My etsy shop has been on the back burner for the last year or so, but I’m finally going to be breathing some new life into it in the coming weeks / months. I started the shop in 2016, and over the last few years it has evolved quite a bit. I started off making motivational t-shirts and pins before diving into my beach plastic line of greeting cards (and t-shirts) - and now, I’m introducing a new venture: vintage!
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Beach Plastic Valentine Greeting Cards
Happy Friday! Just wanted to drop in quickly today to write an *official post* about the next installment of beach plastic greeting cards that I launched last Friday: Valentine’s Day cards! There’s 8 cards in the series - all hearts comprised of different selections of litter I’ve collected over the last few months. It was a little bit of a different process creating these than the Christmas cards because these required me to sort the trash by color and fit them into a uniform shape. It was kinda like trying to puzzle fit pieces together that didn’t necessarily go together, but overall I’m really happy with how they turned out and generally excited about how this greeting card line as a whole is growing!
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2018 In Review / Happy 2019!
I can’t believe that this is my FOURTH year writing one of these! And I also can’t believe that 2018 is coming to a close… what a freakin’ roller coaster it was. I started the year off strong - felt really confident for a couple months (wrote a 26 page outline for a book I started to write.. reconnected with some old friends), and then lost steam (again). I went on my first creative retreat (in Montana) and it was really expensive (lol). For the months following that, I questioned whether it was “worth it” and tried to digest all of the feedback I had received on my work. Going into it - I think I was already searching for “what was next” in my life / career. I felt like I had hit a wall again - really uncertain just about everything.. I took a leap of faith by applying to the retreat, and when I got accepted - I jumped into it hoping it would give me fresh insight and some direction… but I think I left feeling unsure what to make of it all (although it was a beautiful place to visit).
I spent the second third of this year in pretty much complete (self inflicted) isolation. May thru August, I didn’t hang out with a single person outside of my immediate family. The immediate family I DID see or spend time around - I felt completely withdrawn from. I dreaded being around people of any kind, and was shutting out even my closest friends. I was falling asleep on the couch watching TV shows I didn’t even really like, and generally speaking… lost my desire to get out of bed in the morning. Creatively, I felt really depleted - the desire and motivation just wasn’t there. I spent a lot of time walking miles and miles of beaches by myself (moody, I know 😂). It was a rough few months where I felt really far from being my best self, to say the least…
The final third of this year has been a surprisingly reinvigorating few months. I feel like I’ve found the basis for the thesis project that I wish I had 4.5-5 years ago - the basis for a LIFE’S work (which is a REALLY bold thing to say, I realize) - but I really do feel that way. I started collecting beach trash at the end of August (after walking miles of coastline in the summer… it became impossible to continue to ignore). This then led to organizing / cohosting my first group beach clean up and the launch of some new products for my Etsy shop (beach plastic holiday greeting cards)! I haven’t felt this excited, passionate, and deeply ROOTED about anything I’ve made in well… maybe ever. In 2019, I plan to continue to grow the greeting card line, cohost more beach clean ups, and continue the important conversation about sustainability through my creative work. It’s gonna be a good year - I can feel it! But first, here’s a little recap of 2018:
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Beach Plastic Holiday Greeting Cards
If you’ve been following along the last few months - you know that I have been actively picking up litter off of beaches in NJ and NYC. It’s been a combo of solo efforts as well as duo / group efforts. I have primarily focused on Coney Island (where I co-hosted a group clean up with my friend Fiona in October), but have also picked up trash by myself at Sandy Hook, Wildwood, Rockaway Beach, Long Island, and even an old landfill. It’s been fascinating.. as well as heartbreaking... to see the differences (and also the similarities) in what I’ve picked up at each location.
While I’m fairly new to the active litter picking community, I have always had a deep love for the outdoors. I grew up with a backyard that connected to the woods, and spent a lot of time out there. Every summer, I looked forward to going down to the “Jersey Shore” lol. Over the years, the beach has become a meditative happy place for me. A non-negotiable form of self care. This summer, I spent a lot of time walking beaches alone trying to sort through some personal demons (a lot of self doubt)… and one day in late August at Coney Island I decided to consciously switch modes from my typical beach combing (for sea glass, shells, etc) to pick up trash. It was a really eye opening experience - that made me question not only my own negative impact on the planet but the impact we collectively as the human race make.
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Montana
At the end of last month, I had the opportunity to visit Montana for Collective Quarterly's 2018 Portfolio Showcase. It was SO beautiful up there and I miss it terribly already. The showcase was my first ever creative retreat, and I'm glad I applied for it. It was kinda scary (terrifying) because it was my first time putting my work out there for direct judgement / criticism in a formal setting since graduating from college a few years ago. The environment reminded me a lot of being back in school -- having "teachers" (industry professionals) look at my work and give feedback, attending lectures and panel discussions (and taking notes, lol), eating meals together, and "living" just down the hall or the next building over from other peers for a few days. As intimidating as it was, I'm so glad I took the leap of faith to be a part of it!
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NY Fashion Week Street Style 2016
I know it's been awhile since you've heard from me here (I took a liiiiiiittle bit of a break) but today the blog is BACK, and I'm sharing some NYFW photos that I took last Saturday!
For the last couple years, I've made the effort to shoot street style during fashion week at least one day out of the week. For any photographer (whether you're an amateur or a trained industry professional) - the photo op is just TOO good to pass up. It was super cold and windy on Saturday, but that didn't stop me or any of the other fellow crazy creatives I was surrounded by!
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Best of 2015 / Happy 2016!
HAPPY 2016!
Like everyone else on the planet rn, I'm taking a moment to look back on 2015 - I can't believe that it's over! It's crazy how fast time flies.. and naturally, it's a time to take a moment and reflect on "what was" and speculate "what will be."
Today, I wanted to quickly drop in and share some of my favorite posts from the year. 2015 was my first full year of blogging, and that's something I'm personally pretty proud of! While I may not have completed all of my 2015 resolutions (let's be real.. who has?), I'm glad that I stayed committed to regularly writing / creating blog posts. As I've mentioned before, a lot of time and energy goes into running a blog - and it's really nice to look back and see the year's content all in one place. These posts by no means cover every single thing that's happened to me in 2015, but I think they create a nice highlight reel:
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#StudioDIYWallCrawl Collab: NYC Street Art
I recently collaborated with Kelly of Studio DIY for her #StudioDIYWallCrawl series to create a guide of my favorite NYC murals - and this week the post is LIVE! Head on over HERE for the full map that covers both Brooklyn and the Lower East Side!
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Kristyn Brady Photoshoot at Schooley's Mountain
Last month, I met up with Kristyn Brady at Schooley's Mountain Park to do a photoshoot for her new website. We planned to shoot outdoors, so we wanted to wait until it was warmer (and greener) outside. I discovered Schooley's Mountain about a year ago, and I knew that it would make a great location for a photoshoot if the occasion ever arose - so when Kristyn reached out to me and told me her vision for her start up company, I knew it would be the perfect place for her portrait session. I showed her some photos I had taken there before, and we mutually agreed that it would be the perfect spot!
I set up a Pinterest board where we pinned our pose / location / outfit inspiration for the weeks leading up to the day of the shoot. It was a great way to show each other what we each envisioned, and also helped us both organize these ideas in one place. I think it was especially helpful in Kristyn's case, since her brand is just starting out and doesn't yet have an established look / feel.
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Elly Kim Daeun's SS14 Collection
Back in January, my friend Elly asked me if I could help her photograph her SS14 collection. I met Elly during my freshman year at Pratt, and I'm so glad that even years later after studying in different departments (fashion design vs. graphic design) - that we were able to come together post grad to do this fun shoot! Elly's collection is inspired by various different aspects of Korean culture, and I love her eye for color and pattern - as those are two things I am a mega fan of myself. ;) I absolutely couldn't wait to do a collab shoot with her!
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