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A PORTRAIT: IN REFLECTION

Life is changing again. As summer turns to fall we are called to shed our leaves and paint the ground with the colors we wore.
One evening a couple of weeks ago I was BBQing some skewered kebabs and enjoying a Ninkasi Radiant and took out some brown paper that I procured from my parents barn just a few days prior. I hadn't actually drawn in a while, so I turned on some Josh Ritter and put pencil to paper just to see what would happen. After pouring myself into my pencil for a couple hours the result was something more telling than I had set out for. As I looked to the page, a simple man stared back at me. Bearded and hiding his face as he bites his lip. His eyes piercing me. A kind of sadness lurking there that you only hear about in stories. Upon showing it to a couple friends I realized after hearing it from everyone of them that the man I had drawn was me. It wasn't an easy realization to come to. None the less its yielded some much needed reflection and new found creativity. All of this to say, I'm drawing again and loving it. Its healing wounds I didn't know were still open and given birth to a new series of portraits that I'm very excited about. This winter you can be expecting a body of work like I have never turned out before. Stay tuned as I shed my leaves and my old color and bring life to an exciting new project. Thanks for all of you who check out my blog.

Cheers, Jacob

[THIS IS JUST A SNEAK PEAK OF WHAT IS TO COME]

THE EISBACH

As we traveled through Münich our host Philipp took us to the Eisbach (which means ICE BROOK, a very fitting name for it seeing as the water is crazy cold.) in the Englischer Garten. This happened to be my favorite spot in Münich by far. In 1972 some likeminded city surfers threw a tree trunk in the Eisbach right at the mouth of a tunneled bridge in the garten where the water runs the quickest at a current speed of roughly 5m per second. They roped the log to the bridge thus creating a bulge in the water about 1m high, large enough to create a continuous standing wave. I was a little bummed that I wasn't equipt with board and wetsuit so that I could ride the awesome urban wave, but I did get some shots of some locals sessions. If you're ever in Münich you can catch a glimpse of these surfers at the edge of the garten closest to the Haus der Kunst, and dont forget your board!

Cheers, Jacob

THE KID

It was one in the morning last night and I couldn't sleep when I saw The Kid's picture on facebook. The Kid, is Matthew Whiddon, a long time friend and roommate of mine. I saw his picture, him standing there looking dominant and unmistakably handsome and I knew that he needed a tribute. A tribute to his manness and sparse but fierce facial hair. A tribute to his goodlookingness. So this piece was born, as a tribute to a loyal and true friend. It is with love I present :

[The Kid-Chew Whid]

I FLASH AS I GO

[the title of this post was not intended to make me come across as someone who typically walks around exposing himself to the public of the world, but all the same, take it as you will.]

Here are some photos from walks and train rides and 'babysitting'. Simply a documentation of my time and the adventures I spend it on.

[a touch of color]

[b&w]

Cheers Jacob

¿ OBVIOUS LUCK OR DIVINE AWESOMENESS ?

It doesn't really matter to me at this point whether the people that were put in my life to share my name were hand picked or sporadically dropped into place. Even though I believe the first is right, the truth is that either way I look at it, I am still incredibly blessed and lucky to have the family that I do. It sucks that I have to be away for a month for this realization to really hit me again, as it rightfully has before, but that doesn't make it less true. From loving God Fearing parents to believing and loyal siblings, I really have it all. Today I miss cooking with my mom and building with my dad. Talking with my sister and doing any number of ridiculous things with my brother.

For some reason I also miss things now that could have driven me crazy before. Like the way they relentlessly make fun of me for thinking things I did about our family's finances when I was little. I don't care if I really did or didn't eat butter and bread sandwiches when I was little because we were too poor to buy PB&J, the fact that I thought I did is really pretty funny, and if they want to give me crap for that then they are more than welcome to. It's the fact that they shared those things that I remember growing up that allows them to make fun of me and get away with it without staggering away with a black eye.

Now as my whole family has reached adulthood in some way shape or form we are really getting to redefine our relationships from what they were growing up. I get to graduate from annoying little brother to someone who actually matters ;) Being able to still look to my parents for guidance but also talk to them not only as family but some of the best friends I have is more priceless than the cheesiest mastercard comercial to date.

It is because of my family that I am who I am today. The talents that I walk with daily have been recognized and cultivated by them in some way. As I end this, my most sentimental blog post ever I realize and thank God that my family has really been there for me in the past and present.

I really am blessed. Plus, on more of a shallow level, check out how dang good they look!

(All the photos save for the one of Jenny are products of Jared Birt Photography via the PORTRAITS TO PROFILES: charitable photo event.)

OH THE PLACES OUR FEET WILL GO

(For the record: this post is not the sequel or a rip off of Dr. Seuss's wonderful book "Oh! The Places You’ll Go!")

I'd like to say that this is some deep statement about my international travel and what that means for my shoes and the rest of my life, but sadly thats not the case. Being the"artistically minded"person I am, I was simply walking through the grass with my awesome vintage dress shoes and the contrast of their blackticity on the green grass caught my eye. Being flighty enough to not realize my bus was coming now! I decided now to be a bright time for a photo op. (I did make my train, however, because after my photo shoot had ended I came back to reality and saw the time and realized that my freshly photographed feet would need to move much quicker. When I arrived at my stop with a bead of sweat in my brow and a gleam in my eye the train doors were closing. Like an insubordinate teenage movie character from the 80's I said "Sorry German Train, this one's on you." And I scraped past the doors and trying to look as much like a paying customer as possible, I took my seat.) When I was back "home" for the day after my first German language class I sought after a couple more striking choices for photos of my feets. And now that I sit and ponder all the things that this could rightfully mean I think to myself "These 5 dollar thrifted shoes were a great investment." (ps I paid for my return ticket)

Cheers from Germany