DRSimpson Gallery: Behind the Shots

"Just" a pair of shoes

2011-08-22T14:00:00.001-04:00

I love to take pictures of shoes. Sometimes I get weird looks for that. One of the beautiful things about art is that not everyone has to like every thing. You might look at my shoe pictures and think, "oh it's just a pair of shoes." But really, sometimes they say so much more...

"My mommy and daddy think I'm beautiful from head to toe"

"We love our friend so much that we spent hours upon hours looking for the perfect ones."

Or the lack of shoes might say, "This is the happiest day of my life, but my feet are tired. I'm glad you love me enough to dance with me on this nice cool grass not to mention spend the rest of your life with me."

This pair? Just a pair of shoes. But don't they go great with that dress?

Now, these are definitely not the prettiest shoes in the world. They're not even the prettiest ones in my house. In fact, they're kinda ugly (don't tell them I said so). But here they are the lone subject of a photograph, a photograph taken because of what that pair of shoes meant to me in that moment.

Just that week I had been released from the lovely walking boot I'd been wearing for about 2 months. I was allowed to walk around my house and my office for regular tasks, but I hadn't been able to do any other activity. Two months with no exercise will make a body slower than usual!

But that weekend at the outer banks, my trusty hiking shoes came with me to the top of two lighthouses, up the hill to the Wright Brothers Memorial and finally to the top of Jockey's Ridge, the highest active sand dune system in the eastern United States. I took them off so I could feel the sand in my toes. Then I put them back on because even in October, that sand gets HOT!

These are the same shoes that replaced my ill-fitting hiking boots that caused me to lose THREE toenails the fall before. So, while you might just see a pair of shoes, I see God's blessings of freedom, protection, and the road to health all in one not-so-shiny package.

Surprise!

2010-10-28T05:52:00.005-04:00

I love surprises. Well, I'm not a big fan of surprises like flat tires, but I love good surprises. I found one such surprise when gathering photos for my last print order. This delicate orchid kissed with dew has been hiding itself in my external hard drive for a couple years. It was time for it to see the light of day!

This is one of about 15 photos that will be available (as an 8x10 metallic print, matted and signed) at the drsimpsongallery.com booth at the Mistletoe Market. The Mistletoe Market will be held at Wakefield High School in Raleigh on Saturday, Nov 13. This will be the first time I will have prints for sale. There will be only one of each print available at this show, so come early. Of course, there are still plenty of cards in stock.

More Cami!

2010-09-18T10:50:00.014-04:00

Since the last time I posted, I have finished going through all the shots for Cami. I think I have almost as much fun with this as I do at the shoot. I managed to get 334 down to around 170 and then down to a disk of 34 of my favorites for her. From that 34, it was hard for me to pick just a few more favorites to share with you, but here they are. As much fun as digital shots are, the most exciting thing is having real prints in my hand. Especially real prints on that beautiful metallic paper. I can't wait to get together with her so she can have real prints too :)

How lucky am I? First urban, senior shoot

2010-09-06T14:08:00.015-04:00

I had the best time this morning making our way around downtown with my favorite senior - my niece Cami. I've been dying to do an urban shoot. It just so happens that Cami didn't know that, but asked me if I would do her senior portraits. Even though I'm crazy busy getting ready for the expo next week and wont be able to go through all 300+ shots until after that, I promised her I'd post a couple of my favorites today. These are for you Cami. You're beautiful. I love you.

It makes me a little sad that your school portrait has to have a nature background. While there are some good ones there too, this one in your favorite shirt with that awesome yellow background just makes me smile.

By the way, according to Cami, it really hurts your feet to jump that high off of brick steps and land on concrete in your bare feet. I'm glad it was her idea.

I have a confession to make (and a peek at Christmas cards)

2010-09-04T07:43:00.022-04:00

It's a little known fact that part of me always wished I were Jewish. My belief that the Messiah did come would strictly prohibit me from converting, but still. So you might wonder why I'm so fascinated. Part of it's their rich history and their connection to it. But I must admit most of it is a lot more shallow than that: the items they use in their ceremonies and celebrations are so beautiful! I always have to take a trip into the Judaica exhibit when I go to the NC Museum of Art. It's my absolute favorite! And the Hanukkah decorations of blue and silver? LOVE those!

One year at Christmas it hit me...Jesus probably doesn't really care what color my Christmas tree decorations are! So I branched out beyond the red, green, and gold and decorated my tree in blue and silver. There were some blue and silver balls and blue and white candy canes at the store, but most of the blue and silver decorations were way too expensive. So I picked up some beads and made blue and silver wreaths, candy canes and swirls. It's still one of my all time favorite trees. And that's why, paired with the words "Happy Christmas", (a nod to my fascination of the British) it's included in one of the Christmas card assortments.

There are two Christmas card assortments:

CMAS1 is a little more traditional and includes 1 each of 8 different designs.

CMAS2 is for the kid in us. It's a "Cookies for Santa" assortment and will include 2 each of 4 designs. By the way, no animals or celiacs were harmed in the making or consumption of these cookies. They are all vegan and gluten free. And because Santa didn't get them all, I can tell you that they were also pretty yummy.

Ta-da!

2010-08-28T09:51:00.015-04:00

After quite a few trials getting my vendors to work with me, the cards and the photos are in and correct! It's been a long couple weeks of cooling my heels, but here is the first peek at the finished product. Even if I do say so myself, I love the black!

I didn't have a light box here to get higher quality product photos, but I promised FB folks pictures over the weekend, so here ya go. This is a view of stock number OR1 (first assortment of the "original" line). All cards are white/blank inside.

Here's a better view of the photos used in this assortment:

If you are in the Raleigh area, I'd love to have you come out and see me on September 11 at the Women's Expo (Wake Cross Roads Baptist Church) and on September 28 at Creative Hearts Marketplace (Open Door Baptist Church). For more information, visit the events tab at the drsimpsongallery.com Facebook page. Thanks for all your support and encouragement as I'm starting out on this venture. You mean more than you know!

Stack O' Hats

2010-08-16T21:10:00.004-04:00

I'm still waiting for everything to get worked out with my suppliers. So while waiting for the cards and photos to come in, I've been spending nearly every spare moment working on crocheted hats. There are 3 different designs that I'm working on, two of which come in different sizes. The third is one size fits most. I'll post more specific photos of them right before the live events (for more information, see the events tab on the Facebook page. But for now, I just thought they were cute as a stack o'hats.

The Beauty's in the Juxtaposition

2010-08-14T11:12:00.013-04:00

I didn't realize it until this morning, but this blog post has been coming together for a couple weeks. This is one of those times when I wish I were the kind of writer who could make somebody else feel exactly what was going on in my head and my heart. I'm not. But I'm going to try to give you just a glimpse of it.

As I've been reworking the website and choosing pictures for the photo card line, I've been digging through years and years of photos. It shocked me to find that there were pictures hiding in there that I'd been ignoring, but when I look at them now, some of them years later, I absolutely love them. So why is that? They haven't changed.

The following are three such pictures. After glancing over them in the past, I skipped over two of them completely and the third I posted, but never felt much about. But, suddenly they are indescribably lovely to me. As I've looked back over things in my life over the last couple weeks (probably more like over the last couple years), it became very clear to me how my view of them has changed. Sometimes things mean more just based on how they are positioned in relation to other things.

In photos, it's the dark that makes the light beautiful.

It's the almost colorless, blurred background that makes the subject's color pop and it's texture come to life.

And it's the smooth, created magnificence of the ocean that makes the rough, manmade simplicity of a rope even worth looking at.

In life, one too many potato chips makes vegetables taste that much better. The fact that the God of the universe became man and laid in a dirty manger, makes His love for us that much sweeter. The summer heat makes a cold glass of water or a nice breeze that much cooler. A few restless nights make a full night's sleep that much more precious. Days of illness make the days of health that much more beautiful. People who are ambivalent towards you make the people that show you unconditional love and respect that much more lovely.

The beauty's in the juxtaposition.