Who Is Jessica , Anyway?

She's a photographer, and photostylist, who recently did a wedding in Massachusetts...She's been out of the business of shooting for awhile, but enjoyed not only styling it, but shooting it.I love to use the sepia tones...especially, since in olden days, it could only be achieved by printing the photo, then, going back and bleaching it, sepia toning it, and washing it...again...It's like being delivered from the Dark (pun intended) Ages.

The most important thing in styling/shooting a wedding is to keep everyone comfortable (especially, the very nervouse bride - and the groom)...For her especially, this is the day she's dreamed about...it has to be perfect...seamless...fun...

Thank goodness, for the most part, the days of the "hideous bridesmaid dresses" is a thing of the past...I loved doing these lovely girl's makeup and hair...always simple, always "relaxed"

Preparing the bouquet toss..

Capturing the fun times, and the tender moments...the Bride, cuddling her nephew...

Did much of the floral design, and all of the styling/photography...

Back to the past...I was a Civil War Reinactor photographer, hired by the US Government, to go to various Civil War battlefields, and capture the living history...ended up owning a gallery in an 1860's schoolhouse in Wisconsin for four years...

Utilizing techniques I learned from as early as the Civil War (or, if you are from the South, the "War Between the States)...for many years I styled and photographed children - shooting in Black-and-white, printing, then, sepia-toning, then hand-painting with special oil paints

I developed a line of greeting cards from portraits I did over the years, called, "Here a Chick Greetings"

I first discoverd floorcloths about twelve years ago..they were the precursor to linoleum...canvas, painted front-and-back...then, sealed to protect them....art you can walk on..

Over the years, as an Interior Designer, I've done many homes from the ground up. I especially enjoy doing "Parade Homes", as I am able to select everything...including the furnishings, accessories...ETC (There it is again)....This was one of my favorites...When the photographers, who have the special equipment to photograph the spaces(I don't), I do the styling...

Once, I did a sixteen-hour photo-shoot (the styling, that is) for SubZero, that was a video, going to Paris to introduce Wolfe Stoves to them...Food styling is all an optical illusion...turkeys cooked with blow torches, cereal with white glue...by the end of the shoot, when at 3am, 12 people sat down to shoot the dinner scene, it was pretty to look at, but, oh the oder...hard work, but fun

My Texas Kitchen....................................

I love doing window treatments...designing and sewing them...I also did the pillows..paint colors, etc..The bed headboard was designed by Candice Olsen...The dog was so sweet...wish he were mine...

Glazed 1,000 square feet of walls in this home I designed from the ground up...my first, massive fireplace...Every home in Wisconsin should have a fireplace (or three)....This is not a room, it's a set - three walls and a floor...for Graber window fashions....same glazing technique; put the Southwestern background in the windows via photoshop.Same set, only "flipped", restyled, and a New York Skyline....This is one of my favorite things to do..This house was built in the 1800's...it's in Louisianna, on a bayou...My client's did most of the work themselves, but it was fun, selecting colors, bringing it back to life.... This photo was taken in the 1920's...

Lovingly restored to it's original splendor...............

This may seem to many a blatent, piece of self-promotion...well, I do have my reasons.........

Still, it's fun to look back at the last several years, and be pleased that I've been blessed to do the things I love....................

Pillow Talk-Or, How I Spent My Christmas Vacation

So, the holidays are over....I love them...I do...but, I know we are (for the most part) ready to move on....
I spent a great deal of the season making pillows...My friend, Sonia, has opened a wonderful, new gallery (she's a talented artist), Stinger Studios, in Georgetown, Texas, and invited me to place my hand-painted glass, photos, etc. (Etc. is my middle name) there before Christmas...I did manage to do that, along with one holiday-oriented pillow. The rest shown here finally made it to the Grand Opening of her gallery last night. (You couldn't move, there were so many people there..very exciting!)

I have discovered the wonders of printing images from my computer onto fabric sheets, and then, making pillows - six of them in a few weeks time...exhausting, but truly fun to learn new techniques in not only using my 6-color, wonderful printer, but utilizing the tons of fabrics I have saved over the years, along with all the beads, trims, jewelry, geegaws, Etc...

I found the sheets at Michaels, and I am sure they can be purchased on-line, as well.

I placed these pillows in Stinger Studio's windows just hours before the opening (after my husband rescued me, as when I went to deliver them, I realized I'd locked myself out of my car)...Some of my glass is shown here, as well.

The botanical pillow was an image, that I had scanned years ago, just because I loved it so much....The silk front was leftover from a window treatment, and I got all that wonderful, gold gimp from Hobby Lobby for a great price!

The dragonfly was another treasure, that I've had for years-and-years...The velvet was part of my stash, and I "embossed" it in one corner by using a rubber stamp, and a steam iron...when I recover from all this, I will do a tutorial for you. I also learned a wonderful "trick" with regarding to sewing velvet, which loves to "crawl"...again, another time, another tutorial...as they say, "desperation is the mother of invention - along with tips from the Internet"...

This is my mother-in-law's favorite....she spent three weeks with us (she's 89, and amazing), and we had fun, shopping in Austin for just the right silk backing (I don't have all the right silks, but didn't have to buy any front velvet or silk)...

This is actually the BACK of my "Angel Pillow"...I inadvertently got ink on my finished pillow (GAHHHHH!!), so, I used iron-on tape to make a pocket; and I tucked in (between sheets of vellum) an Angelology...which tells which angels are the rulers of certain Zodiac signs, Etc. (there's the Etc. again)....I just had to attach the feather wings...so, viola, a two-sided pillow...

The angel image if from the "Graphics Fairy" (thankyou, Graphics Fairy", and the velvet is the remains of a wonderful, Eileen Fisher top (I love her), which finally died...it is like butter....

My "Midievil Illumination" pillow has a wonderful, old brooch, which I dug out of my treasure trove....

Again, I must thank "The Graphics Fairy" for this image of "A Visit From Santa"...the check is leftover from my duvet cover I made, and the mother-of-pearl buttons once belonged to my mother-in-law, who gave me a huge collection of her buttons...thanks, Mama Eula...

.Now, I am digging out my studio...there are piles of velvet, silks, all kinds of fabrics and trims, of which I have to make sense...but, first, a nap..