I'm going to start with a few personal, mental health updates and then get into the fun new photography that I've been up to!
A large part of the past year for me has been focused on putting together a new mental and physical health team. My health insurance changed, which meant finding new care providers, but a few technical hang-ups left me unable to do that until a few months ago, and in the America under the state of the current healthcare system I'm only just now getting to see those doctors.
I have been diagnosed with an anxiety disorder and Bipolar Disorder (type 1). I've come a long way in managing my anxiety through learning various mental coping mechanisms and re-training how I think about and handle anxiety-provoking situations. I won't go into the mechanisms of Bipolar here but it is largely a chemical imbalance that no amount of positive thinking will change. I have seen various psychiatrists for medical treatment in the past with varying degrees of success but I never found a doctor that I felt like was receptive to my individual experiences or just wasn't experienced with Bipolar Disorder. I also have an a-typical presentation that has lead professionals in the past to question my diagnosis and lead me down a few wrong roads in my treatment.
In putting together this new team for myself I've found a psychiatrist that after just one appointment I feel more validated in my experiences than I ever have and they picked up on the probable cause of my a-typical presentation almost immediately: cannabis. In the past my doctors reactions to my cannabis usage ranged from casual indifference to open disdain but rarely curiosity and never true knowledge. Not the case with this doctor. He is located in California [we communicate in a local office via secure video feed due to an extreme shortage of local mental health care professionals] where medical marijuana has been around longest and doctors have had the most time to gain an understanding of it's interplay in the human body. He says that he has seen through client experience that high dosages of cannabis usage mitigate some of the most severe symptoms of bipolar. Of course this ranges depending on the individual, their symptoms, their cannabis usage and consumption methods, and a host of other things so it's not reliable for treatment and often doesn't offer full treatment. It certainly doesn't for me, and that's why I've just recently started on a new medication, but it was great information to have moving forward.
All the energy that I've been putting into medical appointments, trying to maintain my mental health without treatment, and working my part-time retail job again, as well as trying to be a bit of a better friend has left me with almost no spare energy to put into art. What little bits of spare energy I've had though have been going into photography recently!
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During the month of October I broke my camera out four times - once for a group photo shoot event, twice for a fall portrait shoot with my friend Emma, and once on a nature trip for this season's Winter Collection on the RedBubble shop!
Half of the Winter Collection is live to shop now and the rest will be coming later this weekend. I'm also only half way through editing the photos from my shoot with Emma but hoping to finish up with those in the next day or two. They will both be featured in upcoming blog posts, so keep an eye out!
Now, let me tell you about what we're all really here for: #creepydolls2019. Every October local photographer Ceara D. Photography plans, coordinates and hosts a wonderfully spooky group shoot. Several years ago I had the privilege of modeling at the very first creepy shoot and this year I had the joy of shooting it as my first group photography event. There were far too many individuals involved to list them all here (models, hair, make-up, etc.) but if you're interested in who participated in an image you can find all the image credits on our FaceBook or Instagram pages.
This year the shoot was hosted at the historic Shelton-McMurphy-Johnson House. The house was built by Thomas Winthrop Shelton and family, being completed in 1888 in a Victorian castle style. After her husband's death Adah Shelton moved to Portland and gave the house to her daughter Alberta who lived there with her husband Robert McMurphey. Robert and Alberta lived out their lives in the home whereupon it was sold to Dr. Eva Johnson and her husband, Dr. Curtis Johnson. Eva had grown up near to the home and was friends with the McMurphey children. When none of the children claimed the home upon their parent's death she bought it and moved her family there. Upon her death, when none of her children were able or willing to take the house, it was passed on to the care of the Lane County Historical Society where it remains today. With it's Victorian style, rich history, and beautiful furnishings it made for a picturesque backdrop to this doll-themed shoot.
I've only included a selection of the photos in this post. If you're interested in seeing all the images you can check out the FaceBook album or follow our Instagram page. I would also recommend checking out the hashtag #creepydolls2019 on Instagram - it's the group event hashtag so all the models and photographers have been posting their photos from the events under that hashtag for your viewing pleasure!
Thank you for your support of everything we've been doing since the start of our page! Everyone has been incredibly supportive of our photography as well our Etsy and RedBubble shop fronts! I only have you to thank for that warm reception and we're incredibly grateful for it moving into this holiday season!
