Purple Haze

I had a visit from a photographer this morning - he'd come over to my house especially to drop off a memory stick of images for me before I go away. How thoughtful!!

You might have seen my work with Keith Cooper before, as I've modelled for him quite a few times now. The set I'm showing below from our second-most recent shoot back in April (at Cheltenham Film Studios) is an expansion on a theme of decadence, luxury and nudes with jewel coloured fabrics and drapes. I have since shot with him alongside Ivory Flame in an amazing setting with an exciting theme inspired by Waterhouse. See previous stuff here: http://ellarosestory.blogspot.co.uk/2011/06/luxury.html and here: http://ellarosestory.blogspot.co.uk/2011/05/pre-raphaelite-goodness.html. I have more to show from this shoot (from some other sets we did); will leave those for another time though.

Lots of lounging around here - need to pick a favourite! :-)

Peaches and Cream

I love the soft creamy peachy hues in these shots taken recently by Richard Lund, taken recently at Karen Jones' amazing abode. A nice chance to use some new-ish pretty lacy lingerie and air my new 'Robin' autumnal scarf as well. Richard was very enthusiastic and fun to work with, as always.

Stay tuned for Karen's shots, coming soon - we got some beauties, despite the three of us spending what felt like most of the time chatting and drinking tea, and there was even a visit from Cupid in front of the lens...! :-)

Hands and Roots

I have a thing about hands and feet. Especially hands. I love hands. (I love lamp.) When I look at other art models' work I always look at what their hands are doing, and I've been told quite a few times that mine are very expressive when posing! Hands can be interesting in shots, to me at least; so I suppose it's for the best (from a photographer's point of view) that a tattoo artist refused to mark my thumb pad a couple of years ago with a little symbol I'd asked for, though I was quite annoyed at the time. Probably saved a lot of photoshopping over the years.

This last week or so has been really nice - ultra sociable and busy, as I've been putting the effort in to trying new things and meeting new people (since 5 of my friends have moved away from my area in the last month or two; and after super life changes I really felt I needed to make my own changes!!). It's been fun. I've started two new dance classes (ballet/stretch and tap, both of which I hadn't done in a while, though the ballet teacher said to me 'goodness, we'll have you on pointe next week', which was brilliantly ego boosting and made me feel like the proverbial three-year-old being patted on the back, beaming; yes, I'd sneakily pretended to be a near-beginner. I know; bad of me.) and advanced tap (with amusing burlesque style moves), which is just ridiculously fun, militant and fast paced with no mercy - very good for cardio. I've been out for drinks a few times, including once with a friend I hadn't seen since primary school (but who had given me advice on Mexico last year, since she'd been living there), invited Holly Ivory Flame over to come blackberry picking & nattering with me around the woods near my house (foraging!!! Love it!), and I've even joined a 'meet up' group and met an amazing (and mad) group of girls last night over a cocktail or three, with book club talks in the running too (all the current book clubs in Oxford seem to be reading incredibly boring books, so we agreed we'd veto those). AND I've started a new blog, more writing-based and fewer pictures-of-myself-naked orientated; a series of epiphanies about 'growing up' and 'things I think I know' about life, truth, art... etc.; that way, I get a writing platform and you lot don't have to read quite so much of my un-industry-related waffle (like this) here (though there might occasionally be some overlap). Win win. I might link to it on here sometime soon-ish, so that if you want to follow me there as well, you can. I'll let it grow a bit first though.

The following set of images were taken on film by photographer Steven Billups, during our visit to a ruined castle near Pforzheim in Germany. Steven is great to work with and I think these are very gentle and peaceful. One of them sold quite quickly after they were developed! I like the movement of my hair in the last. Showing lots from the same set here, and I'm really looking forward to seeing the ones we made in the beautiful Black Forest.

Any favourites?

*Now taking bookings for November and December, to finish this year on a creative high!*

Please email me at ellarosemuse@live.co.uk if you'd like me to model for your project. Here is a snippet of blurb from a casting call I posted recently:

I'm available for:

- ART & PORTRAITS: where mood, texture and emotion rule
- NUDE: ranging from abstract, tough strength in the female form, beautiful dream-like outdoor work, soft and sensual studio work, powerful and vibrant movement to dance
- WEDDING: I have my own dresses from Victorian to modern; perfect to boost a photographer's wedding portfolio
- CASUAL/COMMERCIAL: I've got a great wardrobe, from snuggly warm knitwear for beautiful glowing portraits, to sports clothes for fitness/stock shots, glamorous and sophisticated evening dresses... and I can smile on cue with no awkward grimaces in sight!
- STYLISH GLAMOUR/BOUDOIR: I have an excellent range of lingerie with varied colour and textures, and have a classic look perfect for shots which are more classy than seedy.
- WORLD/DANCE: Did I mention my highly eclectic wardrobe? I've been a gigging bellydancer and along with my travels have amassed an array of eye-catching garments/costumery for extra-special themes.
- TUITION/WORKSHOP DEMONSTRATIONS: I've done a lot of these, with national photographic bodies as well as very highly regarded photographers, so am completely comfortable and relaxed in these settings.

I love to work with photographers, painters, designers and artists of various media, whether they be amateur hobbiests or experienced industry professionals, working indoors or out (I'll happily recommend studios), for exhibitions, publication, portfolio building or commercial projects. Other than in studios, I've worked in ancient forests, lakes and waterfalls, derelict buildings, ruined manor houses and beautiful modern hotels, against famous city landmarks, in cobbled colonial streets and in flower gardens, in the sea, on the beach and in swimming pools, up mountains, in snow, on rockfaces and on the tops of cliffs. I am represented by commercial agencies here in the UK, but take most bookings directly.

I have worked with world-class, award-winning photographers, yet many of my favourite images were shot by beginners with a drive to create something special. My goal is to inspire, to bring into being something that will last and which I can be proud of, and to be the catalyst for expressive and eye catching artwork. When working with me you'll find that I'm confident enough in my strengths to deliver, while collaborating and listening to you with the aim of bringing your ideas (however vague or particular) to life. I welcome new ideas, concepts and experiments whole-heartedly.

Thanks for reading! :-) That email address again: ellarosemuse@live.co.uk.

When We Had Summer

It's feeling all autumnal now, which I absolutely love. The air is cooler and I have somehow acquired a brilliant selection of quirky and funky woollen knit 'statement' jumpers and scarves over the last few months, which definitely deserve a 'casual fashion or portraiture' shoot or two. I hope I get to do a brown, yellow and gold posing-in-fallen leaves type of shot at some point, though I'm sending myself off to summer (aka California) for October, so we shall see what I manage to achieve around that.

If you'd like to work with me this year, I'm taking bookings for November and December now. I may well be in Australia etc next year, if I can work a few things out, and I do hope to be doing lots of European trips again too (Plus Ireland and Scotland at some point), but that's way off, so please do email me to say hello at ellarosemuse@live.co.uk if you want to arrange some time with me. I'd love to hear from you!

Some of the following shots were taken on a day which was just such an absolute pleasure to be outside on, with warm glowy light and a gentle breeze so perfect for beautiful flattering shots - so much so that I've spotted that photographer Max Operandi has named one of the image files 'When we had summer'. :-)

(Ian has also posted the colour version of the shot above over on his redbubble site, and I really really love that one. You can see it here: http://www.redbubble.com/people/maxoperandi/works/8895823-nude-with-a-raleigh)

And more Ian sent me from the day we shot together as part of a Yerbury Fine Art Nude masterclass at Pipewell Hall:

With Zoi:

And proof that I don't always take things too seriously...

Paint, Feet, Magalazine Cover!

Sorry for being a bit quiet - things are a bit crazy in my personal world at the moment with a massive upheaval caused by having to very reluctantly remove myself from a situation I've been in for 8-and-a-bit years (my entire adult life thus far), and I think I need to clamp my head together to keep all my thoughts from spinning off in different directions. Incredibly annoying to find that I can't harness myself into writing at the moment, having put aside time especially; seems I'm best at writing when things are peaceful, not dramatic, and otherwise I have the attention span of a self-doubting, mourning-for-something-that-seems-only-to-have-existed-in-my-head-anyway hamster. 

To 'make up' for this, I have been buying myself jewellery and being frivolous; spending more on one piece (vintage, rubies, pearls; rose gold being my weakness) than I ever have before. I really want to buy myself a ring next, but we shall see (and currently the ring I want does not exist). I actually rang my Mum from the shop (a little place in Oxford which makes me very happy) for reassurance, asking if I was mad to be spending so much on the very opposite of what I'd gone in for (I went in hoping to find a silver/white gold SIMPLE pendant), and she said it was fine... haha... and that at the very least, gold was an investment... (And I remember my old painter friend telling me gold was the way forward, not that I'll be buying any big chunks any time soon!!) so obviously my little burst of jewellery buying was highly rational and clever... Jewellery has always been very meaningful and emotionally important for me, especially when either inherited, or 'worn before'... or bought for me... or bought as a gift for myself... who am I kidding - I just love it. And I don't really shop very often. (There I go again attempting to justify my splurge!).

Anyway, this is my personal blog, so I can write what I want, but while the urge to express upset and rantings is one I can definitely identify with, I always find it a bit of a shame when people bare their souls online/on facebook etc rather than among friends in person. So, here are some updates I should have posted a while ago, from my 'to blog' folder.

First, a painting by Kristian Mumford, recently shown at the Loreto Art Exhibition, 113x78 oil on linen (courtesy of John Evans, who photographed the original image in a crumbling mansion): 

By Holly at Jewelled World, yet another book cover featuring... well, my feet again. Haha. It amuses me greatly that my little tattoo seems not to have been edited out by the relevant department at the publishing house; the absolute testament to the fact that no one ever notices it. I will have to see this in real life to be sure. Well done Holly!

Finally, my mug on the cover of Digital Camera Magazine recently, shot by a competition-winning reader up in Manchester. We had a great day; there were lots of sets and beautiful images made that I really wish I could have seen finished versions of after the shoot, but trust me that there were some absolute beauties! My hair and make up was stunning, I thought, and done by Zan, who was excellent!

I've also been told I'm featured in a book out at the moment, 'Practical Photoshop: Creative Projects'. Someone spotted it in WHSmith for me (thank you!), so I emailed the editor and he's kindly sending me a copy. I've got some lovely shots in waiting which I'll be excited to show soon, but bear with me if I do disappear for a little while. Thanks for reading!

Sunset, Candle, Tree

Urgh, I'm having one of those days/weeks. :-(

On the plus side, I made a banana and nutella cake today, and played the piano for the first time in ages.

And here are some beauties from Rayment Kirby, made for his upcoming book. I hope you like them:

Painting with Chaos

These oddball images were taken by Terry Joslin at one of mine and Ivory Flame's joint 'Goddess' themed days. We had a lot of fun making these; it was my first foray into painting with light, and as Holly had worked on this with Terry before, she was able to give me a quick intro into the method of whipping torches around the parts of our bodies we wanted to illuminate for the camera to see. The results are completely unpredictable. It's so hard not to want to rush to look at the back of the camera after every frame. Many faces, limbs, expressions, body parts and movements are caught here, in different locations within one frame, and it definitely puts the model in the position of performance artist, capturing something akin to a moving image. At one point I became obsessed with trying to capture my left leg in a high-kick (more difficult than it sounds!)... and then I decided HANDS should feature... Hands hands hands on ourselves and on each other... The results are so creepy, strange, horrific and capture the imagination, I think.

Thanks to Holly for being splendiferous to hang out with in the studio, as always... and I do hope to work more on this with Terry sometime!