Busa Farm project

Images courtesy of Busa Farm

As I am laid up at home on my couch today with some unrelenting cold, I thought I would share some very exciting news that has been in the works these past few weeks.

Busa Farm is a family-run farm located in Lexington, MA (and a short 5 minute drive from my apartment).  It has been an active farm since its purchase in 1919.  This year is its last year as a privately run farm before being handed off to LexFarm where it will be turned into a community farm.

This past Saturday I had the pleasure of taking a tour of the grounds and greenhouse, meeting the dwarf goats, and getting to know Dennis, the farmer.  Even trudging through the snow and the mud, I was immediately at ease and felt good just being on the land and away from traffic.  While I by no means live in a bustling city, it's still a somewhat urban area where I live in an apartment with no yard right on a busy main street that runs from Lexington to Boston.  The farm abuts the Arlington Reservoir which is currently quiet and iced over.  It was nice.

The part that I play in all of this, is that I will be documenting Dennis' last year on the farm.  Starting now, I will be following the changes in the land, the crops, and the seasons through the end of the year.  I'm so thrilled to be working with Dennis and LexFarm and getting back to photographing something outside of myself - and something that involves myself in an active community.  I'm looking forward to learning about farming and eating more locally (and fresher) in the coming seasons.

Jon Creamer

In addition to crafting, baking, and Etsy-ing, I've also been working on a website for Providence-based photographer Jon Creamer.  Jon and I worked together to create a very simple website that focused on his images.  I put the finishing touches up on Monday and it's now ready for the world.

ripening!

I have opened a new shop on Etsy called ripening.  It's a place for me to sell my handmade items as well as pretty vintage things that I've found in my travels.  I'm adding a few new items every day, so please add to your favorite shops or keep stopping by.

I decided to keep all of my baked goods separate from everything else, so you can still find those at snow swept.  I've had a couple of sales lately of the chocolate covered Oreos, which is very exciting.  I like to think of my little cookies flying through the air and into people's mouths.  I may be kind of nuts, though.

busy bee

New shoes, evening light, and a cup of tea.  I've been working on new things a lot lately - mostly to put up on Etsy.  There is Snow Swept, dedicated entirely to baking endeavors.  There is also soon to be something new that's been keeping me busy.   Keep an eye out for more news after the weekend.

Happy New Year

I hope everyone had a happy holiday season.  These photos are from Christmas Eve, where I spent the evening with my family at my aunt and uncle's house in Connecticut.  The moon was bright and my uncle started a bonfire in the backyard.  The family gathered around in the cold and then went in for desserts.  It snowed on Christmas morning while we opened presents in the living room.

There are new things underfoot for me in 2013.  I decided to revamp the blog, and I have some projects that will be coming down the pipeline fairly soon.  Until then, (unhappily) back to work tomorrow.

Etsy

Good news!  Now that I am all settled into my new place, my Etsy store is back up and running with some new listings for the holidays.

http://snowswept.etsy.com

New Apartment

On November 1st I moved into a new apartment.  I'm on the fourth floor; I have a view of the Boston skyline, and architectural details from the 20's.  I'm happy there.  Here's a little vignette from the new place.

Lemons, November 2012

Lost River Cave

Kentucky, August 2012

Art on the Roof

On September 27th was the event Art on the Roof held at MassChallenge in Boston.  I had work on display alongside 7 other artists.  The event was fun: food, drinks, mingling, and art.  I met the fellows artists, indulged in two glasses of Coke and admired the view.

View from the 14th floor.

I'm generally out of my element when it comes to the actual event part of being an artist.  I'm not terribly good at small talk (or looking inviting), being interviewed, talking in front of large groups of people, or being in front of the camera.  All of those things happened, but I think I held my own.  I spent a lot of time talking to Catharyn Tivy and Clare Asch, both of them artists participating in the event as well.  They are both very talented, and I recommend checking out their work.

Panorama of the event (click to enlarge).

At around 8:30 we were all exhausted and packed up our work.  I went home and treated myself to some late night oatmeal. Overall, a success.