In John’s own words (emphasis mine):

“My work entitled, “The Grand Pixel” is a large 8ft tall by 16ft wide mosaic of downtown Grand Rapids highlighting the river and cityscape. It is made out of 250,512 tiny 6mm plastic colored balls and uses only 6 colors. From afar the Grand Rapids scene appears photographic but as one approaches the individual balls of color emerge as in the pointillist tradition. I started creating these mosaics as an undergrad student at Kendall College of Art and Design where I graduated in 2006. This mosaic needs to be displayed in a large open space where audiences are able to view from a distance as well as get up close enough to touch. Viewers are amazed by the detail achieved from such a limited palette and the sheer number of plastic colored balls used. This mosaic will be 4 – 8ft tall by 4ft wide panels that go together seamlessly against the wall. It is impressive by the way it overwhelms with it’s size yet still feels intimate as people want to get close to figure out how it works.”

The first photo below is one John sent me to show his work installed at the museum and the second is the actual photo used to create the layout for the mosaic. Thanks and if you see John at the exhibit, say hi and that Darrin sent you! : )

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You can also see our full page ad for Studio Erotas in this issue. Thanks to Amy Carroll for her help in putting our ad together. Not only is she an AMAZING photographer, she rocks when it comes to graphic design!

Danielle was featured in the magazine!! We are so happy she shared her boudoir experience with InFrame Bride!!

This is another one of our photos used in the magazine this year. Anna rocked it! : )

Our FULL-PAGE ad for InFrame Bride Magazine. A huge thanks to Amy Carroll for her graphic design skills!! : )

We have been working hard on launching a new endeavor, Studio Erotas and are excited to announce the website is now live! The following is the post from the new site announcing our services and a bit about the new studio. Darrin Wassom Photography is still very much alive, thriving and busy but we felt we should separate our boudoir photography business from wedding and portraiture.

We are very pleased and proud to announce Studio Erotas is open for business! As part of our move to Traverse City and officially opening Studio Erotas, we will be running a number of promotions that will be announced later this week. I’m guessing our readers may have a few questions so I hope to answer them below:

What is Studio Erotas?

Studio Erotas is an exclusive, high-end boudoir photography service provided by Darrin Wassom Photography. Yes, we have been doing boudoir photography for the last 3 years but felt we needed to separate this line of services from our main studio, Darrin Wassom Photography.

What does erotas mean?

Erotas is a modern Greek word that means, “passionate, crazy love in which you can think of nothing else” and we feel it provides a perfect definition of how we approach boudoir photography.

Where are you located?

We are located in Traverse City, Michigan and work out of our studio on the beautiful Spider Lake. We also have a studio in Grand Rapids, Michigan and would be happy to travel to your destination, no matter your locale.

Why did you open Studio Erotas?

Studio Erotas was launched to meet the growing demand of our clients to bring a unique, timeless and fresh approach to traditional boudoir photography.  We are an evolution of boudoir photography that is revolutionary in its mission, to explore light, shadows, texture and the human form to create visually stunning works of art. We are experts in the fine art of intimate photography and hold ourselves to a higher standard.

Who are you?

Studio Erotas is a team of creative, caring and committed individuals that share a passion for amazing photography and providing exceptional service. We will be with you every step of the way to create a unique photo session that will allow your individual personality and beauty to take center stage. We are definitely not “cookie-cutter” in our approach and pride ourselves in developing unique concepts for every client. Our favorite saying is, “if you can dream it, we can create it!”

I use “we” a lot when describing our services and team. That is because I have a great team at my side to ensure that every session is perfect. Rhonda, my awesome wife, is the “everything” person. To call her an assistant is not giving her contributions enough praise. She is always on-hand to help out in the studio and there is not a detail that slips by her expert eyes. She also handles much of the “boring” stuff that goes into running a successful business. As if that wasn’t enough, Rhonda can also provide hair and makeup services.

Emilie Eve is our hair and makeup genius at our Grand Rapids location. Emilie was one of our very first clients when we first opened our doors and it wasn’t long before she joined the team. She is an award winning makeup artist with a rich, diverse portfolio. She is also a former model and her experience is invaluable when helping our clients with relaxing and posing during the session.

Our new home will be Traverse City, Michigan! We are making the move the first week of May and while it is sad to leave Grand Rapids, we are really looking forward to our new life in northern Michigan. We have sold our house and are starting the ardous process of packing our belongings. It is amazing how much stuff two people can accumulate and that rarely gets used. Purge has become our new mantra!

We have had a few questions from our long-time clients and have some answers!

• Can we still book sessions in Grand Rapids?
  • Yes, we are still accepting dates in Grand Rapids but with a few changes:
    • We can schedule sessions on-location, outdoors or with enough advance notice, we can obtain studio space for a short period of time.
    • For clients that have already scheduled sessions with us, there will be no changes to the schedule or location.
    • Once we are based in Traverse City, we will still schedule sessions in Grand Rapids on a monthly or bi-monthly basis.
• What happened to your studio?
  • We moved out of our studio as of March 1 in preparation for our move. A wonderful photographer and the owner of an awesome modeling agency, Jerrad Matthew is the new occupant. The changes he has made to the studio are simply amazing.
• Will you have a studio in Traverse City?
  • Yes! Our new studio is located at our home on Spider Lake. We have about 1000 square feet devoted to studio space within the house. We are also planning on building a larger studio on the property within the next two years that will be able to accomodate larger projects and unique requirements.
• Are your prices changing as a result of your move?
  • Our prices are changing but the move to a new city is only part of the reason behind our decision to make modifications to our pricing structure. We will have a separate post on the changes but we guarantee no surprises and compelling products.
• What new products will you be offering?
  • We will be announcing our new product line-up in May. We have worked long and hard with our vendors to develop a unique and timeless product offering that we are sure you will love.
• Will you have a new phone number?
  • We will be moving to a 231 area code but have no specifics to announce as of yet.

We are excited and can’t wait to start this next chapter of Darrin Wassom Photography. If you have any questions that we did not answer here, please contact us and we’ll be happy to provide an answer.

We decided we would find an older dog that needed a permanent home. Rhonda searched the Internet and found Bellowood Rescue in Cedar Springs. They just happened to have a black lab given to them along with her 9 puppies last fall. It also turned out she a cancerous tumor that had to be removed. All the puppies were adopted out quickly (who doesn’t want a lab puppy?) but Kelli remained in the care of Bellowood. After many months it was starting to look like she might never be adopted because of her age and health condition. We knew she was the one for us and after a quick visit with her foster parents, we brought her home with us. She has been with us for two weeks and has quickly adjusted to our family. Kelli has found her permanent home.

We can not say enough great things about the Bellowood Rescue organization. They are such caring and kind people that are passionate about saving so many animals. If you are looking for a dog, PLEASE consider adopting a dog from a shelter like Bellowood.

Meet Kelli! : )

Rhonda caught Kelli and I hanging out on a park bench at Reeds Lake. Kelli made me laugh when she hopped on the bench to sit with me.

Kelli is staring intently at a rubber ball. Would she retrieve it? We are about to find out.

Yes! Kelli not only retrieved the ball but she can also catch it in mid-air. No photos of that yet but she absolutely loves to play fetch.