BTS at the Spring/Summer 2024 Lookbook Shoot

Shooting outside of Charles Haertling’s 1960s “Boulder Eye Clinic” building with Matt Nager and Erika Rodriguez

Ideating on our SS24 campaign concept left me searching yet again for the perfect 1960s/1970s “bubble structure” for a location. I guess it’s a thing for Talisman. Luckily architect Charles Haertling left us with plenty of options in the Boulder area, and we were fortunate to have some connections (thanks Erica Simon!) to his iconic “Boulder Eye Clinic” building on Broadway. What I especially love about this building is the way its sculptural curves mimic the sculptural nature of Talisman’s jewelry. They seemed to be in conversation throughout our shoot, though this wasn’t the only storyline we had going…

Working with my trusty photographer Matt Nager, and our model Erika Rodriguez from Wilhelmina, we reimagined the office building as a crash landed space ship of sorts, with Erika graciously playing the part of our extraterrestrial being… decked out in lots of gold, of course. The result was, dare I say, otherworldly (ha).

Special shout outs are due to my friend Katie Miner, who helped me with styling day-of, as well as to Max clothing stores, Recital boutique, Common Threads Boulder, and COS for wardrobe.

Fun BTS fact: there was an active chiropractor’s office behind this mirrored window. Luckily they didn’t protest us shooting outside. Thanks guys!

Peep some behind-the-scenes footage of this super fun shoot, and then check out our final product here, along with all the newly released SS24 designs!

The jewels

BTS at the Talisman FW23 Lookbook Photoshoot: The Evans School

An open, and mostly vacant, stairway at the Evans School building in Denver. Currently home to artists and creatives, for now.

Photographer Matt Nager and model Vanessa Luka getting a close-up ear shot at the Evans School studio of Sam Grabowska and Erin McAllister

Deciding on the location for Talisman’s next lookbook photoshoot is always an exciting creative challenge. Each season the look and feel of the brand is greatly influenced by our campaign concept, composition and color palette, and thus, by extension, where that campaign was shot. For FW23, the idea struck me to ask some artist friends about taking over their studio space at the Evans School in Denver for an afternoon… I had spent some time in this incredibly special, once-abandoned school building, and was immediately struck by the energy of the place. Having only recently been offered to a handful of artists for use as studio rentals, this glorious building - full of tall windows and insanely intricate copper railings - sat empty since the 1970s, quietly falling into decay just across the street from the Denver Art Museum. These days, however, the vibe at the Evans School is something else. Sculptors, painters, photographers and the like are using the classrooms - heck, even the old auditorium - to ideate, create and collaborate with one another. Tiny DIY galleries have popped up to showcase the work of folks making art next door. In my estimation, one of the most beautiful things about this space, aside from the building itself, seems to be the fact that there is a definite ambiance of - dare I use the cliched word - synergy and co-inspiration happening among the artists at work there.

Utilizing raw materials from artist Sam Grabowska’s sculpture work as a backdrop for Talisman’s new FW23 designs

None of the residents know how long this gem will last… word has it that the building may be purchased by developers to be remade into a luxury hotel in the near future. And, as sad as that may be (although it has the makings for a beautiful hotel, no doubt), somehow the limited-time aspect of the whole scene - this permeating feeling of uncertainty - lends it a bit of Chelsea Hotel-type magic. Something that is at once almost outside of time and space itself, and yet is entirely ephemeral. To be certain, it is a Time and a Place, in Denver, Colorado, 2023.

Knowing that the opportunity to do something in this magical space might be limited, then, it seemed that the time was right for a photoshoot there. The goal for the shoot, as far as I could see it, was simply to capture some of the magic that is happening behind closed doors at 1115 Acoma Street, and by extension, to delve into the raw materials and processes of some of the artists at play there. A statement, if you will, about how creative imagination can turn raw, even seemingly strange objects into entire worlds of beauty.

Matt Nager shoots a still life scene on Sam Grabowska’s desk. Styling and creative direction by myself, Vanessa Barcus.

Thankfully for Talisman, my dear friend Erin McAllister and her Evans School studio mate, Sam Grabowska, were happy to oblige. So my trusty photog Matt Nager and I were given access to their studio, and all of its gloriously weird objects and supplies. Erin is a fiber and textile artist who also paints on occasion. Her work is as vibrant and colorful and explosive as she is. Sam is a sculptor and multi-media artist whose highly-conceptual work speaks to themes of creating space, in both a literal and psychological sense, as well as themes of safety, trauma healing, and care. Through both artists we found a rich assortment of tactile, textural raw materials to use as a backdrop for Talisman’s latest designs. Another friend, Vanessa Luka, graciously lent her beautiful ears and hands to be photographed in what was otherwise a mostly still-life shoot.

Take a peek behind the scenes here of our day at the Evans School… In the near future, you may just see the scraps and materials we used in our photos come together in one of these two artists’ upcoming work.

Artist Erin McAllister shows us around the studio

XX,

Vanessa

BTS: Talisman Fine Jewelry SS23 Lookbook Shoot with Matt Nager

Photographer Matt Nager with model Samantha Joseph

Coming out of the holiday season, after a nice week or two of R&R, I quickly hit the ground running for SS23… That included, as in recent years, a marathon of finishing the new pieces, concepting/creative directing and producing the lookbook shoot, and getting every item shot for web. It’s a lot, but it’s all a true labor of love and a joy to do.

Matt gets the high angle with River Wharton.

This season, I was so happy to work with a longtime friend to photograph our lookbook: Matt Nager and I have known each other since high school, and I have long admired his career trajectory, which has included work for publications like Time, Travel & Leisure, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal… the list goes on. But Matt also has so much more to offer on a fine arts level, and so we melted our minds to come up with what became Close To Home (the name here partly inspired by the fact that our location was in our hometown of Boulder, and really felt like a homecoming of sorts).

The concept: a lonely woman, Samantha, is trapped in a decadent yet time-faded home on a hillside, with no one to keep her company but her imaginary friend River. That and plenty of fabulous jewelry of course. Our models Samantha Joseph, from Wolves Management, and River Wharton, were decked out in wardrobe provided by several dear friends - including Kate Towers, Salihah Moore (who also provided her amazing yellow telephone), Laurs Kemp, and a bit of my own wardrobe, which came from Max boutique and Assembly NY. Styling was by yours truly, as per usual (my other work/love, as you may know), with makeup by my friend Lillian Marsh. A shout out is also due to Kristina Foley, for hand-felting and botanically dyeing a sheep fur throw to match my color specifications, and to Laura Morningstar for allowing me to use her ceramic “lil papa” as a prop. Oh, and thank you also to Dad Grass, whose CBD joints were a surprise star of the shoot as well ;) And last but not least, a huge thank you is also due to Brian Schwartz for our location.

Continue on to see some behind-the-scenes pics of the magic we made, and then hop over here to see the finished product!

That’s a wrap, peace out!

BTS: Talisman Fine Jewelry Fall/Winter 2022 Lookbook Shoot

This last weekend, we traveled into the wild with photographer Kristen Hatgi Sink and model Sunshine Fox (yes, that’s her real name, and I’d say it’s fitting) to capture our latest fall creations. Concepting, producing, and creative directing photoshoots is part of the other work I’ve done for decades, and it’s always a joy to flex these muscles for Talisman’s shoots. While I thought I had a pretty clear concept in mind before we left on our voyage, as per usual the universe had some different ideas. And, as per usual, it made all the sense in the world when it came together in the end.

Kristen Hatgi Sink photographs Sunshine Fox.

The short story: Two of fall’s standout new pieces include the Protective Eye Y Necklace, and its miniature little sister. The idea had struck us to photograph these floating in front of Sunshine’s eyes, and Sunshine noted how it reminded her of the way some of Salvador Dali’s jewelry (including an eye piece) was photographed back in the day. Couldn’t agree more. The next morning after our shoot, I woke up to a completely unrelated, random text from my mother, with a photo of Dali’s exact same work. She had just stumbled upon it online, and thought I’d appreciate his aesthetic. She had not, by the way, seen anything from our shoot. Hey, these are the serendipitous things that happen when you own a jewelry line called Talisman! Naturally, I went down a wormhole looking at Dali’s work, and remembered that he had a painting called “La Femme Nue Dans Le Desert,” or “The Naked Woman in the Desert.” Immediately my mind flashed to the moon-like desertscape of our shoot, where indeed, we took some nude shots (tastefully covered though). Clearly, it was a sign.

My other inspirations as of late include the work of artists like Elena Stonaker, Niki de Saint Phalle, fashion designer Carla Fernandez (see previous post), and the culture and modernist architecture of Mexico City. These things played into our shoot as well, in more subtle ways. But the Dali references stood out. Or more like they jumped out, right at us.

So, all of this is to say: I hope you enjoy these behind-the-scenes peeks at our FW 2022 shoot, an unintentionally-intentional homage to La Femme Nue Dans Le Desert.

Sorting through the goods. Photo by Kristen Hatgi Sink.

Photo by Kristen Hatgi Sink.

Photo by Kristen Hatgi Sink.

Photographer Kristen Hatgi Sink.

Photo by Kristen Hatgi Sink.

Sunshine and I captured towards the end of the day. Photo by Kristen Hatgi Sink.