Words to live by...

Hope you all enjoy :)

-Cupcake

One thing that I LOVE about San Francisco is the variety of farmers markets. Every Thursday there is a Farmers Market right by my office in Crocker Galleria. These organic tomatoes are a weakness of mine. They come at a high price, but they taste great and the best part is that I'm supporting local farmers. Oh, how I love my city, and my tomatoes!

~Cupcake

City girl meets country cow pasture

I love things that are out of place. A bathtub full of books instead of water, lying in bed with a guitar instead of a man, bedroom furniture set up in the back yard. I find these scenes interesting to create or capture. I'm fascinated by the idea of something being out of place. Of course, in our human minds, there are things that make sense and things that don't....a bathtub is created to be filled with water and bathe in so items such as soap, a naked body, or a wash cloth don't arouse any amount of astonishment when among the tile and porcelain. We've created these things that must be a specific way otherwise we scoff at their confusing state. But why must everything make sense? Why can't we be comfortable with a little chaos, a little peculiarity, a reassembling of logical ideas or circumstances? I suppose I'm simply driven to make things interesting, to create a ripple in a still pool, to stimulate my eyes and mind. I feel insane when my world is tame.

~Lola Rain

Mirror, Mirror

Mirror mirror on the wall...

“Wishing to be friends is quick work, but friendship is a slow-ripening fruit.” - Aristotle

Look to the sky, it never lies

Rarely in life do we fully appreciate the simple existences constantly surrounding, supporting and enhancing our lives. We take these things for granted rather than marvel at the utter complexity of their existence, rather than contemplating that underneath the constant material flow of life, lies a natural world that takes its time, is never anything but honest and exists without pretense. I am more drawn to nature and to the earth than I am to the material world because of this...because it is what makes sense to me and allows manufactured life to melt away.

A simple thing like the sky above us elicits a sense of awe and wonder in me. We may ignore it, but it’s always there. It's impact is strong, and it's constant moodiness can alter our own moods. But even more profound is the way it reminds me of a simple fact: we live on a round piece of matter, floating magically in the midst of an immense universe. And if you really stop to think about that, to realize we’ve created a life far more complex than necessary, to understand that we are simply a part of this natural wonder, then you can discover a feeling of appreciation and a lesson to be learned from all that is natural.

If anything, you can count on the sky to connect you to the earth and yourself. The next time the summer sky opens up into a fantastical rain storm, run out onto the hot pavement, feel the rain pour from above...and just feel alive.

~Lola Rain

Introducing Lola Rain...

When I was 14 years old, I was given an ancient camera and the tools to make my own film while away at summer camp. As I stood in the dark room, developing the images I had chosen to capture, I discovered a powerful way to represent the world through my eye. I still have on my wall that first photo I took and developed, a black and white rendering of old canoe oars…and it still lights me up.

My passion hasn’t been consistently present, I found myself in business school instead of art school, I’ve tried to imitate what seemed like a more normal or responsible path in life…but the artist in me has always cried out, has always shaken and forced me to abandon high paying jobs, environments that didn’t inspire or support my true path, relationships that suffocated my colorful soul.

So here I am. I don’t have a plan or any idea where my art will lead me. I only know that with every click of my camera’s shutter opening and closing, with every idea that springs from my mind and splatters itself across a glossy piece of paper, with every folder filled with another 600 pictures on my computer desk top, I feel more alive.

Introducing Cupcake...

My name is Natalie aka Cupcake. I'm a small town kinda girl living in the big (well, actually, really small) city. I adore cupcakes! (Hence the nickname)

I get inspiration from the people and things around me. I love the randomness of life and how unexpectedly people and situations happen. (This is what Lola Rain and I have in common!) I admire the unexpected beauty in things. I feel like you can really capture an image in B&W. There is something pure and innocent to it, yet it leaves you open to possibilities. Architecture and landscapes tend to take my breath away. Puppies and animals are a weakness of mine.

I enjoy photography because it’s lively and free. There are no rules, no limits and no boundaries.