2011, a lucky year

In order to not leave huge gaps in my blog, and to get with the present, I have to recap a few memorable moments of 2011. It's been about 20 months since I left Mexico. I think about it everyday. I miss the sunshine, my friends, salsa dancing, great food and the warm approach to life Mexicans seem to have. (Here I am with Ocha on one of my last days.)

But, all good things must come to an end – good things like funds at the very end of my trip. Coming home, I was high on life, and low on fiscal resources. Lucky for me, I'm an American and have the opportunity to come here and work. I did (and am doing) just that.

By some grace of god, the last week of my trip I had an interview from a Louisville design agency via Skype. With great references and serious luck I snagged the job, and started work almost immediately upon arrival. I went from living on basically nothing, focusing all of my efforts on travel, dance, language, food and living abundantly – to the hamster wheel of life here in the States. The consumer-driven society sucked me in. I lived paycheck to paycheck for a good while, getting a phone and then an apartment... I was officially back on the grid.

Luckily my apartment is surrounded by lush green, one of the attributes of Kentucky I missed the most.

A few months later, a small car crash had left me with a need for a different car. I got lucky once again and snagged my spaceship, the lovely Prudence the Prius.

Being home had it's difficulties. I witnessed my friends struggle. Smart folks lived at home with their parents, working at jobs they were way over-qualified for. I was lucky enough to get a job in my field of design. I worked, and continue to do so, and am so thankful for the much-needed independence it provides.

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Entonces, qué pasó en 2011?
The most exciting thing that happened in 2011 was the success of our Cocoon photography series. In April of 2011, my boyfriend Todd Smith and I had a show at Zephyr Gallery. It was our second collaborative effort doing partial performance/long exposure photography. In this series, Todd would hang from a tree in a cocoon-ish white fabric at night while holding some sort of light source. Meanwhile, I would take long exposures with either a 12-24 wide or my lens baby.

It required a lot of cold, wet dark nights in rain boots in a creek in a park somewhere. It involved arguing. A lot. But somehow during these collaborative projects, when we both stay focused and determined on our individual expected outcome, the settling place of compromise lends itself to great results. Hence, we work well together and plan to do more of it.

The final products were tiny, eery 4x6 prints capturing all of our efforts.

To show the full effect of the cocoon, Todd did a cast of his body, and stuffed it with sand and newspaper. We hung it in the corner of Zephyr gallery. It was quite heavy!

To my complete surprise and amazement (almost to a point of disbelief) the efforts paid off, and the show was very well received. During Derby week 2010, a group of collectors from the Whitney in NYC came to town and not only checked out the show, but bought more than HALF of it.

They also bought a good amount of our last collaborative effort, the Light Maps series. To know that my photos are scattered all over the US is a huge unexpected accomplishment. Which makes me super excited to finish up the newest Light Map series that we're working on now in Bernheim Forest. Here's a little sneak peek – check out the new light suit!