"May Flowers"! A collaboration with Todd Powers Photography and artist Jen Raven for my May Print (Bakersfield, CA)

I'm so excited to finally post about the May JNT Monthly Print photoshoot!  In addition to teaming up once again with the incredible Todd Powers, local artist Jen Raven took up the brush.  This time her canvas was little ol' me!

Check out the awesome behind the scenes video from our shoot!

Oh my.. That's an awful lot of public nudity...
Want to see the photos and check out this month's print..?
Of course you do!
Click below!

You may recall my April, "April Showers" photoshoot..? Well please welcome..
"May Flowers"!!

Purchase a JNT Print!

This entire project was an incredible collaboration, with many hours of volunteered time and talent.  Jen Raven personally spent ten days in a row planning out, sketching, and even practicing "Dandelion" on a few different willing bodies.

Jen and I have grown quite a unique connection, and I think this poem she chose on her story board speaks volumes to both of us, and to this shoot.

"Dandelion has been a truly terrifying experience so far.

But that's just one more thing to love about her

She's a complicated little bitch"
    -Jen Raven

Everything that could have gone wrong throughout this shoot... Didn't!
And that NEVER happens in a bodypaint photoshoot. We lucked out, and in the end we have some amazing pieces of art that I am beyond ecstatic to be a part of.

What's the point of creating such art, though, if you don't share it?

I've never been the stingy type, especially when it comes to photos of myself.  So here ya go, some of my absolute favs from our May photoshoot!

Because I grow where I damn well please!

Huge thanks (and huger hugs!) to Lisa Klassen-Barnes for making my hair look gorgeous!

Ok, so I hafta share because my booty looks FAB!!

So once up there, I'm pretty sure that shelf was not designed to hold more than 10lbs. And I still have the scrapes on my arms and legs from the big ass, rusty screws sticking out. I was determined however to sit up on my little window shelf!

Frames. One of my favorite photoshoot props.

And of course, it wouldn't be a Todd Powers' shoot if we didn't find a way to get messy! 
I personally find these two to be incredibly powerful. What do you think?

Did you notice the signature on my bottom..? Hee hee.

"Jin you are ART" - Jen Raven

Technically we could have painted any flower, or even done a dozen different kinds.  So, why the dandelion?
'Cause I'm Jin N Tonic.
Duh.

Haha, JK. I really did want to do something *different* though, and I think Jen put it far more eloquently than I can...

• "Dandelions are nurturing, because they are nutritious. They are misunderstood, as flowers taken for weeds. They are complicated, rooting so firmly, yet able to travel *anywhere* at all. They literally fly. *my heart skips a beat at that one* And they are so very, very complex, so difficult to capture visually.
  ... And they are determined as fuck. They'll grow where they damned well please, and fuck you if you don't like it!!"
•     -Jen Raven
  

Yeah.. that too!

XoXo
JNT

All Images are © Todd Powers Photography 2013
Body Artist: Jen Raven
BodyPaint Guinea Pig/Hair Stylist/And Camera Man: Lisa Klassen-Barnes
(Big special thank you to Lisa!!)

And in case you're curious to learn more about the creative process behind bodypainting, you can read Jen Raven's blog post on this particular project HERE!

Like what you see? Please share!
Your views, likes, and support mean the world to me!

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