november/december 2011

Two guest posts this month, both for inspiring columns pioneered by wonderful women. The first is up at Roots of She moderated by Jenn Gibson. The second is up at Create Mixed Media, moderated by Christine Mason Miller. It felt great to expand my scope and to be asked to share in new places.

More fun local portrait shoots. Loving working with families, too. Who knew?

Also, created a new set of greeting cards from evocative iPhone images that I have taken throughout the year. I am an avid Instagrammer (@doorwaystraveler) and loved making something tangible with some of my images. You can see and purchase them on my temporarily re-opened Etsy shop.

It was an honor to photograph the newly opened Santa Barbara Birth Center and to have the images published in the November 10-17 edition of the Santa Barbara Independent (online and print editions). The center was founded by my good friend Laurel Phillips, who is a midwife and community maker. It has been awesome to see her vision become a reality for Santa Barbara.

On December 2nd, I participated in The Enlightened Heart: A Tribal Trust Artisan Collective. Read more about that here. It was a gorgeous evening and successful fundraiser for the Tribal Trust Foundation.

Finally, in yet another meeting of an extraordinary woman, I was able to hug and personally congratulate this year’s CNN hero, Robin Lim. Ibu Robin is a midwife and trailblazer and one of the most sincere women I have ever met (and I as able to discern this from 5 minutes in her presence). Hooray for midwives!

As I reflect on the many inner and outer journeys I took in 2011, I look forward to an expansive year ahead full of ease and grace, love and joy.

september/october 2011

Time to integrate the experiences I had in Mexico, coupled with more local shoots and another fantastic shoot for the Adesso Jewelry 2011 Totem line. This time we hiked in the rocky terrain above Santa Barbara for some dramatic landscape. It paid off and I cannot wait to debut these shots at the start of the new year.

I was also asked to join the Leadership committee with Direct Relief Women, and to head up the subcommittee on Travel and Service opportunities. I couldn’t be more happy to be involved with this great organization and in such a fantastic role.

A true delight to top off these Autumn months was the opportunity to meet this year’s Nobel Peace prize winner Leymah Gbowee. A small group of women shared soup with Leymah at a private home in Montecito and listened to her share about her family and her extraordinary life–showing us, again, that we really are all connected.

july/august 2011

The summer has ramped up to bring the Doorways Project to Mexico with CASA and One Heart World-Wide. I feel profoundly lucky to have met the directors of both organizations through my connection with Direct Relief International, and to to have the opportunity to witness both of these programs in action. I will be in San Miguel de Allende and in the Copper Canyon. More about this trip here. This has felt like a full circle opportunity to combine my background in maternal child health with my current offerings. Very exciting!

Also, a guest post on the Adesso blog. So fun to be asked such clever questions.

may/june 2011

More local portrait shoots filled my camera in May. I was honored to participate and shoot the first annual mother’s day event for Direct Relief Women, which earned over $100,000 for maternal child health programs all over the world. The images were published in 805 Magazine, The Santa Ynez newspaper, and other local publications. I also was fortunate to meet Andrew Harvey, mystical scholar, and attend his Awakening the Mother workshop at La Casa de Maria.

June was filled with renewal as my daughter graduated from middle school, my husband and I renewed our vows, and I took my daughter across the pond for the first time to attend  the glorious wedding of Sas and Ash in England.

march/april 2011

A stunning shoot for Adesso and Sorellina’s Fall 2011 collection was shot up at Demetria winery over two days. The beautiful feature in Somerset’s Artful Blogging Magazine came out and what a thrill to see my work in print for the second time. Also, volunteered to shoot family portraits for a beautiful family living out their mother’s dream. This was my first introduction to the Dream Foundation and I was quite grateful for the opportunity to participate in this dream.

April’s travel was a much needed road trip to Palm Springs to stay at the stunning Korakia Pensione hotel. Highly recommended!

january/february 2011

The new year began with a wonderful photo shoot for Adesso’s Sorellina Spring line. We spent the day shooting inside and out a gorgeous Airstream trailer at a mountain retreat, and also seaside near the famed Montecito’s Coral Casino. I so love working with these talented people.

As winter moved toward spring, I stayed close to home and did several local portrait shoots, attended meetings and became more involved with Direct Relief Women, and submitted an article for publication in Artful Blogging Magazine, due out in April.

Finally, honored to have a guest post at the infamous Susannah Conway’s site on February 18th.

september/october 2010

September found me returning to Squam Art Workshops and visiting NYC for the first time. Meetings with old friends, new colleagues, and talking shop with other documentary photographers packed the itinerary. I was thrilled to be in NYC to attend a meet-up with SalaamGarage and to reconnect with Maggie Soladay, exactly a year after our trip to India together.

October promises to be eventful. To start off the month, I will be attending a workshop with photography hero Phil Borges, at the Julia Dean Workshops in Los Angeles. The workshop is titled “Environmental Portraiture and the Personal Project” and couldn’t feel more suited for me and my work. I look forward to gleaning insight on how to take the Doorways Project further and to further developing my technique.

Mid-October will find me in Amsterdam, where I will be photographing and attending the 4th annual European Summit for Global Transformation. The summit will to bring together some extraordinary people doing great work globally. I look forward to connecting, capturing, and collaborating with incredible changemakers like Maggie Doyne, Marianne Elliott, and Letha Sandison.

Meanwhile, the lookbook for Adesso’s spring line is now online. The project came together beautifully and I am so excited to see Adesso thrive. It was also a little thrill for me to see one of my images blown up as the backdrop for Adesso’s booth at the Emmy Style Lounge. See photos of that event here.

Onward…

july

The biggest news this month is the exciting launch of  this brand new website! It feels like a true
homecoming, all paths of my life leading me here. I am so happy to have my photography, the Doorways
Project, and my writing all under one roof. Special thanks to the talented and patient Jo Klima of The Darling Tree for working her magic.

In other news, the big traveler this month is my fourteen year old daughter who is currently serving the Rio Beni Health Project in Bolivia. She is there with a group of students along with her teacher, Jim Brady, of Santa Barbara Middle School who offers summer travel through his organization,  Educational Safaris. My daughter and her group are in the upper Amazon region of Bolivia and working withNetzer-Brady International, helping to install water filters and assist in the health clinics. I am so proud that my daughter is experiencing the wonder of real and connected travel at such a young age. I also look forward to traveling with Jim, Cristopher, and Crister Brady in the fall to document more of the great work that Netzer-Brady does for the people of the Rio Beni . Can’t wait to bring stories and images of women from that part of the world to the Doorways Project.

Very excited to have my photographs featured in the book, INDIA which was put together by fellow India travelers Simon Cordova and Eduardo Sciamarella. All proceeds go to Vatsalya and the book has been showcased in Blurb’s new “Blurb For Good” program.

Also, be sure to pre-order your copy of the journal, volume one. I am honored to be featured in this treasury of connection and collaboration with other outstanding creative women from the Squam art workshop community.

Finally, I am thrilled to have just shot the second look-book for the Adesso jewelry spring line. It is an honor to work with passionate women who create from the heart, and Samantha Goldstone is just that.

Have I mentioned that I LOVE my life?

Return of the Goddess. Wholly Tara, Sandwich New Hampshire. May 14-June 6, 2010.

Squam Art Show – A Vision of Squam II, Sandwich Artisans Guild. August 7-September 19, 2010.