Filo Show Opening

The show went over great. We had wine and delicious desserts to serve all courtesy of Maria the owner pictured standing with me. People came from Asheville and Black Mountain to see my work. It was very exciting. Most people asked about my German Castle print and how I was able to take it. I stayed after for the swing dancing with some friends and that was fun. Even though I didn't sell anything, it was still a great opening.

Katie

My Next Ship: The Rotterdam

The leaves are turning, people are dusting off their sweaters, there's a chill in the air; it's that time of year…no, not Fall, it's time for me to get out of here and go some place warm. This Four month contract with Holland America will take me to the Mediterranean and South America.

I fly to Athens, Greece next Friday and I fly back home February 10th with plenty of time to spare for the Oscars which will be February 25th this year. It's a good thing that I'll have lots of time to make it home because I'm flying back from Antarctica, well not exactly, but Ushuaia, Argentina is pretty darn close. They're the closest port town to Antarctica.

I'm really looking forward to my month in the Mediterranean with ports in Italy, Morocco, Spain, and Portugal. I've done South America before and there are only a couple of new ports that I'll be visiting this time around. One of those ports is Antarctica it's self. We aren't actually going to be stopping there, it's not like there's a dock or anything, but for three days we're going to be cruising there. I can't wait. I get to see it before it all melts away.

Katie

Show Opening

Mark your calendars for my opening Friday October 13th (no, I'm not superstitious.) I'm having a show opening of my Photography from Europe at Filo Pastries in Asheville. Dad and I have spent months making all the frames and the largest are about 3 and a half feet, so they look really impressive on the wall. If you're in the area, you should stop by between 5pm and 7pm then stay for swing dancing after and bring a friend.

The photos will stay on the walls for a while so if you can't make it to the opening you can always come later, but of course I might not be there later to sign autographs and whatnot.

Filo is a fantastic café and gourmet pastry shop. Order a chocolate anything and it will be incredible. If you're diabetic, bring extra insulin. If you're on a diet, indulge its worth it.

Filo is located on Tunnel Road across from the VA. If you're coming from downtown on tunnel road you will see Filo just after the Ingles and just before the Blue Ridge parkway. Hope to see you there. I've attached the front and back of the postcards I'm getting printed up.

Katie

Vanity Mirror Review

A long while back I sent Vanity Mirror off to Film Threat to be reviewed. Film Threat is a site started by Chris Gore, who's an independent film reviewer and film festival guru. They have a reputation for giving their honest opinions about films and not sugar coating everything. Vanity Mirror got a 3 out of 5 stars which is "good." No stars is "crap" and 5 is "perfect" so I'm pretty happy with my good. Here's the review:

Katie

Film Threat
VANITY MIRROR
by Rory L. Aronsky
(2005-10-10)
2005, Un-rated, 10 minutes, JKR Productions

Yeah, vanity can be a real bitch. Keep preening yourself like that and soon it’s all you’re thinking about. The hair’s got to be a certain way, and there’s so much primping to make Narcissus wince. At least that’s the intention for the blonde-haired woman (Julia Denton) unsettled by an ugly half-done Robocop prototype kind of man (Sean Larsen) holding up a flower. He likes her beauty, but she doesn’t like him.

Now it could be that her rejecting him leads to the darkness that settles down upon her or it could simply be that she’s just gone paranoid over keeping her looks, especially when a mirror image of herself begins to mutilate itself. The mirrors magnify the wrinkles and the stretched skin. She looks like she’s in her late ‘20s which makes immediate aging impossible, though Katie T. Damien is also reaching for a kind of “Tales from the Crypt” vibe here, with uneasy black-and-white cinematography which is effective, but makes us wonder what kind of lesson she’s exactly learning her. Love your fellow freak? Watch out for the skinhead with the squinty eyes? Don’t shave in those sexy places after midnight? There’s a foreboding feeling here, but it doesn’t quite reach fully around giving that kind of brain wedgie to make you wonder even further about the character. Atmosphere, and not much else. The character may feel disturbed, but we’re not.

Mt. Pisgah

Rebecca and I went on a little road trip to Mt. Pisgah with our friend Kristin who came down from DC for the weekend. The weather was fabulous and we had fun hiking on the trails and just sitting around enjoying the scenery. Mt. Pisgah is really close to us. It's only about 30 miles South on the Blue Ridge Parkway, but I think it took us 45 minutes to an hour to actually get there because the roads were steep and windy.

I don't have a picture of Mt. Pisgah itself because from where we were, it just wasn't that exciting of a view. I took a picture of another cool mountain a little further South. I don’t know which one it is but it looks neat. I would recommend Mt. Pisgah on a clear day when the sun is setting. There's good hiking and good scenery. I prefer Mt. Mitchell, but Pisgah is a close second.

Katie