Fall off

.











I feel like I'm on the edge, just waiting to fall off.




_____________

Holding Still

My first session of figure modeling for life drawing last year was unnerving. I mean, I wasn't too intimidated - I had the basics down; you disrobe, pose for varying amounts of time, and some of those poses can be very long. Not a difficult concept. Because of my experience in front of the camera, I didn't feel like it would be that much of a jump to pose in front of students/artists instead of photographers.

In a lot of ways its not a big difference, and then of course, in some ways, it is.

It's really, really difficult to hold still for longer than 5 minutes. And that's even for the "easy" poses. You know, positions you usually imagine yourself holding more than briefly - such as simply sitting or standing. But I don't enjoy simple for simplicity's sake, I love complex things that have been designed or highlighted for their simplicity. Like the iPhone. Which I don't have. Anyway...

Longer poses require careful considerations. Primarily: "Can I hold that pose for that long?" And the answer probably is no - not without shaking or some limb falling asleep. I often tried to overpose, to give that 110%, but that would lead to the aforementioned shaking and limb-fallen-asleep-ness (hold on, there has to be a word for that. wiki says: paraesthesia) so over time I've learned to balance which poses will or wont be udderly arduous to hold (the yoga has really helped comfortably extend my holding times) and yet maintain a repertoire of cogent, expressive and diverse poses. However, during this learning curve for life modeling I never expected to learn another skill that would be much more rewarding in and of itself: Learning to hold still.

When I was much more unpracticed, less mindful, the timer was my prison. In the very beginning, I thought it would be best if I couldn't see how much time I had left to hold the pose. Good thought in theory. But turns out, I need to check in once and a while and modify my mindset, and make decisions on how to slightly adapt my pose for longevity. There is bliss in the tiny movements.

But in the spaces between check-ins with the timer, the pauses, is what I've had the most satisfaction in practicing. There was quite an adjustment from photography modeling, where I'm used to strobes flashing, music, directions and comments from photographer, and other distractions that I can usually divert my attention to for at least a moment. Not at all the case in the classroom or at co-ops. The only thing you hear consistently is the sound of many pencils drawing on paper. It's become a trigger for me. As soon as I hear that sound, my mind prepares itself for quietness. Stillness. It's become a very peaceful space. A very mindful space.


First I settle in to the pose. Then I pick a focal point for my eyes.
Try it. For 5 minutes. Set a timer, sit down and settle yourself.
Pick something to stare at.
Don't move anything, including your gaze. Don't scratch anything.

Tell me what happens.

Then, try it for 40 minutes.


I've had some amazing sensations come over me, and plenty of quiet time for clear, constructive thinking. Being blissfully aware and present in the moment. Even if I wasn't terribly passionate about contributing to art, these moments of stillness would be all the reason I need to stay a life drawing model for a very long time.





More on my thoughts about this later.

_______________

Sylvie Blum.

buggy...

I'm going a bit buggy here in snowy, cold Minnesota. I need ouuuut! I need sun and warmth and beaches and no more fucking snow. Don't get me wrong, the first month or so of winter and a fresh new snow are absolutely wonderful... but after a while, it gets really old. Anyway... enough complaining.


I'm going to be doing a roadtrip at the end of March from Minneapolis to California. It will look something like this map, but with lots of stops along the way, depending on where I'm needed to shoot. If you are nearby my route and would like to shoot, please contact me at my email address here: brookelynne@me.com .


The main purpose of this roadtrip is to get to Palm Springs, CA March 28-April 2 for the Palm Springs Photo Festival to model for Jock Sturges' Workshop. I'm incredibly excited for this opportunity; to meet Jock, and even more excited to be surrounded by such like-minded artists in such a wonderful location. It will be an amazing experience, I'm sure.

I just have to remember to bring tons of film and all three of my babies. :)

Hope February is treating you all wonderfully. So far mine has been wonderful (with Valentine's day and my birthday) so I have much to be grateful for. I hope that no matter what your situation, you all take some time each day to be grateful for what you have.



________________

Sylvie Blum.

Pain in the neck

But warmth in my heart, and fire in my soul.





_____________________

Sylvie Blum.

shiny goodness

I'm here in LA at casa de Blum. She had to pick up her hubby at the airport late last night, so we are getting a little bit of late start. I thought blogging would be a good way to kill some time.

Getting here to LA was rough. My flight out of MSP was delayed (because of the snowstorm) so therefore I also missed my connecting flight. What a hassle. Not to mention, I was not feeling good at all. I had a pounding headache, which made me extremely nausous when I moved. Not a good thing when you're in airports all day. I attempted eating, but... my stomach was not having any of it. I barely got off my flight to LA and into the bathroom before it was too late. And whatever it was stuck around until mid-morning yesterday modeling for Sylvie. Have you ever done extreme posing when you have a blistering migraine? Nooooooot fun.

So, that's my dose of whining for today.


So it's mid-to-low 60's here and everyone and their brother are wearing sweatshirts and/or coats. When I went to the coffeeshop, I overheard someone talking to the barista saying they had such a large appetite lately, and they contributed that to the "cold" weather. The barista was convinced and continued to reassure his theory by saying that the body has to work harder to keep itself warm in the chilly weather so therefore you need to injest more calories to make up the difference. Sure.... this is true, but I would think only for the extreme temperatures, not in 60 degree weather. But its all relative.... right?



All I can say is that SoCal residents are a bunch of wimps. And I say that with love.





Tomorrow I'm back on a plane to Minneapolis. I just hope the temperature is above zero.


_________________

Sylvie Blum.

dropout

With everything that's been going on in my life the past few months, I've made the decision to not go back to school this next semester.
It'll get done... eventually.


I'm going to be focusing on my modeling full-time again.

I haven't even started to put together a plan, but already decided destinations include:


Allentown, PA
NYC
Portland
San Francisco
LA
U.K.
Germany


I just need to figure out when and how.

If you want me to come to your area to shoot, hit me up, and lets try to arrange something.

______


I'm going back out to LA for a quick (4 day) spell with Sylvie next week before she has to submit her book. I'm excited. I think its a lot warmer in LA than in MN right now. :)


______


Lots and lots of shooting this weekend. I'm going to pump through my remaining 5 rolls of film tonight and tomorrow, which means I have to buy more developer. I'm thinking of going with Rodinal, and I've heard such good things about it, but neither NatCam stores have it, and if I order it online it wont be here for weeks. Maybe I'll just get some Ilfosol 3 or HC-110 for the time being.





_________

AJ Kahn.

size DOES matter

Look at these HUGE prints!

Sylvie is hanging 4 new prints in the Fahey Klein Gallery in Los Angeles. Seems that two of them are from our two sessions together.

The prints are larger than I am! I'm larger than life!


;)

All images Archival Pigment Prints,

43x56 inches

Editions of 10

www.faheykleingallery.com

___


Seeing these made me really happy today.

That, and I used another reel of 120 (Ilford HP5 400) in the Brownie on my Papa and my two cousins (8 and 5) today.

The frame I'm most excited for was an accident.

We had the pull out bed for my gorgeous and sassy 5 yr old cousin and I had her lay on it. I stood over her in order to try a different perspective and just stood for a while waiting for her to relax. She's been trained by her mother to have the "picture smile" and I hate that!

It looks exactly how it is: FORCED.

So I just started talking to her, and then started combining words that I thought she (or kids in general) would start reacting favorably to... like 'fuzzy-booger-pizza,' for example. To my happiness, she started cracking up, and I flipped the shutter, as I was continuing to egg her on. And then she had a beautiful, spontaneous, head-thrash-laugh off to the left side, and I flipped the shutter again. Immediately afterwards, of course, I thought to myself: "Aw shit. I didn't advance the film. Well..... Hopefully that double exposure turns out well!!"




Oh, and I bought a pink Holga 120GN for reeeal cheap on ebay. I might have bought a Holga GTRL (also pink!) instead, but I had not known of them or seen them before I bought the GN. Plus they were more expensive. Does the GTRL have an advantage over the GN in any way?




Oh my. A pink camera.
A cheap, plastic, bulky, toy film camera. A real eyesore.
No one is ever going to take me seriously with this in front of my head.
Why in the world did I get this thing?




Because this is going to fucking rock my socks, thats why!



Can you tell I'm excited?!


It's going to be fun!!!


I've already been researching so many "hacks" for the Holgas. It's going to be fun!!!
Have I mentioned that already?


But soon I need to learn how to develop my own film. And I need to get some hardware and chemicals. And then next I need decent scanner - I'm looking at an Epson 4490. I'm sure it all would pay for itself after a few dozen rolls at NatCam's processing price ($9 developing fee, $5.25 for CD, and $1 per frame) at about $22 for an 8 exposure roll, which really isn't that unreasonable.

Then, the next big thing after that is making prints. How much are those?
Whoa boy. I tend to get too ahead of myself.
I'll cross that bridge when I get there.



But until then, I have my holga oasis:

http://www.squarefrog.co.uk/

...sometimes web surfing pays off.

Film, rolls, and price

Okay... so...

National Camera has to send out the film. It takes about a week.

Its $8+change charge for developing and full-res scans on a CD. Plus $1 per frame.

That's about $20 a roll. With no prints.

Can anyone suggest better?

I'd seriously consider developing my own film... but I don't have any of the materials or the "hardware".

If anyone can convince me that setting up a darkroom is not only long-term cost effective, but can be short-term cost effective, I'll highly consider doing it.

Until then, I'm on the lookout for the best "bang for the buck" lab.



Maybe someday I can afford an H3D. hahahaha.... fat chance.





_____________

Sylvie Blum.

Hello there...

I've missed you all!

A quick recap of the past few weeks....

...Nothing exciting has happened over on my end, but I prefer it that way...for now. I've been focusing in on personal improvements and advancements, and I'd say that its been going very well.

...I have done quite a few Life Drawing sessions lately, and I'm falling more and more in love with that creative outlet in my life.

...I joined the YMCA yesterday. I'm really looking forward to getting more active and toning up. Today I have a one-on-one fitness consultation... so we'll see how that goes!

...Papa is still in the hospital, and he's very alert and lucid. I'm grateful for every day, every hour, every minute that I can spend with him and hold his hand.

So, until next time!



________________

Sylvie Blum.

going inwards.



i'm trying to

find calm in my present surroundings.





keep my balance.





block out all distractions.








i'm looking forward to the new morning.






it's on the horizon.

i'll see you in a fortnight or so.


_____________

AJ Kahn.
Stephen Haynes.
Nad Iksodas.
Sylvie Blum.
David Winge.

Positive.

I love this pose.
___________

Sylvie Blum. Second Shoot.

I want to forewarn you...

That the upcoming posts for the next month or so will probably be quite depressing.

So, if you dont want to be brought down... just look at the photos.

But this is my blog, dammit, and I choose to share my personal tragedies and blessings as well as my art.






My grandpa, age 73, has chosen to go home (from the hospital) and die. Without his dialysis, he will fill up with fluid and his organs will fail. He, and my grandmother, have raised me since I was 6 months old. He is the closest thing to a father that I have.

Everyone will die, yes... I know, I know. And I dont want my Papa to suffer...

But how can I possibly wrap my head around this so that it's okay?

I feel paralyzed. I haven't slept well for days. I should have gone today, but can't seem to force myself to go to class. Creating art hasn't distracted me for more than 15 minutes at a time, and I can't put my heart into it.

I will see him later today, still in the hospital. I want to be strong, but then again, I just want to break down, throw my arms around him and beg him to keep trying. Change your mind, Papa. Don't give up, Papa. Please, please don't give up... I need you to stay alive.

But goddamn it, how selfish is that?




I feel tangled up and all alone.

_________________________

Sylvie Blum. From our second shoot.

Summer Adventures - Sylvie Blum

One of my greatest ambitions in my fine art modeling is to work with artists that share my passion for creating classic, tasteful, figurative and/or abstract and/or structural fine art nudes. Although I greatly respect and admire other forms of fine art nudes, including but not limited to, conceptual, emotive, experimental, erotica, fashion-esque...etc., it's not what lights my fire and passion deep within.

I think the most beautiful thing in the whole world is the human body. Not only for aesthetic reasons, but also for intrinsic reasons.

I've only worked with a few photographers that share my passion for figurative/abstract nude art. But every time I work with said photographers, I always come away from the shoot feeling that rush of adrenaline and the superb satisfaction of collaborating and creating impeccable art with extremely talented artists, not to mention I receive a few masterpieces for my portfolio.

Sylvie Blum is, no doubt, one of those few photographers I've had the utmost pleasure of working with. She has a true, passionate artist's heart, an exceptional eye and talent, and a generous, kind, and beautiful personality.







I'm extremely giddy to say that I will be working with her again soon.
Very soon, in fact.

We will be shooting together over the course of three days... next week! I'm flying out to LAX next Monday and staying in Hollywood September 7-10. I expect these sessions will be as wonderful and productive, if not more so, as our first session was.

I feel extraordinarily humbled and privileged to have such favorable regard of such a prolific and internationally renown fine art nude photographer. It makes my heart swell with joy!

_______________

Sylvie Blum !!!

A lot to do

before the fall semester starts August 24th
and nearly no motivation to do any of it.

Hopefully I'll get over this small beast attack by the end of the weekend and get on task on Monday. Which includes posting many of my accounts of my trip this past month.

And lots of cleaning, organizing and planning. Which means I need to find new music. I'm kind of burned out on my Metric addiction.



Here's some Sylvie Blum. She makes me look very good. She's a fantastic person with an incredibly marvelous talent. I can't wait to work with her again.






______________

Sylvie Blum.