New Logo + New Original Abstract Painting

Hello friends of Sweet Eventide! I've got two big reveals this week: a new logo and a new original abstract painting. First the new logo, which I designed to reflect a new mission and direction of including my hard-earned wellness tips with you regularly as well as to reflect what a large role painting is taking in my life now.

I need to incorporate it into the website still. Since it's a square design, it will require quite a bit of tinkering, but I'll get there. This week I'm very focused on money: tax prep and setting up accounting systems. Stay tuned!

Next up is my new original abstract painting Spin to Me. This is a painting started last summer and put away for several months when I got stuck. Then I got stuck on a different canvas during my daily painting commitment and so I turned my attention back to this canvas. It's amazing how some distance impacts my perspective and then I knew how to finish the painting. One of my favorite things to do is go looking for the paintings within my painting and I included three that I found in this collage below:

Spin to Me is live on auction this week, so click here to place a bid if you have a blank wall in need of some color. Imagine if this was on your wall, how many paintings within your eye might find!

Shop Update: 2016 Calendars

My shop has been updated with my 2016 Calendar, Sperare (it means hope, in Italian). Calm your hectic work days all year with my nature and floral photography sitting right on your desk.

Like last year, it comes with a reclaimed wooden clipboard with a magnetic back which was a big hit with my customers. If you are a returning calendar customer, you can keep your clipboard and order the refill pages only!

Choosing the images for my calendar is a fun task each year for me. It's a little year-in-review of some of the beautiful moments I documented.

I was proud of myself this year for seeking and photographing the beauty around me even while I was so ill. I'm selling my calendars this year pre-order style and they will ship around the week of December 2, 2015 in time for holiday gifting.

PS I love this little deer and he loves to be in my photos during the holiday season.

Happy Monday: A Surprise Inside

Surprise! I made you a video. :) https://vimeo.com/118521452

Sneak Peek: The Crafter's Guide to Patterns book by Jessica Swift

Jessica Swift has received copies of the UK and US versions of her book that I photographed from the publishers, which she shared on her blog yesterday. It was a dream to work with her on her book and I'm looking forward to seeing it in person.

photo by Jessica Swift, UK cover below, US cover on top

Here are the three images that appear on the US cover of the book, which is available for pre-order on Amazon right now:

Jessica's colorful world and positive, can-do, attitude made photographing her book the highlight of my photography career to date. I'm thrilled for her book to come out and I'm truly honored that she chose me for this important job. We photographed the entire book over several shoots earlier this year at a studio in Southeast Portland, with a quirky and heavy freight elevator to boot. You can see all our behind-the-scenes photos on Instagram using the hashtag #jessplusjessmagic.

Festive Scenes

This time of year is truly a visual feast for the eyes, and I appreciate the eye candy even more since I quit eating sugar almost 11 weeks ago. There is more of this colorful joyousness daily on Instagram: @sweeteventide.

2015 Photo Calendar

I'm thrilled to offer my 2015 photo calendar to you! It comes with the cutest magnetic clipboard you guys. Put it on your fridge, or for you DIYers, pop it on your magnetic chalkboard wall because I know you have one of those somewhere. :)

Order by 12/15 for Christmas gifts or anytime for year round deliciousness.

Just Start (again)

Instead of continually NOT posting because I have so much to say and no idea where to begin, and inspired by Tiffany Han's podcast about just starting, I'm here. I'm starting. Again.

I'm simply going to say that I am in extreme learning mode since my relapse. I'm learning how to eat way healthier than I have ever eaten before. This takes a lot of time! I'm new to it and I'm not efficient yet. I'm learning how to let my heart lead the way instead of letting my mind be in charge all the time. This takes a lot of courage! I'm learning how to fit my work into all of this and it's not easy. It is not coming effortlessly or naturally. I have had a lot of upheaval in 2014, starting in May when we began our house hunting process. Work has been pushed largely to the back burner these past few months. I'm trying to be patient with myself and not compare how my business is (or is not) positioned for holiday sales this year. It's hard though. I do have a pretty calendar for 2015 ready for your gifting needs! I am proud of it and that I made it happen.

Announcing My First Copyright Registration Workshop

Since last year when I had the idea for Don't Be a Fool Day, I've had it in the back of my mind to take my message into a small-group workshop format. There is nothing more gratifying to me after my infringement case than helping other people avoid my fate. The stars aligned for this idea recently and I'm very proud to announce my first "I'm Not a Fool!" copyright registration workshop! My first workshop will happen on February 28, 2014 in beautiful Astoria, Oregon at the brand new CoCommercial owned by Tara Gentile! Tickets are $25 for this two-hour workshop, get all the details right here. There will be beverages and snacks to make it even more fun! Registration is limited to 15 attendees.

Merry Christmas

Here are a few glimpses of the Christmas season here at Sweet Eventide Photography.

Sending you a heartfelt thanks for spending another year on the internet with me!

Merry Christmas!

Pinterest + Map Pins + My New Hometown

Recently, I was invited by Pinterest to create a new board about my hometown and try out their new map pins. I'm truly enjoying pinning all the places I have discovered since moving to my new hometown of Portland 2+ years ago!

A big fun thank you to Pinterest for including my Scene Around Portland board in their email newsletter this morning and hello to all my new followers! I'm looking forward to pinning with you all!

Giveaway Time for One Branch Postcard Subscriptions

I'm so pleased to announce that Bonnie Christine from Going Home to Roost and I have partnered to offer a beautiful giveaway for my One Branch Postcards. Winners will receive a special edition 8x10 print of the custom illustration that Bonnie created for me.

All of the details are on the giveaway blog post on Going Home to Roost, including how to enter. The givewaway ends on 12/15 at midnight Eastern time.

You can view every image in the One Branch Postcard subscriptions collected on this new Pinterest board. It is the first time I have shown all the images in one place! Go enter the giveaway, I hope you win!

Softcover Photo Book

I made a slideshow* to show you the beautiful softcover photo book I created and published with Artifact Uprising.

Sweet Eventide Vol. 1 from Jessica Nichols on Vimeo.

This 56-page premium soft cover photo book features some of my most beloved iPhone images. It is 5.5 inches square and printed on 100% Post Consumer Recycled paper.  My first batch of books sold out and my second batch will arrive around December 13th. There is a little secret at the end of the book for you, and it's not a photograph but it is a part of my heart.

People are saying lovely things like:

"Your book is Magnificent."

-- Jamie W.

You can pre-order your copy using this link.

* The music I chose is in the public domain, isn't it beautiful?

The Art of the Art Fair Booth Display

I spent a fair amount of time looking at booth displays online in preparation for Handmade NW and I've pinned quite a few to a new board for your inspiration. With the busy holiday season upon us, I wanted to share the art of my art fair booth display. It was a creative challenge that I enjoyed quite a bit. I reused the reclaimed fence board wall I built two years ago as the main part of my display, but otherwise I redesigned my booth entirely. Without further ado, here are some photographs of my booth.

After taking a small amount of input, I opted for no sign at all and decided to let my canvas gallery wraps draw people over to my booth. I did find some awesome chunky wooden letters to spell out the word PHOTOS and went to a bit of trouble to figure out how to attach them to my fence wall but then forgot to put them up until the holiday bazaar was 3/4 over. Oops. The total footprint of my art fair booth was 6' by 4' and I had the following products to display: holiday greeting card sets, 2014 calendars, my first photo book (another blog post on that will be up this week soon), large prints, One Branch postcard subscriptions and clearance inventory.

Side note: isn't the trickiest part of doing an art fair deciding how much inventory to make and bring?! Yikes!

My mother-in-law Betty had the vision to try my IKEA Expedit unit in front of the fence wall, and it worked so brilliantly that I bought a second unit. I also purchased two clamp lights from IKEA as I knew I would have access to electricity. I shopped high and low for weeks for vintage (or new) wire baskets to fit in the cubbies and in the end, I borrowed the woven baskets I already had at home. My other incredible in-laws, Bob and Marcia not only lent me their iPad for a slideshow of my work, but they built me a gorgeous iPad stand from a Pinterest DIY!

I have switched to selling prints of my photographs only in large formats, but I still had some inventory from when I sold 8x12s and 8x10s. For my booth, I needed a way to let shoppers browse both my large format photographs and my clearance inventory. As luck would have it, I had a piece of expanded sheet metal* in my basement that exactly fit the opening to my IKEA Expedit pieces. It was white so I went to my local Blick art supply store and got a can of Montana Gold Acrylic spray paint to make it dark brown. My husband had the genius idea to attach the sheet metal to the Expedit unit with twine. (Well let's be honest, he used a bright orange bungee cord that didn't quite mesh with my overall aesthetic.) It was actually the quickest part of the display to set up on show day and it made it very easy for shoppers to browse my inventory of 16x24 and 20x30 photographs.

I knew I would be showcasing my One Branch cancer support postcards and not only did I hire one of my favorite local florists, Elizabeth from Espe Floral, to do a floral design for my booth, I also hired one of my favorite bloggers and illustrators, Bonnie from Going Home to Roost to design a custom illustration for my showcase product. Both of these talented women used their expertise to bring the quote that inspired the product's name to life.

Although I was very disappointed in my sales totals, I also knew it was not a reflection of me or my work. It is only a reflection of the crowd of shoppers there that day. I received wonderful feedback on my booth, my photography and my One Branch postcards. My art fair booth definitely stood out among all the standard six-foot folding tables.  I hope my booth inspires you to think outside of the folding table for your next art fair, craft fair or holiday bazaar.

* Thank you cousin Jarrad for that idea and terminology. In fact, I would like to take a moment and thank my entire family and several close friends who supported me in prepping for my first art fair in two years. It sure does take a village to raise children and put art into the world.

Holiday Bazaar Prep

It has been 10 days since my last blog post? I promise I haven't disappeared off the planet, but I have been very busy prepping for my first art fair in two years. Here is a small collage of some of the behind-the-scenes prep work I have been doing for the Handmade NW Holiday Bazaar at OHSU.

I am using the same installation but have made a lot of updates as far as my display goes. There is new furniture, a new medium (gallery wrapped canvas!) and of course, all new products (my first photo book and greeting card sets). I will have large prints and my 2014 calendar on hand also. (Remember I am not selling small prints anymore.)

I love my new bowl that I found to hold my business cards. I am going to be shining the spotlight on my One Branch postcard subscriptions at this event and I have two special plans in motion towards that end. You'll have to stay tuned till next week for the reveal. Today almost all of my inventory was delivered, and my dog Jackson was going berserk with the doorbell ringing so many times. It has been an exciting day here.

If you want more behind-the-scenes peeks, please follow me on Instagram where I update almost daily on all things Sweet Eventide.

Handmade NW Holiday Bazaar at OHSU

I'm quite excited to share that I will be doing my first art fair in nearly two years!

For Portland friends and fans, I would love to see you at the Handmade NW Holiday Bazaar!

I am planning a beautiful, immersive booth experience with a mix of old favorites, new mediums and new products.

Sweet Eventide 2014 Calendars Available

Introducing Sweet Eventide's 2014 Calendar, Natura. 

This 2014 calendar is a collection of my favorite images from nature, or natura as they say in Italian.

Here is the complete collection of photographs included in Natura:

(rows from top to bottom, months from left to right)

January through March April through June July through September October through December

Order your Natura 2014 Calendar for $25.

Scene Around Portland: Cathedral Park and the St. Johns Bridge

After living here for over two years, and seeing countless pictures of the year taken there, I finally made it to Cathedral Park and got my own photo of the iconic St. Johns Bridge.

You can purchase this photograph for $95.

From the city of Portland's website, I learned more about this location and bridge.

"The site which now bears the name Cathedral Park is steeped in history. It is believed to be one of the 14 Lewis and Clark landing sites in the Vancouver-Portland area: William Clark and eight men camped there on April 2, 1806. This spot had been a fishing and camping site for many area Indian tribes. In 1847, the founder of St Johns, James John, settled on the site and operated a ferry to Linnton across the Willamette River. In 1931, the St Johns Bridge was built on the site with 400-ft towers and a main span of 1,207 feet. It is the only steel suspension bridge in Portland."

Tidbit about me: I am one of those people who is really afraid of heights. I'm fine on most of the bridges in Portland because they are fairly low and short distances. I avoid driving on this bridge as much as possible. I think I've only driven over it three times in over two years.

How to Make an Adjective Poster for Your Business

I'm really excited to share this little project I made up for myself. Awhile ago, I polled my Facebook pals and challenged them to describe my photography in just one word. I received the most wonderful list of adjectives that I never could have thought of on my own, as I'm too close to my own work to see it sometimes. I decided to make myself an adjective poster for my business with the list of words everyone graciously generated for me.

I had made myself a Wordle right away but I never liked how it turned out. There it sat printed out on my desk anyway, reminding me how my work is truly received. Last night, I decided to make a beautiful poster that reflected the beauty behind the words. Without over-thinking it, I chose one thing to focus on graphically, and that was "raw beauty." I made it large and bold in a beautiful type. Then I grouped all of the other adjectives and played with their alignment next to my largest element, using a simple type so it didn't compete. I printed it on a luxurious paper from Paper Source.

I'm not a graphic designer or an illustrator, and I made this in Mac Pages instead of Adobe Illustrator or Photoshop (even though I have both programs). I put the cute banners on for my blog using PicMonkey. If I can do this, so can you! It's going to live on my inspiration board above my desk now, reminding me in a beautiful typographical way that people see my work in all these beautiful, thought-provoking ways. I encourage you to make your own adjective poster for your business too!

Sweet Eventide 2.0

Welcome to the first day of spring and my brand new home online!

Are you happy shocked? If you subscribe to my newsletter, you have seen sneak peeks of this beautiful website already. I have wanted to build a website like this for years and then one day in February, I just plum decided to START. I used ProPhoto Blogs and I highly recommend this company. Their customer service, tutorials and themes are beyond my expectations and I researched this for a very long time before I took the plunge.

Please take time to check out my new Portfolio pages! I have them organized by season and a special category I call "Ordinary Magic." As you know, I try hard to photograph the magic of the ordinary. I must admit, in the past six weeks I have been doing a lot of sitting behind my computer screen and not much time behind my camera. I think it's a worthy investment. If you notice anything wonky, please feel free to use that nifty Contact button and let me know. I don't have a QA team on board just yet but I definitely want to fix any weird things if you notice them.

I want to give a very special, heart-felt, THANK YOU to my husband Jeff for providing his expert help behind the scenes of this launch! I love you and I am so grateful for you!

I am going to be back to blogging regularly now as well! Please pop in every Monday, Wednesday and Friday for a new post. I can't wait to hear what you think of Sweet Eventide 2.0!

Sneak Peek: the Sweet Eventide Photography 2012 Calendar

Friends, I am here with a giant sneak peek of my 2012 photo calendar. I had intended to announce it today on the blog and have it set to go in the shop, but a big storm today has foiled my photoshoot. I did manage to grab a couple of images before the sky went completely foreboding and dark grey.

New in 2012: bigger pages! The calendar pages measure 8.5" wide by 5.5" tall and the image is 3x4.5 tall. I worked very hard to make a 4x6 image work but the paper size required to do that proved to be prohibitively expensive, even in bulk.  I have kept the same luxurious, premium card stock, and the clean, modern aesthetic of my past calendars. You will recognize the simple white border around the image and the minimalist calendar from my 2011 calendar.

While I wait to get the rest of the pages photographed, I thought I could share the images that made the final cut! I shared a sneak peek with a few close friends today and the overall impression was one of gentleness, peace and serenity.

Delicato

2012 Calendar

Sweet Eventide Photography

by Jessica Nichols

I promise to get these photographed and listed in the shop as soon as possible!