Trip to the Luce Foundation Center for American Art

August 26, 2010
by Victoria J

I recently went to an exhibit by Maryland sculptor Margaret Boozer, which was a part of the Art and Coffee series put on by the Luce Foundation Center for American Art. Now when it comes to art, I don’t really get into the abstract pieces. I love details, accuracy, and perspective, but, done the right way, I appreciate some distortion. Anyway, this artist had a fascination with clay cracking and drying, and in a lot of her work, you are going to see those natural crack lines and the lines that she encourages the cracks to form on. As she discussed her process and her inspirations, I started to appreciate her technique and focus more and more… and I was able to see the art and beauty and skill in cracked and dried clay. Well, while I was at the exhibit, I was hesitant to pull out my camera because I know that you cannot take pictures in some of the buildings in DC. So, after I saw the museum worker start snapping pictures with a flash, I knew that it was alright for me to pull my camera out. Well, wouldn’t you know, she came over to me to ask a question. No – she did not ask me to put my camera away. Rather, she asked if I would not mind posting the pictures I was taking on the museum’s facebook page. I was all too delighted to post my images on their facebook page, which they actually had a business card for. It is truly amazing to see how times have changed in a relatively short amount of time!

See images from this trip below, and if you’re ever in the DC area, check this site out! It’s definitely worth it!

Now this is the clay fireplace facade that I would have her do in my house.

I just loved the line she made with her arms to depict what was going on in the image on the computer screen.

This was Margaret Boozer’s actual exhibit at this museum.

Now since I was at this museum, I just had to look at the other exhibits. Among my favorites was this collage of African-American paintings with familiar stories. Even though the style used was very simple, the painter was still very effective in capturing these moments in time.

Then there was this beautiful folk-art styled necklace… I don’t know if I’d ever wear something as ornate as this one, but I was drawn to it at the museum.

It’s Just Politics (Part 2)

August 16, 2010
by Victoria J

A recent road trip brought my mom and I to Kershaw, South Carolina. Now this was only my second time stopping in the state of South Carolina, but the first time I went, I only stopped by for Easter dinner. What both of these trips had in common was the fact that people in the South can COOK! If you haven’t guessed by now, I do enjoy food, and somebody’s home-cooking is my absolute favorite! Anyway, this post is not about food, but rather about the political process. In my last post, I documented the election party that my friend had during her primary election campaign. Well, in South Carolina, we went with friends to a different kind of election party. Mr. Sammie Tucker, Jr. recently won the primary election in the Kershaw County Sheriff race, so he threw a party to thank all of the people that voted for him. This party had all of the makings of a day to remember from the delectable chocolate brownies to the finger-licking bar-b-q chicken to the oh-so-moist pound cake to fresh watermelon – and I’m just talking about the food. But the party also had crowd-pleasers, like the electric slide, the cha-cha slide, a live band playing the oldies but goodies, folks on the dance floor, and much more. I was so glad that we were able to be a part of this celebration! See images below.

If you don’t know by now, I really like photographing food. This picture was an ode to down-south cooking! Y’all, the bar-b-q chicken was so finger-licking good that I spent some time cleaning that bone. This is as good as it got because I was trying to look dignified by eating the chicken with the plastic fork… but I had been in the comforts of my own home, I don’t think you would have seen anything left on that bone!

What’s a dance floor without an electric slide… I guess it depends on who’s throwing the party!

These ladies were working the registration table, but they had some choreographed moves going on as they played The Temptations!

I guess this is what politicians need to be able to do really well – laugh! It makes them look very human!

With his pants hiked up!

Friends from way back…

Talking Politics!

A Girl’s Best Friend… and Truly a Show-Stopper (The Engagement Ring)!

It’s Just Politics (Part 1)

August 16, 2010August 16, 2010
by Victoria J

Back in high school, I was never into politics or student government. I knew there was value in voting (and as soon as I was of age, I did), but I was never that concerned with running. Well, at the end of my freshman year in college, a very ambitious classmate of mine recommended that I run for the office of Sophomore Class Senator as there was a vacancy. She let me know that I would not have too much competition and that if elected, I’d be working with her, as she was running for Sophomore Class President. Well I ran, and I won! Of course, she did too! We continued to work together through the end of our Senior year of college when she was the Student Body President, and I was the Senior Class President.

As long as I’ve known Ms. Dar’shun N. Kendrick, she has had her eyes set on government, politics, and law. After completing her Bachelor’s degree in Political Science, she went on to law school at UGA, and just this year, she started her own law practice, Kendrick Law Practice, LLC. She wants to eventually be the US President, so earlier this summer, she announced that she was running for GA State House of Representative in District 94. Immediately, she went into full-campaign mode, hiring seasoned campaign managers and consultants, attending events, putting up a website, raising money, printing mailing pieces, and soliciting friends and volunteers to help with the rest of the “get-elected” process. Her primary election was on July 20, 2010, and on that day, she threw a party to watch the results come in with family, friends, and volunteers. She ended up with the most votes of all 4 candidates, but there was still a need for run-off election, which she won 3 weeks later! I am so proud of Ms. Dar’shun Kendrick, and I wish her nothing but success in the November election!

Below, I have included images from the first election party… I am looking forward to the MANY MANY more that Ms. Kendrick will be a part of!

Ok, so I think this is why she won… She’s concerned with the health of District 94 🙂

Ok, this is a picture of one of Dar’shun’s friends calling her while masking his voice to sound like a constituent…

This is when Dar’shun was trying to figure out who was calling her and what they wanted…

This was after Dar’shun figured out who it really was that was calling her…

This was the hearty laugh that we all got in seeing Dar’shun figure it all out!

Dar’shun was hoping for a victory… and no run-off…

She was elated that at least she was at the top of the results board…

By special request, here was the cake that I made for Dar’shun’s victory!

Birthday Celebration with Friends AND Their EGO’s

August 13, 2010August 16, 2010
by Victoria J

The first birthday party I remember was at the age of 4 when Mom and Dad got me a Rainbow-Brite cake, and invited a few of my friends, but a whole bunch of theirs. I am not knocking their choice – I was 4, and I really did not feel like I got the short end of the stick. By the age of 13, I had scored big! That year, Mom and Dad had my birthday party at Pear Apple County Fair, which later became the building for my old church back in TX. But I remember that birthday party because all of my closest friends were there with their siblings, and the food was great… and even though I look back at pictures and wonder how did mom let me out of that house like that, back then, I think I was looking good for myself. For another pre-teen birthday, I got to take several of my closest friends ice-skating, and I can’t remember if The Preacher’s Wife had come out yet, but I did feel like Whitney when recall how many times I fell on the ice. What was even more memorable that birthday was when we listened to “Not Gon’ Cry” by Mary J. Blige off of the Waiting to Exhale Soundtrack, and we sang it like we’d sacrificed 11 years out of our lives for a man. But that still wasn’t the best part… the best part was when Mary J. was about to curse, and all of us stopped singing because we KNEW we were not going to get away with that, especially not while my Mom was driving!

Well, birthdays have come a long ways since then, from the Sweet Sixteens on MTV where parents are dropping “Meet Me at the Alter with Your White Dress” money on to Alter Ego Birthday Parties! I recently had the pleasure of photographing a group of friends in an Alter Ego Session as they celebrated a milestone birthday. Some of the ego themes we came up with on the spot, but they all came out nicely and provided a nice contrast of their personalities. The highlight for me was laying out the keepsake Photobook that they ordered with all of their poses and merges. See the pages below!

When I’m Rich, I’ll buy y’all a ticket…

August 10, 2010
by Victoria J

… In the meantime, I will just share some of my photos! A few weeks ago, I posted a few images of the many wonderful scenes that I captured on my recent trip to the British Virgin Islands. In this post, I wanted to share with y’all many of the other images from this trip. You can click on any of the images below to see the slideshow or click here.

I hope you enjoy! And really, if I was RICH, I would have brought you a ticket to come along with me 😉

Click here to view this SLIDESHOW.

I still have HOPE!

August 9, 2010
by Victoria J

It’s hard to believe that a year and a half ago, Mr. Obama was sworn into office as the 44th President of these United States. Sometimes though, I feel that a whole year and a half has elapsed… especially when I look back at all of the photos I’ve taken since then… and even more so when I think about the fact that it took me over a year to paint the cover of my President Obama scrapbook/photo album. I guess time and energy got the best of me… All of my intentions to sit down and paint eluded me as work, school, family, friends, and cleaning became the priorities in my life. Well, this month, I have decided to take weekends off (unless I have a project to photograph) and use those times for some R&R and taking care of all of the things I meant to do a while ago.

With this spirit, I decided to finally paint something on the cover of my Obama Book… and though I am no Picasso, Da Vinci, or Michaelangelo, I will have to say that my representation of that Obama painting/stamp does not look too bad! There is something in his campaign message of HOPE that still inspires me. Perhaps it stems from the fact that before he won the primary in Ohio, I did not believe that his presidency could ever be a reality. In 2010, I still see levels of racism and segregation… sadly… Maybe it was that he took this hands-on approach to the White House campaign, and did so many other unconventional things… Whatever the case, I was so involved in the whole political process during the 2008 election, in a way that I’d never been before – never cared to be before. I think before his campaign, the run for the White House was “that thing” that happened every 4 years, but in 2008 as Mr. Barack Obama made a bid for the Oval Office, it became a once in a lifetime moment filled with possibilities, hope, dreams deferred, and everything else that gives you a reason to dream again!

I have included pictures from my painting experience below….
And for the Throwback Moment, here is a link to view a slideshow of my Inauguration 2009 Images.

KEEP HOPE ALIVE! CONTINUE TO DREAM! CONTINUE TO PURSUE YOUR DREAMS! Remember: With GOD, ALL THINGS are POSSIBLE!

View Slideshow from 2009 Inauguration Images.

Shhh…. I have a little secret…

August 9, 2010August 9, 2010
by Victoria J

One of the hardest things to plan is a surprise party because you first have to keep the secret from the individual (and trust other folks to do the same). Then you have to get the surprisee to show up on time (or at least at a decent time)… I remember my first attempt at doing this was with my college roommate freshman year. It wasn’t that it was that difficult to surprise her, but this girl always had plans, a love for shopping, and a desire to go somewhere off campus every weekend… so the hardest part was getting her to the party on time! I remember (deflecting blame here) her boyfriend did not get her there until 2 hours after the time we told him to have her there! Thankfully most of the guests lived in the dormitory that we threw the party in, and there were still people there by the time she got there. And I used to have no compassion whatsoever for her or the guy that got her there late until someone threw a surprise party for me last year, and I was an hour and a half late. But to my credit, I was moving to a new city the next morning, and I was really trying to get things packed and squared away before “having fun” at my friend’s house. That’s wisdom right? Another point to my credit: if they would have told me that they were throwing a surprise party for me, I would have made more of an effort to be on time!

Well, the purpose of this post was not to talk about my issues with time or past experiences in planning parties for other people. Thankfully, I spend most of my time on the other end of the camera. To this end, I recently photographed a surprise 60th Birthday Party Wilmington, DE at Union City Grille, and y’all, the birthday girl looks AMAZING for 60 (and not a day over 45). In addition to the photography, I also designed the invitation for this event. See images below!