This is the second in a series where I highlight a person who inspires me to create art. The first person I honored has inspired me my whole life – in art as well as life lessons – my mother, Virginia Baker. So who could follow that?

If you have followed me, you know of my creative partnership with the model Vassanta.  If you are new to my work, then join me in singing her praises. I call her ’My Muse”.  I don’t think I’ve ever experienced what that really meant until we started collaborating.  It’s a term I don’t throw around lightly either.  Doing any kind of shooting inspires me to see the world differently than most people.  You tend to see the world in terms of patterns, shadow and light.  You pay attention to the small details that most people  overlook. Photographers understand what I mean. Talented models also understand because you know how to use light and detail to accentuate your image.  Shooting fine art nudes with a professional art model is always an enjoyable experience as you collaborate and play off each others’ strengths to create something beautiful, and hopefully memorable and artistic.  I’ve had the good fortune to work with many talented models again and again, establishing a wonderful rapport, and in some cases friendships, that really enhance the experience and the quality of the results.

But, what is that quality of Vassanta that elevates her to being a Muse?  What does that really mean? It’s certainly an overused, and some would say, trite term; a cliche. It loses it’s meaning because it is so overused.  So, when I say Vassanta is My Muse, here is what she and that term mean to me.

I first met Vassanta 3 years ago.  At that time, I was mostly focused on trying to build a fashion/event centered portfolio.  When I shot nudes (which was not often), I would call the results mostly glamour oriented or fashion nudes…but not fine art.  I was intrigued to shoot Vassanta because she had a different look than I had shot before.  I was about to find out how different an experience it would be.  In meeting her, my goals in photography, and the way I “see” as an artist and photographer would change forever – focusing on mostly fine art nudes for the next three years and establishing other wonderful relationships with like minded talented people.  It all started with meeting her.  But when I picked up this somewhat shy girl at the train station,  looking a little like a Ukrainian refugee, I could not have imagined how my life would change.  Three years later, we’ve completed over 20 shoots  in studio as well as locations all around the Northeast US, California, Australia and New Zealand.

When I think about our first shoot now, I have to chuckle.  At the time, I was trying to balance fashion and glamour shooting. So, if I was going to shoot nudes with someone, I would try to do a little of both.  Vassanta’s wardrobe was not fashion oriented as we tried to pick  a few things to shoot in.  Now that I know her, I can imagine her thinking at the time, “What are you thinking? Look at me. I’m an art nude model! Why are you trying to do fashion with me?”    But she was creative with what she brought. That creativity was just the first admirable quality that  she exhibited that day and has become a source of inspiration, learning and growth for me that continues to this day.

Like some great actors, the first thing I learned about her is that when the camera starts clicking, she becomes a different person. She exudes a sensual persona, a powerful woman with the ability to portray a variety of emotion through her expressions and body. She is dedicated to getting the shot and will do anything to get it (within her range of decency).  I’ve seen her climb up boulders by shimming between rocks, roll in mud, climb trees like a monkey, and  crawl through underbrush. Like any great model, she has an innate sense of the light and how to use it. And more than that, she has wonderful, creative styling and art direction skills that she can call upon at the spur of the moment.  She can take any item laying around a set or location and incorporate it into the image to take it from being merely beautiful, to extraordinary and memorable.  She was taken tumbleweed in the California desert and put it on her head to resemble a great Russian fur cap.  When were were in Australia, she pulled some scrapes from a palm tree and created this elaborate headdress that transformed her into a jungle queen.

So far, the qualities that I’ve described could be said about many talented models that I’ve had the good fortune to shoot with. I still have not answered the question what’s a Muse and why is Vassanta one.

Part of  the answer lies in the fact that over time, she has become one of my closest friends.  That level of  “intimacy” where you really know each other takes your shooting to a different level. It pleases me that I think I capture her uniquely from anyone else for that reason. But I think what really defines Vassanta as my Muse is the commitment to each other to improve the results that goes beyond just the shoot.  We push each other during the shoot to give the best to each other and afterwards in critiquing.  And we can be brutally honest with each other.  Our commitment to each other is “No sweet lies”.  She is a tough critic that I appreciate because I grow from that feedback. After any shoot, her joke to me is “probably 2 good shots out of the 100 we did that day.” I take that as a challenge and my response is to prove her wrong!   And from the extensive amount of work we’ve done together, she has shaped the way I see, shoot and work as photographer.  I tease her that I now have a little Vassanta in my head directing me when I shoot (change shooting positions, recheck exposure, shooting faster (OK, I know, I’m still too slow).

To celebrate Vassanta, the first image I selected was from that first shoot and it remains one of my favorites of her.  The second exhibits the power of her presence, her make up skills and use of light.  The third one was shot on a friend’s back porch. She grabbed the straw bag and hat and created this persona on the spot.  The last image is one from our most recent session on the rooftops of Brooklyn.

So, here’s to you, Vassanta.  May your Muse light continue to shine brightly and guide us to many more creative adventures.  To see more of her work, please visit her portfolio on Figuremodels.org   http://figuremodels.org/members/vassanta/profile

Lately, all the other responsibilities of my life have prevented me from shooting and editing as much as I would like.  I now have a backlog of unedited images going back to over a year.  To help keep things moving, I’m going to start a series of blog postings about women who inspire me to create. For each of these beacons of  creativity, I’m going to edit one or two new images from my “vast” library that displays why they inspire, then introduce them, what I admire about them and why each inspires me. Without these “Muses” of light and form, my creativity would be an empty vessel.

For Inspriation #1, I”ll start with the person who inspires me in both life and art -  My Mother – Virginia A Baker….or VAB as she is known in art circles (as in “Virginia, your art is so VABulous!”)

Mom grew up in Kentucky and Tennessee, where I was raised.  After getting divorced when I was in my 20’s, she decided to up root her whole life and move far from an established life style, friends and family to Texas, where she lives today. I admire her on so many different levels. She has always been active in her community, belonging to many charity and political organizations.  She has even run for a Tennessee state-wide office. She only sought financial support from grass root sources, staying in supporters homes as she campaigned across the state. She did not win, but garnered 40% of the vote with a $200,000 campaign budget, while her opponent spent millions to win.

Her joie de vivre and  adventure seeking life style inspires me to make the most of life.  Life to her is a never ending exploration of possibilities and an expression of love to those who are dear to her (which are many).  She is always the first one on the dance floor and the last to leave.  Twenty years ago, she decided to get serious about a life long dream of becoming an artist. She started attending art school and has done so every year since. She primarily paints in watercolors choosing vibrant colors and a more abstract style than traditional watercolorists would pursue. No surprise there!  Her themes that she explores the most have to do with the circle of life and her own emotional world.  She has been recognized with several one woman gallery shows as well as regional and national awards from the Watercolor Society competitions.  I’m also very proud of her spiritual growth the last several years as she expands her mind to explore the riches of the infinite and has cycled that back into her art work as well. 

I created the portrait of Mom last Christmas.  I wanted to capture an image of this inspirational lady with a theme that mirrored themes in her art work.  So I shot her through a piece of sculpture in her garden that incorporates a “V” symbol as well as the circles she has in her paintings.  The other pictures I’ve included were taken when she was 16 at a summer camp posing as a starlet. No matter her age, she retains the spirit of that 16 year old girl with the blond curls.  The other images are some of my favorite paintings to showcase her talent.

Mom……you are truly VABulous!  To see more of her work, visit www.vabwc.com

Normally, I wait to post a blog until  I have a series of images. However, this one image really affected me as it was so hauntingly beautiful, it’s post-worthy on its own.  I loved the picture straight from the camera, but with a little editing, it became this hi key stunner. I love the symmetry of all the elements.  How the curve of her lips match the curve of her eyes and this flows into the curves of her hair above her eyes and then the flow of her hair fading into the over exposed edges. And her pose is so serene….it really makes the picture.  We were shooting on the roof of a Brooklyn apartment on an overcast day. The roof had a silver painted floor and I think acted as a huge reflector, softening and wrapping the light around her.  I’ll never be able to explain it, but whenever Vassanta, me and a camera are in close proximity to each other, it’s always magic time.

Sarah Ellis was on my “must” shoot list and we had the good fortune to collaborate earlier this year  in New Jersey with some stunning results.  I quickly discovered in working with her that if there is such a thing as an artistic Vulcan mind meld, we got it.  We were so attuned to the same goals and style. I like shooting a variety of genres and alsoadmire her ability to do many well – fashion, fine art nude, glamour, etc.   When I found out she was moving to Seattle, one of my favorite places on the planet, she said come for a visit.  After recovering from some vigorous arm twisting, I gave in. 

In June, I headed to Seattle.  Sarah and I spent a week traveling the full circumference of the Olympic National Park, several Pacific Coast beaches, the Hoh Rain Forest, abandoned forts, and further north near Deception Pass. We particularly had fun visiting Forks, WA where the “Twilight” films are based.  Yeah, right.

Here’s a sampling of images from the week.  I look forward to sharing each set in depth in future blogs.  Thanks to Sarah for her sense of adventure and exploration, fun, her incredible talent and some fabulous images.  The Pacific Northwest is calling my name to return!!