COLLABORATIONS

Anja Schütz

Anja Schütz and I sat next together at a workshop about applying for artists’ grants. The person leading the workshop suggested, “don’t be boring” and Anja and I both pretended to get up to leave, simultaneously deciding we were too weird and boring to be there. We are, of course, only one of those things and have since forged an unbreakable bond of weirdness and mutual admiration. A few weeks into Quarantine 2020, I left a box of disinfected work on the side of the road, and in full pandemic style, Anja picked it up at a distance to bring home and shoot. This is the moody magic she created.

Candace hope + Marisa filippone

Candace Hope and I got to chatting one day at the gym about maybe having a shoot one day. She said she knew a very talented art director (Marisa Filippone), and that maybe we could all collaborate on a project. I am so lucky this casual conversation led to a very formal photo shoot. All of the pictures I use for my branding are a result of this one shoot with Candace and Marisa.

forest flowers

If you’ve ever looked at those floral arrangements and wondered who conjured that kind of magic, it was Marisa. She’s so good at it that she opened an entire shop devoted to it, Forest Flowers. You should probably stop reading this and drive whatever distance you need to, because there is a blue velvet couch in a sun filled window waiting for you there. I have the privilege of designing custom vases for her, which you can see below (captured by Nikki Bassette).

western mass makers

At one point during all of this, I thought it would be really lovely if there were a network in place where makers could meet up to celebrate and commiserate about the makers’ life, so I created Western Mass Makers. While it’s not easy to get a bunch of artistic introverts to gather every month to socialize and talk shop, it’s been an enormous highlight of this past year.