"In Her Shoes" A conversation with Cyndi of Mermaids and Moss

Today I bring you a very different interview from one of my favorite bloggers Cyndi of Mermaids and Moss. I found her though the Friday picture link up {this moment}. The first image I ever saw of hers, was that of her son lying on a couch. The colors, composition and simplicity of the image really struck me. I spent a good 30 minutes looking through the rest of her wonderful photos. Her blogging style is really different in that it is mostly photographs. She has a wonderful way of telling us stories almost fairy tales with her photographs. I asked Cyndi if she would like to do a a very different interview, one where I ask her a question and she would respond with a photograph. Luckily she said yes! And it has resulted in one of my favorite interviews yet. Get your tea or coffee, sit in a comfy chair and get ready to see a little bit of photographic magic! 


1) The title of your blog is so curious, it feels much like that of a folk tale. How did you come up with it? 

Mermaids and moss is a combination of my favorite things, for a moment it was called mermaids and trees. I was working on a series of mermaid paintings at the time, while taking long walks in the woods taking as many up close and personal photos of moss as I could. I love moss.

2) From the many pictures of the sea that I have seen on your blog, I assume that you live near the sea. What is your favorite time of day and season to visit the sea. 

I do live on the East Coast, but we're about a four-hour drive from the beach. I try to take the time to visit several times a year. I live for vacations. My most favorite time to walk on the beach is dawn by myself. It's such a luxury, I rarely take time to be alone. And I love to see what's washed up on the beach, it's kind of addictive and challenging to see what creatures and shells I kind find. With the children we try to go early in morning and late in the afternoon/evening to avoid the hot sun and the crowds. We often take trips to the beach in the early spring, fall and winter when the rates are lower. My favorite beach trip was a couple Octobers ago when the temperatures were low enough to comfortably ride our bikes out to a deserted beach covered in shells. We had so much fun. It wasn't really swimming weather but the oceans are so rough near us anyway, it doesn't really matter.

3) Having lived in the desert my whole life I haven't seen many row houses. What is it like to live in a row house? 

Well, we lived in our last row house for eight years... I can still hardly believe that we've moved, but we did buy a single-family house with windows on all four sides last summer. It's so fantastic to have a yard and driveway and a bit more space. Our 1915 rowhouse really was very lovely and actually kind of big with very high ceilings and beautiful stained-glass windows. We had an end-of-row house with a view of the alley and all the neighbors backyards, so that was kind of entertaining. I tried to take advantage of every bit of space that we had. Our hallway upstairs ran the length of the house, I spent many rainy and winter afternoons with my tiny baby boy and his three-year-old sister bouncing balls down the hall and playing with cars, trying to take advantage of that long flat space.

4) You often show us outing into the woods or to the beach. With all those outing and two kids I bet you guys get hungry. What is your favorite bring along snack? 

I happen to love photographing our snacks... it keeps me entertained. We often snack on crackers, pretzels, berries, clementines, apples and my favorite cheeses. I love cheese and I'm so happy my daughter appreciates the finer cheeses, too. Our favorites are Parrano and Irish Cheddar.

5) Looking through your archives I see you have many different artistic outlets. What are your favorite materials to work with? 

 

You've listed them all: I love to working with acrylics and watercolors, crocheting, knitting, sewing, crafting... especially when it involves glitter and sparkly things. My house is stacked with unfinished projects, but I'm having lots of fun. It's good to ignore the piles of dishes and make something instead.

6) Being an artist and a mother is a really special combination. What three topics about motherhood inspire your work most often? 

7) You have a wonderful talent for telling stories though your well-edited photographs; what do you love most about telling stories through photographs? 

I love trying to capture the perfect moments when photographing my kids. I'm envisioning that I'm saving memories for them [and for me!]. And this can be quite challenging, resulting in many, many photographs. I have a memory of a favorite photograph of my mother and I silhouetted and holding hands on a beach in California. I was probably five or six and very, very tiny next to my tall mother. It was a polaroid taken with my father's very old-school camera. My mother died of cancer two-and-a-half years ago. I think that photo is still in an album at my dad's house, but I treasure the memory of it so much. 

8) A blog is a very intimate space and becomes an extended and ongoing self portrait, often comprised of hundreds of photographs. Without showing your face, can you give us a self portrait in one photograph?