This gallery is unlike any others that I have been in, with it’s brightly colored walls, eclectic mix of pieces and the soothing soundtrack that is played in the background. Just a couple minutes into the session and I was completely relaxed! I wandered around the gallery, photographing the space and the pieces, being inspired by all the bright colors. I highly recommend that everyone stop into The Little Parrot Art Sanctuary the next time you’re in town and check out all the fabulous things Thea has for sale!

Until I got to Connie’s studio just outside of Alta, Iowa (can you say ROADTRIP!) I had no concept of how beautiful the pieces were going to be. They were amazing! She’s got quite the collection of pieces ranging from plates and bowls to lamps and angel statuettes. And, little did I know, that this is more than just Connie’s passion, but it’s also her husband Jerry’s as well. They’ve been making pottery pieces and selling them at art shows for years. I absolutely love the rich colors they use and the detail they put in to each piece that is made.

These are just a few of my favorite images and just a few of what the Braunschweig’s have to offer. Definitely check out their website to see more and to see what shows they are going to be at (don’t worry Minnesotans – I’m sure they’ll be doing some shows up here in the Cities this year as well!)

Matthew and I met back in college at Morningside College in Sioux City, Iowa. Being art majors (my focus was in photography and advertising while he did more graphic and fine arts) our paths crossed once or twice  in various classes. When Matthew decided to expand his art career and start approaching galleries here in the Cities in hopes of displaying his Andy Warhol-esque pieces in their shows he knew he would need some professional photography done. So to help kick off his self promotion, he packed up some of his favorite pieces and brought them up to my studio to get some photos of him and the artwork. He also found a company that will help him sell replications of his artwork online so he was in need of high resolution files of each of the pieces to submit. So we started out at my studio photographing each painting and then we headed just down the street to a great empty space I had found here in Stillwater to finish up the session. We had decided that since the artwork was very clean and contrasty on its own, we wanted a space that had clean white walls to really make the artwork stand out and be a focus in each of the images. This space worked perfect!

These are just a few of my favorite images from the session, more are posted on my Facebook page. If you’d like to see more of Matthew’s paintings and graphic design work, check out his website. And definitely make sure you contact him if you want to purchase any of his amazing artwork!

Just this past weekend, I had the opportunity to photograph the ribbon cutting at St. Croix Music, a new business located on the north side of Main Street near the Staples Mill building. When I walked into the building I was greeted by smells of hot cider (perfect for the cold day!) and the sounds of a quartet of musicians jamming in the entry way. I couldn’t resist – I had to take some photos of the musicians! Then after the ribbon cutting, I got a grand tour of the music store by owner Gary Brown and took a few more photos of the store and him with his guitar.

I’m not sure if it was the fantastic music or the hospitality of the Browns but this event really warmed up a cold Saturday! If you’re in need of an instrument or lessons, definitely check out St. Croix Music in downtown Stillwater!

Want to see more? Check out the Facebook page!