The mythical photographic art of Ward Shipman feels like a portal into a timeless era where goddesses are guiding every nuance, and sensual beauty is the everyday language.

I first connected with Ward about 5 years ago when I modeled for his work. At the time he was working strictly with black and white film and developing everything himself in the darkroom. We did this photoshoot for his Angle series.

Laura Hollick photographed by Ward Shipman

It is easy to take for granted the seamless blending of the figure into the architecture background. We are so accustomed to photoshoped images these days that we almost expect things to be blended and collaged together in a believable way. But, this was created entirely in the darkroom, there was no photoshop involved in creating this image!

Ward intuitively melds images together in such a magical way, he creates environmental stories through his images.

Mr. Shipman is also a school teacher. Photography is part of the curriculum that he teaches. A few years ago he realized he needed to learn digital photography and photoshop in order to stay on top of the latest knowledge regarding the development of photography.

We connected again to do another photoshoot. This time it was shot digitally in my studio against a plain background. He had full intention of transforming the image in photoshop in post production.

The resulting image is a water nympth. I feel like I was transformed into a goddess who lives and breathes in the water.

No matter what medium or tools Ward employs the essence of his work remains the same. He explores a mythical time of beauty, sensuality and interconnectedness with nature. With his new digital tools Ward has evolved his visual narratives into full on epics.

To listen to an interview with Ward Shipman click here

To learn more about Ward Shipman visit his website at www.guyinaboat.com

To listen to an interview with photographer Hoyin click here

Originally from Hong Kong, Hoyin immigrated to Canada. Struggling with the language and fitting in, he resorted to his creativity and ultimately photography to find his voice and express himself.

I connected with Hoyin over a year ago to invite him to be part of the ‘Photographer’s Series’, a project I started when I was hosting and producing ‘The Artist’s Lifestyle’ radio show on 93.3 FM CFMU. At the time I was planning on doing a full radio series interviewing photographers about their creative process and their professional journey. Through the various twists and turns of life,  I emigrated from CFMU into my own thriving business as an artist and Soul Art teacher.

Since so many of the interviews had already been recorded and so many creative photoshoots were already taken, I decided to create ‘The Photographers Series’ as a blog series. So over the next few weeks I’ll be posting the interviews and images from ‘The Photographer’s Series’.

I volunteered myself as a model to be used in one of Hoyin’s creative photographs.   I did this because I wanted to have the experience of working with him so I would feel prepared for our interview, and of course I wanted to be part of an amazing creative vision.

Laura Hollick photographed by Hoyin for The Photographer's Series.

Hoyin transformed me into a ghostly alien-like figure, which is how I imagine he must have felt coming to Canada.

There is a certain kind of isolation to his work as well as a deep mystery that intrigues me.

Laura Hollick photographed by Hoyin for The Photographer's Series.

Since moving to Canada Hoyin has become quite resourceful in finding what he needs to realize his visions.
For our photoshoot he connected with Mario and Cherie Pia Grassa a husband and wife hair and makeup team to transform me into the white person.

During our interview Hoyin shares his challenges as a photographer and his creative desires.

To listen to the Photographer’s Series interview with Hoyin click here

To learn more about Hoyin visit his website at www.hoyinsiu.com

Flipping through magazines is a choreographed passion of mine.  I quickly fan through seeking something that will  ignite my next creative idea.

When I saw these images of girls dancing, I cut out their bodies and filled them with ink lines and drawings because I was inspired to capture the energy of the movement.

These magazine cut outs became preliminary sketches for a photoshoot I wanted to do. Originally I wanted to do a dance sequence of myself and then cut out my own body and sketch shapes and patterns to express the energy of the movement.

So I went ahead and planned a shoot with photographer Kevin Thom.  I liked the images we created so much I’ve left them as they are for now. Who knows maybe I will still cut out the body shapes and sketch something in, in the meantime I’m enjoying the energy of the sequence.

Laura Hollick dancing. Photo by Kevin Thom. Hair/makeup Sue Upton

Can you feel the energy in this dance sequence? Do you think adding the sketches in the body shape would add another dimension to the images?
I’d love to hear your thoughts! Creativity is becoming a much more collaborative experience these days

A personal message about my own dreams and an invitation to YOU to make your dreams real.

Learn more about Kevin Thom’s headshot day www.kevinthom.com

To read the 5 steps to make your dreams real: click here

View Magazine is featuring an article on the ‘Birth Your Dreams’ exhibition and made it a Cover feature.  We created a mini-video to show you what really goes on behind the scenes of making a Cover image.  In this video you’ll see Laura working with photographer Kevin Thom and hair and makeup artist Sue Upton to create a slightly ‘risky’ image.

‘Union of Opposites’ photo of Laura Hollick with Mark Wedderburn wearing Laura Hollick’s headpieces. Photo by Melanie Gillis.

There are opposite polarities that exist within you. Have you noticed how one minute you can feel
completely overjoyed and the next minute you can feel bitterly angry?

It can be confusing when this happens, and the tendency is to cling to the side that feels
good and avoid the aspects of yourself that are dark and uncomfortable.

If we try to cling to one side we feel frustrated and eventually binge on the opposite side. If you’ve ever tried to be positive all the time you will know exactly what I mean. Eventually the negative thoughts come pouring out.

I don’t believe our purpose is to try to be positive all the time. Since we have the full range within us,
why not make friends with all aspects of ourselves.

When you allow the full rainbow of yourself there is a deep sense of fulfillment, which stems from
feeling whole.

To feel whole you must allow and include the full rainbow of yourself.

When you marry all aspects of yourself you can experience a love affair within yourself. I call this the union of opposites.

Try this SOUL ART exercise…

Think about an aspect of yourself that you have labeled as negative or uncomfortable. For example: fear

Find its opposite. For example: the opposite of fear, to me is relaxation.

Now create a quick sketch to represent each of these aspects of yourself. For example: you will have a sketch that represents the negative aspect and a sketch that represents the positive aspect.

Now, create a new sketch and see if you can introduce the two, see if you can get them flirting together. Mix and mingle the two qualities.

You never know it might end up in a full blown affair, even marriage!

Experiment with uniting your opposites.

Have fun!!