"Faerieland" | The Beginning ...

Friends-

Finally.

I've been so incredibly excited to begin sharing this new collection w/ all of you!

A little background about "Faerieland"...

The idea to do this, I mean really do this type of collection started about 3 months ago when I was walking my 12 acre property. I was wandering long trails, endless fields, listening to the newly melted streams trickling along, and laying on moss covered logs in quiet forests that were just about to come alive. The concepts began slowly, just like the green that began to show itself over the days that turned from frigid Winter to radiant Spring.

Everything was opening up. The frost melted, and the green began to show. Everywhere. I felt like a child again and began to take walks everyday with a notebook and my mp3 player with Solo piano on repeat. I was determined to listen to the forest and allow it to influence whatever was about to happen. It did.

As the days passed, ideas began to unfold. I stopped seeing things as just a photographer or a woman, or even as myself. I wanted to see them how a child would see them, or how a fairy would see them. What started as one very ethereal fairytale shoot quickly became two, then three and four, and before I knew it, I realized I had a written a book in pictures w/ ideas that were nurtured to the core.

This is the largest, most intricate storyboard & collection I've ever taken on in my life, and I couldn't be happier or more excited to begin sharing it with you. The first few are just the beginning. I'm working with an entire cast of characters from all over the United States, wonderful indi designers from all over the world, and a 12 acre estate that wants this to happen. I've even taken off the entire summer to allow myself to bring this to fruition, the right way. Creativity I find (for me) is something that cannot be forced, and so I've allowed it to come to me, in moments, minutes, days and weeks. To become immersed in an idea and nurture it until every one of those ideas are captured by my camera. This project was heavily inspired by the poetry of John Keats & the beautiful paintings by my absolutely favorite artist, John William Waterhouse.

Lastly, by the end of this story, I will also have a piece of music that I'm currently in the process of composing to play along with the storybook.

I can't say any more for now. But this is just the beginning. A glimpse.

Welcome to Faerieland...

The book above is the beginning of this story, and is actually an old antique book that someone sent to me dating to 1850. Though the words are not so visible with this smaller version, the elvish words across the cover read:

"Faerie Legend"

The text above are real words that I've translated from English to Sindarin Elvish.

The left page of this book is my dedication for this collection. It reads as follows:

"This collection is dedicated to being lost, being found, childhood innocence, and to perseverance"

Below the photo on the right page of the book, the line simply reads:

"faerieland"

I wanted the first piece to be a self portrait. The headdress in the above shot is made of leather and apple blossoms from three different colored trees and took me 4 hours to make. I wanted to work with elements from nature in everything that I shot for this story. This piece, entitled "Lith" (a shortened translation from the elvish word for Ashley ;) is one of my only in studio shots, but this will be a recurring character within the storyboard.

My goal for this collection is to reveal a new piece of the story every 1-2 weeks throughout the entire Summer.

Please enjoy. x

Ash | Bottle Bell

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