What does it mean to "Define Yourself"?

KaZ Brownlee
Creative Producer/Film and Television Consultant
Torfoot Inc.

What does it mean to "Define yourself"? Is that a philosophical, ethical, spiritual, social, emotional, or a general question? Or is it a definition that addresses your clothes, hair, makeup, skin, body, the car you drive, your j-o-b, the company you keep, your children, grandchildren, being childless?

I could go on and on (and given the chance you know I will). Does the definition of YOU address your essence or you superficially?

I don't purport to have ANY answers to these questions for anyone, most of all for myself. BUT I do get glimpses of answers in my daily life.

I think defining yourself encompasses ALL of the above.

Am I REALLY what I wear? Is it an expression of who I am or a costume or mask?
Does my mood affect what I wear or does what I wear affect my mood?

Am I those last, stubborn 10 pounds, those stacked heels, that spiffy little sports car, truck or the station wagon?

You may be saying to yourself, this topic just has me scratching my head, where is she going with this? OR does it give birth to an AHA moment?

Give yourself a little time to let this sink in. I am not looking for you or myself to get into some deep meditation about it but this may spurn you on to do just that at a time in your life when you are searching for some answers. You may feel absolute confidence in who you are and you may be rolling your eyes and saying hey, if I knew who I was would I be reading this now?

For me all of this is an expression of my inner self but they are NOT my inner self. Do you get the difference?

Hey, I loved having a little sports car to ride in with the top down and the wind blowing through my hair and the sun shining down on my head (ok, on my hat because I didn't want a burned scalp), but if it went away tomorrow (and it did, I got pregnant and couldn't get in or out of it anymore!) am I still me? YOU BETCHA!

Maybe I did just define who I am. I just... AM!

Until next time!

5 Biggest Misconceptions About Ethnic Aging

Krizia from www.myBeautyMatch.com

In an earlier post, I spoke about how ethnicity does play a role in aging. This is very true, some skin behaves and responds differently than others, which is why there are so many products out there for every combination of skin. But there are many stereotypes and misconceptions out there and I want to reveal where these ideas come from.

Many years ago when I was still working in the corporate world, I had dinner with a group of colleagues and ended up chatting with one (Caucasian) colleague who had turned the big 5-0 and who had so many concerns about aging. Her daughter, who at the time was my age, had just had a baby and she was now a grandmother, but she wasn’t sure she was ready to assume the role. I remember trying to comfort her by telling her that she looked amazing and that no one would believe she was over 41! She looked at me with a half smile and said “it’s easy for you to say because you’ll never have any wrinkles or sagging skin because black skin never ages!”

I know from experience that every time I go for a facial, visit a cosmetic dermatologist or interview beauty experts, they often comment on the condition of my skin. I always remind them that it’s not so much my ethnic makeup that allows me to age this well, but it’s the fact that I treat my body like a temple and I’m quite careful with my lifestyle choices.

The truth is that black skin does age and there are many black people walking around with wrinkled and sagging skin because their lifestyle was not conducive to aging well.

On that note, I’d like to sum up by looking at what I see as the 5 most prevalent stereotypes associated with ethnic aging:

1. Blacks never age: Most black women don’t have to deal with fine lines and wrinkles, but they do have to deal with droopiness and skin sagging.

2. East Indian women have no aging concerns: East Indian women deal with a lot of the same skincare issues as black women. Their major concerns deal with skin discolouration, patchiness and blotchiness. In some cases, East Indian women deal with severe dark circles around their eyes.

3. Asians always look so much younger than their age: A lot of people associate aging with body size and since many Asian women tend to be on the petite side, many people view them as “looking younger than their age”. That said, if you look at the face of Asian women you’ll notice that as they age they’ll have to contend with dropping eyelids, under eye puffiness and deep marionette lines around their mouth.

4. It’s inevitable, Caucasians will always look older than their age: A lifetime of excessive sun exposure WILL leave Caucasian skin subject to premature aging, severe discolouration and deep wrinkles. When Caucasian women stay out of the sun they significantly reduce their chances of looking much older than their age.

5. Blacks don’t have to worry about skin cancer or sun burns because they have dark skin: There are incidences of skin cancer among blacks and I know firsthand that black skin DOES burn when exposed too long to hot sun.

The Changing Face of Work for Women

Dale Brownlee

I am part of the early cohort of Canadian women that worked by choice in noticeable numbers. For us, the first noticeable change was that women’s jobs began to include a broadening range of opportunities that had formerly been closed to most women. In case I paint too rosy a picture, that broadening range of opportunities was horizontal, not vertical!

We got comments like “I think you are selfish to work – you should be having children”, or “It is too bad you HAVE to work.” The famous glass ceiling either did not exist then, or it was made of cement! And there was no shortage of unacceptable comments on our dress and appearance.

Today’s data shows increasing percentages of women in the workplace and in management, and decreasing wage gaps between men and women. And I think that women are now an accepted part of most Canadian workforces. But at the same time women face a huge new challenge that we did not – having to compete not only with men, but also with lots of other women.

Along with that, in the last 5 or so years before I retired, I couldn’t help but notice a disturbing change happening. My generation of women workers were able to depend on each other for support, workplace friendship, a helpful ear. Today’s women are as busy as men focusing on upward mobility. While this is a natural progression, I was distressed to see it accompanied by the formerly male territories of protecting turf, fighting off challengers, and neutralizing the influence of competent (mainly female) colleagues.

Maybe this is a temporary phenomenon and women will be able to return to the true skills of mentoring, supporting and promoting one another. Until that happens however, I have to admit to relief that I am now (happily) retired and out of the range of fire of those I used to consider supporters.

Canada vs the States: Cosmetic enhancements and vision of beauty and aging – the reactions

KaZ Brownlee
Creative Producer/Film and Television Consultant
Torfoot Inc.


So once I was having work done on my face for a while, I wanted to reflect on others saw me and how their reactions made me feel. First off, in Canada the emphasis on your age doesn't seem to be so crucial. I have never been asked my age by anyone in the biz and I work with fantastically talented and experienced women of all ages. Talent seems to win out more so than a size 2 body and a neatly pressed face.

I have become very proud of my fitness level and the shape I am in because I have worked tirelessly at obtaining it. OK, yes, I am a size 2 but I AM a little gal (5'4") and was always small. I only gained some weight after my later-in-life pregnancy and becoming more sedentary for a few years. I have gotten back into my working weight (I was a dancer, stunt woman, professional water skier and circus artist) and I am training clients now so I like to be a healthy example. However, I digress. 45, 46, 47, started to feel REALLY good to me and now at 49 I look in the mirror and think "You GO girl, the hard work has paid off".

I have become very comfortable in my skin and am not afraid to tell anyone who asks how old I am. Here's the rub...I was talking to a gal pal of mine in LA and the subject of age came up. I told her, 'Ya know, I am going to be 50 in January". And she said "Shut Up!" I said, "...no really, I am going to be 50". She said, "no, really, I mean you should shut up about it."

I guess the deer in headlights look I gave her said it all, so she explained - "When you look too good, you alienate people. They are insecure enough as it is so if you look too good, they just hate you." "Isn't that their problem?" I asked. Well, not if you are trying to work with them or get a project done, she told me.

So here's the dilemma, do I let myself go and not alienate these insecure, dysfunctional 'Hollywood' types or do I give them the one finger salute and carry on??? I think by now you can guess what my decision was. I wish I was a low maintenance gal but, alas, it was not meant to be. I have a friend who has had nary a thing done to her face and she can just slick some Vaseline on her lips, curl her eyelashes and step out into the world looking 30 at 56. Expletive deleted.

www.allthatkaz.com

My secret to looking rested and youthful

KaZ Brownlee
Creative Producer/Film and Television Consultant
Torfoot Inc.


So I touched on my last post on how I went from maintenance procedures to non-invasive injections. In this post I wanted to go into my experience with injections and how it made me feel. As mentioned before, injections became my new friend and BOY did they work.

Every 6 months or less without fail I was in my doctor's office telling him to "Load me up". Luckily for me, my Vancouver doctor is conservative and would tell me definitively when I did and DID NOT need a booster. I only go to "face" doctors in Vancouver AND if you are conservative - NO ONE KNOWS you are having it done.

I have had my lips injected, my neck, chin, forehead, temples and until now it has been my secret. I don't have that liver lipped, G-Force look on my face. I just look rested and youthful. LA doctors can be scary and although you may go in just for injections, you could end up with a laundry list of procedures from a forehead and eye lift to a boob job. Trust me, it happened to one of my best friends!

www.allthatkaz.com

What drove my attention to my ‘aging face’ at 35

KaZ Brownlee
Creative Producer/Film and Television Consultant
Torfoot Inc.


Being brought up in the entertainment industry since the age of twelve I would say I have been at a distinct disadvantage from an aging standpoint since the age of thirty-five. That being said, I come from a line of extremely good genes and we all look at least 10 years younger than our chronological age. It was never important to my grandmother or my mother but they never had to be on camera, on stage or shop a project to twenty-somethings at major film and TV studios.

I started really being "interested" in my aging face at about thirty-five. I got chemical peels, glycolic peels, and deep facials. At that point, I felt it was a maintenance issue. But around 40 when I looked in the mirror and a saggier version of me looked back, I opted for injections. My manager and producer had NO idea at the time how old I was and the subject never came up.

I was still commuting between LA and Vancouver, so “don't ask, don't tell” was the motto of the day. Fear was instilled into you that a casting director or someone in a position of power would discover your age and forever pigeon-hole you because, frankly, they have no imagination. If they know you are 40 or 50, regardless if you look like it or not, that’s all they will remember. In my case, my career drove my anti-aging approach- perhaps prematurely.

www.allthatkaz.com

Women lie about their age, but not the way you think!

According to a recent 'Lie About Your Age' contest and survey conducted by Define Yourself, over 50% of women surveyed admitted to lying about their age and 30% of those shared that they say they are 5-10 years older, not younger! These results were initially surprising but when we dug a little deeper we learned that women enjoyed the positive, disbelieving reaction from others. Ultimately it is not about the age but the feeling of looking good in other people's eyes.

In going into this survey we anticipated that we would learn much about women and the negative reasons why they felt pressured to lie about their age, but what came through loud and clear is that women are more liberated than ever before. As one woman proclaimed 'At age 34, I realized that I looked good for 34 but if I said I was 44, I would look amazing!". Crazy? No. Onto something? Maybe!

The winner of the “Best Lie about Your Age” contest has been announced!

Krizia from www.myBeautyMatch.com

On August 22, 2008 I had the pleasure of spending a lovely afternoon with four other judges to read the entries from the “Best Lie about Your Age” Contest and crown a victorious winner.

The “Best Lie about Your Age” Contest (the first of its kind) is the brainchild of DefineYourself.ca, a website and community dedicated to women and their feelings about aging.

I laughed and debated with the other judges (Robina, Megan, Fauna, Donna and Ann) about the stories that had been submitted for the contest.

Many of the stories were what you would expect from a contest that asked to depict the best lie story you’ve ever told … but a lot of stories were a real surprise. A number of women (and men) admitted that they had never lied (EVER) about their age (but luckily half of the women surveyed revealed lying about their age). Although noble, these stories didn’t make the cut because the idea was to get an entertaining story about a good lie.

Surprisingly, many entries were about women who had lied about their age to let others believe they were older than their age (30% of women have admitted to adding candles to their birthday cake to “appear” older). I’ve got to admit to have been puzzled by that one until another judge talked about the payback of such a decision. You see if you are 38 and you tell someone that you just celebrated your 48th birthday, the automatic reaction would be along the lines of: “wow, you look incredible for your age”. It’s interesting that someone would get a kick out of being told constantly that they look great for their age because they tacked on an extra 10 years to their biological age.

Some stories, expectedly, were about women who had lied about their age because of the fear of chasing away a younger love interest … those stories were expected … but nevertheless entertaining and in many cases quite hilarious.

In the end after reading numerous submissions and taking time to individually score them there was a very clear winner. We all agreed that the winning entry had all the makings of a great story and the visual factor from the description was priceless.

After reading Cathy Andrew’s (from Toronto) story, it was impossible NOT to crown her the winner.

Cathy’s comical story about being “outed” during an intimate experience with her younger boyfriend was simply too good to be true. Basically, the story unfolds because Cathy had no choice but to confess that she had lied about her age when her hormone patch landed on her fairly freaked out boyfriend. This little unexpected incidence forced her to admit that the patch was in fact a menopausal low-dose hormone patch and NOT a contraceptive patch!

The other top four stories were also quite entertaining and one of them was in a sense quite sad because it’s the story of a woman who had to lie about her age to achieve a life goal that would set the course for the rest of her life (and she was in her 50s).

In the end, Cathy Andrew’s stories really met all of the criterion and the fun factor could not be ignored or denied!

Only a few days left for “Best Lie about Your Age” Contest!

Krizia from www.myBeautyMatch.com

This is the last week for you to participate in the The Best Lie About Your Age Contest which will run until August 22, 2008.

There have been thousands of people from across the country visiting the DefineYourself.ca site to share their best lie stories and some of the entries are incredibly candid, crafty and quite humorous.

There have been some really interesting findings from the entries and I cannot wait to learn more and share them with you.

In a few days (on Friday, August 22), I will sit down with the panel of Define Yourself judges to determine the best lie story based on our criteria.

The judging panel will include women from seasons 1 and 2 of DefineYourself.ca. For an entire afternoon Robina, Megan, Fauna, Donna, Ann and I will be sitting around a table to discuss, debate, agree and disagree on the many entries that were submitted!

I’m sure there will be a lot to debate about and quite a few hilarious moments and I will report all of the highlights on the site.

Don’t forget, it’s NOT too late to participate. You can still submit a great “lie story” and enter a chance to win $1000 of Medical Spa pampering and rejuvenation!

To participate, simply visit http://www.defineyourself.ca/.

The “Best Lie about Your Age” Contest going strong!

Krizia from www.myBeautyMatch.com

There have been thousands of people from across the country visiting the DefineYourself.ca site to share their best lie stories. Nothing like a cool contest to grab people’s attention.

It’s quite fascinating how much easier it is to get people to admit to lying about their age in total anonymity as opposed to getting them to admit this on camera.

A few weeks ago, I tagged along with Aimee from DefineYourself.ca to invite Torontonians to share their best lie stories. Most people were quite happy to hear about the contest and they were thrilled at the idea of being able to win $1,000 of MedSpa pampering and rejuvenation, but when it came time to actually getting them to talk on camera … that was a whole different ball game.

The truth is that most people have lied about their age at some point or another for whatever reason, but they don’t necessarily let others know of that publicly.
People lie about their age for a number of reasons:

• Vanity
  
• Industry related realities for those working in front of the camera
  
• Ageism in the work place and the fear of being passed over for promotion
  
• Dating a younger partner
  
• Dating after a recent divorce or the break-up of a long term relationship
  
• Body image issues and not feeling happy about the visible signs of aging

The Best Lie About Your Age Contest will run until August 22, 2008. The judging panel consists of women from DefineYourself.ca’s previous season casts and yours truly!

The contest is open to all Canadian men and women and will be judged based on the craftiest and most outrageous story.

To participate, simply visit www.defineyourself.ca to enter!

In Conversation with Charla Krupp

Charla Krupp, bestselling author of How Not To Look Old and beauty and fashion expert talks straight about women over 40 and how they can get their appearance working for them. Charla believes:

· Aging sucks!
· We live in a ‘look-cist’ society
· Women need to put themselves first
· Women have been made to feel that taking care of yourself is vain and superficial
· Age discrimination in the workplace is alive and well.
· Women cannot afford to let themselves go if they want to stay employed.


Download mp3 (right click & save as).


Click above to listen to her interview.
Read more about Charla. Buy her book.

Looking to find the next Anti-Aging Diva!

Krizia from www.myBeautyMatch.com

Have you ever lied about your age? I think it’s safe to say that we’ve all lied about our age at some point in our life.

When you were a teenager, you might have lied about your age to appear older in order to take advantage of privileges reserved for people who were older or to increase your chances of catching the attention of a certain boy.

Later in life, you might have lied about your age to date a younger man or because you simply felt that your age didn’t reflect where you thought you’d be at this point in your life.

It could also simply be that you’ve lied about your age because certain “numbers” made you feel “old” and that feeling scared you.

DefineYourself.ca has just launched a nationwide contest: the Best Lie About Your Age Contest which is open until August 22, 2008.

The contest was inspired by a recent story in the British press about a talkshow host who admitted to keeping quiet when the media dropped a year from her real age ... DefineYourself.ca wants Canadians to share their great lie stories.

The contest is open to all Canadian men and women and will be judged based on the craftiest and most outrageous story. Alas, American readers won’t be able to participate in this contest.

The judging panel consists of women from DefineYourself.ca’s previous season casts and yours truly!

Here’s the best part of the contest: the crowned Anti-Aging Diva will receive a $1,000 credit for a day of pampering and services and will be featured on DefineYourself.ca!!!

To participate, simply visit DefineYourself.ca to enter!

DefineYourself.ca awarded for innovative approach

We just arrived back from New York where we were honoured by the IABC with a Gold Quill award. I guess we are striking a chord with women, and marketers!

The IABC recently awarded the Define Yourself campaign with the Gold Quill award for Excellence in creating an electronic communications platform which effectively delivers a message and engages our community of boomer women.


We are thrilled that the IABC recognized our authentic approach in appealing to women around feelings and experiences, not sales.

Watch our thank you video.
Listen to our interview with Blog Talk Radio.

Can your looks prevent you from getting that promotion or close that deal?

Krizia from www.myBeautyMatch.com

It seems that when it comes to answering this question, women fall into two camps: 1) those who think that it’s all about what you have to bring (aka: your skills and your intelligence) and 2) those who think that their message can only go further if they present themselves in a certain way.

A lot of women still think that taking time for themselves to present themselves in the best light is vain.

Historically, vanity has never been a trait one aspires to. Who wants to be labeled as shallow, petty, weak, and self-centered? No one really wants to be perceived as being vain…at least no one wants to be vain and have others notice it.

But this begs the question: Are we not all a little vain? If we didn’t have the slightest penchant for vanity, we’d all throw our mirrors out the window because we’d have no use to admire ourselves in attempt to looking our best.

Truth be told, we do care about our appearances and we do care about how we are perceived by others. This resonates even louder as we age.

Now, I want to make sure that I’m clear here, I’m not talking about being or becoming a people-pleaser and I’m not saying that others should define who we are. Nah, what I’m saying is that the way we present ourselves has bearing on our own self-esteem but also on how others perceive us.

This is where the title of this post comes in. There are certain things that remain unsaid, but if you are in position that represents the company you work for or if you’re in a profession that requires you to negotiate, your appearance could help you make or break a deal.

Some of us are lucky enough to have a gene pool and/or a lifestyle that will take us well into our seventies with minimal medical interference. But for others, a little help from our cosmetic dermatologist or plastic surgeon might be required if we intend on looking a certain way as we age.

Today ageism is a bit more subtle. No one will tell you that you look tired all the time and that clients are not responding all that well to the image your project, instead, a younger colleague might start getting more clients or deals than you or perhaps you might not even be part of the list for that new coveted promotion.

I have an excellent example of a school teacher who had very strained relationships with her students (who feared her) and on parent nights, few parents really wanted to interact with her. This school teacher (who was in her mid 30s) had a strong frown muscle that made her look angry all the time. A friend of hers suggested Botox® and ever since, this school teacher’s relationships with her students, peers and parents of her students have changed radically.

Can the anti-aging industry become an industry of pure vanity that strives to attain an unreachable image of perfection and eternal youth? Is it possible to walk around with an exaggerated frozen expression because of too much Botox®? Can we go overboard with too many cosmetic procedures in too short of a time period? Yes, of course, and there are too many examples to remind of us of the flip side of the anti-aging industry.

The goal here is to find a middle ground — somewhere between obsessive pursuit of beauty myths and just not caring enough about one’s appearance. That’s where most of us would hope to be as we age…and it is not particularly a bad thing.

Let’s put it out there — vanity is not all that bad. After all, it’s an undisputable fact that we feel better when we look better. We might want to brush it off as being futile, but there seems to be something deeply ingrained — perhaps deeper than any social pattern – that makes us feel better about ourselves when we look our best.

Furthermore, we send some messages that are completely unrelated to beauty when we look our best. It tells others that we care about ourselves. It communicates a sense of respect for our health and well-being. It also demonstrates a level of respect for others that we take the time and effort necessary to look good prior to dealing with them. It shows the world that we take it, and ourselves, seriously.

© Copyright Beauty Match Network. All rights reserved.

Does ethnicity play a role in aging?

Krizia from www.myBeautyMatch.com

Project Runway Canada’s host, Iman, has been very vocal in her statement that: “black don’t crack”. If this is the first time you’ve heard of this saying it refers to the fact that many black women don’t show any signs of aging such as deep wrinkles and sagging skin simply because they are genetically blessed.

Well, study after study has proven that aging is 80-90 per cent related to lifestyle and not genes. On the subject of blacks never aging, I’ve seen my fair share of blacks who had deep wrinkles and sagging skin. If you smoke, drink heavily, worship the sun … you will age and it will show … regardless of your ethnic makeup.

That said, different ethnicities will show different signs of aging. Iman is not entirely wrong in her assessment. If you are black and if you take care of your skin, exercise, eat well, stay away from fast foods, don’t smoke, don’t drink heavily and if you don’t partake in recreational drugs, you should be able to hit your 70s and still fool people around you in thinking that you are 20 years younger.

Black beauties (as I like to call them) are born with an integrated anti-aging and protective photo-protective shield called melanin.

Melanin (the substance that gives skin its colour), plays a huge part in how different ethnicities show the signs of aging. Lighter and fairer complexions are very much susceptible to aging faster because harmful UV rays from the sun can penetrate their skin more easily and deeply. As a result, their skin loses moisture more quickly, and collagen breaks down more rapidly than in a thicker, darker skin.

Just in case you were wondering, melanin is found at the bottom of the epidermis. It acts as barrier against the rays that damage the dermis, acting as a built-in sun filter and considerably slowing down the signs of aging.

That said, although darker-skin beauties might not have to worry as much about photo-aging, they still have concerns about skin cancer, as melanin does NOT protect the skin against skin cancer.

© Copyright Beauty Match Network. All rights reserved.

Everybody's line is different

I started thinking about my views on ‘getting a little cosmetic help’ one night seven years ago when the ladies from my mom’s group went out for dinner. Over wine someone posed the roundtable question—where do you guys stand on cosmetic enhancement? Would you ever have any work done?

Well I had to give this some serious thought before I answered. Because, while my default answer may have immediately been ‘no’, I have already made cosmetic enhancement, maintenance or ‘normalizing’ choices. I was born with a birthmark on my face and have had a series of laser treatments to reduce the birthmark over the last fifteen years. And, I wear makeup to cover the birthmark every day and have since I was thirteen years old. Why? Because it allows me to operate more effectively and comfortably in the world that we live in.

So, in essence I have been pursuing cosmetic help for some time and am truly grateful that I have the option to do so. So, when I went back to contemplating where I stood on the issue I realized that I was very much pro-choice and pro-options and while my pursuit of treatment may today be focused on normalizing rather than enhancing, I can’t say that down the road I won’t pursue other things.

More importantly, I feel really strongly that women should not judge other women who make cosmetic choices. Because, it is a very personal choice and we don’t always know what drives people to do things or what each person’s individual story is. Everyone’s line is different.

Margaret from Season One Speaks with my Beauty Match

Be sure to tune in to this week’s podcast on mybeautymatch.com where Margaret discusses aging, being part of Define Yourself, the ways she maintains her youthful appearance, and her thoughts on the idea of “growing old gracefully”.

Listen to Margaret’s conversation on the Beauty Match Buzz Podcast and don’t miss Part One of the Define Yourself interviews.

my Beauty Match Interviews Robina from Season One

This week, Robina, one of the cast members of Define Yourself Season One, sits down for an interview with my Beauty Match to discuss aging, non-invasive rejuvenation treatments, her experience on Define Yourself, and her ultimate secret to aging well.

Listen to part one of Robina's interview on mybeautymatch.com and stay tuned for part two.

In conversation with Arline Malakian

International Artist, Fashion Photographer, Author, Creator

Catharine Fennell sits down with Arline Malakian to discuss women, aging and the importance of defining yourself. First in a three-part series.

Art: The Gaze. A Photographic tableaux. http://www.alavri6.com/arline
Book: Be a woman. Expressions of Life. http://www.be-awoman.com/

Listen to the full audio podcast.


CF: How do you define yourself (when it comes to aging)?
AM: I have discovered with time, the more of a friend I become with me, the free-er and more me I become. I am who I have created me to be. The aging helped! I call this maturity. I have a past but I am not my past. I have found the strength to find and define who I am.

CF: How old were you when you found your “backbone”?
AM: Let me tell you that I am not entirely there yet! I ask myself some key questions... What am I here for? What difference can I make in this world? These questions kept me on my own trail. In my work, I am in the foreground of what society defines to be modern or beautiful – part of making these trends and the futility of it. It is only things to play with- but we don’t have to take this on.

CF: Tell us about your craft, your recent photographic art exhibit: The Gaze
AM: The gaze is the celebration of the moment. The gaze is impregnated with our own experiences and individual connections in the moment. Connect, reflect and create.

Contact Arline: arline@total.net