Sassy sacks of sugar

Grace and I go way back and I have often suspected that she was a sassy sack of sugar...this time completely confirmed it...I love kids that are off and running, that take your toot joke or lion roar or funny face and make it better, bigger, more them...of course, it didn't hurt to have her dad along to remind her that there's a fine line between being funny and being a goober. I should keep him in my back pocket to remind me of the same thing.

She really wanted to go in the tree but then, as often happens, it was a bit, well, big. She said under her breath, "be brave". Okay, I'm definitely keeping that in my back pocket...

Lest you worry, Henry's got a little spice of his own.

The last shot was the literally the last shot and it just totally summed up all the love and sweetness that families have...that aura of specialness and togetherness and unity that makes sacks of sugar feel safe, protected and cherished...it's really a special thing I get to be around!

You gorgeous you

You've been so patiently waiting for me to finish you...you gorgeous things! So scrappy, full of pajama pants and little boys shirts, grammas pillowcases and crib sheets...We just like to lay around and stare adoringly at you...

It looks like quadruplets but really they are just twins...fronts and back both pieced and quilted.

I know it's not right to have favorites but, well, this one is mine...

All of my quilts have been photographed the same way (all 2 of them) but then I saw Penny Lever Green's website and I love love loved the way she photographed her things in situ (her fancy word, not mine) and it inspired me to do so many things (like finish these quilts even though my quilting was bound to be kookie)...it was hard to show all my favorite little bits in one photo...race cars, fish, scooter boys, chubby kings and queens, cherubs, kitties...

The Awesome Fosse Family

I'm not sure when I've laughed so hard at a family photo shoot...or at least not when someone ended up in tears....oh, it's so easy for siblings to go too far.

Mitchell was the reason for the season this time...graduating from high school. He rebuilt the car himself. shazaaam....

A little sexy time with the folks...

And then for a grand finale...Mitch jumped his car....kapow!

Ari the pirate

"This piece right here spins and that starts the motor. And this piece moves so that you can walk from land to the ship."

"Like a gang plank?"

"Yeah, that's the gang plank."

"Hey Ari, what does this little green piece do?"

"Libby, pirates don't tell their secrets..."



I love that pirates are all jolly rogers and real treasure, complicated ships and detailed maps. I think the obsession was born on a visit to a fort in Puerto Rico.

He saw a big pile of cannonballs that had been turned into a sculpture and shouted, "blueberries!". I mean really, wouldn't pirates be more jolly if they all let their love of blueberries tumble forth?

Birthday Bash

I want to spend every Saturday morning photographing three year olds birthday parties. Do you think there is a market specifically for this? Maybe I'll have to include four year olds too.




It was the sweetest little gathering...it could also be that the birthday girl has this gentle, kind spirit that made it all the more.




But you know who's really magical? Preschool teachers....how can they keep kids mesmerized and focused? At one point she had them all trying to trick the adults into pretending they were asleep...that beats the time I saw the little girl playing "coma".

SAL---Oh how I love you...

There have been some excellent SAL events this year...heck, just this month...and I'm told the last two, Shirin Ebadi on May 19th and Gary Snyder on May 27th, will not disappoint. It's not that I doubt it, it's just that last Friday was really one of the best lectures yet. I had been prepped to like Naomi Shihab Nye. A client had mentioned how much she loved her. And then her first night sold out. I don't know very many poets...okay, I probably don't need all the fingers on one hand to count them...so the fact that the Hall sold out and was nearly so on a second night amazed...no, astounded me.

Ms Nye was amazing...I sound like a reviewer...which I'm emphatically not (see aforementioned I know nothing about poetry disclaimer) but she made me cry, she made me laugh, she made me excited to hear what she would say next. Now that's pretty darn cool...even for poetry...

How can they do it? Have a witty, clever, off the cuff conversation in front of hundreds of people. I can barely manage to remember to ask how the weather is...

My favorite line: "Sometimes I pretend I'm not me, that I only work for me..."

So perfect. That's me. That's what I say. We always make fun of my boss. She's so mean, we steal office supplies from her and hope she doesn't notice.

SAL and Mira Nair

Another wonderful Seattle Arts and Lectures evening last week. Mira Nair was amazing. Incredibly creative, hardworking, visual, generous, interesting. She made me want to rush home and finish the projects that have languished and start the ones that have yet to flourish.

I love listening to the stories that the authors tell...they all (or most all) sound so smart and funny but with Ms. Nair she then showed us the fruits of her labor and I got to realize how much more she is than I had imagined! And also how much bigger the world is...I want to rent every movie she's made!