Last winter I decided to give art markets a try, and while I was displaying my images at one of these pop-up sales I was approached by a curator from VASA (Visual Art Society of St. Albert) who was interested in showing my work at her upcoming Spring Gallery. So I applied, and later had the honour of showing some of my images and photo transfers there. It was a sweet thing to see other people enjoy work that I created for myself. Thank you VASA for the experience!
Nick
From Nick's graduation photoset, that we shot at the University in April.
Today Nick graduated from University. It's funny how well you can know someone without really noticing who they have become or how they have changed since your friendship began. I just read an article written for the University of Alberta with a feature on Nick, about his honours project, and while reading it I learned new things about my friend, after knowing him for 12 years. They weren't things that surprised me, but they were things I'd never put into cohesive thought before. The writer described him as someone with a, "fluidity of mindset that allows for serendipitous opportunities..." and it took me reading it in someone else's voice to recognize that yes - my friend is very spontaneous! This is the guy that decided to spend a weekend at Coachella with me when he had mono, and dragged me off to Montreal on a whim for his 25th birthday. Someone who basically wrote the book on taking a year off to do something completely different. I gather the interviewer listened to his story and knew right away that Nick was a free spirit, going in whatever direction he detects the strongest pull. I've known Nick for so long that he has grown and changed into this more refined version of himself, and I didn't notice he was any different than the guy I met 12 years ago. Today is a good lesson for me to remember that the people I love are not one-dimensional, frozen in time once my brain has done what it does best and categorized them away in a certain place. They are fluid, they change, they grow into themselves. I need to pay attention or else I might miss the opportunity to see something in them that will make me love them even more.
When your subject is your best friend you get to share the cutaways!
Jaclyn + Ted
Jaclyn and Ted got married in Jasper on a summer day in 2014. Their wedding was unbelievable. They chose a spot in the basin between two mountains, right on the banks of a glacier blue lake. After this incredibly intimate ceremony they took us to the Jasper Riding Stables for what felt like a country carnival. They had a rainbow of Jones Sodas on ice, an interactive guest book and candy bar, and their midnight snack was smores around the fire. Jaclyn and Ted were the most care-free couple I had met yet. They planned a wedding exactly how they wanted from beginning to end, without getting caught up in tradition or rules, or what other people sometimes think we "ought to do" when we get married. I find these weddings so inspiring because they remind me that the happiest moments in life are the ones where we let go of expectations and go for what we want. Rain or shine, these two were ready to stand up in front of the people they love and commit their lives to one another amidst some of natures greatest monuments, the Rocky Mountains. When their guests were tuckered out and heading home, Jaclyn and Ted were still dancing, their satisfaction apparent in the joy with which they said good night to each of us.
