Pretty Bird

In Adana, there is a placed We love to go for Turkish Delight and all sorts of Turkish confections. The people working there are wonderfully hospitable. When I take the boys, they get spoiled with being offered sample after sample. Its truly a wonderful experience. One of my favorite things is watching them cut the long rolls or make the squares...its such a work of art. I love those moments of beauty that really make life feel so rich.

Speaking of, I'm starting something a bit new for me...blogging more regularly. I'm not a creature of routine or habit, so its something I'm looking forward to. I've also decided to pull away from the typical post-new years eve tradition and not post any resolutions...I don't make those because it seems I'm doing things like that all the time. Did any of you see the movie "I don't know how she does it?" (Sorry, I just love Sarah Jessica Parker - a true New Yorker). In that movie, she lays in bed doing 'the list'...a very scrambled collage of all the things she has swirling in her head. I do that...constantly. I make lists of favorite places, sites, music, wine, links, labels, workouts, cities - you name it...if its an interest, I have a list. Its driven by a very natural and intense urge to network and dive in fully. I come by it honestly, because I can't remember being without that zest and passion. I love that in life, there are so many amazing and fascinating things to discover and don't want to forget things once I do discover them in the event I may someday need to remember. Okay, now you are picturing my house, right? Packed with nick-nacks, stuffed cabinets and closets....all the surfaces completely covered? Hmm, no. I'm not a pack rat. I've been called an 'information pack rat' but thank GOD that isn't something that shows up on the counter tops or corners of your home! I'm sure these lists would be better stored on laptops, ipods and blackberries, but I prefer journals and neatly organized business card files. (Well, I do have a rather extensive bookmark network on my computer....and files and files of images and music...lets not start.)

What I mean is there is something about organic, i-can-touch-it-with-my-hand organization that I can't let go of. Sort of like I can't trade in my books for a, what are they...'kindle' (sorry-yuck!), or pour over a favorite magazine during a bath. Try doing that with your favorite online magazine IN the bath on something like a blackberry - whoops, just dropped 250 dollars into the water! I would rather get the pages of a $4 magazine wet. And, I would rather feel paper. I'm just clearly not ultra hip, I guess. Don't get me wrong, I love Ipods (I can't live without my clip on at the gym) and Iphones, etc, but I'm just so tied to organic. My heart sings when I walk into a room where there is a working victrola vs an ipod docking station (hey, I love those, too!) and when I see a fellow photographer winding up his roll of film instead of photo-shopping images from his digital (not slamming digital, its are great!)...its just how I'm wired. I feel more artful and awake doing something organic. That being said, I'm trying to catalog something new (for me) here....bringing my organic life into this space - good music, great photos...maybe a 'diy' or two I've picked up. Who knows, maybe I'll start posting some music I've been working on. Either way, its something new and happens to fall after New years...imagine, its almost close to a resolution even for this girl. Have a lovely next few days....Ciao, Anna.

This week I was reminded that life is very, very fragile. Its not just a cliche. The short is that my son had an accident and had to visit the ER. It turned out he just needed some serious stitching up, but all is well. It made me take serious inventory of my fast pace and how I can't miss a moment that could be cherished instead of passed up because of a busy schedule. I think the word is savor. :) I want to savor this season and all the come after. To pull my kids close and genuinely make the world wait while I give more of my heart to my relationships. I love this season...there is something about a blanket of white on the earth that makes me feel like pulling out big chunky sweaters and sipping good tea. I don't live around snow anymore, but this week we pack up and leave for Germany to celebrate Christmas in a place where it seems to have been born. "Weihnachtsmarkt" or Christmas Markets, are spread out all over the country and all offering something unique and different. It will be nice to feel the cold of winter on my cheeks and see snowfall. And more, it will be wonderful to be there under the sparkling lights with my son, who I can't imagine life without.

I wish you all to have savored moments of warmth and thankfullness this season...And, to lighten up, my holiday 'what I wish I was wearing to Germany' wishlist. Enjoy! Ciao...Anna

1. Le Labo frangrance in Chant de Bols (very deep and spicey) 2. Rose Quartz necklace from Dinosaur Toes 3. Rally flat knee boot by Betsey Johnson 4. Buttoned Berm pullover - Anthropologie 5. Longing for snow gloves - mod cloth 6. Hobo- Kenneth Cole 7. Puik Hand knit on etsy 8. Skinny Cord by MadeWell 9. Ruffled Tapestry Coat - anthropologie)

 

Happy post holidays! Wait for it........I joined Pinterest recently. Do they go hand in hand? Not really. I have, however, found a few things to make for the Christmas season via that website and its pretty cool. I can't decide, as a photographer, what I think about it. Repinning someone's work without their knowledge even though linking them...hmmm. Then again, many photographers use this and it has me a bit confused on web sensitivity. Any thoughts? Either way, I may be here for a while....its fun! And, helps me catalog things I don't want to forget. Inpiration abounds!

Now, how quickly the holidays have come upon us and how quickly they will go. I'm reminded of the first time my son saw snowfall as a toddler - looking out the window of my living room, touching the glass with his fingertips. He was silent. We walked outside and as the snow fell on his hands, he simply looked up, closed his eyes and smiled. No matter where I'm at, what I'm doing, who I'm with...how wonderful or stressful my moment is, I wish for that heart to be behind it all. And, I am savoring every moment of this holiday season, even though its so far away from home. Enjoy the moments. I hope you've all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Ciao...Anna

Its been a while since I've been in this space....it feels like the days sort of blend into one another here sometimes. I feel that though I've been living overseas nearly 8 months now, I'm really just now getting settled enough to adjust. If that makes sense. There are a great many things to take in here and it does so many new, inspiring things to the heart and the mind. And also, with the changing seasons, I can't help but be tugged by the places and people I miss back across the sea - the falling leaves, preparation for stuffed turkeys, red noses, snow fall...its all so close to my heart, but so far away. And I think I'm a little homesick because of the season change. Fall is my favorite time of year and I'm reminded of how much I love my own roots and my own country in this season most of all. Above is a photo shot at a bazaar I'm returning to this weekend....full of wonders and hand made treasures that will hopefully be on their way home for Christmas in the next few weeks. Can you believe its just around the corner! I can't. Watch the falling leaves and have a cup of something warm and dark for me. Ciao...Anna

Until next time, some things I've been inspired by lately:

I can't wait to collect some of her pieces. They are stunning.

Samantha Casolari is quickly becoming one of my favorite photographers. I love what she captures that most would overlook....

This is just cool - all the way around.

Love this idea!

We can't wait for Oliver Jeffers new book...

Brooklyn, what don't you have?

There is nothing Ibride can't do

This found its way to my own bedroom this month. Its beyond words. (and hand stitched!)

 

 

Home again. As much as I feel like expressing the wonderments of summer, I would rather share some pictures of the last 8 months instead. Sometimes words fail miserably. As promised, things new here and a lot more to come. Best to you all......

Tomorrow I fly into the arms of the city I love. I'm taking a sabbatical from Turkey to go visit loved ones and have some adventures. I may not be in this space much this summer, but when I return.....music, moving pictures, rolls of developed film finally on display and a whole lot of new. I bid you all a fabulous, joyful summer....Ciao! Anna

Moments from Everynone on Vimeo.

 

This inspires me. Its these details of life that make it so real and so worth living.

So far, the past few months have been nothing but adjustment....adjusting to a new country, language, home...adjusting to a new schedule, new faces (one of the perks) and really slowing down enough to soak in the reality of such great change. With the adjustment has come the process of defining myself all over again - which has brought much growth, and much struggle and much new. Part of that has led me on a new path...rather, an old path emerging as dominant - a loud noise in a quiet room - an abrupt direction change. I've always known writing music to be my heart....but this time around, having lived without a piano since we arrived, I know it without question. Its as though the absence has taught me that its been my path carved out since the day I was born, and there is no changing it. I can't take a good picture, get a good workout, dance a clean step and some days, make it through the day, without it....its as though I've been a dancer without feet, an artist without brushes...so this year, I've set to finish all of my songs, and really put it out there for you all to see. Once and for all, without reserve of perfection that has hindered me to this point. Some things must sing out.

So, I think with all the change, I'm ready for a little trip home - which is where I'm going this week. I apologize for my absence the past few months while adjusting to this new life.....however, I'm packing up about 15 rolls of film, so will have renewed inspiration for changes to this space as well as others upon their reveal, I'm sure. Below, a few places I can't wait to soak up....and for all the adventure here, the peace of familiarity will be equally as intoxicating...and the warm embrace of those missed for many months, a very deep exhale. Ciao....Anna

I have found more great music on this blog

Am really stuck on A whisper in the Noise and Balmorhea lately...

This website is making me revisit my audio/visual ideas and more importantly...making me dream......

Will definately be catching a few of these

And, can not wait to see how this has shaped up since last I was in town.....new galleries have popped up all around this area, as well! So excited!

  There is something utterly mysterious about a place where horse drawn carts merge with modern city buses and stilettos can be found on the same street as as a man selling Simit from a basket on his head...where age old traditions meet modern commerce and phrases like "you've been Turked" are common among new expats and visitors who've been given a raw deal on a cheap pair of knockoffs. Yet, in the midst of all the unfamiliar, I'm finding my senses are being disrupted by all things new - and though the small, subconscious tendency is to seek for the familiar - in these welcome disruptions, my heart is singing. There are days when the direct sunlight and language barrier seems overwhelming, but nothing a good pair of sunglasses and language dictionary can't fix. It seems the more you open yourself up to a new culture, the easier it is to experience its essence...and one of the most humbling aspects - the 'new' returns discoveries about your self that may never have happened otherwise. My hope is to emerge a refined person. On a rather humorous (and advantageous level) more savvy to the art of the deal, and on a much more internal plane - less interested in consumption and more in awe of the handmade and daily nuances of life in a strange (and wonderful) place....pressed and challenged, excited and refined....with maybe a few more faces to add to my memories....good friends found along the way, new songs to sing and in it all - inspiration abounds. OH, and in the embrace of my new found home - Hoşça Kal! (.....and prepare for some new from me...I dropped about 8 rolls of film off a little while ago....and plan to be more regular here..maybe even a face change...ha, ha.)

 

(the Tempest and my favorite Eichenberg)

For whatever reason, I've been on internal visual overload these days and my spirit feels on the hunt for pin pointing where the inspiration comes from. I'm on a journey of redifining. In that, I've come up with a way to keep it somewhat straight...because what I've learned is that this process can get messy - and this time around, I would rather utilize the flood of energy and creativity for something greater. So to start, I'm going to the most basic of what defines my inspiration these days - stories, color and imagination. Below you will find the image that inspired my ocean series....one of my favorite wood engraving artists - Fritz Eichenberg. This image is a bit rare, and I am having trouble finding it on the internet - it was scanned from a book of mine. For the others, I have joined ranks and started a Tumblr - I admit, less for you and more to keep inspiring images fresh in my head whenever I need. Talk about honesty...ha.

My Tumblr

My Twitter

Here's to growth.....Ciao, Anna

 
The shop

I wanted to update my blog and have a new design and a plethora of other things to compliment a great change in my life - but due to that great change, i've had no time. So, please bare with me. :-) Two big new suprises: My website is now up!!! (and aleady in need of updates and changes! OH My!) Also, I have relocated to Adana, Turkey for 18 months. It came fast, was a sudden decision and I've not had time to update anything...my cameras are being shipped separately, so I've also not even taken one picture!! Such a dreadful update, I know....but at the very least - shockingly informative! ;-)

I hope to show some new work soon as there is a lot being developed right now, so check back to the website for more updates in the coming month!!!  Ciao!! Anna