Art // Other Creative Outlets

As a creative, I enjoy anything and everything that allows me to explore new ways of expression + mediums that allow me to connect with people. Over the years I have worked in a handful of other creative fields, and I have made art in many different forms for many different occasions. Below you will see snapshots of multiple different creative outlets that have brought me joy. From working for 2 different photographers for many years, both as an Assistant, Creative Director, Product/Apparel/Placement Stylist, + back-up/secondary Photographer…. to Painter, Mixed-media Artist, Hand-painted Stemware Business Owner, Art Installation Coordinator, Logo Design Creator, Cake Decorator, + even ad-hawk Modeling!

Creative Directing, Styling, + Photography …

While I am not a professional Photographer, I do love the art of Photography + enjoy taking photos to capture life’s precious moments.

I have had the privilege and honor to work with two amazing Photographers: Dick Shetler of Shetler Imaging + Design out of Laconia, NH (for Dance Photography) for 12 years; and Marcel Ledoux of MG Ledoux Photography out of Concord, NH (for Wedding Photography) for 8 years.

With both of these roles I wore many hats. At times I was a Photographer’s Assistant, doing Customer Service work, interacting with parents or clients, explaining processes + taking orders, recording + logging photo data, fixing costumes, or calming bride’s nerves and keeping the vibes high + the mood light. Other times I was Creative Directing and Styling, posing individual dancers, arranging + posing groups of dancers, coordinating prop usage, manipulating photography sets, finding on-location sets for accessory + dress shots, arranging bridal parties body positioning or curating what appear to be candid moments, as well as dress styling, floral arrangement styling, bouquet placement in group shots, and so much more! I was also a secondary Photography at the weddings, getting the honor of working one-on-one with brides for final dress zipping + getting ready photos, capturing precious emotional ceremony moments, and documenting all the reception fun.

I only have some images of a handful of the weddings I worked on, but below you will see some of my favorite shots that I was either the Creative Director, Product Stylist, or Photographer on!

Creative Directing + Styling:

Allison + Donnie

Kym + Jason

Pam + Kevin

Jennifer + Brad

Photography:

Allison + Donnie

Kym + Jason

Pam + Kevin

Jennifer + Brad

Art Installations …

I love all forms of art, and even more-so I love being able to give back to the community. I was raised with the Rotary motto: “Service above self” and I believe it is just inherently in my being to want to be connect to good causes + give back when I can. Being able to combine those 2 things truly makes my heart sing!

There were a couple times when I lived in MN that I was able to do just that. The first was just a simple art instillation at The Crisis Nursery. They wanted some calming art pieces made to add into their Relaxation Room for the families they serve. This room is a safe space for calm energy to help families going through distress. The criteria was simple, calming wall art that tied back to the cool colors of the room. The second was a bit more complex of a project. This one was a full-on build-out taking over an entire entryway to the business. Sheridan Story, now known as Every Meal, is a company that provides food for school children who need it the most. Their mission is to pull together balanced meal items + non-perishables into kits that are then hand delivered to kids at school, and stealthily put into lockers when no other students are around. This allows the kids in need to get the essential nutrients they should have access to, without the unwanted judgement or potential embarrassment of their peers knowing their family is going through a hard time. The ask here was the re-design the entryway to their facility to be more joyful, welcoming, have a designated home for the brochures + pamphlets, and to give a space for recognition to callout each of the schools they service in the community. For this project it was a team effort with a handful of volunteers from Target. However, I was able to be the lead on this project and I came up with the concept, sketched out the idea, painted a mock up of the wall installation, and even created a 2D art piece of how we could add dimension into the wall art. Below are images of both projects!

Crisis Nursery

Sheridan Story / Every Meal

Stemware By Starsea …

My very first art form love was painting. I’ve messed around with different types of painting mediums for as long as I can remember. My first year of college was at art school (New Hampshire Institute of Art) and I took as many painting related courses as I could get my hands on. I found joy in painting, but knew I would never make a career out of it… it was more of a therapeutic activity for me. While messing around with different mediums and surfaces to explore, I fell in love with painting on glass. This is where Stemware By Starsea was born. This was my first real side-hustle/passion project. It started out as just doing pieces for fun, which turned into making pieces for gifts, and suddenly I was getting special requests and orders from friends + family. I maintained this as a side thing + passion outlet for a long time. Then when I moved to MN, there were art fairs everywhere! This got me inspired + truly invigorated to make Stemware By Starsea a bigger thing, that I could take on the road + do pop-up art fairs with. I built up a ton of inventory + over time accumulated all of the things I would need to create an art fair booth set-up. When I finally had all the pieces to the puzzle figured out + was ready for my first art fair, COVID happened. The world shut down, and just like that there were no more art fairs, for a while. What was a fun + exciting dream for a bit turned into a bit of a headache with so many supplies + a bunch of inventory taking up space in my apartment. Fast-forward, I moved back to NH, and bubble wrapping all of those pieces for safe transport was also a nightmare! BUT, the good news was that each piece made it back home safely with me. Since then, I have done a few art fair pop-ups, but just here and there and very few + far between. This is by no means a business model I’d dive into fully, but it does bring me joy to still have this creative outlet + share that with others on occasion. Over the years, I have gotten better with my techniques + overall process for baking + sealing the work for longevity. I have also improved my design quality and imagery placement. I have done a couple commission pieces to replicate other peoples artwork onto glassware, and I have done brand collaborations to help raise money for good causes in the community! Below are some examples of my personal creative pieces, gift orders, commissioned pieces, business partnership pieces, + fundraiser collab pieces!

Small business partnerships:

Fundraiser collab pieces:

Concord Skatepark Logo + Feathered Friend Brewing Logo = Collab artwork inspiration

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Original artwork to replicate on a pint glass

Commissioned pieces:

Finished glassware translation

Original artwork to replicate on a jar glass

Finished glassware translation

Gift orders:

Make a glass perfect for a mom obsessed with her chickens

Wedding gift for Mr. + Mrs. that prefer coffee over wine

Holiday present for a couple that loves Northern MN, fans of nature, + love loons

Other creative pieces

Miscellaneous Other …

Having tried a bit of everything, I am never short of new ideas or techniques I want to learn or explore! This section shows a variety of things I’ve tried + enjoyed, but none of which are realms I’ve stuck with for further development. Not to say I wouldn’t be open to exploring these again in the future, but they just fell-off with life being as busy as it is! Below are some of those creative outlets that I’ve tried my hand at:

Mixed Media Art
Painting
Ceramics
Wood Burning
Glass Etching
Knitting
Sewing
Costume Design + Fabricating
Logo Design
Scrapbooking
Collage Journaling
Candle Making
Jewelry Making
Cake Decorating

I don’t have image examples of all of the above, but below you will see examples of a handful of the above!

Mixed media art:

Logo design:

Painting:

Cakes:

Modeling …

Lastly, this is something that I wouldn’t say is my forte, but it is something I’ve had a blast participating in! In college, both art school + fashion school, I had opportunities to model for different projects. Then again during my time with Target the opportunity arose. I am also friends with a handful of photographers, so I have been asked to fill-in on last minute shoots with them as well!

At art school, there were 3 different peer projects I helped with. The first was a fashion fanatic inspired shoot, the 2nd was a makeup + hair project, and the third was a body parts + umbrellas curation.

At fashion school, my department: Fashion Merchandising, created + hosted a Fashion Show each year. The fashion show consisted of the Fashion Design students creating their own runway line + making every piece for the show, and the Fashion Merchandising students coordinating, planning, promoting, + running the show. I was the Fashion Show Coordinator my Senior year at Bay State, which was a ton of work, but was also exhilarating and so much fun! Both years, I was picked by different Design students to model their garments, which felt like an honor. So, while it wasn’t exactly in my wheel house or comfort zone, it was something that I was excited to push myself to try.

Then, while working at Target, when we were first standing up the Visual Merchandising team + figuring out our Operating Model… we also had to figure out how the Styling team would integrate into the work and what their processes looked like as well. For a while they were using in-house team members to do fit-guide modeling shoots to help the Design + Merch teams see their assortments outfitted + styled for in-store marketing images and .com imagery. This allowed us to work through the kinks within the process, while saving on budget costs until we were fully up and running. I was asked to model for some of these fit guide sessions.

Below you will see images from all of these events: random photoshoots for photographer friends, in-studio fit guide modeling, college runway modeling + art school projects.