She is... as Unique as a Snowflake

This is the lovely Laura, I'm just getting to know her and having her in the studio was fun.

She's wearing a hand dyed long wrap skirt.

And a wrap made with super soft bamboo fleece, some pearly trim and big lovely crystals dangling from the ends.

She was very patient as I airbrushed a bunch of snowflakes on her skin with a small stencil. They look really cool in person!

A vintage crystal necklace that someone gave me ages ago...

A dogwood tiara...

And lots of pearly white eye makeup.

It was a fun day in Studio C and it was fun to get to know Laura better.

Here's to the creative process,

-Carmen Rose

She is... a Jewel

I'm finally getting around to going through some photos here.  I spent some time working on my external hard drive, it had been impossible to find anything on there, now at least I hope things make a little more sense.  Sure seems like I'm missing a chunk of photographs but maybe they are here somewhere.

I wanted to show photos of Rachel, she's a lovely friend and a gifted soprano who specializes in Opera.  Her phrase is: "She is... a Jewel."  And it's absolutely true, she is!

She is wearing a necklace that I designed in two parts.  I think the one section is beautiful in her hair, but it can also be worn on the back like this:  This opens up the front of the piece to cascade all over her shoulders which looked really lovely on her.  It's loaded with all the exotic kinds of freshwater pearls and Swarovski crystals with tiny little teardrop earrings.  Each section works beautifully as a necklace in it's own right, I wore one to an event Friday and it was lovely. 

It was a pleasure to work with Rachel again!  She's a vibrant creature, a natural model, and a dear friend!

Happy Creating,
-Carmen Rose

Good Publicity!

"The Art of a Woman" is over and I'm starting to get copies of the various papers.  Here is the Daily News Record's post on the "See and Do" page:  This one features photos of Jill and Lindsey. 

Text of the article is here:
http://www.rocktownweekly.com/rocktown/focus.php?AID=3600

Then the same article is in "Rocktown Weekly" with a whole different look!  This one features Barbara!

Look how pretty the cover image is on their website, in print it still looks good.

The the lovely Ashley is on the Table of Contents page:

Along with our lovely ladies in frames in the middle of the paper.  Ashley, Juliette, Lindsey, Barbara and Jill.

I am very pleased with how this came out. I believe there is another article out there yet that I haven't seen. I was interviewed at the event and it all went by so quickly that I don't remember the gentlemen's name or paper, but I hope to see a copy of that one soon!

Happy creating!
-Carmen Rose

Changing Seasons (And a Sneak Peak)

Wow, I have really gotten behind on blogging.  The goal is one a day, but the reality lately...  Oh well, it IS my blog, it's an opportunity for self expression, not an obligation!  So... how about another sneak peak from "The Art of a Woman" series.  This is Laura, "She is... a unique as a snowflake")  And there are lots of tiny little airbrushed snowflakes on her shoulders, arms and neck!  Branches from my dogwood in her hair and a lovely vintage necklace that someone gave me along the line somewhere.  The wrap is a luxurious bamboo fleece fabric that is just too soft for words!

And... if you put the lovely Laura together with:

 

Lindsey, Diana and Jill...

One gets the feel of changing seasons.

The Art of a Woman

She is... changing with the seasons.

One more coming soon.  The show is Friday, if you are in the area please do come on out and see the models in the display window at Oasis Gallery.  Oh what fun we will have!!

Happy Creating,

Carmen Rose

She is... Growing

Some early shots are back from the photo shoot with Lindsey. I designed her costume, hair and makeup. It all began with a very ordinary long green dress that we deconstructed and then began adding some very earthy elements.

We began with two kinds of mosses, added some silk leaves, feathers, seed pods, twigs...

I tucked some fresh ivy, violets and leaves in here and there.

I had no idea she had those amazing *green* eyes!

Lovely profile shot.

Charles included this photo with the captain: "Mother Nature Calling."  LOL!
Her makeup is airbrushed foundation, and natural green oxide on her eyes with some dots and I added a Marilyn Monroe beauty mark.  She had green oxide on her arms and shoulders as well to complete the look.

It was a pleasure to work with Lindsey, she and I go way back.  It's a gift to have her for a friend.  She gets the award for coming the longest distance to model for me.  Thanks to Lindsey for being such a great model, and to Charles for the excellent photography as usual.

All images 2010 (c) Charles Garratt Photography
Makeup, hair and costume design by Carmen Rose

"She is... Growing"
Number six in the series "The Art of a Woman"

Happy Creating,
-Carmen Rose

Another Sneak Peek

Today's shoot was number six in the series "The Art of a Woman."  This is Lindsey, and she is... growing!

 

And check out those green eyes of hers!

I continue to learn what works and what doesn't and Charles took 180 photographs in pretty short order.  Lindsey was loaded up with moss, feathers, pods, pine cones, branches, fresh violets and fresh ivy.  It was fun to see it all come together! 

Photograph 2010 (c) Charles Garratt

Costume, hair and makeup by Carmen Rose

Happy Creating,

-Carmen Rose

She is... Organic

Some early shots are back from the photo shoot with Diana. I designed her costume, hair and makeup. This costume idea started when I came across some leather scraps in a large bin in a fabric store. I picked up a piece of cow and a piece of buffalo leather, then I came across the feather trim (necklace and arm band) at the same store and that became the top and belt of her costume.

The skirt and cami are hand dyed in a combination of browns and grays with a touch of orange thrown in.

I used some hemlock from the tree in my back yard and some seed pods from the rose of sharon bushes by my house for her top over the layers of leather and fabric.  I used a small oak leaf to airbrush some organic shapes on her skin.  Her eye makeup is a combination of airbrushed color and mineral makeup in an earthy green to match her eyes.

I cut some pieces from the hem of her skirt to layer with the leathers on the bodice, I don't think I have any photos of the hem of the skirt yet.

I think this one is my favorite photo from the shoot so far.  

I wired and glued some things into a branch from my dogwood tree for her hair.

Diana was a riot to work with!

"I am woman, hear me roar!" 

It was a fun evening and we got some great shots.  Thanks to the amazing Diana for driving over to work with us and the talented Charles Garratt for the photography.  All photos 2010 (c) Charles Garratt.

She is... Organic

#5 in "The Art of a Woman" series

Happy Creating!

by Carmen Rose

Sunflower in the Breeze

Some photos from Friday's shoot. Here I am getting her petals on:

We started off with her hair down...

Sunflower in the Breeze

Mossy bracelets

Vines on the legs

A little visit from a cardinal...

Sunflower and Rose together

Thanks to the lovely and patient Jill, this was fun!

Beginnings of "The Art of a Woman" Project

Well, suppose it's time to unveil some of the things I'm working on here in Studio B. I've done nothing but post about snow lately. Thankfully, all that has given me lots of uninterrupted and focused studio time. (Except for shoveling and feeding the wood stove of course.) It all starts with a sketch...

Then it's time to figure out the engineering, LOL! The theme for all the looks will begin with the phrase "She is..." In this case: "She is beginning to bloom." And my idea was to create the model's look based on a sunflower. When she heard this, she jumped up and down and squealed, turns out, sunflowers are her favorite! Yay!
And so I started making petals from some hand dyed cotton that I'd died a few months back.

The olive green parts of the costume are in this muddle of cloth that is soaking in dye solution.
It took me a while to figure out how I wanted to create the petals that they could be worn, and I'm not ready to give away any secrets at this point... but I do have the petals all attached to ribbons now and I've tried them on and the effect is really fun! I can't WAIT to get my hands on the model, it's going to be so much fun! I should have taken a photo of makeup I've designed for her, or the sketch at least, but that can wait. It is fun to be back in the zone with a new project. And as long as the weather cooperates, I should be sharing photos from this shoot early next week sometime. This one is new and different enough that it fits my AD HD hyper-focus quite nicely. So here's to beauty and inspiration, may you have all you need of both!
-Carmen Rose

More SNOW

Good morning sunshine! I love what snow and sunshine do when they get together!

Especially when there are cool shadows!

They brought out the heavy equipment to get some of the snow moved.

And we started looking for our autos under the snow.

Yeah, there's one!

As soon as I could break my car free I went for a little drive. I had a really bad case of cabin fever being home alone for far too long. So I took a little drive around the neighborhood and this end of town. It was good to get out.

We spent the evening with my parents. It was good to hug my Dad and remind him that I love him. The super bowl was on and I was working at designing the makeup for the various costumes I'm working on. It was fun.

I'm a little behind on blogging, but really... how many photos of snow can one really tolerate? It's a bit like having chocolate cake for every meal for days on end. I don't care how much you love chocolate cake, at some point it's just going to get old. I adore snow! And I'm sitting by the doors to the upper deck watching it snow now. But we've been hit with some pretty big storms this year and I'm getting ready for Spring.

How about you?
-Carmen Rose