About me | Tourmaline .

The world is ending, or maybe it’s not.

I just got married 5 days ago. A couple people asked if the wedding was still on. We’d been planning it for a year and 2 months, paid all the vendors, arranged everything. Of course it was still on. It was definitely a gathering of more than 10 people and we all sat next to each other to eat, we hugged good bye. Nothing was shutting down yet though 5 days ago. No one was telling us not to gather, at least not telling us loudly enough. I will say, while bittersweet, it’s probably for the best no grandparents were able to come to the wedding.

We’ve both had this week off for our honeymoon. We spent a bit more time with family Sunday, returned all the rentals Monday, went to historic St. Augustine Tuesday. Read more

My Life these Past Few Months

I haven’t written a blog in who knows how long. I haven’t visited other people’s blogs, in large, for that same amount of time. I haven’t made many new toy photos, that I would consider finished work, in about that same amount of time too.

But right now, I really want to write a blog post. I told myself not to apologize on here anymore, and so I’m not, but I will give you an update on what I’ve been up to, and why I am so terribly bad at keeping up with my own blog challenge. Read more

Jacksonville Fair 2019

The fair is great. I probably don’t need to convince you of that. But even though most the rides give me motion sickness these days, I still revel in the animals, junk food, and few rides that my body still allows.

You may even remember the mini carnival I began to build and then had to put (and am still putting) on a very long hold.

The fair this year was no different. I met up with my long time friend and fellow fair attendee and we made our way over on Veteran’s day. Blanco Brown (who you may know from his song The Git Up) was performing and I way hyped.

Some Things Never Change (or Paper Crafting Books Will Never Not be Cool)

I bought some things Friday and Saturday and I keep thinking how proud my child self would be with me. That’s to say, I’m very happy with my purchases, and they aren’t too far off from a taste I’ve had my whole life for small things and for paper crafting. Although the paper crafting has never really extended farther than crafting small things.

Let me rewind. Elementary school me is at a Scholastic Book Fair. I find a pop and assemble miniature funky girl bedroom book. It came with glue, ribbon, beads and pages and pages of furniture pieces to make hot pink and purple, with yellow accent, mini bedroom furniture. The nightstand even had working cardstock drawers with bead pulls. I’ve looked for that book in more recent years and can’t find any record of it. I even reached out to Scholastic, but they don’t keep record of old stock.

When Life Gets in the Way, Revel in All the Miniatures Around You

Life

Traveling for work, preparing for a move, planning a wedding, all while trying to keep up art motivation has been trying. That said, I’m still buzzing with ideas, but creating when I’m more in the mood for relaxing leads to half hearted photos that don’t match the vision in my head.

Instead I’ve been reading fiction and memoirs, rather than reading for research, watching movies, spending time with family and truly basking in the life I have around me. Allowing myself the space to breathe, and not stress about not living up to social media posting standards and my own harsh criticism of my artistic practice, has given me time to find fulfillment in other things, and to form new artistic ideas. Read more

2017, A Look Back

Over the years my creative process has changed. As of late, I’ve been focusing on longer form photo series, as well as life outside of my artistic practice. And as I consider where I want my art to go from here, I’m reminded of pieces I’ve created in the past. Lately I’ve been enamored by my 2017 work.

You have to understand that this is not normal for me. I tend to create, be proud of what I create for a bit, then heavily dislike whatever it is for awhile. Eventually I’ll settle back into a level appreciation, but always feel like I could do better. Overall, I think this is a good creative drive, but it’s also a good feeling to legitimately feel proud of what you’ve made.

From changing my artist name, creating book covers, youtubing, being a part of gallery shows and publications, to the beginning of my vitamin deficiency struggle and pulling away from blog challenges and zine publishing, 2017 was quite the year on all sides of the spectrum.

In any case, here I present my favorite images I created in 2017, in order of creation.

Let me know what you think in a comment below. Maybe I’ll do some other look backs soon. :)

Being in the Game

I originally wrote this post, and published it on Toy Photographers in 2017, but it constantly remains oh so relevant.

The very first play in The Photographer’s Playbook asks the reader to figure out what game they’re playing. So, I say to myself, “I’m creating because I have a creative drive.” But this needs to go deeper. What are my goals, how do I intend to achieve them, and what is the best way to go about this? All things I have very vague answers to in my head.

And then I remembered a quote from Netflix’s The Incredible Jessica James, spoken by real world playwright Sarah Jones.

“And you’re doing it. That’s why we’re here right? This is it! There’s kinda not more to it than that.”

And maybe, if there’s a way to be content in that answer, that’s really all there is to it. I am creating art, so I am an artist. Forget the fine art world, selling, amassing a huge following – I am exactly what I set out to be. That’s great and all, but in no way does it feel that simple. Read more

FIgure steps out front door in all grey environment, toy photography by Tourmaline .

On Measuring Success

By dictionary definition, success is ‘the accomplishment of an aim or purpose (it’s also ‘the attainment of popularity or profit,’ but let’s focus on the first one for now.

I think the path to creative success begins with a pride in your work. Are you creating work that you love, that fills your creative craving? Maybe your work isn’t always your definition of complete perfection, but can you look at your latest image and think ‘this is it, I’m getting it, this is where I need to be?’ If not, why not?

Maybe there’s something wrong, or something missing. Maybe it’s a matter of finding your passion. You’re a toy photographer and you are fascinated by toys. Great, but what else do you love? Whether movies, animals, morning light, combine it with your toy photography and you’re one step closer to creating images you love.

I get so excited about my new images and ideas, and then a few months, weeks, or days later I hate them. A few stick, but some I just wonder what I was ever thinking. Over time, I’ve come to see this as a good thing. I stop myself from deleting them from social media, I instead have chosen to learn from those bad apples. Read more

Tourmaline .

Miniature Diorama Photographer

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