Grand Homes and Rennovations Interior/Exterior Photos

Exterior and Interior Photos I took for Grand Homes and Rennovations are up on their website.

For more photos from the Home Show Expo 2012

http://www.grandhomesiowa.com/project-gallery/custom-homes/ankeny-custom-home.php

Strange Names, Up Close and Personal at 80/35 Des Moines

Stange Names Facts

Hometown:

Liam (Brooklyn, NY) Francis (Staples, MN) 

Pre/post show rituals:

Smoke up 

Currently reading:

Revisiting "The Boxcar Children" 

"The Idiot" 

Favorite quotes: 

"I don't want no scrubs" - TLC 

"NyQuil on the rocks: sick but sociable" - Mitch Hedberg 

Music most influenced by: 

The English  

Thoughts on 80/35? 

Best cops ever 

Highlight while visiting Des Moines? 

Turkey legs!

Grill It! 2013

It's that time of the year again!  Summer and Grilling!  Here is an opener I shot to the 'Mexican Cookout' story in Grill It! 2013, get it now for recipes to help your grilling adventures! At your local Barnes And Nobles, or purchase online

Purchase online here

Photo taken with my iPhone

Brianne Cummins, Independent Hair Stylist from The Big Hair Ball 2013

Q and A Karla and Brianne


K: Give us a bit of your background, how you started, your business and what you specialize in?


B:  I have been a Cosmetologist for ten years.  I have been a freelance stylist for nearly four years.  In 2009, I became a trained color educator for an Italian color line, Artego.  As a freelance stylist, my work's been published in national publications such as Diabetic Living and Better Homes & Gardens.  I am a contributor for DSM Magazine and I‘m happy to say that my work was published in six of their top ten magazines they announced for their ten year anniversary. Over the years, I have worked with many national and local photographers.   I’ve owned my studio for two years, which has allowed me to tackle freelance and salon work while I finish my third college degree. 

K:  This was the first year the Big Hair Ball showcased Independent Hair Stylists.  Being an independent stylist, how did this affect you, and what are your thoughts on this new form of entry?

B:  I loved it! This was the third time that I have participated in the event.  The first time was with a salon and the second time another stylist and myself did it together.  It is time consuming, doing a large production with only two stylists.  We had a lot of models, a runway show to choreograph, costumes and of course hair.  Most of the other salons involved have a number of stylists and a budget to do this.  This year, with the new Independent Showcase, it allowed me to focus on one model.  All of my time, energy and money went into one person and it allowed my creativity to explode. 

K:  Stylists get to choose their theme for their showcase. Your theme played on darkness, how were you inspired and guided by the theme? 

B:  I collaborated with the other independent stylists and it reminded us of good and evil. So as a team, we did evil.  I came up with the whole idea for my model.  I am obsessed with trees and my model was perfect due to her height,  6'4.  I wanted her hair to represent tree branches. There was more hair to add but I can only put my model through so much torture!  I looked at countless ideas for makeup and my good friend, Lindsey Ritland, to do the work.  I combined four different inspirations to get the final look.  The roots across the chest made my idea come to life. I got that idea from a t-shirt design that I saw and fell in love with!  I am blown away by how my idea came to life and I love how my whole team put their 'signature' on the final piece. 

K:  Will you enter the next BHB?

B:  Hell yes! I wish I could do this everyday! 

K:  Is there anything you think Des Moines Art Center and/or stylists could do next year to add more success to The Big Hair Ball?

B:  I am naturally a restless person; I can never just sit down.  It would be nice to have monitors in the studios so we can watch the show.  We all work so hard for months at a time and it goes by within minutes then its over.  Another idea would be to have the runway earlier. The show should be the kick off to the party so then all of the guests can meet the stylists and the models.  This will allow us time to network and enjoy the party!



For more information on Brianne go to 
Hair by Brianne
All images taken by Karla Conrad
Makeup: Lindsey Ritland
Model: Ali Johnson
Assist: Becky Smith












  

 Copyright Karla Conrad 2013

Detroit, Michigan and The Heidelberg Project

A few weeks ago, we visited Detroit and Ann Arbor, Michigan to do a story shoot for Country Gardens.

Both places are amazing in their heavily contrasting ways.  Overall, Michigan is beautiful and amazing.

Blight is a description I recall mainly.  Abandonment, arson, industrialization, and declination were all first impressions to me.  It's easy to judge, but if one looks at the bigger picture you can see this city is full of vibrancy. The true story is Detroit was built for over 1.85 million people, and has fallen to a population of less than 700,000.   NBC's news quoted 90,000 abandoned buildings in 2012.  Needless to say, many challenging issues have developed in Detroit. From a mecca to a mercenary, this once thriving industrial giant has taken a knee while enduring one of the largest population declines the U.S. has ever seen.

To me, Detroit has an immense beauty.  It's abandonment tells a story of an industrial revolution gone terribly awry, but from this revolution's fall, a phoenix may yet emerge . . . 
When a city is left with nearly nothing, something will happen.  As human beings, when we are stripped of everything, and left with nothing, we find a way to survive and to grow.

Detroit's art revolution is now being watched closely, and their mayor, Dave Bing, has a plan to tear down abandoned buildings, to bring people closer together.  For hopes to build a better and stronger community.

We stopped in a neighborhood which is focused on "found objects" installed on Heidelberg Street, the neighborhood and its houses called "The Heidelberg Project".  Only a few houses on the street were occupied, one being the house of the artist's Mother.  

For more information and to answer further questions on The Heidelberg Project  

click here

Documentaries about Detroit, the Auto Industry, and it's present and future

"Roger and Me" Directed by Michael Moore, 1989
To view whole film 
https://youtu.be/gOwXkstRaBw

"Detropia"
See Trailer Below




For more photos of Detroit's background story...

NY TIMES Detroit Decline

More info on Detroit's artist community
Detroit Artist You Should Know



Urban Farming in Detroit is one of the next big things for its economy and sustainability.

Here is a commercial for Upside and Ford.



Art and Urban Farming are current uplifting factors for Detroit, its economy and its people.

For more stories on Urban Farming in Detroit, skip directly to 45min mark for story and reason why Urban Farming is so important to Detroit.

Big Hair Ball 2013

For more Behind the Scenes with Brianne Cummins, her model, and The Big Hair Ball
click here
For Big Hair Ball Runway Photos
click here For More, and more
click here