Gifts from the Heart

The kids are back in school.  Everyone is home from summer vacation.  The Farmers market is selling apples again.  In the beautiful Santa Clarita Valley where we live, it is a little difficult to see the changing of the seasons and the leaves changing colors. 

In 1913, Webster’s dictionary defined beauty as “properties pleasing the eye, the ear, the intellect, the aesthetic faculty or the moral sense.”  But in recent years, the default definition of beauty has shriveled pitifully.  The contributions of the ear, the intellect, the broader aesthetic faculty or the moral sensibilities are gone.

What type of women take boudoir portraits?  All are sensual women.  In the last few months I have photographed nudes of extraordinary, real women.  Real women who may have imperfect body images or have journeyed through life with a few battle wounds (physically and emotionally) such as breast cancer, cosmetic surgical scars as a result of losing 150 pounds, lives lived with feeding tubes, divorce, mental abuse, bombarded by negative stereotypes about body image, etc. 

Now that summer is coming to a close you will have a lot of pictures from your vacations.  While buying frames for all of them can get cluttered and expensive, using a French bulletin board can be a fun project to show off pictures. 
Here’s what you need to start:

On February 22 of this year, proud parents Pat and Tammy Butler welcomed a beautiful baby boy into the world.  Thomas Allen Butler II was born weighing seven pounds 10 ounces.  Please join The Magazine of Santa Clarita in welcoming Thomas to the Santa Clarita Valley.

Last June, Paul “P.J.” Sweigart, 2006 graduate of Saugus High School, had the opportunity to travel to Honduras with a group of 40 students and medical professionals volunteering with the Global Medical Brigade to provide medical help for people who have no means of obtaining medical services.  

Summer is here and that means tons of photographs.  Most experts would agree that above exposure and lighting, composition is the most important component that can make or break a photograph.  Timbuktu Studios has a few tips on how to get good composition in your photographs that will have people raving over them.

What are you going to do in your spare time on your vacation?  Here are a couple of ways to have fun with your family and friends.

Fall is right around the corner, and the use of candles increases during this time of the year. Be safe and get the most use out of your candles by following these valuable tips:

Through the years we have worked with many satisfied customers who we have helped add art to their homes and lives.  What effect, exactly, does acquiring professionally framed art produce?  Here are a few quotes from some of our art friends:

“I just want you to know that I have received two of the four Howard Terpning prints — the ones received are “Protectors of the Cheyenne People” and “Long Trail Ahead.”  They are both beautiful, and I thank you for this and also the beautiful frame work.”

Watching the prices of gas going up daily, and trying to decide where to go or not go for a vacation this summer?  Experiencing sticker shock at the grocery store? Kids home from college?  Air-conditioning bills increasing earlier than usual?  What to do?

The Santa Clarita Valley Historical Society is proud to present a series of short silent comedies featuring Buster Keaton, Fatty Arbuckle, and the Keystone Cops on Friday, June 6, 2008 at 7:30 p.m.  The films will be shown in the historic Saugus Train Station in Heritage Junction, Newhall, and will feature live accompaniment by 95-year-old Bob Mitchell, the last of the silent era pianists.  The lineup for the evening includes Arbuckle & Keaton’s The Bellboy (1918), Keaton’s The Scarecrow (1920), and a Mack Sennett Keystone Cop feature (schedule subject to change).  Admission is $5, which includes free popcorn.

The Santa Clarita Artists’ Association (SCAA) will feature Plein Air watercolorist Pong Apinyavat, one of today’s foremost painters of the California coastline, at the monthly meeting on June 16, 2008 at 7 p.m. 

Dave Joseph has surrounded himself with beauty and together with his wife, Barbara; he has shared some of that beauty to assist the Michael Hoefflin Foundation for Children’s Cancer through a donation of almost $100,000 worth of artwork.  Dave and Barbara Joseph, owners of the B&R Gallery on Sierra Highway, have been avid supporters of the foundation since 2001, attending fundraising events and donating items for auction.  “It’s a nice organization that helps families,” Dave commented when asked why they became involved.  “You have to serve some purpose in life other than making money.  You have to reach out to people who are going through hard times.”