Published in Where Women Create-Llano Earth Art Festival

Hello Friends!I'm thrilled to share something a little bit different, a little bit magical, and a whole lot of awesome with all of you. 
This past April, it was my pleasure to photograph the second annual Llano Earth Art Festival in beautiful Llano, Texas exclusively for Where Women Create Magazine.

So....what is LEAF, you might be asking right about now? 
Well, like I said, it's pure magic, but a bit of exposition is in order. 

 Festival organizer Binky Morgan,  

(the beautiful lady above ),

and the entire LEAF team of visionaries 

worked tirelessly to make this joyous, 

multi-sensory experience happen 

on the banks of the Llano River. 

It's all about Earth, and Art ( and Earth Art! ),

workshops, land art installations, music, fashion, and so, so much more. 

But above all else, it's home to the National Rock Stacking Championship, which is a gravity-defying form of creative expression which astonishes and confounds in equal measure.

You can read all about LEAF 

in the Nov/Dec/Jan 2017 issue of 

Where Women Create Magazine,

on newsstands now. 

And to learn more about LEAF, 

be sure to click 

HERE.

Thank you to Where Women Create Magazine, 

and Binky Morgan for the privilege 
of collaborating on this project, 

And a great big thank you 

to my expert photographer buddies 

Cynthia Lively and Lou Quallenberg 

for contributing their own stellar photos to this piece. 

Happy Holidays, 

and the best to each of you! 

Best,

Anne

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That Someone

Inspiration.

It's not always a what, 

sometimes it's a who.

The lady above is Jill Thompson Elliott.

Wife and mom, owner/proprietor of 

Haberdashery Boutique in Fredericksburg, Texas, 

cover girl for Where Women Create Business Magazine, 

and a wonderfully intuitive photographer. 

If I told her that she does it all well, 

and with preternatural grace, 

she would just crinkle up that cute nose of hers 

and correct me, albeit graciously. 

She knows that what looks and seems effortless 

is usually anything but. 

And I know it, too. 

But don't we all sometimes 

look dolefully at "that someone" who seemingly 

has it all together? The one who has figured out 

the secret to having it all and doing it all,...

being that woman that we all aspire to be? 

What we see is superficially viewed through 

our own experiences, our own failings, 

and a huge, heaping pile of misconceptions. 

The woman who "has it all", that someone, 

is a woman who has laughed and cried, and sacrificed. 

She has suffered great joy and crushing losses, 

sometimes in equal measure. 

She has laid awake crying, silently working out 

in her sleepless mind the "how's and why's and when's",

and how to wisely navigate the curve-balls 

that life invariably hits us with. 

She is Jill Thompson Elliott, 

and a thousand other women I know 

and admire. 

And yeah, right here and right now, 

today, she is that someone who I want to 

acknowledge as making an impact on my life. 

This post will surprise her, no doubt, 

but that's kinda the point. 

It's nice when we are going about our everyday lives, 

just doing what we do without any fanfare, 

expecting no notice or recognition, 

someone sneaks up on you... 

kind of like I did in that photo I snapped of Jill,,,

and says, 

"pssssst....hey you...you're pretty okay, ya know?  

you made an impact, and you are an inspiration?"

Readers, keep being who you are, 

because chances are, 

YOU are that someone to someone else. 

Best,

Anne

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CPR

That's what I needed. 

A dose of epi, a little B12, hell, maybe even full-blown 

resuscitation. 

I was freaking burned out, 

and didn't give much of a flip 

whether I ever picked up the camera again. 

 I put it down for a spell, and let it rest. 

It wasn't the fault of my clients, 

far from it. It was due to my type-A, 

can't say no, gotta go, go, go, mindset 

that has sadly dictated the last 6 years of my photography 

business model. 

A conundrum of my own creation, 

and as usual, my own worst enemy. 

Being the all-or-nothing creature that I am, 

I did what felt natural to me... 

I pretty much said no to any and every job 

which came my way, save for a small group 

of long-time clients and one group of magazines. 

And then my best friend Tom coerced me into 

taking a photography workshop this past week. 

The Art of Intuitive Photography by Mindy Veissid, 

to be exact.

Wow. 

Mindy has done what I thought for sure 

what was impossible. 

She taught me to believe again. 

To trust in myself and my intuition again. 

To drum it into my head that there are no mistakes 

when you follow your heart and your calling. 

That CPR thing came by way of a beautifully 

gifted lady named Mindy, and she has rocked my world. 

Thank you Mindy, Lisa and Jill. 

Hope came in the package of two spitfire New Yorkers, 

and my own stubborn decison to get off my ass and say,

"oh okay, I'll give this workshop thing a shot...it'll only 

be a few hours outta my day regardless."

Sharing an image from the workshop. 

Just one for now. 

It's open for your own interpretation. 

I don't even feel compelled to share what it is,

or where I shot it. 

What matters most to me is that I stopped, 

took a breath, got out of my own way,

 and followed my intuition. 

I looked up, and whaddaya know? 

There it was.

So yeah... I reckon I'll be back to work 

with new eyes and a new purpose. 

To follow that voice inside of me that says 

"screw the rules, make up your own. tell fear to f off."

Message recieved, Mindy.

Message received.

Best,

Anne

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Summer-Fall 2016: Room No. 5, Carol Hicks Bolton

Bonjour!

As promised, here are more of the photos 

from our recent photo shoot at Carol Hicks Bolton's 

glorious shop, Room No. 5. 

Delights from their most recent shipment from France 

are the order of the day for this visit into Carol's world. 

This is only Part One, many more to come 

in the days ahead. 

Enjoy! 

And please pay a visit to Carol's 

beautifully revamped website to see 

more from our 4 years of collaborations. 

Click HERE to see all three of Carol Hicks Bolton's shops! 

Thank you for the visit to see what 

this very infrequent blogger has been up to!

Again, to see more, please visit Carol at 

http://www.carolhicksbolton.com/

Best,

Anne

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Room No. 5, Carol Hicks Bolton, Summer 2016 Sneak Peek

This lady. 

Her shops. 

Which is lovelier? Hard to say. 

Nope, strike that. 

Carol Hicks Bolton, divine though her shops may be, 

is far and away the lovelier of the two. 

But the very essence of Carol is made manifest 

in each lovingly crafted vignette, every carefully curated treasure, 

sort of rendering the question moot. 

I've been most fortunate to be able to collaborate 

with Carol on multiple website, advertising, and magazine 

photo shoots over the past 5 or so years. 

If you want a master class in all things ethereal, 

look no further than Mrs. Bolton.

We collaborated again this Summer 

on a big photo shoot / ad campaign for her shop Room No. 5.

The photo above was from that very shoot, 

an out-take, actually. I caught Carol unawares as she was 

styling this cabinet, and as it turns out, 

it's probably our favorite photo from the whole shoot. 

Art is funny like that...oftentimes it is created 

as a result of happy accidents. 

Anyway. 

I look back and see that I haven't blogged since April. 

I've been active on Facebook and Instagram, 

but the blog? Well, if you want the unadulterated truth, 

my heart just wasn't in it much anymore. 

I thought I wanted to close the door completely, 

but maybe I might just leave the door cracked open, ever so slightly. 

You know, for stuff like this. 

The good stuff, sharing what I want, when I want, 

with no apologies or explanations offered 

for the infrequency of my posts. 

I've had some friends lament that I had shut the blog down completely, 

making it impossible to access old posts, many of which featured 

photos from their own projects or shoots. 

So here it is, unlocked and sorta open for business. 

If I'm not manning the store, feel free to wander and browse. 

I'll be headed back soon to post the rest of our photos 

from Carol's Room No. 5 shoot. 

Because her stuff is so beyond perfection, that I want to see 

her shop(s) plastered all over Pinterest and the like.  

Thanks for the visit. 

It's nice to be back.

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Published, Spring Where Women Create Business

Every once in a rare while, 

you meet someone who is a 

true force of nature. 

A dynamic, innovative, inspired, genuine, 

ebullient, indomitable, 

bona-fide force of Mother Nature Almighty. 

For me, that someone was Bex Hale. 

{all photos copyright Anne Lorys Photography}

 { Bex and Facebook sensation, Baby Lulu *grin* }

Last year, my buddy Bex agreed to
go on this crazy adventure with me,
and I photographed the photos which accompany her story
in the Spring issue
of Where Women Create Business.

With a background in industrial technology and engineering,  

Bex parlayed these strengths into her true passions... 

interior design and decor. 

And quite the pedigree she possesses 

in the design realm, mmm hmm.

Having collaborated with the likes of Robert Redford, 

The Sundance Channel, Lexus, The Fairmont Hotel, 

and oh, just a little old thang like being 

featured on  HGTV's DESIGN STAR (!!!!! ),

Bex was a natural to share her story, 

her life, her business acumen, 

and her joie de vivre with all the readers of 

Where Women Create Business Magazine

In the Spring 2016 issue, 

Bex shares her design business 

in Wimberley, TX,  Relics Home, 

her luxury vacation rental  Relics Ranch, 

and not only the tale of how she and 

hubby David met, but also shares 

a great big old chunk of her heart with us.... 

Baby Lulu.

But first, the design studio.

The collaborative process where dreams come to life 

and decors become seriously awesome.

The design studio.

Bex herself. 

'Tis a shame she's not the least bit photogenic. 

{ cough, cough, beauty queen, cough, cough }

Relics Ranch, designed from stem to stern by Bex. 

Texas meets art deco meets "why the heck not?"

 Nobody but nobody rocks a victory roll like this gal!

And then her heart... 

I've heard moms describe their children as 

"my heart that walks around outside my body."

That. That right there tells you all you need to know 

about the bond between this red-headed dynamo 

and her towheaded angel baby.

Yep, that's Lulu. 

As in THE Lulu, 

the cute little tushie revealed in my 

previously shared ( months ago ) 

photo titled "Cowgirl Up." 

Now you've got a face to go with the 

checkered, bloomered tookus!

And I owe a huge debt of thanks to my friend 

and photographer Dixie Sims Dobbins 

Check Dixie out HERE!

for sharing these photos of Bex 

as she was one of the VIP's 

attending the recent Where Women Create 

 TRIBE event at Zapp Hall in Warrenton.

It was a collective celebration of women creatives, 

with a special focus on gals highlighted in all 

the current issues of the "Where Women" family of magazines.

 { photo courtesy Dixie Sims Dobbins }

 { photo courtesy Dixie Sims Dobbins }

 { photo courtesy Dixie Sims Dobbins }

  { photo courtesy Dixie Sims Dobbins }

  { photo courtesy Dixie Sims Dobbins }

As always, I thank my friends and family 

at Where Women Create. 

Jo, Brandy, Amber....you make each project 

a magical experience from start to finish. 

And Bex, to you... 

I think you know. 

I adore you, I idolize you, 

I know that I know that I know 

that I am a much better person 

having you in my orbit. 

Go on, you unstoppable force of nature...

conquer the world now!

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