know it’s my best, and rest in that knowledge. I always think it’s okay to be open to constructive criticism from people you admire, or who have the credentials to help you grow. BUT I also think you need to be able to separate criticism that is warranted, and criticism that isn’t. I’m still wandering through that, with middling success.

Katherine St. Amour

s | b: Anything exciting for you in the offing that you’d like to share? How is the novel coming along?

msm: The novel is coming along… I’m working on my 6th manuscript, and currently shopping for an agent with my finished 5th manuscript. Even if I never get published, I love writing. Until the last few years, I didn’t even let my best friend read my writing (re: people pleasing and wanting to avoid someone saying they didn’t like it). But, I’ve gotten braver in the last few years. Kent and I are also looking forward to the possibility of being a young family in the next year or so. We think that sharing our lives with kids will be a huge and wonderful adventure. 

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Meghan Scott Molin Photography

& on Facebook and Twitter

Sarah Atkins Larsen | Aerialist

Sarah Atkins Larsen is an Architect some of the time even though it is full-time. In other words, she lives fully. We love that she is family- and community-oriented. She knits and, according to my stalking of her Pinterest boards, she has a definite interest in costuming, steampunk and nature. Her LinkedIn philosophy: “Make it simple. Make it beautiful. Make it your best.” Sarah has a wit & an effervescence about her that I’ve always admired, and I’m not only speaking superficially---she has a fabulous eye, heart and mind.

Sarah Atkins Larsen

Since first meeting Sarah in 2004, we’ve noticed she’s escalated in the realm of daring pursuits. She was rock climbing, then ballroom dancing, and now she is an aerialist.

 We are just going to start with the most obvious questions of How & Why:

s | b: How did you get into the traditional sport of circus folk?

sal: Aerial is something that I first encountered in high school French class (of all things!) watching a filmed Cirque du Soleil video. The people were doing things I never imagined we're possible and I certainly couldn't have envisioned the opportunity to attempt it myself.  My next taste of this exotic discipline was live at my first company Christmas party with Ankrom Moisan Architects.  Two women performed on the silks and Lyra; all I could think was that as wonderful as they were to watch, how much more I longed to DO!  A variety of fears and well-ingrained can'ts and shoulds kept me from pursuing the idea until finally in 2009 I was laid off of work during the Great Recession.  I had grown a decent nest egg against such an event, was disillusioned with my work and was relieved by the forced chance at change. I determined to make the most of a strange freedom and after a bit of digging discovered that as I had hoped, if there is anywhere that a woman of 27 might get the chance to fly, Portland Oregon is it!  I stumbled through the websites of three separate aerial/circus companies before finally discovering the newly established Night Flight Aerial and after just one short class knew there was no going back to life on the ground!

Stephanie Lopes & Gemma Adams | Night Flight Aerial

s | b: And, other than getting to wear awesome costumes and cosmetics upon occasion, why?!  

sal: Why, why, why.... I just can't help it! I have had the soul of a dancer all my life and pursued beautiful movement with gusto more than discipline. I've loved all forms of dance, especially those which offered the most creative bandwidth and depth of emotional expression.  So there is that.  Also I find the chance to do the impossible, to be part of a community that is wildly diverse and which challenges you not only in your physical and emotional limits but also challenges the founding assumptions of what those limits might be - there really isn't anything comparable.  There is something more here that I haven't been able to express to you - a feeling of excitement that I can't quite name, like maybe when I'm up there I'm not quite human, maybe I'm magic.  That's not it either.  I suppose as with so many other things in life, when it really clicks, the whole is so much more than the description of its parts.

Shersten Finley | Night Flight Aerial

s | b: Does having a background in dance and a fearlessness of heights help you as an aerialist?

sal: Fearless!  I can't quite claim that, but certainly both dance and rock climbing have provided a background set of skills that have supported my aerial dreams.  With that said, one of my favorite things about aerial is that everyone brings a unique and useful skill set to the table because it makes demands on so many different parts of a person.  Gymnasts bring their physical power and control, ballerinas have incredible poise, flexibility and discipline, theater folk offer expressive timing and storytelling; all people, all body types, all stories can find some part of the act or some apparatus that they are good at and often we look at each other with wonder and admiration for people who excel in the most unexpected ways.

practice | Night Flight Aerial

s | b: Were there any specific concerns you felt you had to overcome (still overcome)?

sal: The things I initially worried about turned out to be mostly quite silly, like the idea that at 27 it was "too late" for me to learn anything as physically strenuous and daring as aerial dance.  I suspect that images of 16 year old Olympians and ballerinas retired at 30 give us all a strange belief in restrictions on human achievement.  I've now been practicing as an aerialist for five years (!!!) and none of the challenges I've faced have had to do with age or inherent ability.  Rather I've faced deeply personal challenges and enjoyed incredible discoveries about who I am when I am a in a situation to be both physically and artistically 'at risk.'  This last spring I suffered an unusual accident when I fell 13 feet with my partner from the Lyra during a run-through of the act we were preparing for a student showcase.  I am incredibly fortunate that the studio where I take lessons is highly safety conscious and as a result of correct fall protection, preparation and unbelievable luck I suffered nothing worse than an ambulance ride and several days in bed with a bruised spine.  That is not to say that there is no lasting damage: I have spent the last four months in recovery and out of the studio.  I have a wonderful team of physical therapists, massage therapists, acupuncturists, chiropractors, friends and family aiding the process.  I am sure I will spend several years yet learning all of the ways that my body and my mind have been changed by this experience.

s | b: Are there some benefits the rest of us ground dwellers are missing out on?

sal: What can I say?  Have you ever dreamed of flying?

Brittany Walsh, hand-balancing | Night Flight Aerial

s | b: Can you trace your spirit of daring and adventure back to a person(s) or a place?

sal: I have honestly never considered myself a woman of 'daring and adventure.'  Rather I have historically held an image, a description, of someone unathletic.  A person with some grace perhaps but otherwise unsuited to robust activity.  I have always been rather hyper aware of consequences and generally shied away from risk taking in all forms.  How extraordinary that I have ended up here!  It probably began with rock climbing in Montana - an activity which I enjoyed and which opened doors in my mind, but which I can't disentangle from the relationship that was the source.  In Portland I found tango and grew a new appreciation for my body as a partner in 4 years of bicycle-riding and carless living.  Ultimately all I know is that before I could speak or plan or work, before I had fears and judgements and life paths I had a longing to dance and that joy in kinetic expression has never left me.

Tamara (l) and Sarah (r) practice chopsticks | Night Flight Aerial

s | b: Your husband’s been overheard calling you “my little circus freak,” what has this aerial work meant to you and the life you are building?

sal: Oy.  The toughest thing about circus (as with so many of the arts) is that it really wants your whole life.  In fact, perhaps the real reason so many great athletes come from a young start is having the opportunity to be truly devoted to an activity.  As it stands, since joining the circus I've courted and married Michael, purchased and remodeled a home, and managed a career (more or less.)   Aerial has been an incredibly important physical and creative outlet during that time and I frequently bemoan the lack of opportunity to pursue it with greater intensity.  However the underlying problem is the word “also” - a word which is foundational to my personality that means much as I dream extraordinary dreams of flying, I have not yet found any activity which I could commit to at the exclusion of all else.  I always want this, and also this.

As Michael and I contemplate children and building a family I am acutely aware of the sacrifices that I will be making with my body, time and energy.  It is hard to say exactly how aerial dance will fit into that picture, but I have come to rely on it greatly. Being an aerialist has changed and expanded my images of masculine and feminine, my standards for beauty.  I have rediscovered my girlish love for romantic sparkles in gaining the security of strong biceps and proud shoulders.  In a way it demonstrates for me that there is a place for both strength and sentiment, that these qualities express themselves best when they coincide.  Aerial has brought me into contact with a wonderfully brave and colorful community and I can't imagine departing from it any time soon.

Night Flight Aerial Clowns

s | b: Any daring pursuit we should be anticipating for you next?

sal: {Motherhood?}  Entrepreneurship?  At this time I can’t imagine what more daring or delightful pursuit I might find to replace my aerial habit.  Over the past year Michael has become quite involved in the Portland Tri community and recently completed his first Ironman - a truly inspiring feat!  I know that he would love for me to join him for some of the shorter races and I am contemplating a sprint triathlon.  We have talked often of a desire to have a shared activity such as blues dancing or partner yoga, but thus far have prioritized various other pieces of our life first.  For now every song I listen to is still weighed by the question - could I make this into an aerial piece?

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listing | a question of love

Who do you love and what are you doing about it?

Sean collided with a car a week ago today. His shoulder slammed into the side of her car as she unwittingly turned across his path. Needless to say, he has not regained full use of that shoulder and the limb attached to it. The good news is: the damage was not to his dominate arm and hand, but as a sculptor and just everyday human used to the two, he feels the limitations and loss of that other side. 

A long story short, we've shared moments that read like a future time when our bodies are, in full admittance, more frail. It is a bit awkward. The vulnerability has been a bit frightening. It has also been reassuring to us both. 

We committed our lives to one another without a complete understanding of what that would entail, not when it comes to the details, the outcomes, the collisions or distances. What we did completely understand was that love could be the constant. Love could be meaning and its expressions could yield in multitude. Love is the only way we could negotiate the best and the worst of our relationship, it being the great boundary-crosser.

Who do you love and what are you doing about it?

I found the question on one of those intentional-living type sites. It speaks to a love that is active, deliberate, situational, personal, creative--bespoke. It is a question of relationship. 

With the new job and its retail schedule, Sean has decided to shift his day so as to be available to Natalya after school. My mid-week Saturday is turning into lunch with the daughter. And when we were going to have to skip today's lunch, she offered an immediate reschedule "so we can spend time together," she told me in the car this morning.

Immobile, immoveable situations arise--I'm interested in what relieves the pain of it. How can I be that shoulder or that new-found or newly-placed hour. Who do I love and what have I done about it...am I doing about it...going to do about it...?

I can see the answer as a catalog of the furthest to the most intimate, to the simplest to the everyday to the most epic or the quietest sort of moment.

I love Eleanor Swift. I should do more than think about that walk. I should take her to a park and let her run.

quote | ginsberg

“Poetry is not an expression of the party line. It’s that time of night, lying in bed, thinking what you really think, making the private world public, that’s what the poet does. ”

— Allen Ginsberg

three beautiful things

It has been a couple of years now since I discovered “3 Beautiful Things,” an exercise Clare Law initiated to enjoy the small daily pleasures amid a hectic life. I like to be thankful for the grand things, but I’ve come to value their tributaries as well. I love and like Sean with an enormity that can't possibly be squeezed into just one word or expression or gesture. In searching for articulation I collect moments like clippings. Likewise, Natalya is a constellation of synapses.

Minding and reflecting on the things that bring a kind of pleasure can lighten a day, encourage and inspire, and can make for an amusing creative challenge.

The primary difficulty is less the finding of 3 beautiful things (though this can be a challenge some days) and more the marking out the time to record them. Yes, it is amazing how much space five minutes can consume. However, 3 Beautiful Things do become easier to write with practice, and writing them needn’t follow a particular prescription, including the exceeding the “3.”

Mataya J

An entry for a “beautiful thing” can be:

--A complex sentence, or a series of fortunate events:

In the attempt to explain the phenomena that was The Dukes of Hazzard to Natalya, Sean and I could hardly contain the hysterical. Chuckling soon became belly laughs. Sean later decides on a new way to describe/introduce Justified: Dukes of Hazzard meets No Country for Old Men.

--Brief and charming:

Natalya appearing in the doorway testing out a Firefly inspired outfit for school tomorrow.

--It could sound a bit wrong, because what we can find endearing sometimes turns out this way:

“Or they could die,” was my contribution to the conversation and list of explanations Sean was making for why a person should share their leadership role rather than hoard it. He pauses and looks at me to acknowledge the addition without actually skipping a beat. That brief pause and its look is the beautiful thing.

--an image, form of haiku, or one word.

You can title the complete entry thematically (e.g. family activities) or with single word allusions to each (e.g. Sherlock, nose, worries). Or you can just use the date.

Natalya has been keeping them in her journal. Mine are on random scraps of paper. Some make it onto the Facebook page. They are fun to share, especially when it encourages someone to share one or three in return. I highly recommend trying it.

Jessica Robin Thomas | Crow Jane Jewelry

Jessica Robin Thomas is a jewelry maker and lover of all things sustainable, local and hand crafted. Her jewelry pieces are inspired by the dichotomy between nature and industry and by the shapes of ancient cultures. Jessica uses hardware pieces mixed with organic findings like crystals and stones. She is obsessed with quality and strives to create timeless pieces that will last and last.

Jessica Robin Thomas, Owner & Designer of Crow Jane Jewelry

Sean met Jessica when she worked for OZ Architecture in Interiors as a designer, but Sean tells me that she has a past: as in she hasn’t always been an Interior Designer and mastermind behind Crow Jane Jewelry. According to LinkedIn: Jessica spent 6 years, 11 months as “Owner, Neuromuscular Therapist & Instructor Body Harmony Massage Therapy & Pilates.” While no longer at OZ, she still does contract work in Interiors, looking to dedicate more time to her craft and business. Did I mention she is a wife, a mother, a minder of two dogs, and a keeper of a drift of bees. She’s a camping enthusiast, travels with her art, and makes time for her friends (e.g. encouraging & advising Sean with his brushes). I think she also plays guitar.

When it comes to her jewelry, she is a preferred seller at both local markets and out-of-state venues, exemplifying community, craftsmanship and design savvy. 

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s | b: You’ve been making jewelry since you were a child, what were your preferred materials? What, if any, of those childhood expressions, can be found in your work today?

jt: Always beads and thread before I started metalsmithing.  However, I do remember some pretty cool headdress pieces made of tin foil!

I really like to incorporate beading in to my work still.  I like the softness, color and contrast of the beads against the hard metal and love to figure out how to engineer them in to my designs.

ombre sterling stacking rings and geometric minimalist hammered brass chevron necklace w/ tiny grey matte beads | Crow Jane Jewelry

s | b: The industrial material smithed into delicate yet definitive lines and curves evoke early and native cultures; could you share a favorite story/culture that has inspired one of your pieces?

jt: I think all of my pieces are inspired by a very important transition in my life- leaving a small, midwest town and moving to New Mexico at age 16.  It was sort of a magical Jim Morrison-like experience that opened my eyes to a lot.  My mom liked to visit the Reservations quite frequently and while I was inspired by their artwork, clothing, architecture, etc.,   I had a severe case of white-man’s guilt for all their people have gone through and didn’t care for these visits and to see how shrunken their worlds had become.  I have always wanted to honor their culture and like to pull inspirations from Southwest Native Americans in to my designs in modern ways.

turquoise pyramid ring gold | Crow Jane Jewelry

s | b: You mention on your Etsy page that you are “constantly” sketching and engineering pieces, that you “get bored easily and love to move on to new pieces, new designs and new challenges- jewelry making is my addiction!” Do you place a limit on the quantity of a particular design, especially as demand for your jewelry increases? How do you combat tedium in the fabricating of a popular design?

jt: While I do get bored easily, I don’t mind the fabrication process- it’s sort of meditative for me.  I do like to create new designs regularly to keep things interesting and to stay inspired but at this point I am not only a designer, I am an assembly line worker in my own sweat shop.  It’s all part of the fun of owning a business and I just go with it!  My sales tend to organically move towards my new designs because that’s what I’m excited about and pushing.

starry night turquoise rings | Crow Jane Jewelry

s | b: You left the full-time office job in January of this year to dedicate more time to the business, design, & fabrication of your jewelry. How long has Crow Jane Jewelry been working toward a more self-sustaining enterprise?

jt: Again, it’s really grown organically.  I started selling wholesale in 2011 & I feel fortunate to say that I am now in 17 brick and mortar shops* around the country and have deals with several online sites as well as the shows that I participate in- so I stay very busy.

s | b: Is it wrong to assume that passion and pragmatism always compete?

jt: I’m a gemini so I feel that these two things exist in me naturally and peacefully- they are two sides of the same coin for me.  I’m also very grounded and don’t feel that I’ve ever gone over the top with passion without sticking to reality when it comes to my business.  Maybe that’s the mid-westerner in me- level headed and taking things as they come without getting too excited- just trying to see how it all works in the bigger picture.

minimalist brass circle w/ tiny grey matte beads | Crow Jane Jewelry

s | b: Do you have family history of arts and craft?

jt: My parents are both musicians and my dad used to draw comics with friends when he was younger.  I think they’re both very creative people.  I grew up without much money as an only child and had to be very creative in how I used my time to stay entertained.  I never really watched tv- I always listened to music and created.  That was very much encouraged in my household.

s | b: Your son earns gaming-money as a shop assistant, travels with you, what kind of example are you and your husband hoping to set for him? What sort of skills are you intentional about instilling?

jt: Never become a designer!  Hee hee!  No, we joke about that because my husband is a graphic designer turned creative director and I’m an interior designer by trade and both can be very challenging & demanding with little reward sometimes.  We both have very strong work ethic and are very driven and we definitely try to teach that to our son.  He is also very passionate and loves to work with me.  He is quite a creative, innovative young man and I am so excited about what the future holds for him.  We also like to instill in him that anything is possible- take chances in life and you will succeed.  You can’t stay in the same place forever and stay happy so don’t be afraid to follow your hopes and dreams- as long as you stay focused, driven and passionate you will succeed!

s | b: What kind of support have you come to depend on within your immediate household?

jt: Well, we just talked about my son who is infinitely patient with me and always helpful.  My husband is also very supportive- we call him “shipping and receiving” and sometimes “accounting” and he can polish a ring with the best of ‘em.  So yes, I have wonderful support that I am very grateful for.

ombre sterling silver stacking rings--hammered | Crow Jane Jewelry

s | b: What are the immediate and/or future aspirations for Crow Jane Jewelry? … And for Jessica Thomas?

jt: Take over the world one piece of jewelry at a time….. just kidding!  I intend to continue to let my business grow organically and have noticed that every ounce of effort that I put in to marketing, promoting, etc. comes back tenfold.  I intend to keep that momentum going and am moving in more of a one-of-a-kind art jewelry direction with my statement stone rings and necklaces.  My husband and I have a dream of retiring as beekeepers (we just started beekeeping this year and are madly in love with it) and artists (he is also a very talented oil painter) and traveling around to various art shows, selling our wares, around the country and possibly the world.  Who knows what the future holds but I’m excited about it and after taking the leap into running my business full-time and seeing the successes that have come about from that choice, I know that anything is possible.  My aspiration is essentially to be happy and to love what I do!  I love my job and I love being able to create things that make people feel good about themselves when they wear them and that is all the satisfaction that I need- I’m happy because I love the process, and they’re happy with the end product.  What more could you ask for in your job?

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*do feel free to contact Crow Jane Jewelry for a listing of shops carrying her work. follow her on-line for updates on new jewelry, deals, shops and upcoming shows/fairs.

to find Jessica elsewhere:

Crow Jane Jewelry

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slowness | Williams & Tsien

When we think about the bespoke, Tod Williams & BillieTsien writing about “slowness” comes to mind. In their renowned essay, Williams Tsien lament “lost tools” and describe their desire for slowness and its method, design and perception.

Billie Tsien & Tod Williams in studio | photo credit: Architectural Digest

“Buildings are still constructed with hands, and it seems that the hand still knows best what the hand is capable of doing.”

— Tod Williams & Billie Tsien, "Slowness"

When Tod Williams & Billie Tsien lament the creeping disappearances of the tools of the hand, the premise is not a disdain for new technologies, but a concern for the onset of mass amputations.

When we talk about the “intuition” and “gestures” that describe the earliest stages of their design process, we consider tactile learning and the development of dexterity and muscle memory in the hand. A base elegance is refined to a newly acquired task. The hand learns and knows the clay before it throws it, and there is no distinction between the central core (pulse, lungs, mind) and the hands in the act of creation.

"Inspired by the idea of the wunderkammer—“wonder-room” or “cabinet of curiosities”—that originated during the Renaissance, world-renowned architects Tod Williams and Billie Tsien invited 35 celebrated architects and designers from around the world to create their own wunderkammers, filling boxes with objects that inspire them." published by Yale University Press.

The desire in Architects like Williams & Tsien, who perceive building as Art, is to achieve a complete and comprehensive unity that is grounded in a history of development, can always be experienced in the present tense, and anticipates a future usefulness that also transcends. An aspect of a complex unifying perception and approach is the abandonment of a false notion of progress.

“Slowness” resists linearity as the only means of moving forward, which resists task-oriented specialties and efficiencies. “The sidetrack is simply a parallel route,” and each route informs the whole process, including the destination; “when engaging a new design, certainty is a prison.” Employing openness to opportunity means nurturing a different kind of work environment. Williams & Tsien shift away from current (non-nurturing) trends by embracing greater generalization.

Generalized is how Williams & Tsien described their office dynamic, “there is no division of labor into design, production, model making or interiors. Each architect is involved in the making of contracts, billing, and writing of letters.” They admit “because each person must be a generalist, a certain amount of efficiency is lost, as each person must learn all the tasks of the office.” But only a  “certain amount.” In the end, their exercise strengthens both the individual and the whole. Their annual weekend office retreat clocks in year-round. I’m curious in how much they save in communication versus what other efficiency models report from start to finish.

[the late] American Folk Art Museum, NYC | photo credit: Steve Silverman

In choosing nurture over the present day nature of the industry, Williams & Tsien reiterate their Mission for the office: “We would like to be financially stable, but this will not outweigh artistic or ethical beliefs, which will always come first.” They reinforce their commitment to be deliberate.

Each pursuit is tailored to the building at hand: building of self, community & work/art/design. The interior ‘develops the logic for the façade,’ and the contextual situation of a building is internalized. The design process reflects its complex, multi-directional discipline. The hand-made is to build as a human with the human in mind. 

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L

inspire | grado labs

An evening walk in the neighborhood along a row of custom homes that could be harboring anything sinister or genius, Sean mentions an article he’d read about Grado Labs headphones.

John Grado’s company operates out of a south Brooklyn townhouse tinkering on and assembling some of the most coveted headphones on the market. They haven’t advertised since the 1960s, rarely evolve the drivers, and, under the son Jonathon’s recent supervision, are slowly adapting to social media platforms.

According to Casey Johnston in “The Never-Advertised, Always Coveted Headphones Built and Sold in Brooklyn,” Grado will “expend as much quality as cost allows on the audio itself, often at the expense of style on the lower-end models.” They build their brand and reputation on quality of sound rather than latest trending style. Grado Labs function as that unusual testament to someone doing it their own way, not giving into the market or dominant cultural pressures, and succeeding.

When Johnston asked: “What if a big company, say, Apple, came knocking wanting to expand into a new hardware area? ‘It's not for sale,’ John said. He likes the hands-on process of taking headphones from pieces to product and being involved in the minutiae of the business. Selling, or even expanding the space enough that he would become more removed, isn't in his interest.”

Grado Labs

Even as Jonathan prepares to raise Grado Labs profile, Johnston says there is no intention to “bring back advertising or celebrity endorsements. For the foreseeable future, it's just the Grados in their narrow townhouse making the little-known, well-loved line of headphones.”

The streets remained fairly quiet, empty porches suggesting nothing. It is a thrilling idea, imagining a mad audiophile tinkering their way past cluttered floors to a plush listening room to spin vinyl renditions of Ella Fitzgerald. I wonder if anyone in this little planned community is, like John Grado, going against expectation on purpose with purpose.

quoting | pascal campion

We recently shared Pascal Campion's The Artist. As he concluded the dialog attached to the image, he wrote:

“You just can’t stop being an artist… you don’t learn to be an artist, you just are one.. you learn tools and techniques, you mostly learn how to canalize and direct your creative energy, but you don’t learn how to be an artist.”

— Pascal Campion

What do you think?

the artist | Pascal Campion

Illustrator and designer Pascal Campion renders to collect moments from his life, making his an especially delightful Tumblr to follow. I found this illustration in June with the accompanying dialog:

 Lily, go to bed honey.

Just one more drawing mommy!

…Sigh…just like her daddy.

 I immediately thought of Natalya and the attempts to declare lights-out! at bedtime.

When she was small, it was the deep philosophical questions. These days Natalya has expressed her frustration of finding bedtime in conflict with an hour when she is energized to write.

My best work comes when I am drifting into the dreaming and the waking—and in the shower. Man, I wish my memory were better. 

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L

What hour of the day/night does your creative clock strike hardest?

and what do you do when it competes with something like sleeping or family time, etc.?

an imp

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Interview | David Kingham

David Kingham is an award-winning photographer and published author who leads Night Photography workshops and tours and maintains a blog covering everything from personal and professional journeys to product critiques and tips for amateur photographers. David is also a friend by whom we are continually inspired by and frequently envious. He and his work are beautiful and we consider it our pleasure when he agreed to participate in not one, but two interviews. Look for our chat about his book NIGHTSCAPE: A Complete Guide to Photographing Under the Night Sky (Craft & Vision) in the near future. 

David Kingham

s | b:  When you and Sean met you were a nine-to-five in a cubicle providing a level of technical support.  Now you work independently as an artist and instructor. How were you able to manage that transition? How the hell did you get out?!

dk: There was a period of time where I was still doing consulting work in the architectural industry to pay the bills, having this helped me ease into it, and gave me some time to find my path in photography without the stress of making all my money from it. This year I have been free of that and make all of my income from photography, it is quite liberating and I am extremely proud of how far I have come in such a short period of time.

I was able to get out because I stopped listening to society. I stopped believing that I needed a house, a bed, a TV, a fancy car, etc., etc. I sold nearly everything I owned, everything I own now can fit into one vehicle. Ultimately I stopped being a good consumer that we have been brainwashed into. Simplifying your life and freeing yourself from debt is the secret to getting out.

Blue Lakes Pass Sunrise | David Kingham Photography

s | b: How long were you harboring professional photography as a goal?

dk: As soon as I picked up a camera. I simply knew this was what I was destined to do, there was no doubt in my mind. I had found my creative outlet that I did not have prior to photography. Once I found this release I realized how soul sucking it was for me to be stuck inside an office all day, I had no other option.

Oxbow Bend Reflections | David Kingham Photography

s | b: Any specific concerns/worries that were holding you back?

dk: Typical fears that anyone would have, how to pay the bills, pay my own insurance, etc. When I first started full time I didn't know which direction to go with the photography, I started by pushing architectural photography because I thought that's where the money is. I quickly realized it wasn't where my passion was though. When following your creativity as a path I've found it critical to fully follow it. Do not get side tracked by money making efforts, you must pay the bills of course, but do not put all of your energy into a path that doesn't light your fire.

s | b: What kind of support (if any) did you feel you had in this endeavor?

dk: I had the support of my family and friends. They likely thought I was crazy in private, but they encouraged me to give it a try and see where it went. This emotional support really helped get through the low times. Financially I had no support by choice, I wanted to do this on my own, I needed the fear to push me.

Mount Sneffels Fall Color Show | David Kingham Photography

s | b: You made this decision to offer your photographs for free download, even the high-res images. Why?

dk: The world of photography has been drastically altered by digital cameras and the sharing nature of the internet, old models largely do not work anymore. I was profoundly affected by this TED talk [Amanda Palmer: The Art of Asking] which inspired me to trust my fans and allow them to support me. Their support has been incredible and I would not be where I am at without them.

s | b: How has your business changed or evolved from that?

dk: I don't believe it has changed drastically because of this. I only sell prints online which is not a fruitful business for any photographer. To be successful at selling prints you really need a gallery or do the art show circuit, neither of which gave the freedom I was looking for. I do not believe giving away digital images would affect print sales negatively though. Having a photograph on your computer screen is much different than having it on your wall, in fact seeing that image everyday may inspire someone to buy a print.

Wahclella Falls | David Kingham Photography

s | b: At one point, you thought to do Architecture photography, considering its lucre and your connection to the industry, but you were already practicing Nature Photography. Could you speak to capturing the static (the stereotomic) versus the breathing?

dk: As I alluded to early, it simply was not where my passion lay. I was technically good at architectural photography, but I had zero connection to my subject. My role in the architectural field was always technically based, I was not an architect and had no background in the art of architecture. I belong out in the woods, nature is my home and what awakens my spirit.

Sunset at Blue Lake | David Kingham Photography

s | b: Your journey toward a life more dependent upon your art and expertise has had an unanticipated spiritual impact.

dk: Indeed it has, when you let go of control and allow yourself to do what you were meant to do, everything changes. I gave trust in something divine that was guiding my path. Before this I thought the only path was plugging away at the 9-5 (who works those hours anymore?) and climbing the corporate ladder to find happiness. I realized it was not there, only an empty, shallow life with no meaning.

Dallas Divide Sunset | David Kingham Photography

s | b: You travel a great deal right now for your Art and Workshops. Do you maintain a home base? Have your perceptions of or relationship to home changed at all since leaving Colorado?

dk: I do not have a home base, no safe haven. I'm truly living as a nomad. As cheesy as it may sound, home is truly where you make it. I have been living out of a tent for 6 months now and it has been an amazing journey. I feared not having a home would alienate me from my friends and I would be lonely, but I have found the opposite to be true. I now see many of my friends more often in my travels and I have met many more along the way. I do not miss the comfort of a home, in fact if I stay at a friends house for a couple nights I get antsy and the lure of the road pulls me back out.

Racetrack Stars | David Kingham Photography

s | b: You have the new book NIGHTSCAPE: A Complete Guide to Photographing Under the Night Sky (Craft & Vision) and you lead night photography workshops in a number of locations here in the West. Any immediate and/or long-term goals you’d like to share?

dk: Next year my main focus will be on landscape photography tours. I will be taking my clients to unique locations that can be challenging to reach on their own. I have recently purchased a large 4x4 van that I will be living out of and still have room to carry clients to incredible places. It's a way to share the lifestyle that I love with them. I am launching a new website as well called Exploring Exposure where I will have all of the workshops and tours along with tutorials, gear reviews, etc.

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to find David elsewhere: 

David Kingham Photography | Nomadic Destiny | Exploring Exposure | NIGHTSCAPE

instagram | twitter | facebook | google+

Listing | Muses

A popular meme floating about Facebook right now invites you to share 10-12 Favorite Books. For bibliophiles like myself the only hesitation in participating in the contagion is how to choose only 10. Sean loves books, but he’s less giddy with this kind of listing; music, however…

So how to make a list-request as revealing and amusing, yet more inclusive to people I like to learn more about?

10 Favorite Mathematical Equations: Okay, I can’t even do this one, and I wouldn’t be able to understand what it is you were typing at me.

10 of Your Favorite Muses:

By Muse I intend a Muse's means: quotes, books, authors, films, musicians, musical arrangements, costumers, photographers, mathematicians, etc. It/they must have had to inspire a work of art or significant action.

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L

+ 10 of Mine: 

Dora Maar (1936) by Man Ray

+ Natalya's 10: 

 _Jack Kerouac

_Oregon

_Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

_"Turbulent stasis on a blue ground./What is any art but a static flame?" --from "Four Cut Sunflowers, One Upside Down," Atlantis, Mark Doty.

_The X-Men

_"The Perfect Drug" Nine Inch Nails

_My Faith

_8th Grade History Class

Icarus (1997) by R. Sean Darnell

_Odin's ravens

_The Sleeping Beauty ballet

_Sigur Ros

_Ondine (Neil Jordan 2009)

_Charlotte Perkins Gilman's "The Yellow Wallpaper"

_The carrot scene from Shoot'Em Up (Michael Davis 2007)

_"The Waste Land" by T.S. Eliot

_Virginia Woolf and the stream-of-conscious

_Hans Christian Anderson's "The Red Shoes"

_Edgar Allen Poe and the atmospheric.

Starry Night (1889) by Vincent van Gogh, (Van Gogh Gallery)

_e.e. cummings

_Vincent van Gogh

+ Sean's 10:

_Slowdive

_The Cure

_Albert Camus

_Edgar Allen Poe

_Auguste Rodin

_Myths of Daedalus and Icarus

_Blaise Pascal's the God-shaped void

_Charles Baudelaire's Le Spleen de Paris

_Mark Rothko

_"The Hollow Men" by T.S. Eliot

What are 10 of your favorite 'Muses' that have inspired a work of art or significant action?

please share in comments.

Stonhaus: A History

Convent de Sant Francesc | David Closes | Photo Credit: Jordi Surroca

Stonhouse. Or as it came to be stonehouse, then stonehouse-ark, followed by stonhaus.ark, stonhaus and now stonhaus | bespoke.

Half my life ago I smashed a couple words together and have found them a constant companion from that time forward. Stonhaus has always been a place to put well-crafted and -purposed intentions, ideas and things, especially those pretty things that didn’t have a home anywhere else.

In my junior year of college I had to brand myself. This was a graphic design course exercise intended to make us take something we knew almost too well and revisit it with fresh eyes. We spent time asking ourselves who we were and what we wanted, exploring our passions and our work. Finally we each came forward with a branding.

My work was of two minds during this project. One was the thought that I was already a brand and I needed only to find a graphic language to convey that brand. The other was interested in a reboot and finding a nom de guerre. For the final product I produced a personal logo and letterhead all based on my self and the brand I already inhabited.

RSD Logo

In addition, I produced a second set of work, what in retrospect has become more interesting. I took on the name Stonehouse. It called to mind simplicity, craft and maybe even a hint of the faerie.

My furniture felt more fully realized as work by stonehouse. I proceeded, for years now, to design under this name; never in large ways, but always in intentional ones. I have dragged the name along, refining the form language, trying to find the stonhaus itself.

As for ‘bespoke’…

In the midst of conversation with a coworker, she used the word bespoke. It was not the first time I had heard the word, nor the first time I had ruminated on it. However, this time it really stuck, very much the way stonehouse (now stonhaus) had struck those many years ago.

Here, now, I have a place that is the stonhaus I have been building slowly these almost twenty years. It is the bespoke work of our hands and minds and marriage. It is a place to call to mind simplicity, craft and maybe even a hint of the faerie.

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Sean

In One Beginning...

credit: Blue Rose Photography, May 2003

When Sean and I first began talking about publishing this site, it was to help generate traffic toward and interest in the handcrafted shave brushes sold at his etsy shop: stonhaus | bespoke. We would create a blog to post conversations and products not only limited to shaving, but the population interested in notions beyond plastic razors and non-rusting foam shave dispensers. Content will still be created on topics like crafted beer and coffee, bikes, bees, music on vinyl and exotic woods. But we’ve moved in a slightly different direction.

Since we first spoke of marriage, Sean and I began to dream aloud. The narrative projected less of a detailed vision and plan, but established a steady discourse about what life really needs to look like for us. For instance, we are not the fly-by-the-seat-of-our-pants kind of people. Sean designed and built the majority of our furniture; and we like our definition of home to include a steady flesh-and-blood neighborhood. And yet, we were hit hard by the recession and still recovering, we migrate with the work, have yet to buy a home or reach our goal to live in one city for at least five years. The consequences have been positive and negative.

We’ve hit a point of late where that need for like-minded community has become necessary to our thriving. We will partake in its vitality whether physically present or no. We can play the hermit well, but feelings of isolation (rational or no) have been taking a silent toll. Like student loans coming off deferment, worse, forbearance, you have to start prescribing to heart medication and anti-anxiety meds, because you suddenly cannot breathe—a proper claustrophobic in the confined spaces. When you need to practice your art most, it is deemed irresponsible—but is there anything more practical.

We’ve learned to build homes where we are and where we go.

On the page we titled “Story,” we have tried to convey, as concisely as my long-winded self could manage, just what this stonhaus | bespoke thing is about. It is a personal project where we hope to move conversations beyond the rooms of our house. In a sense, we are building one here with the nameplate stonhaus | bespoke. Within it: we will have people in; pin things on the wall; react to the world around us in conversation, in essay, in loud thumping music and a soothing iced tea. As it is not our life, not the whole of it, this house will have a specific use. We will not speak of everything, nor could we articulate it, even if we desired to.

Here we will collect inspiration and encouragement. Maybe it will quilt together, with fine and clumsy threads both, an open letter of our pursuit. Maybe it will have a use to you, we pray it will prove some use to us.

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L

stonhaus | bespoke (unofficially)

We (Sean, Leslie and Natalya) have decided to move our humble conversations about life & other random acts of (un)kindness from the 1950s linoleum dining table to a venue with more seating.

What started as a blog that would potentially generate more traffic to Sean’s custom craftwork under stonhaus | bespoke shifted dramatically in its interest toward maintaining a focus on the “pursuit of a well-tailored life.” The blog became a personal project. Read our "story" page.

Expect that we will post and respond to articles relevant to a 'bespoke life;' share that which inspires; muse on random interests and participate in community-building memes; feature people, places, and events both local and of broader interest.

One of the aspects of this blog that we are the most thrilled about are the interviews. We are tapping on the shoulders of creative people we know and inundating them with nosy questions. They will be one part self-serving as we are hoping to learn from and connect with other people. A second part is our desire to share and promote our community member’s work/interests.

We invite you to participate in the conversation elsewhere as well:

Our Facebook page is one quick & easy way to connect. It is also where we will maintain a daily prompt of “three beautiful things.” Some of you are familiar with the exercise, but every evening we are going to share three things that brought us pleasure over the previous 24 hours (PG-13-style). Please be sure to visit and share a beautiful thing as well.

Sean masterminds the Instagram account and Twitter. Quips and images modestly abound.

We hope to complete enough of the construction phase on site and become a frequent presence in your feeds. More than that, we look forward to some brilliant conversation, so plan to contribute in meaningful ways.

--Leslie, Sean & Natalya.

a few relevant links:

https://www.facebook.com/stonhaus

http://instagram.com/th3lostb0y

https://twitter.com/stonhaus_bspoke