Meet Vivienne McMaster, blogger, photographer, passionate soul. I first stumbled upon Vivienne a few years ago when she was embarking upon the 365 Days project with Flickr, which is a year’s worth of self portraits. (How brave is that? Seriously.) After watching her year unfold, I was definitely in love — both with Vivienne’s vivacious spirit, and with her clear, colour-drenched photography.

Now playing with several projects including an on-going self portrait series, arty TTY shots, adorable Holga images, and quirky polariods, Viv is doing the world a service by giving us a  a long cold swallow of beauty on a daily basis.  

Vivienne had to skip Soulsisters in order to take her sweet ten-year-old traveling companion to Folkfest. While I missed having her at the cabin, I feel like we are all the better for having her take in that world through the viewfinder. How she gets such goregous, lively shots in such a crowded, crazy venue is beyond me — but I’m sure glad she does.

We here at Magpie Girl are lucky enough to preview a sample package of Vivienne’s most recent, color saturated shots. I feel like each one holds a myriad of stories. What captures your fancy in these long cool draughts of lovely? (Click on thumbnail to get their full-sized goodness.) 

Vivienne was just robbed and lost her computer, among other treasures. So please support her work by commenting, raving, and purchasing prints. May your world be richer today because you saw it through Vivienne’s lens.  Cheers, Viv!

Artist’s Statement:I’m Vivienne, a portrait and fine art photographer based in Vancouver, British Columbia. My photographic interests are very widespread and I let myself follow the muse to wherever and whatever I’m drawn to photograph. That sometimes makes it hard to pinpoint one specific style or content, but does allow me to be on an endlessly developing and interesting photographic journey.  Read the rest of this entry »

Oh my, I am trying so hard to be brave. Here I am with my guitar at the Soulsister’s house on Hartsine Island. (I do so dislike having my picture taken — and now I have to take them of myself!) And here I am in the podcast, chatting and SINGING in front of you! (Be brave!)

Listen to the podcast here:

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What makes you feel afraid? Where are you practicing bravery? Do tell!

 In this post: Reflections of a vagabond in a borrowed guitar at a rented house. Would you like to Unravel? Sign up for Susannah Conway’s photography and journaling ecourse.

I wake up before as the sun is just rising over the horizon, tingeing the sky with light and calling the trees out of the darkness. The green fleece saddle blanket is warm around me and I rub my feet together in a subconscious ritual of awakening. I am a little stiff from my night on the couch (a side effect of insomnia, this wandering and sleeping in odd places.) Still, despite the stiffness, there’s not much that could make me happier than this weekend on our island retreat with my murmur of Soulsisters.

Ten of us have gathered here on the Sound, carving out for ourselves the Soultribe we could not find elsewhere. We range in age from our 40s’ to our teens. We are single-married-divorced. We are child free by choice or circumstance, and in the process of raising offspring. We are employed and freelance, looking and established. We live in 3 countries, 4 states, and one province. The one thing we have in common is that we all of us need a Tribe – not to define who we are, but to support who we are. Not a place of rules and membership guidelines, but just a place to be.  That’s what we are doing here on our island retreat, under our green blankets, at the dawning of day.

Already, with just one afternoon and evening behind us, I am fully convinced that this was worth it. The time and the money and the travel; the risk and the “jump!” and the Gremlins.  Something good is getting itself born. And we will help you get your something good born to. Whatever you do hold on to hope, your Soultribe is coming. Our’s arrival here is a harbinger of good things to come.

 May peace greet you this Sunday morning. Shalom.

Rachelle Mee-Chapman is an alt.minister dedicated to helping Soultribes get born.  To take some practical first-steps, or to read how-we-did-it interviews with fabulous Soultribe practitioners click here. To follow along as we stumble, experiment, and dance our way towards our Soulsisters Soultribe, follow our progress here.  Thank you for being here.

Do you ever get ready to do something great, and suddenly everything seems to go to hell? Things fall apart and those voices in your head, well, they get really loud.

That’s happening with some of us who are gathering for Soulsisters ‘09 this weekend. We are workin’ on it! But I’m sure you have ideas about what to do too. So here’s a re-post fromthe Soulsisters blog –  ‘cuz we need Magpie Girl readers to add to our Giant Pool of Wisdom. Can you help? ……

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So I’ve heard through my Twitter and email that our Gremlins are chattering away at us and they aren’t being very nice. Gremlins, for those of you new readers our there, are the little voices in our heads who tell us un-true things. Most of the time they are trying to help, but they are a little mis-guided. But sometimes they are just downright being nasty.

According to Jen Lee, she of the Lovebombers–a group which was the inspiration for Soulsisters–the Gremlins like to get chatty right before we gather up with other powerful, creative women. And one of the things they like to say best is:

 ”You don’t belong here and nobody is going to like you.”

 Yeah, you’re right back in Jr. High. Sucks.

 So what can we do about it? I like to build my Gremlins a house where they can sit down and have a nice Gin and Tonic and SHUT UP ALREADY. I also write down all the things they are saying to me and put those quotes away for them. That way the Gremlins know I’m listening to them and sometimes quieten down. It also helps to say a little affirmation. My Gremlins are pretty silly, so I like the silly affirmation from Bill Smiley (was that his name?) on SNL:

 ”I’m loveable, I’m capable, and doggonit, people like me!”

When all else fails call a Soulsister and ask her to tell you *8Things that are Great about You. (She won’t mind, honest.) And remember, if your Gremlins are talking a blue streak, it’s a sure sign that something good is trying to get itself born.

Are your Gremlins coming out? (They also like to mess with your relationship with your significant other; sneeze on your children so they get strep throat right before you leave; and pour sugar in your carburetor.) What are your Gremlins up to? What are your tricks for dealing with the pesky little buggers? How can we help?