my name is Payton.
I believe in the honey-warm spirit of the sun, in the wind dancing around us as it does, and the goodness in the spirit of humanity. I believe that Sunday is the sweetest day of the week and that late spring exists for dancing and becoming new yet again. I believe there is no greater comfort than that of a perfect wine, pasta, and gelato evening. I believe that all can be healed by laying near the sea or by holding eye contact with a person dear to your heart. I believe that human beings are born creators - craftsmen - and it is our independent duty to return to that curiosity, that siren call which beckons us to explore, to make, to learn. I believe that a photographer holds great power when they hold their camera; the manipulators of time, the instant sculptors of moments, the seers of the unnoticed. I believe to exist is to defy odds, and capturing beautiful occasions is the best way to honor this truth.
Welcome, all are warmly invited and deeply cherished!
“…and then, I have nature and art and poetry, and if that is not enough, what is enough?”
- Vincent van Gogh
a little more
I am from Kansas City
- My two siblings, a little brother and little sister, are my heart and soul
- I started my art ventures with drawing and painting before my memory begins
I am a virgo sun, aquarius moon, and leo rising
I have a tattoo of Cinderella’s carriage; my young heart will never stop pretending I am her
Words & writing are my secret loves
I watch Ferris Bueller’s Day Off about once a month
I took my first real photographs with my grandma’s film camera when I was eleven
I moved to Los Angeles right after high school, and feel that California introduced me to myself
- I do not, and have never, liked ketchup
Bob Dylan, The Shins, Simon & Garfunkel, Jonsi, and The Police are my desert island musicians
Twelve has always been my lucky number
“Art is not a money-making venture. It is who we are.
Birds sing, bees make honey, and human beings make art.”
- Anthony Azekwoh
“It’s so very cold here but - you know, we’re burning. Screaming, running, making music. Making music! Sticking our fingers into fire to see how it feels, licking icicles and leaving our belongings on trains. That’s humanity. That’s what I want to answer when people demand: what is the point in anything? There’s no point, but see - we made velvet and we gave mountains names. We saw crashing oceans, we saw the vast emptiness of space and we thought: what’s in there? What’s over there? How can I get across? There’s no point; and that’s the beauty of it. No point and we’ve still got poetry. No point and we’ve still got stars.”
— Elisabeth Hewer