Early Tuesday Morning...

Good Morning Beautiful Friends!

I love the sound of this song & I hope it fills your heart with some peace on this Tuesday morning.

xoxo,
Erica

L is for Love.

photo by Erica Mazzeo


L is for Love.

After conveniently getting locked into the Sleepy Hollow Cemetery this past Saturday, I was able to respectfully take photographs of the historic site.  With tulips blossoming and the nearby falls emptying into a stream that cut through the woods, I felt totally at home.
I've always had a strange fascination with cemeteries.  I remember driving past them in middle school and people urging me to hold my breath to ensure that no spirits were clinging too closely to my collar.  "You don't want to take them home with you" the kids shouted on the bus, but over time I disposed of this superstition and found cemeteries to be more peaceful than anything.  I don't even believe that a cemetery is where the dead gather - I think it's simply a beautiful memorial where the living go to pour out their own memories and appropriately grieve.
Either way I stumbled upon this tombstone that simply said L.  'L' sat on it's own near the walkway of the old cemetery.  With the likes of Washington Irving and Chrysler buried nearby, L was unnamed, unobtrusive and maybe even forgotten by now.  I know that under the land at the Sleepy Hollow Cemetery there are secrets buried along with lifetimes, people's mothers, brothers, fathers, sons and daughters... people's best friends and their worst enemies are all together in the dust and the dirt.  When I really think about it, life all comes down to one simple thing - Love.
At the end of the day our loved one's are always with us, not even a breath away.
While they may not 'be' in the cemetery the emotions of those who miss them are.

The earth gently carries our memories, our tears, our laughter and pain - our spark and our sadness all mix together and seep into the rich soil only to make the flowers blossom once again.

Thank you L.  In memory of.

Richard Avedon - Capturing the light

Great photographs stay with you over time.  Images that move us become engrained in our mind's eye like memories that we cannot own.  If they are especially profound they will tap into the senses and not only will time and place be associated with these images but smells, light and sound will be easily referenced.  

Living in a house in downtown Newmarket, New Hampshire I remember visiting one of my neighbor's apartments to borrow butter to make homemade brownies.  The girl who occupied the apartment upstairs was very mellow and didn't say a lot, when she did it was always profound.  A true introvert, she offered me an old bowl of butter and just smiled as I slowly ducked out from her apartment and made my way back down the creaky old stairs.  I barely remember the butter or the color on the walls but I do remember that she had a bulletin of famous photographs hanging in her kitchen.  

On the bulletin was a postcard sized image of Marian Anderson - the photo taken by the late Richard Avedon.  How this image has stayed with me I don't think I can fully explain in writing... but it has.  

Years later after I left New Hampshire and the old factory town of Newmarket, this image became one of my memories.  One of my whispers.  Unable to forget it I painted many portraits in the years to come with this single photograph in mind.

Thank you Marian Anderson for making sounds to the wind, thank you neighbor for lending me a hand and indirectly opening me up to an entire conversation with brilliant photography...

most importantly thank you Richard Avedon for knowing how to capture the light. 

Soul Pancake - Friendship

I highly recommend that you take the time to watch this short clip about friendship - it's very touching and I needed to share it :)
xoxoxo,
Hope you are all doing great!
Erica

Spinning Glitter into Gold...

These 8x10 gems are painted with acrylic paints on canvas and each one is personally signed and has a special inscription on the back. They will be for sale starting this weekend at Awakenings in Katonah, NY! I'm so happy to be spreading the love with my spirit art once again! Have a great weekend and Thanks for all of the positive feedback! xoxoxo, Erica

Antler Widow Dress

I consider myself a fairly normal person. Well I suppose that's up for debate but I can tell you with complete assurance that it hasn't been very normal that night after night I've been having dreams about a particular Alexander McQueen dress. "Antler Widow Dress" as it is called is from the spring/summer 2006-7 collection and has somehow weaseled it's way into each and every one of my nighttime escapes. While it makes for quite the visual, it seems that none of these dreams have been particularly easy to navigate. In one dream I'm living in an old victorian home and it is summertime; as I am standing in a dark hallway the sconces on the wall burst and start to catch fire. The hallway of this home is adorned with peeling damask wallpaper and when I look down there is a flood on the wooden planks below and my bare feet are wading with heavy lace through even heavier waters. This is quite the diversion from the reoccurring dream where I'm at center stage only to recognize that I've suddenly forgotten my lines, the later being one I now regrettably miss. I'm not complaining about being adorned from head to toe in the genius of the late McQueen but I will say that night after night it's started to become shall we say, mildly overwhelming. Like all great art "Antler Widow Dress" adds drama to my dreams, gives them direct storyline, flair, emotional heartache and even a little unprecedented mischief. While I am grateful for my vivid dreamtime and the influence it has had on my art I am not wearing the dress without repercussions of the widow herself. Like all great art the clothes of a designer such as McQueen are no different as they carry a story, an essence. While he was able to breathe life into all of his work (in my opinion in a way that has yet to be matched), I think that true art never rests. True art haunts, is alive and has a pulse in a way that it becomes part of who you are. I awoke this morning with relief only to find that I had not been haunted by the ruffles of lace and the lucite antlers yet in retrospect I recognize that a dream is only part of the day.


“I get my ideas out of my dreams… if you’re lucky enough to use something you see in a dream, it is purely original. It’s not in the world — it’s in your head. I think that is amazing.”
― Alexander McQueen

Knowing Photography Video

Hello Friends!

Here is my latest project! "Storybook" is a video compilation of my photography set to some breathtaking music from Temper Trap. Please take the time to check it out and let me know what you think!
(just fyi: the video looks best when you watch in You Tube - Just click on the word Storybook at the top right of the video)




Please feel free to pass on to friends!

A Multitude of Blessings,
xoxoxoxoxo
Erica

*Happy Thursday*

Sing it Patti Griffin!!! No bad news today!
Sending you all love and blessings and don't forget that there is light at the end of every tunnel...hold your head up high and keep on trucking!
xoxoxoxo,
Erica

Happy Tuesday :)

A little gift from Pete Yorn - "Life on a Chain"

Manifestation

An inspiring article about crafting a vision board. Written by the always amazing Kris Carr:

http://crazysexylife.com/2009/vision-boards/

Walkin' After Midnight

When I was a kid I remember thinking that Patsy Cline's "Walking After Midnight" was timeless and now as an adult I believe it always will be. My dad used to play Patsy Cline cd's in his car when we would go on road trips and it was on those long car rides that he peaked my interest in her music. But more than anything there really is something about "Walking After Midnight" specifically as a song and the way that she sings it that gets me everytime. I'm not sure if it's the hopeful tone of the lyrics, or the honest heartache in her voice but the overall innocence keeps this song so timeless, classic, beautiful and untainted. I am so grateful for Patsy Cline -- her stunning delivery and a song that is so pure and true even after all of these years. Thanks Dad! xoxoxo

Another Great Voice....

New Photography Shoot Theme - Sign up Now!!!!!

Friends and Family!

The time has come once again to extend an invitation to you all to be a part of my most current photography project.
The theme over the next three months (August-October) will be Day of the Dead- in celebration of the Mexican National Holiday that honors those who came before.

I am most excited about this project because it will involve full makeup and hair - men will be provided with top hats and women with glittery flowers and gypsy gear.
Think red sparkly lips, black and white, lace, ruffles, vests and golden eyes.



Please let me know if you are interested -- knowingphotography@gmail.com -- or if you will be in the tri-state area anytime within the next few months. I know this is time and energy on your behalf but in the end you will have some fabulous photographs and hey, it's fun!!!

My goal at the end of this is to have a photography show.
I would be so grateful and happy to include your beautiful face in my art and photography portfolio/exhibit.
xoxoxoxo
Love and Light,
Eri

The Gift of Friendship

Thank you to my dear, dear family and friends. I cannot thank you enough.

"But friendship is precious, not only in the shade, but in the sunshine of life, and thanks to a benevolent arrangement the greater part of life is sunshine."
-- Thomas Jefferson

Ice Cream

make a wish.

Find this print on Etsy!

Summer Moon

Summer Moon Print Available on Etsy

Erica Mazzeo Photography

www.knowingphotography.com

What I love to do*

The Road...

The Road Not Taken

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood
and sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveller, long I stood
and looked down one as far as I could
to where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
and having perhaps the better claim
because it was grassy and wanted wear;
though as for that, the passing there
had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
in leaves no feet had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I --
I took the one less traveled by,
and that has made all the difference.

by Robert Frost

Sacred Photography