Paper Bird : Food and Drink

The deepest secret is that life is not a process of discovery, but a process of creation. You are not discovering yourself, but creating yourself anew. Seek therefore, not to find out Who You Are, seek to determine Who You Want To Be. Neale Donald Walse

I am in LOVE with photography. The beauty and artistry of it. Capturing every day moments, documenting our life's journey. I am one who has never been comfortable with having my picture taken. I know I am not the only one who has these feelings. It seems to be inherent with the female species! Why is that?

I have always admired women who are at ease in front of a lens, comfortable with self portraiture.

Confidence with the beauty they radiate.

The beautiful Misty Mawn

Comfortable behind a lens.

Ally of Ally Lewis Photography

Agreeable with silly!

(My LuLu)

Luminous in their artistry.

http://mistymawn.blogspot.com/

The pure artistic ability of self portraiture is amazing and so beautiful. Not long ago my sweet friend Chrissy shared a post on self-portraiture.

Chrissy from Cul*tiv*ate - Photograph from Vivienne McMaster

She introduced her readers to the amazing Vivienne McMaster.

Vivienne has a love for self-portraiture and photography and she shares her talent teaching e-courses in capturing yourself through the lens and also in developing your visual voice through photography.

Read about it here

You are your own muse

Vivienne's Story

Perhaps you, like me, have struggled with getting your photos taken. I never felt like who I really am shone through and I get critical of the physicalities of myself in the photo. What is really at the core of whether I like a photo or not isn’t about my body (though my psyche sure likes to pretend it is).

It is whether or not my essence shone through.

It was a big realization for me when I saw that I was capable of taking photos that did indeed let that spark of who I truly am appear.

Sometimes I let the sunlight help me radiate my own light, other times playfulness and movement bring it out in me.

Perhaps for you it might be your radiant smile or the way your mama self shines when you are in photos with your kids. Maybe it is when surrounded by friends or after a beautiful walk. What makes you shine?

Let’s try and remember to shine our light when someone aims the camera at us or we aim it at ourselves. Let’s remember what makes us feel like our most true selves and let that radiate. Sometimes it can be awkward or challenging to push through and find ways to do that but I swear it makes all the difference with the way we relate to photos.

Of course there are some days when we don’t want to be shiny and bright. I’ve learned through continually aiming the camera at myself that those photographs are equally valuable to me.

Whether it is someone else taking our photo or inviting ourselves to step into the photo as a self-portrait I am on a mission to encourage us all to play around with how we can find ways to feel seen in photographs, to feel beautiful or playful or truthful when we see them and to capture moments along the way.

Let’s let ourselves shine.

I am so excited about this on-line course so-
I'm sharing a little give-away love.

Giving you permission to let your light shine!

If you would love to take this e-course leave a comment and I will choose a lucky someone February 3rd,2011 to participate in this wonderful class. Share the love and let your friends know about the give-away and you can be entered twice.

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, 'Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?' Actually, who are you not to be? . . . And as we let our light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same."

MARIANNE WILLIAMSON

Let your light shine girls!

xo Lorraine

The auction is closed.

Thank you to each of you who have helped us with this charity event and for the kindness you are rendering to the Haitian people- they are still in need.

I will email each person who has won the bid for their kitty. Kitties will be mailed Monday morning (in time for Christmas) if payment has been made.

Merry Christmas from Utah Artful Gatherings

Holly Kitty created by Julie Collings