My new painting series "Backwards Beauty"

This video shares my journey with reconnecting to my art and creativity after illness.

Samantha and Nick

I have a new video fusion portrait of Samantha and her horse Nick. I am in love with this type of video it captures a special friendship between a girl and her horse. I was so fascinated by horses when I was growing up. I use to pretend I was riding one long before I ever did ride one. I think there is a certain freedom you feel being one with a horse. The beauty and the grace of a horse is magic, but there is also something a bit terrifying about the sheer power beneath you. 

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You’re Right Where You Need to Be

Sometimes life sends us messages to guide us and help us along our journey.  But sometimes we're not listening. We are all so busy being busy that we miss what is right in front of us. I am truly guilty of this and it was never more clear then when I was in Costa Rica staying at the lovely wellness retreat spa Hacienda del Sol. I will explain.  But let me first tell you a little about this wonderful place. 

I found out about Hacienda del Sol thru this goddess .... Megan Talpner.  She did a whole blog post on it here. Essentially she did all the research and found exactly what I was looking for in a retreat, beautiful place, healthy food, yoga classes, salt water pool, wonderful caring people and so much more. Where do I sign up?  I'm in!

I would say this place is not for everyone but everyone should go. If you enjoy everything I listed above then let me put your mind at ease. This place is for you. You’re not too fat, you’er not too lazy and your not too unhealthy to go. It's funny how our minds will try to talk us out of anything. I went to Hacienda thinking all those things but learned thru the reflection of those around me that I was strong and healthy and exactly where I needed to be. I pushed myself to be present and to just show up mindfully to every adventure. My yoga teacher Ange reminded me of this many times during yoga class. You are perfect in this moment and exactly where you need to be. I thought I understood.  I thought I was totally tuned in. But then I realized I still needed to learn this lesson. I was out on a hike one day and stopping along the way to marvel at all the little creatures in the jungle. Well I came upon a hermit crab and looked down at him in disbelief.  How did you get here?  And why are you so far from the beach? I scooped the little guy up and carried him with me to the beach; feeling very proud of myself and my generosity to help this creature. Once I reached the beautiful white sandy beach, I gently lowered the hermit crab down to the sand. As soon as he was free to crawl the hermit crab took off toward the forest again. I stood there with a bewildering look and a heavy heart and thought to myself what have I done! You see that little creature wanted to be in the forest and I moved him. At that moment I realized everyone and every creature has there own journey and it is not for us to judge or decide but only trust that they are actually where they need to be. 

I will never forget this lesson and I will always have a special place in my heart for my time at Hacienda del Sol. I encourage you to go and give yourself the gift of soul energy building, health and love. I promise you will be met with open arms and a handy life lesson to stick in your pocket for when you’re ready to hear it. 

I created a visual diary of my time at Hacienda del Sol which will show you everything, the glorious food, yoga, hikes, beaches, accommodations and of course all the beautiful lovely people that I met along the way. The only thing not in the video is my experience with the massages. duh. That's another kind of video. I treated myself and got massages from Nadia, Ange and Shar and they were all so different and wonderful in their own way. I don't really recommend one over another. All I will say is … treat yourself and get as many as your budget will allow because you won't regret it. I also highly recommend the pedicure from Veronica. It was truly the best one I've ever had. 

So please sit back and watch and let me know if you enjoyed the video. Leave me a comment. Email me if you have any questions. Thanks for stopping by and remember next time you feel restless and unsure all you need to do is say this little phrase...  You are perfect in this moment and you are exactly where you need to be.... and soon you will feel the calm wash over you. 

Share this post with someone you love that might need to hear this today.

much love  jan

My Jilly-bean

Click on image to start video

That's what I call her .... Jillian my niece also known as Jilly-bean. I love my Jillian that’s what anyone would say who knows her. She has a light inside that shines bright and you can’t help, but be affected when your in her presence. I remember her mother telling me when she was a baby that she looked forward to her days of play with Jillian. She said "she is just a happy baby always smiling". I believe happiness is a choice and some people are put on this planet to remind us to look for the brighter side of life. Jillian does that for me. I am lucky to say Jillian has been one of my muses since she was very little. She was always game to do whatever I cooked up in my creative brain. Recently, I asked Jillian to help me create something, which combinds three of my passions video, photos and music. I introduced the concept with my Camp Easy Couture video, which you can see here. So with Jillian’s help, my camera and a few hours of play together I created a video fusion show reel. Video fusion is simply the combination of still photos, video and music, but what results is pure magic to me. 

Celebrate the loves in your life with a show-real contact me and set up a play date. You will never regret capturing the loves that inspire the light in your life. 

Here are some earlier photo shoots we did together. The fairy wing photo shoot together resulted in this photo, which was selected to be featured in a German magazine. When Jill put on the wings I remember she tranformed into an other worldly creature, I just followed her and tried to keep up.

Camp Easy Couture

Click on the image to start playing the video.

Behind the scenes video and photos of my photo shoot at Camp Easy in the mountains.

Up in the mountains where the air is a little crisper and colder resides a place called Camp Easy.  

This Cabin in the woods is truly a step back in time and many steps away from the hustle and bustles of everyday life. It is my favorite place on the planet, and I always love spending time at Camp Easy. Recently I spent a long weekend up in the mountains with my camera, 4 beautiful models, some amazing props, and some gorgeous gowns I created from thrift store finds.  I am calling it my Camp Easy Couture Photo Shoot. This video shows some behind the scenes fun and some of the amazing photos that were created. I wanted to thank my beautiful models Erin, Samantha, Jillian and a special last minute appearance of the stunning Ashley. My vision was to create a setting of a "girls day out" sitting drinking tea, listen to music and creating fanciful stories to entertain themselves something my great grandmother might have done decades earlier in a similar spot with these very same objects. 

Send me an email if you want to find out how you can book your own play date with me to create some stunning portraits of your own. 

I look for creative solutions to make a shoot a little extra interesting. I wanted to use the beautiful mountain setting to create a mood, but I also used props old and new to help me. Here are some behind the scenes tips that I used on this shoot. 

Masks

I got the masks from Walmart and painted them different shades of white, off white and cream. Then I used hodge podge to apply some glitter and flowers to make them more photogenic. I was really happy with how they turned out here are some photos of before and after. 

Flowers

I have been collecting silk and fabric flowers over the years. I keep an eye out for them to go on clearance and then buy a bunch. One of my favorite stores is crate & barrel, but you could use some from Michaels or Joann Fabrics. We used white paint as a base over top of the silk flowers and then I went back in with tones of grey, yellow, purple and peach to create a hand painted vintage BEAUTIFUL flowers. 

Gowns

I went to the thrift store in the little sleepy town of Bedford, Va and spent 3 glorious hours looking around and finding treasures. I was surprised and delighted to find so many yummy things I could use. I just love spending time searching for hidden treasures at the thrift store. My goal was to find dresses or tops that I could turn into gowns. I used curtains and small pieces of fabric to make long skirts, which we pined in place. The girls kept their blue jeans and boots on under the gowns, so when I asked them to go into the tall grass they felt protected. I had some pearls and sparkly pins to strategically place them on the gowns to pull the look all together. 

Props

Camp Easy has been in my family for 5 generations and we don't like to throw anything away, so I had many props available. I got an old trunk out of the barn and did not even realize until I opened it that it had a picture of a women tacked on the inside... Bonus. The phonograph is one of my favorite props and it still works if you turn the record manually. 

I was lucky to have some helpers for the behind the scenes video and I want to take time to thank Ashley for her help and a special thanks to Kelly and Elizabeth for  jumping in for some photos themselves. Here are some amazing shots I got of the girls and their mothers.