Flora

Combining typography with floral patterns seems to be suuuuper trendy right now. Well, at least on Pinterest! I decided to try my hand at it with some of my favorite quotes and words. All images are free to share and download. Click on the files below to view and save the high resolution versions. I love seeing these in action (as phone backgrounds, etc) so feel free to send screenshots my way! Thanks for checking them out :)

2017 Arnold Classic

Yadier Nunez Quesada of 210 Weightlifting prepares to jerk 190kg at the Arnold Weightlifting Championships in Columbus Ohio.

When your friend asks you if you want to go to the Arnolds, you say YES. For those who aren't familiar with the Arnolds -- it's basically fitness and spray tan heaven.  Every year, almost 200,000 people flock to Columbus Ohio to visit the Arnold Fitness Expo (named after Arnold Schwarzenegger, of course). Among the hundreds of booths in the expo demoing the latest releases in sports equipment, fitness apparel, and nutrition supplements, there are a number of non-stop competitions on the stages of the expo floor and external exhibition halls. At the Arnold, you can quite literally see it all... bodybuiling, strongman, highland games competitions, powerlifting, ballroom dancing, fencing, pole fitness... the list goes on and on.

Last weekend, Viv (Everyday Lifters) and I went to Columbus to cover the olympic weightlifting portion of the Arnolds. I competed at the ASF Weightlifting Championships three years ago and hope to do it again, but it was fun to take a back seat this time and observe the event without having to worry about making weight and performing well on the platform.

We arrived at the convention center Friday morning, picked up our media passes and set up camp to shoot our first weightlifting session of the weekend. Within only 5 minutes of being there, I turn around to look at the judges' chairs, only to see ARNOLD sitting in the center seat. Viv and I were freaking out. Talk about a great start to the weekend! It was so neat to see him up close, taking selfies with the platform behind him and listening to him cheer the athletes on by yelling "Just do it!" When Arnold tells you to make a lift, you do it.

We saw some pretty big lifts from both of the men and women in the following sessions, especially from Colin Burns of Team Juggernaut, and Yadier Nunez Quesada and Asniel Rodriguez Jimenez of 210 Weightlifting. Kristin Pope had the crowd cheering and celebrating with her as she hit a 91kg snatch, her new personal best in competition. 

I had an incredible time getting to watch some of my favorite athletes up close. I can't thank Viv enough for bringing me along and trusting me with a camera! ;) You can view more photos from the event on my instagram.

Also, if you don't follow her already, be sure to check out EveryDay Lifters on instagram at @everyday_lifters to see more photos, videos and stories. The woman hustles hard! In fact, this is one of three major Olympic Weightlifting competitions she's covered in the last three weeks! Photos of the weightlifting competition are available to download here.

Abstract Lines // iPhone 7 Wallpaper Designs

Hope you guys enjoy these! And if you're in NYC, stay warm :) 

iPhone 7 Wallpaper Designs

Recently, I've come across the work of Visual Artist Vasjen Katro. Katro's work is characterized by his perfect combination of saturated colors and subtle gradient blends within abstract forms. After following some of Katro's tutorials and learning about his design process, I decided to incorporate the techniques I learned into my own little project. So, here are three iPhone wallpapers for you to download, use and share with your friends. These backgrounds were made using a combination of Photoshop and Illustrator. Hope you enjoy them!

States of The Union

Did you have a particularly strong reaction to the results of this year's election? If so, you should consider submitting your story to States of The Union, a collection of fiction, non-fiction, poetry, and artwork, all centered around the outcome of the 2016 election. 

Currently, the States of The Union is running a campaign on their Instagram account where each day they feature a new drawing of a different state. I decided to contribute some art for the state of Oregon. Check out my post here!

If you'd like to contribute artwork or a written piece to this book, be sure to send in your submissions by January 27th! Submit here. And, if you're feeling extra generous, feel free to donate to their Kickstarter campaign.

A photo posted by StatesOf TheUnion (@statesoftheunion) on Nov 30, 2016 at 2:40pm PST