Erins Birthday!!!

Today is Erin's Birthday!

and So I wanted to write a blog about her!

Erin and I met over three years ago and even though our styles of art are very similar our personalities are very different.  I always admire Erin and her honesty and authenticity.  Erin is outspoken and will have no problem telling you she is wierded out by you, I know this because she tells me this all the time. She also has one of the biggest hearts of anyone I know. When we sat down and made out our business plan we wanted to  make a goal to shoot something  for free every month.  It was our way of helping where we could, and It has been Erin finding places to volunteer and  volunteering our work to benefits and coming up with ideas on how we can help people who need it. Erin makes me laugh about more random things than anyone else I know. I can always count on her to make a joke out of an awkward experience and it somehow makes the whole thing completely worth it just for the laugh. One time we were at a bar and she was helping me shoot a project I was working on for one of my classes and a woman came up out of nowhere and licked Erin's face, I thought for sure she was going to be upset about it because I would be if my personal space was invaded by a drunk woman but instead she had me cracking up about how she almost grabbed the woman's face and licked her back. This is why I love her.  Erin is also really gracious and self-less, I am in my last year at Columbia and Erin graduated from there as well and knows the demands both physically and mentally- she has been there to help me shoot projects, loan me lenses, offer encouragement, and bear a lot of the load of our work while I am in class, and I literally would have broken down in tears  weekly this semester if it wasn't for Erin being the voice of reason and offering advice.  Erin finds something good in everyone we photograph and after every session we shoot she is the first person to say "that girl had such beautiful eyes" or "you could tell how much he loves her" I love that Erin makes it a point to find the good in people, I think thats what makes her such a great photographer.

She is a great friend to those around her and I have noticed often that she will drop what she is doing to be there for the people in her life, She is a great wife always telling me how amazing she thinks Mickey is, even in his hooters hot pants. She is a strong, funny, beautiful, and interesting woman who I consider myself lucky to call a friend, let alone a buisness partner, but most of all she is a friggen Hoot!
So Happy Birthday to Erin, we love you!

feel free to leave comments on what you love about Erin or a funny Memory you have of her.

That one time sue Regis showed us how to sculpt glass...

As photographers Erin and I get to do a lot of fun thing; trespass, throw snow at people, eat delicious meals at receptions, and be a part of some truly amazing peoples'  inspiring and beautiful moments. We will never complain about our job. Unless you schedule your  session the hottest day of the year and we go home smelling like if a foot could fart but even then we love our jobs we just complain about how bad we smell. (true story)

This week we got to meet the  ridiculously talented Sue Regis who is a Glass sculptor in Joliet, and she makes everything from Memorial pieces to encase a loved one's remains to glass vaginas for the "Vagina Monologues." The thing that Erin and I were completely in awe of was the fact that Sue is primarily self taught.  She said she started working with Glass when she was 18. The work is done through the use of a table-mounted torch with specific oxygen and propane mixtures for the differing techniques. Most pieces are created using Pyrex clear and colored rods finished with Pyrex frit (crushed glass).

This woman was so awesome and is not only incredibly interesting but was also kind and brave enough to let us into her studio to photograph her working. She even let me try my hand at glass sculpting. I am ashamed to admit I burned myself within the first 5 seconds and almost made her regret asking me If I wanted to give it a shot, but she was a patient teacher and encouraged me to keep going despite Erin laughing at me.

Here are our photos from our Adventures in Sue's studio and I am really lame and put them to Blondie's "heart of glass" Dont Judge me.



the pendant I made! I was pretty excited about it.



to view Sue's work go to:

http://www.sueregisglassart.com/

or

The Facebook page.